Magda Piasecka 2025-10-30

Guide to visiting Auschwitz with lots of practical tips

How to get to Auschwitz by car, train, or plane

Auschwitz Memorial is located in the town of Oświęcim, in southern Poland.

The entrance for visitors and the parking lot’s address: Więźniów Oświęcimia 55 Street, 32-600 Oświęcim (entrance for visitors’ location on Google Maps). Remember this pin, as the Memorial grounds are extensive and the visitors’ entrance used to be in a different location.

How to get to Auschwitz by car

A paid parking lot is on the Museum premises, right next to the entrance (entrance for visitors’ location on Google Maps). A free multi-story Park & Ride parking lot is next to the Oświęcim train station (location on Google Maps). Walking from there to the Museum takes about 20 minutes.

Approximate (depending on traffic) travel time by car from: Warsaw 3 hrs 40 mins, Wrocław 2 hrs 40 mins, Poznań 4 hrs 30 mins, Kraków 1 hr 20 mins, Gdańsk 5 hrs 50 mins, Katowice 45 mins, Łódź 2 hrs 50 mins, Toruń 4 hr.

How to get to Auschwitz by train

There is one railway station in the town of Oświęcim, and it is called Oświęcim (the railway station in Oświęcim on Google Maps). Here is the train timetable where you can check the connections and buy tickets online.

The most popular DIRECT connections include Warsaw (the shortest travel time: 3 hr 55 mins), Katowice (47 mins), Kraków (44 mins), Poznań (5 hrs 59 mins).

From the train station in Oświęcim, it’s 1.6 km / 1 mile (about a 20-minute walk) to the Auschwitz Museum’s visitor entrance (entrance for visitors’ location on Google Maps). The route is not complicated and is well-marked. Alternatively, you can take a taxi, usually available at the station and the Memorial entrance.

From April to October, a special bus line, “M,” runs between the train station and the main entrance to the Museum. The journey takes five minutes, and the bus runs every 30 minutes from 9 am to 4 pm. Tickets are available at the ticket machine.

How to get to Auschwitz by plane

There are two international airports near Oświęcim: Kraków and Katowice.

Kraków’s international airport, Polish name: Port Lotniczy Kraków-Balice: location on Google Maps, website in English. It’s located 50 km from Oświęcim.

Katowice’s international airport, Polish name: Port Lotniczy Katowice-Pyrzowice: location on Google Maps, website in English. It’s located 60 km from Oświęcim.

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How to get to Auschwitz from Kraków

The most popular way to get to the Auschwitz Memorial is from Kraków, the second-largest city in Poland, the former capital of Poland, the seat of Polish kings, and a popular tourist attraction (our tips on visiting Kraków).

How to get to Auschwitz from Kraków by train

The central railway station in Kraków is called in Polish ‘Kraków Główny’ – the railway station in Kraków on Google Maps. There is only one railway station in the town of Oświęcim, and it is called Oświęcim (the railway station in Oświęcim on Google Maps).

Here is the train timetable where you can check the connections and buy tickets online. There are many direct connections between Kraków and Oświęcim. Train travel times vary from 44 minutes to 1 hour 34 minutes, depending on the type of train (express or local).

From the train station in Oświęcim, it’s 1.6 km / 1 mile (about a 20-minute walk) to the Auschwitz Museum’s visitor entrance (entrance for visitors’ location on Google Maps). The route is not complicated and is well-marked. Alternatively, you can take a taxi usually available at the station and the Memorial entrance.

From April to October, a special bus line, “M,” runs between the train station and the main entrance to the Museum. The journey takes five minutes, and the bus runs every 30 minutes from 9 am to 4 pm. Tickets are available at the ticket machine.

How to get to Auschwitz from Kraków by bus

This is the cheapest way to get to Auschwitz.

The main advantage of traveling from Krakow to the Auschwitz Memorial by bus is that you arrive right at the Museum building (unlike by train, where you have to walk another 20 minutes from the station to the Museum).

You can take a bus directly to the Auschwitz Museum building from central Kraków. The company operating these buses is called Lajkonik. Tickets can be purchased online or directly from the driver (card payment accepted).

The Lajkonik bus stops on the Museum grounds, next to the entrance. There’s a bus stop serving two lines: buses that take tourists to Birkenau as part of their tour, and a further stop: the Lajkonik buses to Kraków.

The bus stop at the Auschwitz Memorial is called in Polish ‘Oświęcim, Muzeum Auschwitz‘. The bus stop in the center of Kraków is located at the central bus station, called in Polish ‘Kraków, Dworzec MDA, ul. Bosacka 18‘.

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What is Auschwitz, Birkenau, Oświęcim, and Brzezinka?

