Visit Auschwitz – Budget Travel In Poland

Visit Auschwitz-Birkenau to experience the biggest and most infamous of the Nazi death camps of WWII.

Approximately one million people were murdered in Auschwitz. Jews make up a large percentage of those victims but there were also Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners and other ‘undesireables’ sent to the gas chambers.

Situated to the east of Krakow, Auschwitz attracts approximately 2 million visitors every year and is one of the most popular day trips from the city. A visit to the camps is a very chilling and emotional experience. It is hard to imagine one million people being systematically murdered. The museum here goes some way to showing the extent of the horrors that occurred here.

How To Get To Auschwitz From Krakow

By bus:

When I visited Auschwitz for the first time, I took the public bus. This was the cheapest option. Buses leave Krakow main bus station and take you directly to the site.

By tour:

This is probably the easiest option but the most expensive. I had to use a tour operator on my second visit as I was not aware that all visits now need to be booked in advance. There were no available time slots available during my time in Krakow so a tour operator was the only way. ‘GetYourGuide’ was cheaper than most of the street operators. They basically provide transport to and from the camps and give you an information booklet and that is all. It took over an hour just to get out of the city as there were many pickups. I would advise booking your trip in advance and taking the bus.

How Much Does It Cost To Visit Auschwitz?

Admission to the camp is free but you can take a guided tour which costs between 50 and 60 PLN, depending on the language.

I am not usually one for guided tours. However, we took the guided tour at Auschwitz and it was definitely worth it. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and able to answer everyone’s questions. She linked the horrors of the Holocaust to current events and showed just how quickly and easily people can be manipulated to such an extent that they allow such evil to prevail.

Auschwitz Opening Times

The site is open 7 days a week at the following times:

• 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM December
• 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM January, November
• 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM February
• 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM March, October
• 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM April, May, September
• 8:00 AM – 7:00 PM June, July, August

It is advised to allow at least 3 hours to visit both camps.

Auschwitz I

Auschwitz I is the original camp that was not built by the Nazis. The barracks have been converted into museums with each museum focusing on one particular aspect of the Holocaust.

The tour begins by entering the gate under the slogan ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ which translates as ‘work makes you free’. This was to give prisoners the false impression that by working hard, they would survive. They would soon discover this was not the case. In fact, as soon as prisoners entered the camp, their first sight could have been piles of corpses of other prisoners that had tried to escape. The message was clear.

Inside the barracks, there are hundreds of photos and a lot of information. You could spend a long time here if you read absolutely everything. As I was restricted by time, I had to choose to read the aspects that were of most interest. The images are harrowing to say the least.

As you move around the camp, the museums become more shocking. The sheer scale of death becomes more clear.

Putting faces to numbers.

Several thousand prisoners were shot at this wall.

The whole site was surrounded by barbed wire and electric fences.

In some of the barracks, there are temporary exhibitions. On my second visit, there was a barrack dedicated to the fate of the Jews in the Netherlands. This picture shows a map of Amsterdam given to the Nazis by the Dutch authorities. Each red dot represents ten Jews.

At the end of the tour, we reached the only remaining gas chamber and crematorium. The others were destroyed by the Nazis to hide evidence of the atrocities that took place.

The gas chambers were big enough to kill 2,000 people at a time.

This is the final stop on the tour of the Auschwitz I camp.

Auschwitz II Birkenau

A short bus ride will take you to Auschwitz II Birkenau. This is the camp that was purposely built by the Nazis with only one purpose: to kill the huge number of European refugees that were arriving in their thousands.

Most of the camp was destroyed by the Nazis just before liberation but there is still enough left to show how terrible life must have been like for the prisoners. The camp is massive and shows the scale of the operation. This was the Nazi’s final solution.

I visited some of the barracks that are still standing.

I then moved on to the selection area where Jews had to queue to learn their fate

Thousands of Jews, having spent days in carriages with no toilets or food and water, would be sent straight to the gas chambers.

Just beyond the selection area is the remains of the two gas chambers.

I then visited more barracks. Information signs informed me that one of these barracks was used to kill new born babies and their mothers.

Upon leaving the camp, a small band called ‘Orchestra of Hope’ were set up on the rail tracks that enter the site. It was a fitting ending to my visit.

Is Auschwitz Worth Visiting?

Auschwitz is an incredible experience, though obviously not an enjoyable one. It is highly educational and informative. Even though I had read many books about the Holocaust, I still learnt something. The displays really bring home the horror that took place here. I feel it is important that the museum continues to promote understanding of what took place here and works towards ensuring it never happens again. There are not many survivors left and the rise in number of Holocaust deniers show why it is so important that people are never allowed to forget where prejudice and hatred can lead.

For more information, visit auschwitz.org/en