Auschwitz tours from Krakow - your complete travel guide
Krakow is the most popular starting point for visiting the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial. Here is everything you need to know about distance, transport options, guided tours, and what to expect on arrival.
Book the best Krakow to Auschwitz ticket
Auschwitz-Birkenau Guided Tour with Fast-Track Tickets & Transfer Options
Skip the queues and explore the largest Nazi concentration camp with an expert guide. Walk through original barracks, gas chamber ruins, and stand before the iconic main gate at both Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau.
- Fast-track entry to Auschwitz I & Auschwitz II–Birkenau
- Expert guide (English, Italian, German, French, Spanish or Polish)
- Headsets
- Transfer options available
Best price:
42 €
From Krakow: Auschwitz-Birkenau Guided Tour with Transfers
Immerse yourself in a full-day guided journey to Auschwitz-Birkenau from Krakow, with seamless round-trip transfers. Walk through Auschwitz I’s brick barracks, Block 11’s torture chambers, and the vast Auschwitz II-Birkenau extermination camp.
- Fast-track entry to Auschwitz I & Auschwitz II–Birkenau
- Expert guide in your chosen language
- Round-trip air-conditioned transfers from Krakow
- Headsets
Best price:
45 €
From Krakow: Auschwitz-Birkenau Guided Tour with Hotel Transfers
Delve into World War II history on a full-day guided tour from Krakow, complete with hotel pickup and drop-off. Explore KL Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, with optional private tour and lunch upgrades.
- Fast-track entry to Auschwitz I & Auschwitz II–Birkenau
- Expert guide (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish or Polish)
- Round-trip air-conditioned transfers & hotel pickup
- Headsets (first camp only)
- Optional lunchbox & private tour upgrade
Best price:
46 €
From Krakow: Auschwitz-Birkenau & Wieliczka Salt Mine Guided Tour
Make the most of your day with this 11-hour combo tour visiting both Auschwitz-Birkenau and the spectacular Wieliczka Salt Mine. Witness powerful Holocaust memorials and then descend into breathtaking underground chambers carved from salt.
- Entry to Auschwitz-Birkenau I & II
- Entry to Wieliczka Salt Mine
- Expert English-speaking guide
- Round-trip air-conditioned bus transfers
- Hotel or meeting point pickup & drop-off
- Headsets
Best price:
107 €
Full-Day Tour of Auschwitz-Birkenau and Wieliczka Salt Mine with Transfers from Krakow & Lunch
Explore two of Poland’s most significant sites in a single day. Pay your respects at Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and then descend 135 metres underground into the historic Wieliczka Salt Mine, all with an expert guide and an included lunch.
- Entry tickets to both sites
- Hotel or meeting point pickup
- Private air-conditioned transport
- Lunchbox (vegetarian & non-vegetarian options)
- English-speaking tour manager & professional guide
- Audio rental equipment
Best price:
107 €
From Warsaw: Auschwitz-Birkenau Guided Tour with Transfers
Journey from Warsaw to Auschwitz-Birkenau in a small group of up to 8 people for an intimate and deeply moving experience. Skip the lines and discover the harrowing history of the camp’s barracks, gas chambers, and crematoria with an expert guide.
- Skip-the-line entry to Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum
- Expert guide (English, French, Italian, Spanish or Portuguese)
- Small group (max 8 people)
- Round-trip air-conditioned bus transfers & hotel pickup
Best price:
163 €
Find your perfect Krakow to Auschwitz experience
Quick & Focused Visit
If you are short on time, a guided tour with fast-track entry lets you skip the security line and head straight into the memorial. You will visit both Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau with a certified guide, typically in around 3.5 hours on-site. Round-trip transfers from Krakow are available, or you can arrange your own transport and meet the group at the museum entrance.
Best for travellers with a tight schedule who want a meaningful, expertly guided experience without a full-day commitment.
Full-Day Guided Tour with Transfers
The most popular option among international visitors. A full-day Krakow to Auschwitz tour includes hotel pickup or meeting-point departure, comfortable air-conditioned transport, skip-the-line entry, and a professional guide at both camp sites. The total duration is roughly seven hours – about 1 hour and 15 minutes of travel each way and approximately 3.5 hours walking the grounds.
Choose between meeting-point transfers for a lower price or door-to-door hotel pickup for maximum convenience. Guides are available in multiple languages, and some operators offer an optional lunch box for the break between camps.
Combo: Auschwitz-Birkenau & Wieliczka Salt Mine
Make the most of a single day by combining two UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This full-day combo tour pairs the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial with the Wieliczka Salt Mine – a stunning underground world of salt-carved chambers, chapels, and sculptures just outside Krakow. The itinerary runs around 10.5 to 11 hours and includes transfers, guided tours at both sites, and headsets for clear audio. An optional hotel pickup upgrade is available.
How to get from Krakow to Auschwitz
Getting from Krakow to Auschwitz is straightforward, with several transport options to suit different budgets and preferences. The memorial is located in the town of Oświęcim, west of Krakow along provincial road 933.
