Auschwitz-Birkenau Private Tour: 6-Hour Study with Both Camps
The gas chamber ruins and crematorium remains are still standing at Birkenau, separate from the main camp.
A six-hour private guided tour of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial near Krakow, visiting both Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau with a licensed English-speaking guide. The tour walks through the gate marked "Arbeit Macht Frei," enters the museum blocks filled with victims' belongings, and extends into Birkenau to see the ruins of gas chambers, crematoria IV and V, the Kanada barracks, and Bunker No. 2: sites beyond a standard camp tour.
Step-by-step itinerary
Visit Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau
- Arrive 30 minutes before tour
- Pass security check
- Enter Auschwitz I through Arbeit Macht Frei gate
- Walk through camp grounds and see watchtowers
- Visit museum blocks with exhibits
- See victims’ belongings and medical experiment rooms
- View unloading platform and execution wall
- Tour Auschwitz II-Birkenau including gas chamber ruins
- Visit Kanada barracks, Sauna building, and Bunker No. 2
What’s included
- Six-hour guided tour of both Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau with a licensed English-speaking guide.
- hotel pickup and drop-off in a comfortable, air-conditioned car.
- transportation between the two camp sections.
- professional driver at your disposal throughout the tour.
- Every day 07:30
Information
Six-hour private guided tour of Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau with hotel pickup, covering gas chamber ruins, crematoria, and prisoner barracks in groups of up to 15.
Compare the 12 alternatives
Traveler reviews
The experience
The tour begins with a 20–25 minute security check before the guide meets your group of up to 15 visitors at the gate. From there, you walk through the camp nearly as it stood when liberated in January 1945, entering the numbered blocks that now function as a museum. Each block documents a specific aspect of the Holocaust: the extermination plan, the medical experiments conducted by Doctor Mengele, the unloading platform where prisoners arrived. The rooms still hold the belongings left behind (clothes, suitcases, shoes) alongside explanation panels and photographs that contextualize what you are seeing.
The second half of the tour moves to Auschwitz II-Birkenau, where a standard visit ends. Here, the guide shows you the ruins of the gas chambers and crematoria IV and V, the Kanada barracks where prisoners' confiscated goods were sorted, the Sauna building where new arrivals were processed, and Bunker No. 2, where the camp's leadership sheltered during the Soviet advance. These sites sit at the edge of the vast camp grounds and require walking. The guide provides the historical detail that transforms the ruins into evidence of the industrial scale of mass murder.
Hotel pickup and drop-off are included, and your driver (fully licensed and English-speaking) remains at your disposal throughout. The tour runs about nine to ten hours door-to-door, accounting for the security check, travel between the two camp sections, and the walking itself. You must provide the names of all participants in advance, as entry tickets are issued by name.
Top questions
What exactly is inside the museum blocks at Auschwitz I?
The blocks hold victims' belongings (clothes, suitcases, shoes, and personal items) along with photographs and explanation panels documenting the extermination plan and the medical experiments conducted by Doctor Mengele. Each numbered block focuses on a different aspect of the camp's operation.
Does the tour visit the gas chambers?
At Auschwitz II-Birkenau, you see the ruins of gas chambers and crematoria IV and V, which are not part of a standard camp tour. Auschwitz I does not have intact gas chambers. The focus there is on the prisoner barracks, the execution wall, jail cells, and the unloading platform.
How much walking is involved over the six hours?
The tour requires sustained walking through both camp sections, with stops at multiple buildings and outdoor sites. The grounds are large, and you will move between barracks, the execution wall, watchtowers, and the Birkenau ruins. Comfortable shoes are essential.
Can I book this tour if I have mobility concerns?
Transportation between the two camps and within Krakow is wheelchair accessible, and the car itself is fully accessible. However, the walking tour through the camps themselves involves uneven ground and extended distances. Discuss your specific needs with the operator before booking.
What is the Kanada barracks, and why is it significant?
Kanada was the barracks where prisoners sorted the belongings confiscated from those who arrived at the camp. The name came from the prisoners' association of the goods with wealth, as Canada represented abundance to them. Seeing it provides insight into how the camp functioned as a system of theft and exploitation.
Operated by Prime Tours Krakow. Explorevia does not run this tour: we compare it with similar options, and you book it with our booking partner.
Prices and times updated 3 days ago
Auschwitz-Birkenau Private Tour: 6-Hour Study with Both Camps
9h–10h · EN · at your hotel
from US$ 274 per person
Next, you choose your date and number of travelers and see the final price.