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Booking to visit auschwitz?

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Ladder23

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Hi all,

I'm planning a visit here in the coming months with a family member, and was looking for advice or tips from your experience before I plan my visit. I'm curious to know about recommended places to stay, how reliable the shuttle services are, transport etc. any info is appreciated.

Thank you
 
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GardenRail

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We visited by train from Krakow. A good, cheap reliable service. At the time we had booked in advance because of COVID (the museum, not the train). If I went again I would just turn up and buy a ticket at the museum, taking ourselves around rather than on a tour, as it felt rushed.

The shuttle from one site to the other was about every 15 mins and seemed effective.

Both sites however are quite a walk from the station, we did walk as the shuttle did not go past the station. So even if we'd caught the shuttle back to the first site, we'd still have had the walk back to the station. Not a problem, but worth knowing first. Whether that's changed since COVID I don't know. There were plenty of taxis outside the station should you not fancy the walk, though it was a level walk.

As an aside, if you get the train there, and fancy some traditional Polish dumplings, there is a place opposite the station, run by a family, who really seemed to enjoy the fact some English had come in, very friendly.

If you do get chance, the actual town centre is extremely pretty.

My advice though, try not doing a tour. It deserves a lot more time than the guides employed there can possibly give you. You'll know what I mean when you go.

On the pictures below the red line is where the shuttle bus ran, and the purple is what we walked, only using the shuttle to get from one site to the next.
Screenshot_20240708-091155.pngScreenshot_20240708-091807.png
 
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Ladder23

Established Member
Joined
29 Oct 2015
Messages
1,880
We visited by train from Krakow. A good, cheap reliable service. At the time we had booked in advance because of COVID (the museum, not the train). If I went again I would just turn up and buy a ticket at the museum, taking ourselves around rather than on a tour, as it felt rushed.

The shuttle from one site to the other was about every 15 mins and seemed effective.

Both sites however are quite a walk from the station, we did walk as the shuttle did not go past the station. So even if we'd caught the shuttle back to the first site, we'd still have had the walk back to the station. Not a problem, but worth knowing first. Whether that's changed since COVID I don't know. There were plenty of taxis outside the station should you not fancy the walk, though it was a level walk.

As an aside, if you get the train there, and fancy some traditional Polish dumplings, there is a place opposite the station, run by a family, who really seemed to enjoy the fact some English had come in, very friendly.

If you do get chance, the actual town centre is extremely pretty.

My advice though, try not doing a tour. It deserves a lot more time than the guides employed there can possibly give you. You'll know what I mean when you go.

On the pictures below the red line is where the shuttle bus ran, and the purple is what we walked, only using the shuttle to get from one site to the next.
View attachment 161399View attachment 161400
Absolutely fantastic advice, I really appreciate your time with that.. it’s certainly helped.
 

spyinthesky

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As @GardenRail says, transport is very easy to use, all ticket machines have an English option.
I have just spent a week there. A 3 day ticket for Trams and buses costs around £10. Using the local bus from the Airport costs around £1.20 whereas the train is less than a tenner.
Plenty of decent places to stay and all well linked to transport.
There is a lot of effort put in to snare you in to the Group tours which can be expensive compared to DIY.
Avoid the Golf buggy tours around the City, there are some free guided walks and a lot of museums have free entry days.
 

GardenRail

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I forgot to mention, if you are on foot, when you leave the second site, take a little detour to the old railway junction. There is a memorial with one of the old cattle wagons that was used for the mass transportation. It's not part of the paid museum, and the shuttle bus won't take you there or mention it, but I thought it worth a 10 minute detour. It's calm and quiet. Good for reflection after seeing the main parts.
Screenshot_20240708-165733.png
 

_toommm_

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I got the train from Krakow, and for an hour journey each way, it was incredibly cheap (somewhere in the £10-£15 range from memory), with a very cheap shuttle bus there, or it's a 25 minute walk from Oświeçim. For the enthusiast in me, there was a very old EMU on the 19:25 back to Krakow.

I gambled and booked a ticket at Auschwitz as I couldn't get any online. It was free, but they're apparently limited, and I had to wait about 45 minutes for entry. I spent about 5 hours across the two sites. As others have said, I much preferred the slow amble round in my own time vs. a guided tour. The POLIN museum in Warsaw is also a must IMO. Again I spent five hours there, with a tour around but with headphones rather than a guide. I could go at my own pace, and the tour only advanced when I physically moved into the next room. The final rooms were harrowing.
 

Ladder23

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29 Oct 2015
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You're welcome. I will go again one day. Not on a tour of the camp though. It deserves more time.
Thanks for the additional response, I’ll definitely pay a visit to the train carriage!

Im having a little issue trying to figure out booking x2 self guided tour tickets, the site is a little complicated!
 

GardenRail

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504
Thanks for the additional response, I’ll definitely pay a visit to the train carriage!

Im having a little issue trying to figure out booking x2 self guided tour tickets, the site is a little complicated!
It's a nightmare site. I guess you could book an English tour, and when it ends, go off on your own, moving on to the next place when you're ready.
 
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