Krakow to Auschwitz distance
The distance from Krakow to Auschwitz is approximately 70 kilometres (43 miles). Depending on your mode of transport and traffic conditions, the journey takes between 1 hour 10 minutes and 1 hour 45 minutes each way.
Organised tour with transfers
The simplest and most popular way to reach the memorial is to book an Auschwitz tour from Krakow that includes round-trip transport. Operators typically provide either hotel pickup from central Krakow accommodation or departure from a pre-arranged meeting point. Vehicles are modern, air-conditioned minibuses or coaches. Many operators show a short documentary film about the liberation of the camps during the drive, which serves as a helpful introduction before you arrive.
Tours to Auschwitz from Krakow handle every logistical detail – entry passes, guide allocation, and transport between the two camp sites – so you can focus entirely on the experience itself.
The simplest and most popular way to reach the memorial is to book an Auschwitz tour from Krakow that includes round-trip transport. Operators typically provide either hotel pickup from central Krakow accommodation or departure from a pre-arranged meeting point. Vehicles are modern, air-conditioned minibuses or coaches. Many operators show a short documentary film about the liberation of the camps during the drive, which serves as a helpful introduction before you arrive.
Tours to Auschwitz from Krakow handle every logistical detail – entry passes, guide allocation, and transport between the two camp sites – so you can focus entirely on the experience itself.
Polish Railways (PKP) runs several daily services from Krakow Główny station to Oświęcim. The journey takes roughly 1.5 hours. Tickets are affordable and can be booked online in advance for the best price. From Oświęcim station, the museum is about 2 kilometres away, reachable by local bus or a short taxi ride. Keep in mind that if you travel independently by train, entry passes and guide services must be booked in advance – see the tour options above.
Several bus companies operate routes from Krakow’s main bus station (MDA) to Oświęcim, with stops adjacent to the museum. The journey time is similar to the train – around 1.5 hours. Bus tickets are generally cheaper than train tickets. Booking online in advance is recommended, especially during peak season.
If you prefer to drive, follow the A4 motorway west and then take provincial road 933 toward Oświęcim. The drive takes about 1 hour 15 minutes in normal traffic. There is a car park at the museum entrance with parking available for approximately 5-6€. Be aware of possible tolls on the A4 highway. The visit begins at the Auschwitz I site; Auschwitz II-Birkenau is roughly 3 kilometres away and shuttle transport between the two is provided during guided tours.
What to expect on a Krakow to Auschwitz tour
A Krakow to Auschwitz tour is not a conventional day trip – it is a deeply moving encounter with one of the darkest chapters of modern history. Understanding what lies ahead will help you approach the visit with the right mindset.
Auschwitz I – The Main Camp
Your tour begins at the original camp, established in 1940 as the first concentration camp and administrative headquarters of the SS. You will pass through the infamous iron gate bearing the inscription “Arbeit macht frei” and walk through brick barracks that now house permanent exhibitions. These include archival photographs, prisoner records, and vast collections of confiscated belongings – thousands of shoes, suitcases, kitchen utensils, prostheses, and human hair. You will also see the punishment block (Block 11), the execution courtyard, and the first gas chamber and crematorium.
Auschwitz II-Birkenau – The Extermination Camp
The tour continues at Birkenau, constructed in 1941 to hold the rapidly growing number of deportees. This is where the vast majority of mass murders took place. You will see the railway tracks and original cattle cars that transported victims directly into the camp, the ruins of the crematoria – partially destroyed by the Nazis before liberation – the wooden barracks, and the International Monument to the Victims of Fascism. The sheer scale of Birkenau, stretching across nearly 200 hectares, is impossible to grasp from photographs alone.
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum
The memorial encompasses both camps and functions as a powerful educational centre with permanent and temporary exhibitions, archives, and collections that preserve the stories of victims and survivors. According to the museum, it is essential to visit both parts of the complex in order to acquire a proper understanding of the site and its significance as the symbol of the Holocaust.
Plan your Krakow to Auschwitz trip
The museum is open every day of the year except January 1, December 25, and Easter Sunday. It opens at 7:30 AM daily.
Closing times vary by season:
- December: 7:30 AM – 2:00 PM
- January & November: 7:30 AM – 3:00 PM
- February: 7:30 AM – 4:00 PM
- March & October: 7:30 AM – 5:00 PM
- April, May & September: 7:30 AM – 6:00 PM
- June, July & August: 7:30 AM – 7:00 PM
Visitors may remain on-site for 90 minutes after the last entry time. You must reserve your entry pass and guide services in advance – use the booking options at the top of this page for the easiest experience.
Early spring (April-May) and autumn (September-October) offer the most comfortable conditions – pleasant weather and fewer crowds. Weekday mornings are quieter than weekends. Summer months between June and August are the busiest.
If you plan to visit then, book your entry pass and guide well in advance.
Comfortable walking shoes are essential – the tour lasts around 3.5 hours and covers uneven, mostly unpaved terrain outdoors. Dress for the weather, as there is limited shelter at Birkenau.
