Auschwitz Tour

Soulsun

Hi,

I am in the middle of planning our hols trips for 2018.

We would like to do a tour of Auschwitz

We are based in Dublin.

We would like to do it over a weekend say Fri to Sunday.

Can we do this direct or is it best with package via travel agency?

Any suggestions / info would be appreciated.

cosanostra

Stay in Krakow, get a tour bus out and do a day tour. There are plenty of bus tour operators from krakow. I'm pretty sure you have to have a tour guide while in Auschwitz so you will easily see everything in one day it's not really the kind of place you can wander around yourself and go back and see a bit more the next day make sure you get a tour that covers both the Auschwitz and Birkenau camps. I would also recommend doing a tour of the Wieliczka salt mines if you have the time while in Krakow. I really dont think there's a need to involve a travel agent, flight over with Ryanair, find a hotel check out there reviews and get one that's located centrally in Krakow, if you're not on a tight budget I'd highly recommend the Raddison Blu fantastic Hotel and in a great location. The tour could easily be booked yourself Google is your friend and if your stuck the Hotel will sort you out for the tour anyway

paska

cosanostra wrote: »

Stay in Krakow, get a tour bus out and do a day tour. There are plenty of bus tour operators from krakow. I'm pretty sure you have to have a tour guide while in Auschwitz so you will easily see everything in one day it's not really the kind of place you can wander around yourself and go back and see a bit more the next day make sure you get a tour that covers both the Auschwitz and Birkenau camps. I would also recommend doing a tour of the Wieliczka salt mines if you have the time while in Krakow.

Good, advise.

spurious

It gets very busy at weekends. Try get a tour that will get you there before 10am.

vicwatson

Children under 13 not admitted in case you are bringing children

Soulsun

Thanks all for the comments

amber2

So I’ve read conflicting reviews on whether or not to get an English speaking guide to assist you around auschwitz camp. Some visitiors complain of being rushed through the camps by their guide and not having enough time to read the info. Also complains of visitors headsets picking up/over hearing other guides in different languages through their headset ruining the experience. Anyone who has visited have any advice please on whether or not to get a guide or do it alone.

uck51js9zml2yt

You will not be allowed go around it without a guide.
Some people arrive and wait for the next tour in their language.
The best way is to get a tour from Krakow and they will organise the guide. Bring a sandwich and a drink
You won't have much time between autzwich and birkenau. Enough to go to the toilet, wash your hands( very important) and eat a sandwich in the car park before the bus goes to birkenau.
Have change for the toilets.

Fred Swanson

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spurious

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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They don't like it and unless you have reasonable Polish, Russian or German you miss out on quite a bit.

Fred Swanson

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uck51js9zml2yt

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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Seems to be the same is Auschwitz, granted its over 7 years since i was there. At the time I would have loved to be just able to wander around but there's a lot of informatation given by the guide.

We self guided around the Schindler museum but tagged behind a tour group to get information on what we were looking at

eeguy

Go as early as possible. Try get on the first tour and you're less rushed and less crowded.

grimm2005

I did a guided tour and I'd recommend this personally. I never had any issues with the headsets and overhearing other languages. It's true that you don't really have time to read all the info in full but the guide I had gave a lot of easy to digest info and it didn't feel rushed either. There's a lot of info given that you wouldn't read or might miss on the boards also.

Also having all your transport organised between your hotel and the two sites makes things very easy and they also show an hour long documentary in the minivan on the way over that gives you a lot of context as to what happened in the camps.

mel.b

It depends on the time of year. Between April and October you can now only go to Auschwitz as part of a guided tour. Outside of these times you can still do it yourself - I did so in December just gone. I occasionally listened in on tours that were going past and the information seemed to be the same that was on the cards and displays.

There are three bus companies that go to Auschwitz, but only one drops you directly there - the other is up the road a bit and the third at the train station. However if you do a group tour you don't need to worry about that.

I also did the Schindler factor and the castle and prebooked both. Pretty much no one else was prebooking and the queues were crazy, so prebook before you go. The schindler factory can be done online, the castle you need to email them directly.

Fred Swanson

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mel.b

Fred Swanson wrote: »

How can they stop you?

Because you can only buy guided ticket tours for that time of the year now. Of course once you’re in the grounds you could wander off i guess, but you can only get in as part of a tour.

Actually looking at the website its the 1st april - 31st oc from 10am-3pm that you need a guide. You still must prebook for times before that, no more showing up & hoping to get in. Not surprising given how mich visitor numbers have increased in the past few years.


This is a good summary of the current sitaution.
https://www.inyourpocket.com/krakow/visiting-auschwitz_113559v

Hitman3000

Lucas Magnificent Storm wrote:

You will not be allowed go around it without a guide. Some people arrive and wait for the next tour in their language. The best way is to get a tour from Krakow and they will organise the guide. Bring a sandwich and a drink You won't have much time between autzwich and birkenau. Enough to go to the toilet, wash your hands( very important) and eat a sandwich in the car park before the bus goes to birkenau. Have change for the toilets.

Since when are you not allowed go around without a guide? I have been there 3 times never an issue.