Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum

The typical Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum tour should take around 3.5 hours, and there is usually a short break between visiting both camps.

If you plan to walk around on your own after the tour, you will also have to book separate Auschwitz tickets that do not include a guide.

If you're planning on good weather, May – September is the best time for getting your Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum tickets. However, if you want to avoid the crowds during peak season, you might like to visit between April and May.

Remember that over one million people visit Auschwitz every year. The lines to get in are always long, no matter when you visit. You can easily wait two to three hours just to get in during busy times.

One of the benefits of joining a tour is that there's no waiting time!

• The gas chamber and the crematorium
• The Wall of Executions
• An exhibition of prisoners’ personal belongings
• Central jail of the camp (with block 11 where St Maximilian Kolbe was starved to death)
• So-called ‘medical experiment rooms’
• The Gate of Death with an original railway ramp
• Primitive wooden barracks for prisoners
• Several watchtowers along the electrically charged barbed-wire fences surrounding the site of a genocide at Birkenau

Official guidelines from staff at Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum recommend that children under 14 do not visit. But this is just a recommendation, not a rule.

Understandably it can be quite harrowing to hear about the events that took place at Auschwitz. Many of the displays feature graphic content. But most agree it's a valuable history lesson for older children if they are well prepared in advance.

There are many different Auschwitz tickets available. If you're coming from Kraków without a car, opt for the Auschwitz tour from Kraków, which includes entrance to the memorial and museum, and a live guide. For fewer crowds and optimal ambiance, opt for a quiet early morning guided tour.

You can also drive yourself without planning a tour, but entrance to the museum is only possible with a personalized pre-paid entry pass. It is free to tour Auschwitz-Birkenau without a guide, but you will need to reserve your time slot in advance.

If you're coming all this way, it's a better idea to explore the UNESCO-listed complex and learn about its history from a knowledgeable guide. One of the benefits of joining a tour is that there's no waiting time! If you don't join a tour group, you might be waiting up to 3 hours to get in.

Auschwitz-Birkenau is 75 kilometers west of Kraków and the best way to get there is by public bus or train, unless you're part of a bus tour from Krakow.

If you go by bus, take a local bus from the Kraków MDA main bus station in the direction of Oświęcim and jump off at the "Oswiecim Muzeum" stop. This is right at the entrance of the Auschwitz Museum. If you want to travel to Auschwitz by train, head to Kraków Glówny, the main train station near Kraków Old Town. There are a number of trains that will get you close to the camps.

Your tickets to Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum will need to be shown at the former Auschwitz I site. The shuttle bus takes people between the two camps every hour.

Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum is located on the outskirts of the city of Oświęcim on national road 933. The main parking lot for visitors is free and can be found at Stanisławy Leszczyńskiej street at the intersection with Józefa Szajny street. All visits start at the former Auschwitz I site, which is where you will show your tickets to Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum.

• Gain a deeper understanding of one of history's most inhumane periods

• Set foot inside the world's most notorious concentration camp

• Discover what daily life was like at Auschwitz, how many lived and died there, and more

• Visit Auschwitz I camp and Birkenau, where you will see the original camp buildings and the ruins of the gas chambers and crematoria

• See harrowing artifacts of the Holocaust that illustrate the scale at which life was so brutally taken

• Join an expert guide certified by the Auschwitz Museum and hear the stories of prisoners who suffered at the hands of the Nazi regime

Book in advance and save time by booking Auschwitz tickets online.

All ticket options include a tour of Auschwitz with an expert guide. You can select a ticket that also includes transport from Kraków, or that come with lunch.

Auschwitz tickets include:

• Admission to Auschwitz-Birkenau, one of Poland's most important historical locations

• Skip-the-line entry, if selected

• A more detailed visit thanks to the expertise of a local licensed guide and a headset to better hear them

• Complimentary guidebook in multiple languages with select tickets

• A number of Auschwitz tickets include transportation from central Kraków

• Options to combine your ticket with lunch

• It is advised that children under 14 don't visit, due to the graphic nature of many of the displays, but there is no actual age restriction

• Opening hours vary: see up-to-date schedule

• Wear comfortable footwear – sneakers or closed-toed shoes are best

• Auschwitz has vending machines, a shop selling snacks, an outside and inside snack bar, and a cafe

• Eating and smoking are not allowed inside Auschwitz-Birkenau

• There is paid parking near both former concentration camps

• Nearest train station: Oswieci

• Nearest bus stop: Oswiecim Muzeum

• Car journey takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes from Krakow