Auschwitz’s tours

Posted by silfci10 on 09/09/25 12:02 PM

All tours inside Auschwitz are run by museum authorized personnel only. The only value added from the tour company is the bus. The museum page warns of tour companies not making the reservation when you book, then canceling on you last minute, when they find there’s no space left. The museum states that tour companies have been doing this, and blaming the museum for being short of guides.

This is exactly what Krakow Booking just did to us. We picked their tour as they were listed in Rick Steves Poland guidebook.

I would recommend strongly that if you want to see Auschwitz you should make your own reservation. The only legit site is on the museum page. You cannot book an entry ticket within 5 days, and the tour company canceled on us just 2 days out. So unless you want to chance 2 hrs each way on public transport in the hopes of getting a last minute entry spot, book your own ticket. Don’t trust the tour company.

Posted by biwang

09/23/25 01:58 PM

50 posts

Thanks a lot for the advice. I will go to Krakow tomorrow (9/24) and stay for four nights. I haven't booked the Auschwitz tours yet and found out the Auschwitz's tours are booked out during my stay. I regretted not booking earlier. Could anyone help me how to get last minute reliable booking either from museum website or through a reliable touring company. If I book myself thru museum website (not sure it they still have open slots), is it a big hassle to get the Auschwitz via public transportation or I have to pay uber to get there and what kind of cost I'm looking at. I'm very anxious to get to Auschwitz and would be a big disappointment if I could not make it this time.

I'm at Wroclaw now after Berlin Marathon, for folks who have helped me on the logistics and all the insights in a few months back. The marathon went well although it was super hot. I did very well given the hot temperature. Wroclaw is so fantastic and i really enjoy it. Thank you all for who helped to make a decision to come to Wroclaw and all the help. Lori, if you read this, your recommendations are so awesome. I will check out the lamplighting and neon lights this evening. thanks so much. The restaurant you recommend (Kongpira, if i may spell it wrong) is so good and I will come to it again tonight.

I hope you could help me on get to Auschwitz on Sept 24 -26. I really appreciate your help. This forum has been so helpful.

All the best,
Bing

Posted by biwang

09/23/25 02:02 PM

50 posts

I went to the museum website. All days during my stay (Sept 25/26/27) all booked out. Is it still possible to get a ticket? I'm just by myself. So individual ticket is good. Any touring company may still have a ticket (if cancelation stuff)?

It is really a bummer and I regretted not having book earlier.

Bing

Posted by slowder27

10/08/25 07:29 PM

5 posts

We visited the Auschwitz camp in April and booked our tour through Facebook with @Slavo NK, as he came highly recommended. Communication was excellent from the start. The day before the tour, Slavo reached out to confirm the pickup time. The tickets were already pre-booked (as they’re issued under visitors’ names), so everything was perfectly organized.

The museum guide was very knowledgeable and happy to answer all our additional questions.
I can honestly recommend Slavo – great service, smooth experience, and absolutely no issues.
You can also check out his private Facebook group about Kraków here.
https://www.facebook.com/share/g/16yLsSmPWw/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Posted by silfci10 OP

10/09/25 11:08 AM

3 posts

It appears that the problem might be the way some Polish museum sites sell the tickets. If you buy just one, it’s quite expensive. But if a tour company buys in blocks of 10, 20, or 30 there are significant discounts for them. It incentivizes the tour companies to take your booking, but not actually buy the ticket until last minute, to see if they can get more people. In my case, they left last minute until too late and there were no more tickets available. Then they blame the museum.
I saw this ticket model at other sites too. It probably works well for school groups and bus tours, but wrecks havoc with local tours.

Posted by moss

10/19/25 04:17 PM

104 posts

BlockquoteThe only legit site is on the museum page. You cannot book an entry ticket within 5 days, and the tour company canceled on us just 2 days out. So unless you want to chance 2 hrs each way on public transport in the hopes of getting a last minute entry spot, book your own ticket. Don’t trust the tour company.

If you do this, how do you get from Krakow to Auschwitz?

The museum seems to only sell entry tickets, not transportation tickets.

Aren't you then still chancing public transportation?

Posted by acraven

Washington DC

10/19/25 05:45 PM

29593 posts

There's public-bus service to Auschwitz. At the time of my visit (2018), some buses went to the camp and some did not. It's not always easy to get reliable bus information online, so I walked over to the bus station the day before my trip to Auschwitz to get the necessary information. I imagine the tourist office could help with that as well. I may also have bought the bus ticket one day ahead of time; I don't remember.

This website lays out the options for getting to Auschwitz from Krakow: https://visitkrakow.com/how-to-get-to-auschwitz-birkenau-from-krakow/