Best way to get from Krakow to Auschwitz?

The $19 tour seems too good to be true.

Auschwitz conducts its own tours onsite, so the other companies are generally selling you a package that includes transit from a pickup point (sometimes your hotel) and transit to Auschwitz where you're dropped off for a tour with the onsite guides, transit from Auschwitz to Birkenau, and then transit from Birkenau back to your droppoff point in Krakow.

If you prefer someone to handle the logistics, those group "tours" handle all the transit details. If you prefer DIY, others here can tell you options for taking public transit.

"Best" is a subjective term, so it would help if you said a little more about what you
think that means.

Public transport is just fine, here is the link:
Krakow to Auschwitz

If you also want to visit Birkenau, there is a shuttle between the two.

The thing about guided tours is that you don't always get the amount of time you might want to
have, but you get someone who is knowledgeable. A self-guided tour is as long as you want it
to be, but if you mess up the logistics, it's on you. A self-guided tour is obviously usually cheaper.

I think a visit to a place like Auschwitz will impact people in different ways, so one size will not
fit all.

"Best" is a subjective term, so it would help if you said a little more about what you
think that means.

Valid question.

Best means:

• Best service for least money. I don't want to spend $100 for the
  same service I can get from another company from $20

• Reliable. I've seen reports of reserved transportation showing up
  late for pickup in Krakow or canceling the day before. Would like to
  avoid that. **If I buy tour tickets form the Auschwitz museum, i
  want to do that very soon so I don't miss out, and I have to select
  an time. The entry time dictates when I leave Krakow, so I want to
  coordinate this now and be able to count on it.

• A good narrative tour guide in English. Is this the tour provided by
  the Auschwitz museum or do third party tours do this better? If the
  latter, which ones? There seem to be many options.

• Clear logistics. If I take the public bus, is it pretty reliable and
  does it drop off and pick up at convenient locations? Convenient
  defined as somewhere near the center of Krakow that I can walk or
  uber to from my hotel on the Eastern edge of the old town, and does
  it drop off within, say, a half mile walk of the entrance to
  Auschwitz.

Also, would prefer self-guided if that's an option.

OP, that is a helpful update. But if you check out the link for the public bus embedded in
the link I included, you will see there are multiple pickup/dropoff points in Krakow, so there's
a pretty good chance one will be within reasonable distance to you.

Perhaps paradoxically, I would trust public transport to be more or less on time, especially
since there are departures every hour or so, plus, as long as you have the return schedule,
you can spend as long as you want visiting the site(s).

The bus ticket is ~$6 one way, so if you want cheap transport, I think that's your answer.

As far as tours go, I think I just used the RS book and that was very informative. Obviously
self-guided.

I did one of those inexpensive day tours to Auschwitz about ten years ago and thought it was great. Keep in mind, everything in Poland is inexpensive, at least it seemed so to me back then.

People have posted here recently about commercial tour companies not coming through with the Auschwitz tickets that were paid for. Since the tickets sell out every single day, you need to buy your own tickets in advance, like, NOW. There are NO private guides or drivers or minders allowed inside the Camps. You must take the proprietary tour (followed by free time) provided with your Auschwitz ticket.

We used an Imperialist car service, so I won't recommend that to you.

The starting point for the buses to Auschwitz, per the schedule posted by shoeflyer above, is "Krakow MDA". That's the bus station, which is located behind the train station. If you walk from the center of town, it's not super-obvious where the bus station is located (at least that was the case in 2018), so firing up a map on your phone would be smart. It could take a bit of extra time to navigate around the train station, so don't cut it too close.

As Tim said, online tickets for Auschwitz sell out, sometimes rather far ahead of time. They were sold out for 8 days into the future at the time of my summer 2018 trip. I know November is probably a lot less busy than summer, but there seem to be considerably more people traveling to major destinations these days.

Krakow is a lovely city. I hope you'll have time to see some additional sights there, not just Auschwitz.

Jumping into this with a couple additional questions. We plan to visit in March. I've also heard about the issues with tour companies misrepresenting what is included and/orcancelling, so plan to purchase entry/tour tickets directly from the museum.

