My advice looking at these reviews is firstly book in advance of your trip to Poland and directly with the Auschwitz museum website. Tickets are guaranteed and no last minute cancellations as with other tour operators. We stayed in Krakow and got the local bus from the main krakow bus terminal costing £5.65 each way. Great valueas it takes1 hour and 30 minutes roughly on a Sunday. Advice book on line at least the day before as the driver takes all tickets first then people who haven’t booked can get seats only if any left. On a Sunday the bus runs hourly. Take any snacks in a back pack or carrier bag as drivers allow no food or coffee cups on bus. Water bottles are ok.
The museum entrance was busy but looked organised. Our tour was at 11.30am and we got there early at 10am luckily a nice day so once registered with our sticker to identify English speaker we sat and ate the snacks we had brought. There are vending machines with crisps, chocolate bars and juice aswell as a coffee machine. Toilets plentiful but sometimes queues form so leave time before your tour. You can enter through security 30 minutes before your tour with sitting area inside. TAKE PHOTO ID either passport, ID card or driving license as you won’t get in without it.
The tour at 11.30am on 19th April 2026 with English speaking guide was exceptional. I am sorry I did not catch the man’s name, his knowledge was second to none and you felt informed as you went through each section absorbing the details and the realisation of the utter inhumanity of the Second World War and the Nazi regime. It was amazing what I did not know even after reading books and watching films. At no point did I even think or would have wanted to take photos as I feel this is something each person should experience once in their lifetime with your own thoughts and feelings through this tour that allows us to reflect on. We spent just over 1 1/2 hours in Auschwutz before taking the free shuttle bus along to Birkenau a very short journey there where the same tour guide met us again and you go on a hours walk around the site with short explanatory stops, it is on uneven ground so a good pair of walking shoes is advised. All in all a very emotional insight walking through somewhere that saw over a million people killed before the end of the war. A trip I will never forget but glad I was able to experience it and as other people have said it is not a leisure/feel good trip but a poignant experience of something that occured less than 100 years ago and should never be forgotten by us as individuals or those in power throughout the world to make sure it never happens again