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Things to do in Oswiecim

Our most recommended things to do in Oswiecim

Krakow: Auschwitz-Birkenau Tour with Pickup & Optional Lunch

1. Krakow: Auschwitz-Birkenau Tour with Pickup & Optional Lunch

Pay your respects at the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp. Make use of transportation from Krakow, and take a guided tour of the historical landmark. Benefit from pick-up at your accommodation in Krakow, and journey by air-conditioned vehicle to Oświęcim. Enter the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum for a 3.5-hour guided tour of the former Nazi concentration camps.  Hear how 1.3 million Jews, along with prisoners from Poland, France and Italy were murdered there during World War II. See the infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" gate and learn the origins of the camp and what life was like for the prisoners. Visit the original barracks and gas chambers, along with platforms and other sites, and take a poignant trip through history via period photos and personal artifacts that bring the past to life.

Kraków: Auschwitz-Birkenau & Wieliczka Salt Mine with Pickup

2. Kraków: Auschwitz-Birkenau & Wieliczka Salt Mine with Pickup

You will start in the early morning around 08:00 a.m. (in the winter season the pick up might be slightly earlier). The tour begins in the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum: first part lasts about 1,5 hours, you will visit Auschwitz I Museum with certified live guide provided by the museum. You will learn the tragic history of the largest concentration camp in Europe. After short break you will be driven to the Birkenau Museum when you will spend around 1 hour with the same guide. During the second half of your full-day program, you will travel to the Salt Mine in Wieliczka, which is one of the oldest working salt mines in the world. Before entering the Salt Mine you will have 1 hour lunch break. The English-speaking tour of the Mine will begin at 16:00 or 17:00 (depending on road conditions). Head 140 meters underground on a 2.5-hour journey along more than 2.5 kilometers of tourist routes and see chambers with amazing carvings and statues, with everything made of salt. You should arrive around 19:30 p.m. to Kraków.

Auschwitz-Birkenau: Fast Track Entry Ticket & Guided Tour

3. Auschwitz-Birkenau: Fast Track Entry Ticket & Guided Tour

Visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp on a guided tour with a WWII expert. Explore the history of this infamous complex and learn about the tragic events that took place in it. See the original barracks in which prisoners were held to fully understand their situation. Meet your guide near the museum entrance, receive your entrance ticket, and go through security to join your group. Pass through the famous "Arbeit macht frei" gate to enter Auschwitz I, where your guide will show you around the original preserved site and explain its touching history. After a short break, visit the second camp in Birkenau, where mass murders were carried out as part of the Nazi "Final Solution to the Jewish Problem".

Oswiecim: Auschwitz-Birkenau Skip-The-Line Entrance Tickets

4. Oswiecim: Auschwitz-Birkenau Skip-The-Line Entrance Tickets

Visit Auschwitz-Birkenau, on the convenient tour with booked tickets, skip the tickets line access and a professional. Museum Visit Firstly visit Auschwitz I memorial site for approx. 2h with a, accompany of a professional guide through the whole camp. Enter to camp through the main gate with the inscription “Arbeit Macht Frei" (work sets you free). Pass brick Barack's, see the artefacts, photographs of prisoners, reconstructions of the whole complex as well the only remaining gas chambers and crematories. Then, continue the visit with a guide to the camp Birkenau for about 1h. Enter to horrifying wooden blocks, where almost 1000 people were living in inhuman conditions. See the ruins of has chambers and crematoria, a part of the industrial genocide of Nazi Germany.

From Krakow: Auschwitz-Birkenau Camp Complex Guided Day Trip

5. From Krakow: Auschwitz-Birkenau Camp Complex Guided Day Trip

Discover the human stories of the Holocaust on this guided trip from Krakow to the concentration camps of Auschwitz, Birkenau, and Monowitz. Learn how the camps were set up and the purposes each one served. Pause to reflect on what happened in these sites. Start with your pickup in Krakow. From there, you will ride about 45 kilometers to reach the former main camp in Auschwitz. Listen to your guide discuss the camp’s former use as barracks for the Polish military. At the entrance, note the gate with “Arbeit macht frei” over it. Visit the prisoner blocks, which now house artifacts from the camps and belongings left by the prisoners. See photographs and documents, shoes, suitcases, and glasses among other personal effects. From Auschwitz, travel a short distance to the former camp at Birkenau. There you will find the gas chambers and crematoria. Keep the camp’s victims in mind as you make your way around the memorials.  After Birkenau, your tour will finish at the concentration camp in Monowitz. Learn about the connection between corporations and the camps. Unlike Auschwitz and Birkenau, Monowitz supplied workers to nearby factories. The trip will end with your return to Krakow.

Auschwitz-Birkenau: Memorial Entry Ticket with Guided Tour

6. Auschwitz-Birkenau: Memorial Entry Ticket with Guided Tour

Come to Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum (listed by UNESCO as a Natural and Cultural Heritage site) using your own means of transport. Enjoy having tickets for a guided tour already with you and walk to the entrance. Meet your authorised, live guide on-site and follow them into Auschwitz I where you will have a chance to walk on the ground of the former camp, built in 1940 in the suburbs of Oswiecim. Use a headset provided to let you hear the guide's words no matter the distance or group size. Discover lives of people who were kept in this place while seeing exhibitions presented in barracks they used to live. The total number of deaths is estimated at over 1.5 million people, representing 28 nationalities. Nearly 90 percent of them were Jews. Once the first part of the tour is completed, take a bus available on-site and travel few minutes to Auschwitz II-Birkenau where the visit with the guide continues. Walk along the railway which facilitated transports to the other part of the camp. See ruins of gas chambers in which people "vanished" on a mass scale. You can contribute to keeping the memory of the atrocities commited there by coming there and learning more about it.

