Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and Memorial Guided Tour from Krakow

awesome everything I saw, with everything visited was like living what all those people suffered. It is worth visiting and living what others suffered so that it does not happen again

The tour was OK. Auschwitz I is set up like a museum, so it's very hard to grasp the reality of what went on there so many years ago. Our tour guide was also very monotonous and strictly factual--there was little emotional or added colour about the history of Auschwitz. Being very educated about the Holocaust and Auschwitz I felt that I didn't really learn that much, but expected to hear more stories about what went on there. It felt very disconnected from the reality of what happened. On our way out of Birkenau we saw another tour guide reading stories from what looked like a diary, and it seemed to be a much more emotionless experience.

Whilst an extremely harrowing experience the tour guide was so empathic and knowledgable, she made it an extremely memorable experience.

Our tour was excellent, very interesting and definitely worth doing. The documentary on the bus was also very good as it gave us a heads up for what was about to come. But definitely take a coat and jumper as the tour at birkenau was very windy.

Very well organised tour, both guides were very informative. As expected the tour is very popular so it is busy. Would advise to take a small snack as there isn’t much time to visit the bistro at Auschwitz.

We were conveniently picked up in Krakow and taken by comfortable bus to Auschwitz-Birkenau. A documentary film was played en route which was very informative. The guide at Auschwitz was detailed and clear, with headsets supplied to amplify. Auschwitz was very busy, so some queuing was required. We were then taken by bus to Birkenau and the same guide showed us around again with detailed information. We would have liked a little more time, maybe 30 minutes, at Birkenau to walk around.

A much anticipated visit which certainly lived up to expectations. We were accompanied by an excellent guide, Konrad, who was extremely knowledgeable and presented all information in a way that was compassionate and reflective. There was a real balance between historical fact and the real horror of seeing and hearing the human tragedy of the holocaust. Everyone should visit here to face the horrific consequences of racism, intolerance and hatred, and to learn lessons from our past. The coach transfer was comfortable and stress free. We watched a video an route which really helped to frame the day and place everything in context. Plenty of opportunities provided for comfort breaks, etc

From start to finish this tour was stress free for us and well organised. We chose an early start to try and avoid the later crowds, it was still relatively busy, but didn’t feel too overcrowded. During the journey on the coach, we were shown a video. This really set the scene and contained graphic details of what was discovered on liberation of the camp. I found out lots of things I didn’t know and it was good to then put it in context when we arrived. Nothing can prepare you for this trip even if you think you know about the horrors of Auschwitz. Our English speaking guide was excellent, so informative and passionate about the subject and again didn’t pull any punches. Her commentary ( via headsets) made the experience even more moving. The tour didn’t feel too rushed although there were times I would have liked more time to have read the additional information about the exhibits. After a quick break we were then taken the short distance to Birkenau, where we were met again by our guide. She showed us things we had seen in photographs in the morning and brought it to life by walking in their footsteps and trying to imagine what it must have been like. Our guide was so good at letting the facts speak for themselves. The sheer industrial scale of the killings and the totally clinical organised way they were carried out by the Nazis was made abundantly clear by our informative guide who helped to make sense of what little there is left to see -after most of it was destroyed prior to liberation. If you want to have an informative visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau I would definitely recommend this tour for a first visit. I don’t think I would have got as much out of it without our excellent guide. If you want to return, you could then spend more time wandering about in your own time. I’m not sure I would want to go back, but I’m very glad I came. A moving and thought provoking day which I will never forget. Top tip- make sure you have a small (A4 or less) sized bag for your things- they are very strict at enforcing this rule and our bus guide was very good at checking before we went in. Also if possible don’t combine it with another trip eg salt mines- you need to give this all the time you can and time to reflect. This is an emotional trip and it was so nice that all the details were taken care of by the tour guides, leaving us free to just take in the experience. Thank you to Jacek from Krakow tours who organised us where we needed to be throughout the day and our wonderful guide in Auschwitz for bringing such an awful piece of history to life.

I felt the tour was very rushed. The guide spoke so quickly I zoned out:( because of this you don’t get the feel of how devastating this was, so disappointed. This is history and it should be told in such a way that it touches your emotions, this guide didn’t and I’m gutted because I feel like it’s too commercialised now when it shouldn’t be :( if I go again it will be on my own without a guide.

Tour guide was excellent. Well organised and quality transport. Great way to see such an important place.