Oświęcim is a town in southern Poland. After the Third Reich attacked Poland, Oświęcim was incorporated into Germany (in October 1939). At that time, the Polish name of the town, Oświęcim, was changed to the German one – Auschwitz. In June 1940, the Third Reich established a concentration camp on the outskirts of Oświęcim, which they named Auschwitz. Two and a half kilometers from Auschwitz is the village of Brzezinka (the occupiers gave it the German name Birkenau), where in 1942 the second part of the camp was established, called Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

The Auschwitz Memorial guided tour covers two parts of the camp, starting at Auschwitz and ending at Birkenau, where visitors are transported by a shuttle bus provided by the Museum.

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How can you visit the Auschwitz Memorial? In what languages ​​are guided tours of the Auschwitz Memorial available?

Due to the growing number of visitors, the rules for entering the Auschwitz Memorial site changed in 2025. This is a good change if you plan your visit in advance – you can book a convenient date online and be sure that you will start visiting the Museum at the chosen time.

Auschwitz Museum offers the following options:

  • Recommended by the Museum – a paid, 3,5 hour tour with a museum guide (referred to as an educator on the museum website). Prior online time slot reservation is required (at visit.auschwitz.org, select “Visit for Individuals”). This is a guided group tour for a given hour. You can choose the language of the tour, with the largest selection available for tours in July and August: Polish, English, Czech, Slovak, Russian, French, German, Spanish, and Italian. During the year’s remaining months, tours are available in the following languages: Polish, English, Russian, French, German, Spanish, and Italian. Reduced tickets are available to students up to 26 years of age, people over 75, and disabled people upon document presentation.
  • You can also book a tour with a museum guide/educator just for yourself. This can be a good option for families, as the guide can adapt to your needs. Prior online time slot reservation is required (at visit.auschwitz.org, select “Visit for groups”, you must create an account; after submitting your inquiry, you will receive a response by email). This option offers a broader choice of tour languages: Polish, English, Czech, Slovak, Russian, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Croatian, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese, Serbian, Swedish, Ukrainian, and Hungarian.
  • Free entrance, without a guide (afternoons only). Prior online time slot reservation is required (at visit.auschwitz.org, select “Visit for Individuals”). The free entry pass can only be obtained online; it cannot be obtained on site at the Museum ticket office. Online free entry pass reservations are possible from 90 to 7 days before the planned visit date. Please note that during high season (April to September), you can only reserve free entry passes for slots after 5 pm. Free entry pass bookings are only possible for afternoon slots: January, November: from 2 pm, February: from 3 pm, March, October: from 4 pm, April-September: from 5 pm, December: from 1 pm.

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How does a tour of the Auschwitz Memorial with a museum guide/educator work step by step

  • Purchase a guided tour online at the museum website for a specific date and time (visit.auschwitz.org).
  • Arrive at the Auschwitz Memorial a little before your scheduled tour time. The entrance for visitors and the parking lot’s address: Więźniów Oświęcimia 55 Street, 32-600 Oświęcim (entrance for visitors’ location on Google Maps). You should arrive a little before your tour time, but don’t arrive too early, as you won’t be able to enter the Museum building anyway; you’ll have to wait outside by the parking lot. In front of the Museum, there is helpful Museum staff who can answer your questions in English. In front of the entrance to the Museum, there is a parking lot, free toilets, vending machines with drinks and snacks (card payments accepted), and paid luggage storage (card payments accepted).
  • Signs will be posted at the entrance to the museum with your tour time. Then, you can enter the Museum building. 
  • When entering, in addition to the ticket, you will have to show some ID (the ticket contains the name and surname of the visitor); this also applies to children. Remember to bring ID for all visitors!
  • You’ve been outside in front of the Museum building all this time, and now you’re finally going inside. The next step is a security check, similar to an airport one.
  • Inside the Museum building, approach the information desk, where you will receive a sticker on your clothing with the time and language of your tour.
  • At the tour start time, the guide takes you to the place where you will receive headphones and begin the tour.
  • The first part of the tour covers the Auschwitz concentration camp. You will walk around the camp, listen to a guide, see the “Arbeit macht frei” gate, and enter the barracks where the photos and displays are located.
  • Next, your group will exit the Auschwitz camp grounds, in front of the Museum building, where you entered the Museum. There’s a bus stop there, where a shuttle bus provided by the Museum will take you to the second part of your tour – Birkenau (you do not need a bus ticket).
  • The second part of the tour is a visit to the facilities in the Birkenau camp: prisoner barracks, the unloading ramp, the ruins of the gas chambers and crematoria.
  • The tour ends here in Birkenau (after about 3.5 hours, with a lot of walking!) and you’ll return to the main museum building on the shuttle bus.

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Can I visit the Auschwitz Memorial without booking an admission ticket in advance?