From Katowice: Auschwitz-Birkenau Skip-the-Line Guided Tour

7. From Katowice: Auschwitz-Birkenau Skip-the-Line Guided Tour

Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest of Nazi Germany’s concentration camps. Located in German-occupied southern Poland, it took its name from the nearby town of Oświęcim, situated about 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) from Katowice. The complex consisted of three main camps: Auschwitz I — the administrative centre; Auschwitz II (Birkenau) — an extermination camp; and Auschwitz III (Monowitz) — a work camp. On this guided tour of Auschwitz II-Birkenau, discover the terrifying but touching site where at least 1.1 million people were killed, 90% of them Jews from almost every European country. See the gas chambers where the vast majority were slaughtered using Zyklon B, and learn more about the Holocaust with your English-speaking guide. Hear about the most important original objects at Birkenau, and visit the permanent exhibition and original buildings on the grounds of the main camp (Auschwitz). Pay your respects and take some moments for reflection in a place laden with historic horrors.  With this tour, both skip-the-line entrance tickets and hotel pickup and drop-off in Katowice are included. However, if you are staying in a hostel, Airbnb, or any form of private residence, you will have to make your way to the meeting point at the local partner's office in the city center to begin your tour.

Krakow: Guided Auschwitz Birkenau Tour

8. Krakow: Guided Auschwitz Birkenau Tour

Your experience begins at the meeting point of 14 Straszewskiego Street. From Krakow, you will travel directly to the Auschwitz Birkenau Museum. Your local guide will maintain your interest for 3.5 hours as you visit both concentration camps. You'll also tour exhibitions which sit in remaining prison blocks, as well as prisoner rooms, the death wall, the gas chambers, crematoria buildings, remaining barracks, the railway ramp in Birkenau, and many other original objects presenting everyday camp reality and the treatment of imprisoned people. The UNESCO-listed Auschwitz Museum and Birkenau are located in Oświęcim, and are two of the most significant places in Europe. The site is the symbol of the Holocaust, one of the greatest crimes against humanity in world history. At the conclusion of your experience, you'll be returned to your accommodation in Krakow.

From Krakow: Auschwitz-Birkenau Tour with Transportation

9. From Krakow: Auschwitz-Birkenau Tour with Transportation

Visit the concentrations camps at Auschwitz and Birkenau, tragically powerful symbols of 20th-century atrocities. The camp at Auschwitz was set up by the Nazis on the outskirts of Oświęcim, Poland in 1940. Built for the Third Reich, the camp was established to address the growing number of mass arrests of Poles and overcrowding in existing prisons. Initially the camp was to follow the model of others created by the Nazis in the 1930s. In 1942, however, it became the center for the Endlösung der Judenfrage, or the Final Solution, which was the Nazi plan to exterminate Jews from all Third Reich territories. Your experienced local guide will take you on tours of both Auschwitz and Birkenau. This will give you a better understanding of the Holocaust and Nazi crimes against the Poles, Gypsies, Jews, and many others. You’ll learn about the historical and political background behind the creation of the camp at Auschwitz as you visit the prison blocks, gas chambers, and crematorium.

Auschwitz-Birkenau Guided Tour & Transfer from Krakow

10. Auschwitz-Birkenau Guided Tour & Transfer from Krakow

Travel to Auschwitz-Birkenau on a 7-hour trip from Krakow. Visit the largest death camp in human history, and an infamous site of genocide during WWII. Auschwitz-Birkenau is synonymous with the worst atrocities ever committed. The camp was built by the Nazis in 1940 in the suburbs of Oswiecim. The total number of deaths is estimated at over 1.5 million people, representing 28 nationalities. Nearly 90 per cent of those killed were Jews. A visit to the former concentration camp is certain to be memorable because it makes it possible to imagine the scale of the Holocaust. Since 1979 the site has been listed by UNESCO on its Cultural and Natural World Heritage list.

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What people are saying about Oswiecim

Overall rating

4.7 / 5

based on 4,051 reviews

It was snowing heavy when we visited but in a way it made it nicer, Peter our driver picked us up at a nearby location and was very friendly. He brought us to the first camp and explained everything very clearly to us to where to go etc. You only get a 15min break before going to next camp, I'd suggest bringing snacks/water with you as the que gets long and you won't get time to rest/eat. It was emotional at times during the tour especially the gas chamber but its something everyone should do. "By standing on the fence you are siding with the oppressors"

Very well organised from start to finish, everybody speaks very good English and the woman (Anna) who walked us around the tour was lovely. She would wait for everyone to make sure everybody saw everything and they all had the information they needed. Even though it was very busy it felt like we had enough time to see everything that we wanted to. I would definitely recommend going and couldn’t fault the day at all.

Brilliant driver with a good verbal history of Krakow and it's history and landmarks as we travelled out of the city. Comfortable and well organized and the Camp tour guide was outstanding. Highly recommended

Great service, picked up on time, the actual.guide at at Auschwitz was amazing, very knowledgeable and went at a good pace. Highlyly recommend

Great tour guide Very informative Punctual for pick up and drop off Once in a lifetime experience Great value for money