Sue

Zl will be be needed, Take the train from the main station takes about an hour a short walk from the station the other end, You will be approached by locals offering coach tours at the train station but we had already purchased our train tickets!!

Wrap up warm as you are outside for most of the tour, allow 2-3 hours

Hope this helps

Hi Sheffsue,
My friends stayed at the Pollera and really enjoyed it, it's in a good location inside the City Walls. They too went to Auschwitz and went by train, it tok a good hour and a half to get there as I think the train stopped everywhere! We went to Krakow in July this year and really enjoyed it. For sweet treats, the cafe called Slodki Wentzl in the Main Square was great and for coffee, try Tribeca, also on the sqaure, try their frozen honey nut latte....I can still taste it now, quality food and drink, cheap prices. You will need zlotys....we got some from the airport at Luton but there are plenty of cash machines about, in particular the square.
For dinner, we ate at Da Pietro, Italian restaurant on the sq, it was alright, my pizza got very boring but hubby enjoyed his. We ate at the Wentzl restaurant which was very nice, best was Pod Krzyem, the restaurant under the Cross.....again all in the sq....look up these websites http://inyourpocket.com/poland/krakow/en/ and INVALID URL both excellent guides to what to see and what to wat/drink etc

It depends how easy a trip you want. Our hotel was a long way from the station and taxis were quoting about £80. We therefore bought the tour via our hotel at £24 each. We thought this tour was very good.
Left Krakow at 9.30, returned around 4pm. Takes an hour each way on the coach. You don't get the chance to linger or wander off but we felt we had covered most of what we wanted. The guide who took us to both camps was excellent. The anecdotes and personal information he gave us were priceless.
We mostly ate at very good restaurants (c £20 a head with wine), which were probably expensive for Krakow but amazingly cheap compared to similar quality in the UK.
We could recommend:
- Leonardo, Szpitalna (on left walking from main square)
- Padva, Jagiollenska (opp Maius college)
- Sheraton hotel main restaurant
Decent wine is expensive in any restaurant - nearly half the cost of above bills!

Hi, We went to auschwitz in 1997 with our own car. I would highly recommend getting guided tour. My son, wife & I hired a guide for just the three of us, instead of with a large group, for a little extra. It was not the most happiest of days, but certainly the most interesting of our holiday. Be prepared to come out of camp a little depressed, because of what you have seen & been told. I have put some photos in the photo gallery on this site.

Hi there
Just got back from trip to Krakow and took trip to Auschwitz/Birkenhau. I took the 7.55am minibus from centre (your hotel/hostel will direct you on a tourist map where to take it) that cost 2.50 zloty each way and the journey took 1 hr 10 mins. Look for the buses that say OSWIECIM - Polish for Auschwitz; the buses run every 30 mins I think. The driver told us when had arrived at the camp. I paid 3.00 zloty to watch the film at the start of the Auschwitz museum - the English language version is on at 11am - it lasts 15 mins and gave a insight into the history of the camps. The entrance is free into both camps and there is a free shuttle bus that runs regularly between the two. As I was travelling alone, I basically tagged onto one of the tour groups and listened to their guide for a while, then ventured off on my own. Signs at the entrance state that if you are alone, then it is ok to listen to one of the guides, but you can arrange to join a group for a tour at the entrance, but I'm not sure of the cost. Auschwitz is the smaller of the two sites, but for me was the most interesting as you can enter many of the blocks and see the artifacts. Birkenhau is quite a large site, much of which has been destroyed and I would reccommend a guide here. Personally I went and looked around on my own and it was all very interesting if but shocking at times.

Just got back from Krakow and visited Auschwitz via an organised trip that picked us up at the hotel. We had a guide but to be honest we thought the tour was very rushed and we didn't get to visit many of the displays in the various barracks. If you have ever read any of the books about Auschwitz I wouldn't bother with a guide as you would already have a pretty good idea of the place and anyway most of what we saw was listed in English.

