Travel from Germany to Auschwitz - best way?

Since you will be in Germany why not Dachau or Mauthausen which is in Austria rather than driving into Poland? Just an idea.

Hi Gail - thanks for the response. We've been to both Dachau and Mathausen already. Mathausen, in particular, left an indelible impression. My husband has Polish roots and won't feel content until he's seen Auschwitz with his own eyes.

Hi Karen, I've never rented a car in Europe, but from what I've read here and elsewhere, there are difficulties involved in taking a rental car from Germany to Poland, something to do with insurance I think. If your husband likes the train anyway, that might be the way to go though it would be a looong trip. Just the Prague to Krakow leg takes about 8 hours if I remember correctly. By the way, whatever you do, I'd suggest staying in Krakow and doing a day trip to Auschwitz. The train from Munich would, I guess, go by way of Prague to Krakow and therefore pass by Oswiecim (Auschwitz), but there is nothing else there to do. Krakow is beautiful and well worth a visit for its own sake, and it's easy to get a bus from there directly to the Auschwitz museum itself. You could also look into flights from Germany to Krakow or Katowice, which is about an hour west of Krakow. Depending on the season, it can be surprisingly inexpensive to fly, often much cheaper than the train.

Karen, Given the list of the places you'll be visiting in Germany and Austria, the most efficient option would be to use a budget flight to Krakow. If you want to travel by train, about the shortest trip will be from Vienna, with a travel time of 8-10 hours. The trip from Frankfurt to Krakow is about 14-16 hours, so a budget flight would be preferable from there. I wouldn't suggest driving a rental car, both due to the potential "issues" with taking a rental car from Germany into Poland as well as the driving times. Whichever method you choose, I suspect the budget flights will be the "least expensive", although probably not cheap. Air Berlin is probably your best bet for flights from Vienna to Krakow. Good luck and happy travels!

Just keep in mind the budget airlines are super strict with weight restrictions. Good luck.

Karen, If I were to do this ride to Auschwitz, it would be like this based on your itinerary: take the direct ICE from Frankfurt to Berlin, stay a night there, then the next day take Berlin-Krakow direct, a bit over 10 hrs. (I've done this ride). Arrange with your hotel in Krakow on the best way to get there. If you're going to be in Munich, then take the train from Munich to Vienna to Krakow, as suggested above. I, too, don't recommend this idea of a rental car going from Germany to Poland as there might be complications. Germans have a saying about that: einmal gestohlen, schon in Polen.... (Once (it's) stolen, (it's) already in Poland)

Wizz Air has flights from Frankfurt to Katowice, Poland. Their fares can, of course, vary greatly depending on the season, but they have some really good deals. In February of 2005, I flew from Katowice to Rome round trip for roughly $100 plus $30 for a Wizz Air shuttle from Krakow to Katowice, also round trip. They are definetly a no frills airline, but I found them to be friendly and effecient with relatively new planes.