Bring water and a snack for the break between camps, but note that eating on the memorial grounds is strictly prohibited. A valid photo ID is required for entry alongside your entry pass.
Backpacks and handbags must not exceed 35 × 25 × 15 cm. Larger bags should be left in your vehicle or on the tour bus.
Photography is generally permitted for private use. There are two specific areas inside the museum where it is not allowed – your guide will point these out.
Most of the outdoor route is accessible, though surfaces are largely unpaved. Some interiors at Auschwitz I cannot accommodate wheelchairs. The museum can provide substitute wheelchairs upon advance request.
The museum advises against visits for children under 14, given the nature of the exhibitions. Some areas are not accessible with baby pushchairs. Families with very young children may want to consider a private Krakow to Auschwitz tour for added flexibility and the option to take breaks.
Discover the history of Auschwitz-Birkenau
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum preserves the grounds of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp – the largest such complex ever constructed. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, it stands as the most recognised symbol of the Holocaust and of Nazi crimes against Jews, Poles, Roma, and other groups.
During World War II, the camp complex was established in the suburbs of Oświęcim, 70 kilometres west of Krakow. Construction began in 1940 when Auschwitz I was built as a detention centre for Polish political prisoners. The first mass transport – 728 Polish men, including Catholic priests and Jews – arrived on 14 June 1940 from Tarnów. Prisoners were registered, assigned a serial number, tattooed, shaved, disinfected, and given striped uniforms before being subjected to forced labour under brutal conditions.
In 1941, the decision was made to expand. Prisoners began constructing Birkenau in the nearby village of Brzezinka, about 3 kilometres from the main camp. Birkenau consisted primarily of wooden barracks offering almost no protection from extreme cold or rain. Countless prisoners died of hypothermia, starvation, and exhaustion. It was at Birkenau that the largest part of the mass murder apparatus was concentrated.
The first gassings at Auschwitz took place in early September 1941, when approximately 850 inmates – Soviet prisoners of war and sick Polish prisoners – were killed with Zyklon B in the basement of Block 11 at Auschwitz I. In the years that followed, new gas chambers and crematoria were built at Birkenau, and the extermination process escalated to an industrial scale. Many deportees were sent directly from the railway platform to the gas chambers without ever being registered as prisoners.
Before liberation in January 1945, Nazi authorities attempted to destroy evidence of the mass murders by dismantling crematoria and burning documents. After the war, the Polish government undertook the preservation of the site. The memorial was formally established in 1946, and today it holds among its collections thousands of personal belongings, works of art created secretly by prisoners, and extensive archival records.
The exact number of victims remains a subject of scholarly research, but historians estimate that more than 1.1 million people were murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau – the vast majority of them Jewish. The memorial exists to ensure that their memory endures and that the world never forgets what happened here.
Whether you are visiting from Krakow for educational purposes, personal reflection, or to honour someone who was lost, tours to Auschwitz from Krakow offer a carefully guided path through this history – one that will stay with you long after you return.
Frequently asked questions
01 How far is Krakow from Auschwitz?
The Krakow to Auschwitz distance is approximately 70 kilometres (43 miles). The journey takes between 1 hour 10 minutes and 1 hour 45 minutes depending on your mode of transport and traffic conditions.
02 What is the best way to get from Krakow to Auschwitz?
The most popular option is an organised Auschwitz tour from Krakow with round-trip transfers, fast-track entry, and a professional guide. This eliminates all transport logistics and lets you focus on the visit. You can also travel independently by train, bus, or car.
03 How long does a Krakow to Auschwitz tour take?
A full-day guided tour from Krakow takes approximately 7 hours in total – roughly 1 hour 15 minutes of travel each way and about 3.5 hours on-site covering both Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau.
04 Do I need to book Auschwitz tickets in advance?
Yes, advance booking is essential – no passes are sold at the entrance. If you book an organised tour through our partners above, entrance tickets are typically included. We recommend booking at least two months ahead during peak season.
05 Are Auschwitz tours from Krakow available in different languages?
Official guided tours at the memorial are offered in seven languages: English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Polish, and Spanish. Third-party tour operators from Krakow may offer additional language options depending on the provider.
06 Can I visit Auschwitz from Krakow on my own?
Yes, you can travel to Oświęcim independently by train, bus, or car and tour the grounds with a personalised entry pass. However, the museum recommends visiting with a guide-educator for a deeper understanding of the history. If you go independently, you must reserve your entry pass and any guide services well in advance – no tickets are available at the gate. For the easiest experience, we recommend booking one of the guided tours at the top of this page.
07 Is there parking at Auschwitz?
Yes, there is a car park at the museum entrance on Więźniów Oświęcimia Street. Parking costs approximately 5-6€. Arrive early as the lot can fill up, especially during peak season.
08 What should I wear to Auschwitz?
There is no strict dress code, but the museum requires visitors to dress respectfully. Wear comfortable shoes suited for walking on uneven terrain – the tour lasts about 3.5 hours, much of it outdoors. Dress for the weather, as Birkenau offers very little shelter.