Sachsenhausen Tour or independent?

Rick does not have an audio tour of Sachsenhausen. Here is a link to his audio guides in Germany.

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours/austria-germany#germany

I did Rick's Germany, Austria and Switzerland tour a number of years ago and had Carlos Meissner as my guide. He does private tours of Sachsenhausen and I would tour any site with him he was so well-grounded in history as well as presenting things in an interesting manner.

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/guides/carlos-meissner
https://www.berlinguidesassociation.com/guides/carlos-meissner

Although I have not traveled with him, Holger Zimmer is working with Seymour Travels to do some tours of Berlin and I have a lot of confidence in Mark Seymour's judgement of an excellent guide. I am not sure if he is doing private tours but you could google.

I went to Sachsenhausen about 15 years ago on my own, and yes it’s an easy train trip from Berlin. I think it was on the S-Bahn system. It was very moving and sobering. It’s east to navigate on your own and the signage has English. I definitely recommend going. RS does not have an audio tour for it. Here’s the link to all his audio tours: https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours

I did a tour with Insider Tours to Sachsenhausen quite a few years ago and thought it was well worth the time and money as the guide talked all the way there and all the way back, so we ended up getting about 6 hours of information and details. Then about 10 years ago, I was with a tour group that had arranged a private tour with the guides that work there. This was also a good tour. I think you get a lot out of having a guide draw your attention to things that you might miss just by walking around, or relate stories from survivors or liberators that they have personally met. I find those to be so meaningful. Perhaps go with a tour, and then stay longer if you want to spend more time there?

You could also visit Ravensbrück, which was a KZ for women. It has a different feel to it.

Sachsenhausen Camp is an easy place to visit without a guide. Pleasant train ride from Berlin. Walk of about 20-25 mins to the camp, past pleasant suburban houses and whilst you walk, you can reflect on what it must it must have been like for those residents to glance out their windows and see the lorries carrying prisoners rumble by. The camp grounds are expansive and the display boards are very informative and take you around the key points of the camp.

I did a group tour, only about a dozen of us I think, back in 2017. I can’t remember the company I used, sorry. But I highly recommend doing a tour, you will learn so much more than doing it on your own.

I visited Sachsenhausen independently in 2019 while staying in Berlin. There was an audio guide that can be picked up at the visitor centre (their website lists a charge of 3.5 Euros per audio guide), and I found the guide quite useful. As for getting there, it is an fairly straight forward train trip from central Berlin and about a 15 minute walk once you get off the train. There was decent signage from the train station to the entrance of the camp. Of note, KZ is the German abbreviation for concentration camp, and may show up on some signage.

Thank you for all your suggestions.

FYI that we visited Sachsenhausen on Friday March 5 2026.

We purchased a Welcome Card for 4 days for ABC zones for 56.50 euro per person. We took the S1 train from Brandenburger Tor station to the end of the line Oranienburg station, about 40 mins. We then walked about 1.2 km to the Sachsenhausen site. Very easy walk thru town and as previous person said thru the neighborhood that SS had lived in and definitely people lived in that were around the camp. Very difficult thinking that people went about their normal lies while other people were being murdered a few hundred yards away.

For the camp visit, we purchased the audio guides for 3.5 euros each.

You really do not need a guide since you can purchase the audio guides. We spent from 9:30 to closing about 4:30. All day , it was difficult and somewhat repetitive, they focus on both the perpetrators and the victims. Only nazi camp I have been to so cannot compare, but definitely if in Berlin a must visit. And you can do it without a guide very easily.

If you want to spend less time stick to the red highlights on the audio guide.

Todd,

I decided to book a tour of Sachsenhausen with Original Berlin Walks and thought they did a great job. On the train ride there, the guide provided background information and history of the camp, and more information once we arrived. I felt that a tour was the best approach for me.