1) How far in advance should we get tickets? Is this something where we really need to jump on it and purchase tickets as soon as they are released for our dates?

2) Any recommendations for a reliable, round-trip private or small group transfer service, and how much did it cost you? It looks like bus tickets are ~22 pln each way, so for 4 of us that's ~175 pln for transport. Just wondering if it's worth paying extra for something that would pick us up at our lodging rather than trying to find the bus station. I'll have may parents with me, who are mobile, but just trying to reduce unecessary stress/walking. Not being tied to the bus schedule for the return would also be beneficial.

Laura you may wish to read this trip report. Auschwitz is at the end. If you skip down to "car service" you'll find some details. The distance and time from Krakow are substantial. I don't remember when I bought the tickets, but you can't buy them too soon. Are you concerned about cancellation? That's what travel insurance is for, if it covers prepaid admissions.

I don't remember what the private car service charged, but it's probably around $200 round trip. If you want more free time, be sure to discuss that when getting a quote. Time is money. They picked us up at Birkenau, because that is where the house guide leaves you, typically.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/four-cities-in-poland-2019

March is 30F to 45F, so I would be prepared with heavy winter clothing and waterproof boots or shoes if you find snow in Krakow. Plenty of walking from building to building, and Birkenau is mostly outdoors.

I took the bus from the Krakow main bus station which is behind Krakow Glowny train station. It was cheap, I don't remember the price. I got round trip and I believe you can get on any return bus.

I didn't get a tour. I just walked around by myself. There is so much information there as displays that you don't really need a tour. Each barracks building is a separate museum with information about the prisoners from each country. You don't really need a guide for this. You can merely walk into any building that interests you and read the displays. In fact, the tour groups were at a disadvantage because they all rushed through the buildings like cattle whereas the people who come by themselves can take their time wherever they want to go.

There is a separate free shuttle bus that takes you to Birkenau. I could have spent a lot more time at Birkenau but at that point it was near the end of the day and I was tired.

Thanks for the all the informed answers.

It’s obvious now that the “tours” sold from Krakow are usually just for a bus ride and don’t include admission.

I booked a ticket for Auschwitz directly from the Auschwitz site and plan to take a public bus from Krakow.

It’s obvious now that the “tours” sold from Krakow are usually just for a bus ride and don’t include admission.

My experience with Discover Cracow last April was that for approx. $30 I received mini-bus transportation from outside the train station to the Museum, entry and tour conducted by a Museum guide, transfer to Birkenau, and transport back to Krakow.

@Laura, when I visited Auschwitz in early September, I booked my slot a month in advance in order to get the time slot I wanted for English tour. You can wait to purchase later, but you may not have flexibility wrt to time slots or English tours. English ones get booked up fast.

UPDATE

How it went

Took public bus from Krakow to Auschwitz. Very smooth.

Booked $22 tour in advance directly with Auschwitz museum. Also, very smooth, but discovered it’s also an option to just walk around by yourself. I ditched the tour about 15 minutes in. Preferred to experience the environment on my own.

Had not purchased a round trip bus ticket and when leaving at the end of the day all buses were full. Shared an Uber back to Krakow with two other people. It ended up being not much more expensive than the bus.

moss, thank you very much for coming back and reporting!

Moss - I read somewhere you have to stick with your Auschwitz tour group. But it seems you were able to explore alone even though you entered with a group. Is that correct?
I prefer to explore on my own and I know enough about the history and have access to my own audio app on my phone that I could follow. But the unguided ticket option for September is only available after 5pm. I'm planning to get an English tour ticket for around 11am but would love the opportunity to explore on my own.

Moss - I read somewhere you have to stick with your Auschwitz tour group. But it seems you were able to explore alone even though you entered with a group. Is that correct?
I prefer to explore on my own and I know enough about the history and have access to my own audio app on my phone that I could follow. But the unguided ticket option for September is only available after 5pm. I'm planning to get an English tour ticket for around 11am but would love the opportunity to explore on my own.