The Auschwitz Museum is visited by approximately two million people annually, so planning your visit well in advance is recommended. During the high season (April-September), buying a ticket for a guided tour overnight is very difficult, especially if you need several tickets for your family.

There is basically no such thing as a ticket office at the Auschwitz Memorial. Everything, including guided tour tickets and free entry passes, can be booked online. Availability can be easily checked on their online reservation website: visit.auschwitz.org.

There is a limited number of entry passes for paid tours available each day at the service points in front of the main entrance to the Museum. But, especially in the high season, they are sold out early in the morning, right after opening, so we do not recommend this option (even if you go early in the morning to buy a ticket, there may already be single tickets available for the afternoon tours, which means you have to wait in Oświęcim from the morning until late afternoon).

Booking a free entry pass is easier than a guided tour; however, these are only available for afternoons. For example, during high season (April to September), you can only reserve free entry passes for slots after 5 pm.

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Visiting the Auschwitz Memorial with children

According to official Auschwitz Memorial regulations, there is no age restriction on entry for children. The Museum website states: “Children under 14 are not recommended to visit the Museum.”

When it comes to children visiting the Auschwitz Memorial, two aspects are key:

  • Is the child emotionally ready for a visit to Auschwitz?
  • Is the child able to maintain the quiet required at Auschwitz?

Parents must answer both of these questions before deciding to take their child to the Auschwitz Memorial. Will my child be able to cope with a visit to the former extermination camp emotionally? Will my child be able to remain silent and respectful during the tour?

From the reports of Museum guides and our visit, it is clear that parents bring children of different ages to visit the Auschwitz Memorial.

What is worth remembering if parents decide to visit the Auschwitz Memorial with their child:

  • Most of the museum’s photographs and displays are shocking and evoke powerful emotions. The exhibits are deeply affecting, even for adults. These include, for example, pictures of emaciated children, a display case containing hundreds of prisoners’ shoes, or a display of fabric made from prisoners’ hair. All of this is located in the camp’s barracks. The tour involves visitors walking with a guide through the extensive campgrounds, entering selected barracks with displays. Visitors with children may choose not to enter the barracks (though please note that in such a case, you will miss a significant portion of the tour).
  • Visitors are given headphones during the tour to hear the guide’s voice. Some families visiting the Auschwitz Memorial with children decide not to give their children the headphones. They walk at the back of the group and can’t hear the guide.
  • Please note that the guided tour is long and requires a lot of walking. It can be physically challenging for adults, let alone children. The guided tour lasts 3.5 hours and covers a lot of ground. There is one short break while waiting for the bus to Birkenau (time to use the restroom and buy something from the vending machine). Eating is not permitted at the Auschwitz Memorial. You can only grab a snack while waiting for the bus to Birkenau.
  • Accessibility for disabled people and visitors with wheelchairs and strollers is limited. The entire area of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum is entered in the register of historical monuments, which requires the preservation of the authenticity of the historical site; so, the possibilities of its adaptation and adjustment to the specific needs of visitors are limited. There are steep stairs in the barracks, and the walking areas in the camp are uneven and difficult for wheelchairs or strollers. An option for parents with small children may be baby carriers (the question is, how will a child cope during a 3.5-hour tour?). A new museum display is being prepared, with better accessibility for people with disabilities; it’s a significant project scheduled for completion in 2030.
  • If you decide to visit the Auschwitz memorial with children, it is worth talking to them a lot before the visit – learning about the history of the camp yourself and telling it to the children in your own words. Talking with parents, watching films, and reading books about the history of Auschwitz and the Holocaust will help prepare the family for a visit to the Auschwitz Memorial. For teenagers, Viktor Frankl’s book “Man’s Search for Meaning” (a Young Adult Edition is available) or Steven Spielberg’s film “Schindler’s List” might be helpful. While they don’t take place at Auschwitz, they do depict the workings of Nazi concentration camps. The Museum website contains materials to prepare for a visit to the Auschwitz Memorial, available in various languages (https://www.auschwitz.org/en/visiting/preparation-to-a-visit/).
  • Weather-appropriate clothing, comfortable shoes, and water. Please note that most of the 3.5-hour tour takes place outdoors. Depending on the season, you’ll need appropriate clothing. Wear a hat to protect yourself from the sun in summer and bring water. In winter, wear warm clothing. An umbrella or raincoat may be helpful depending on the weather forecast for the day. It’s worth having water with you. Free toilets are available approximately halfway through the tour, when there is a short break and the group is waiting for the bus to Birkenau.
  • Maximum size of backpacks or handbags brought into the Museum: 35x25x15 cm. Luggage storage lockers are available for a fee.

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Photos taken by the author during the tour in August 2025. First part of the tour, Auschwitz:

Photos taken by the author during the tour in August 2025. Second part of the tour, Birkenau:

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