Private Tour: Auschwitz-Birkenau Tour from Krakow

Explore Auschwitz-Birkenau with a private guide on a full-day trip from Krakow, and learn about life inside the world’s most feared concentration camp during the days of the Third Reich. While the genocide that took place inside Auschwitz-Birkenau is undoubtedly chilling, your guide will explain the site's history with sensitivity, explaining the key events in its history while showing you places like the gas chambers, crematoriums and exhibition halls inside the old prison blocks.

Meet your private guide at your Krakow hotel at your preferred time, and then leave the city by minibus, traveling to Oswiecim, a small town roughly an hour west of Krakow. Your destination here is the UNESCO-listed Auschwitz-Birkenau complex – a harrowing site where the world’s largest genocide attempt once took place.

Enter via the infamous gates bearing the inscription Arbeit Macht Frei (translated as ‘Work Brings Freedom') and then head into the camp to explore its remaining prison blocks while learning about the atrocities that once took place inside.

Established in the early 1940s by German Nazis, the camp was first intended just for Polish political prisoners, but was later changed to become a death center for the Jews of Europe and other groups deemed ‘anti-social,’ like the Poles and Romanians. When this happened, the original Auschwitz camp was extended to include the neighboring site of Birkenau, and the new larger camp went on to be the 'death factory' of an estimated 1.6 million people.

While tales of Auschwitz-Birkenau can be distressing, your guide will explain its history in a sensitive way while showing you the main points of interest. See the crematoriums and colossal gas chambers, as well as the original fences and watchtowers from where the Nazi prison officers would stand guard. Explore the exhibitions inside the old prison blocks and learn about the people who met their fates inside Auschwitz. You’ll also visit a sombre memorial at the camp, where you can stand still for a moment to pay your respects to those who perished here.

During your tour there will be a break for you to have lunch. There is no café at Auschwitz-Birkenau, so you will need to bring your own packed lunch with you (own expense) on the day.

At the end of your time at Auschwitz-Birkenau, return to your minibus for the journey back to Krakow. Your tour finishes with a drop-off at your hotel.

• Transport by air-conditioned minibus
• Private guide
• Entrance fee 
• Hotel pickup and drop-off

• Gratuities (optional)
• Food and drinks