No one stopped me. I'm not even sure the tour guide knew I'd left.
It's possible I was breaking the rules without knowing it.

Are the unguided tickets free? It could be that they restrict the free, unguided tours to the afternoon so the grounds don't get too crowded earlier. I visited in late November during a heavy snowstorm with temps in the 20s and the place was not very crowded, so managing crowds wasn't much of an issue. This might have been a factor.

"The Museum may be toured independently or with an educator authorised by the Museum,
according to the Entry Pass held by the visitor. The educator provides content-related
guidance during the tour of the Museum. In the case of purchase of an Entry Pass for a tour
with an Educator, it is prohibited to detach from the group for a self-guided tour."

https://www.auschwitz.org/gfx/auschwitz/userfiles/_public/visit/58_en.pdf?_gl=1*e45lq2*_ga*ODc5MjMyMDQ2LjE3NjkwMjQwODY.*_ga_ES4EZDDBMD*czE3NjkwMjQwODYkbzEkZzEkdDE3NjkwMjQzODEkajQ5JGwwJGgw

I personally would not have wanted to miss the outstanding presentation we had by our educator. He provided so many details we would not have heard about or read otherwise, and his discussions once we arrived in Birkenau (a true hell on earth) were as important as any words ever spoken to me by another human being.

I personally would not have wanted to miss the outstanding presentation we had by our educator. He provided so many details we would not have heard about or read otherwise, and his discussions once we arrived in Birkenau (a true hell on earth) were as important as any words ever spoken to me by another human being.

I think it depends a lot on who you are, what you already know, how you prefer to intake information, etc.

I know a lot about the Holocaust and I would not have strayed from the tour guide if they were offering added value to me. They were doing a fine job. It just didn’t add anything for me.

I was also there in the off season and in the middle of a snowstorm. Birkenau was almost empty and it was incredibly powerful for me to have the experience of standing in the middle of the field with no one near me for at least 200 yards. It’s very much a case of YMMV.

I very rarely use tours with guides, have never been on an overnight tour in Europe. I did go on a guided tour to Auschwitz and it was most rewarding. Our guide was Polish/Jewish and this made his careful narratives all the more poignant. Our group was smallish (12) and though some videoed everywhere they were permitted to (did their actual eyes see anything?) it didn't distract me. At the end to thank him, I sang a waiata ( NZ indigenous song) about love and hope. He had tears in his eyes and I did too, on the windswept grass of Birkenau. NB, I am a retired History teacher and for decades have explored the Holocaust with my senior students.

moss makes good points above. But I am also very familiar with the horror of the Holocaust, and yet found the guided tour important and informative. Had we not had such a knowledgeable guide, I would have been unaware of the aspects of Auschwitz as a prison camp for many whom the Nazis had no specific plans to murder, such as non-Jews who simply opposed the Reich. Nor would I have been so close to the reality that some prisoners left Auschwitz alive, whereas no one left Birkenau alive. Concentration camp vs death camp.

Each to one's own. IMO if you're not intimately familiar with how Nazis treated those it regarded as inferior peoples, you should use the guide.

Unfortunately, the lessons of Auschwitz are too close to the surface for me at the moment.

I visited Krakow in September 2025. We went to auschwitz-birkenau with driver. We found him online in google. He was Young man who organises trips from Krakow and inter city transfers with new cars around europe. We hired him for one day trip. We did auschwitz-birkenau , then he took us to lunch at a local polish milkbark. After lunch he drove us to saltmine. Tour in salmine lasted 3hours. He was driving new mercedes van for 7 people , we were 6, me and my family. We payed for transport service one day - 350 Usd. In my opinion. it was worth it. Karol Gave us bonus information and showed us Poland, Polish politics and the habits of Poles from behind the scenes. When it come to visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau and Wieliczka saltmine, Karol explained everything to us. He took us to the place where the guide picked us up directly at the museum. We felt very well loked after.

I recommend this guy. we booked with him trouhght whatsapp +48 519 597 064