I have only just got back from Krakow and we visited Auschwitz and Birkenau. Personally I would definitely recommend the guided tour. Ok if you want to save some money and increase the stress and hassle then , fair enough, make your own arrangements.

We left about 9.30am. Comfortable coach and informed guide. The video was shown on the coach to save time.

Auschwitz can get very crowded. The guide we had was good and I felt we saw enough. Well just how much do you need to see about all the grotesque happenings. Ok, if you want to see and read about every gory detail , then, by all means, go on your own steam.

We were then taken to birkenau and spent a short time there , probably about 1 hour but, honestly, that is about as long as you need.

If you did do things on your own I noticed that the shuttle bus left once an hour. there is also a possibility that these could be very crowded and you may have to walk or take a taxi.

Because of the deep emotion of the visit to Auschwitz I would certainly recommend having it all organised by means of a tour. I certainly would not want to make my own way back to Krakow with all that I have seen in these camps still clear in my mind. You will not be in the right frame of mind to face up to potential hassles etc.

We finished the evening in the Jewish Quater in Kasimerez at a dinner/concert at the Arial Restaurant in Szeroka square. Seemed very fitting really.

Pedrogooner, you have just described how I spent Monday this week! I agree with your comments about taking the tour.

Sorry it''s not a case of "Ok, if you want to see and read about every gory detail , then, by all means, go on your own steam. " . It was more a case of being rushed around too much. Seemed a bit undignified for a sombre place like Auschwitz.

I didn't feel that we were rushed round Auschwitz. From an emotional point of view I think there is a limit as to how much you can take in of the horror of the place and no amount of reading prepares you for the stark reality of the suitcases with children's dates of birth in them and the children's shoes amongst the piles of shoes in the display. We have 2 small children (they were at home with their grandparents) and the chldren's suitcases really hit us.

Kilgoreck.

Just giving my opinion. I certainly did not feel as though I was being rushed around at all.

The guide also gives plenty of info that may not be picked up by just wondering around on your own.

My advice to anyone is to pay that bit extra and take a coach tour from Krakow.

Went to Auschwitz and Birkenau in September. Found Auschwitz to be very crowded and hence a bit "theme park" like. Sad to say.

If you visit Birkenau then when you go through the main entrance, turn right and visit the long line of wooden huts. Rather than turning back (like the vast majority do) when reaching the end of the line, carry on until the next gate and turn left. It was almost deserted walking down there (saw 4 other people), and you really get the impression of the size of the place (huge), as you can see where the extension that was partially built and dismantled was. This area allows you to think and I found it very emotional. Then you can visit the sauna, which seemed to be not that well visited either, but again was very emotional.

Went to Auschwitz in March
went under our own steam by hirng a minibus
we then walked around on our own not wishing to join a large mob of people witha guide which I agree with a prev post re the theme park bit.

very sombre walking around and it really does hit you when you see all the personal items from those poor people.

the shoes
the siutcases
the hairbrushes
make up brushes etc

our minibus then took us to Birkenau

which is huge and equally as sad

the minibus worked out to about £60 between 5 of us.

It wasnt enjoyable day out but a definatly a memorial one

Just come back

I did not go with a tour as I wanted do see and do everything in my own time.

We got the train out of the central station in Krakow to Oswecim took about 1hr 30mins and cost £6.50 for the 2 of us return.

It is a 15 minute walk to Aushwitz 1 then there is a free bus to Birkenau, there was lots of tours there but we felt a lot better as we just had a leisurely walk round and was not under any obligations.

It is a very long day with the travelling and time spent in the camp's.

I think it was £45 for the 2 of us to do this with a tour company , so you can see there was a substantial saving, however this was not the reason for not using the tour, we prefer the exploring and not being drawn into the whole "Day Trip to a Death Camp" sort of thing which it felt like with the tour, but hey it does not suit all