Auschwitz-Birkenau from Kraków — the complete guide
The former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau is 65 km west of Kraków, in the town of Oświęcim. A visit takes a full day and is one of the most emotionally demanding but also most important places you can visit in Europe. Here is everything you need to plan the visit: tickets, transport, what to expect and what to avoid.
Updated: 2026-04-14
Before you go
Auschwitz-Birkenau is not a tourist attraction in the conventional sense. It is a memorial site for over a million people (mostly European Jews, but also Poles, Roma, and Soviet POWs) murdered here by the Germans between 1940 and 1945. You go to remember, not to sightsee. Most people describe the visit as physically and emotionally exhausting, regardless of how much they read about it beforehand.
Practically: bring water, comfortable shoes (4-5 km of walking on uneven ground), weather-appropriate clothing (most of the route is outdoors), a charged phone. Don't plan anything demanding for the afternoon after you return.
Tickets and booking
Book tickets at visit.auschwitz.org — the official museum site. Sales open 90 days before the visit date. In peak season (May-September) morning slots sell out within 24-48 hours. Don't wait.
Three main ticket types:
- Individual entry — free, available only at 8 AM or after 4 PM. You walk through on your own, no guide.
- Guided tour — mandatory between 10 AM and 3 PM. ~100 zł per person. 3.5 hours. You can choose the language (PL, EN, DE, ES, IT, FR and others).
- Study tour — 6-8 hours, for visitors who want more than the standard route. ~200 zł.
Getting there on your own
- Bus — from MDA Bus Station (next to Kraków Główny). Direct 'Oświęcim' service every hour. ~13-18 zł, 1 h 45 min. You alight right at the museum gate.
- Train — from Kraków Główny to Oświęcim. ~17 zł, 1 h 30 min. From Oświęcim station, bus 24 or 25 to the museum gates (~10 min).
- Bolt — around 250-320 zł one way. Only worth it for 3-4 people.
What the visit looks like
The visit is in two parts. First — Auschwitz I, the original concentration camp, set in pre-war Polish barracks. Here you walk through exhibition blocks: photographs, documents, display cases with personal belongings of those murdered — shoes, suitcases, hair, glasses. The emotionally hardest part of the visit. About 2 hours.
Second — Auschwitz II Birkenau, 3 km away. This is where the largest extermination centre was built; the gas chambers and crematoria were here. The scale is overwhelming: 175 hectares of wooden barracks, the railway track, the ruins of the chambers. The second 1.5 hours of the visit. The free shuttle bus between the camps is included in the ticket.
Etiquette on site
- No smiling selfies. This is a graveyard.
- Silence your phone. Speak quietly. In the residential barracks there are moments when even the guide stops talking — join them.
- Photos are allowed in most places but not everywhere. Listen to your guide.
- Don't leave food or cigarette butts. Don't step off the marked paths.
FAQ
Are tickets free?
Entry to the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau is formally free, but between 10 AM and 3 PM (peak hours) you must reserve with a guide fee of about 100 zł. Outside those hours you can enter individually without a fee, but only at 8 AM or after 4 PM.
Should I go on my own or with a tour?
Both work. On your own: bus from Kraków bus station (~13 zł, 1 h 45 min) or train (~17 zł, 1 h 30 min). With a group: a typical organised tour bus from your hotel, English-speaking guide, return in the afternoon. Logistically simpler.
Can children visit?
The museum advises against visits by children under 14.
How long does the visit take?
The standard route is 3.5 hours — 2 hours in Auschwitz I (the main camp) and 1.5 hours in Auschwitz II Birkenau (3 km away, shuttle bus between camps included). Together with travel from Kraków: a full day (8-9 hours).