Auschwitz-Birkenau Skip-the-Line Guided Tour Oswiecim

Oswiecim and How to Get to Auschwitz from Krakow

Oswiecim is a small town in southern Poland, about 65 kilometres west of Krakow, known in German as Auschwitz. Before the Second World War more than half of its inhabitants were Jewish. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, the town was annexed to the Reich, and in 1940 the occupiers set up a concentration camp in former Polish army barracks on its edge.

Our meeting point is in Brzezinka, the village where Birkenau was later built. If you are wondering how to get to Auschwitz from Krakow, the drive takes about 1.5 hours by car via the motorway, and regular buses and trains run to Oswiecim; transport is not included in this option. If you prefer a full day with transport, our Auschwitz-Birkenau tour from Krakow includes it.

Auschwitz I, the Original Camp

The visit begins at Auschwitz I, where the first prisoners, Polish political prisoners, arrived in June 1940. Visitors enter through the gate bearing the words Arbeit macht frei, and walk between the rows of brick blocks where hundreds of thousands of people were held, worked and died. Several blocks now house exhibitions on the history of the camp, the deportations and the people who were brought here.

Your official guide leads you through the exhibition on extermination and the displays of material evidence: belongings taken from the victims, including shoes, suitcases, spectacles and human hair. You also see Block 11 and the Wall of Death in its courtyard, where prisoners were shot, and the gas chamber and crematorium of the main camp. The guided visit here lasts about two hours.

Auschwitz II-Birkenau

After a short transfer and a 15-minute break, the visit continues at Auschwitz II-Birkenau, built from late 1941 about three kilometres away. It became the largest part of the complex and the main site of the mass murder of European Jews. At least 1.1 million people were killed at Auschwitz, about one million of them Jews, as well as Poles, Roma and Sinti, Soviet prisoners of war and people of other nationalities.

You pass through the main gate building, where the railway line enters the camp, and walk along the unloading ramp built in 1944, where people arriving on deportation trains were selected. Your guide shows you the wooden and brick barracks, the ruins of the gas chambers and crematoria blown up by the SS in January 1945, and the International Monument to the Victims. Plan on around 1.5 hours here.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum

Soviet soldiers liberated the camp on 27 January 1945, a date now marked worldwide as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In 1947 the Polish parliament created the museum to preserve the site as a place of memory and education, and in 1979 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Today it is visited by people from all over the world, and guided visits are the best way to understand it.

Entry to the memorial works with timed, personal Auschwitz-Birkenau tickets, which is why our booking includes pre-booked entry in your name. Auschwitz opening hours begin early in the morning all year, with closing times that change by month, and the museum is closed on a few days each year. Your guide's time slot is set by the memorial's visitor service and is confirmed the day before.

Visiting with Respect: Practical Guidance

Auschwitz is a cemetery as well as a museum, and visitors are asked to behave with calm and respect: speak quietly, dress modestly, and follow the guide's instructions. Photography without flash is allowed in most areas, except in the room with the victims' hair and the basement of Block 11. Bags larger than about 30 by 20 by 10 centimetres cannot be taken inside, and every visitor needs a passport or ID card.

The best time to visit Auschwitz is early in the morning, when it is quieter, or in spring and autumn. Birkenau is a large open site with long gravel paths and little shelter, so dress for the weather, especially in winter. Many visitors find the experience emotionally demanding; the memorial does not recommend visits for children under 14, and you may step aside at any moment.