Auschwitz & Birkenau from Krakow: Private Tour & Skip-the-Line

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.99 (91 reviews) 99% rated it 5 stars

Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/38

Duration6h–7h

GroupPrivate

LanguagesEN · PL

PickupAt your hotel

Auschwitz and Birkenau: What a Private Tour from Krakow Actually Includes

You're picked up from your Krakow hotel and driven privately to Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, about 70 kilometers south. You spend roughly two hours at the main camp and one hour at Birkenau, with your own vehicle and driver handling transport between the two sites. Hotel drop-off is included, and entry lines are skipped. The whole day takes about eight hours.

6h–7h

Step-by-step itinerary

Visit Auschwitz and Birkenau from Krakow

Depart Krakow for Oswiecim
Pass by Wawel Royal Castle
Tour Auschwitz I main camp
Visit Judenramp selection site
Pass by Rudolf Höss residence
Tour Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp
Return to Krakow

The Experience

You're picked up from your Krakow hotel in the morning and driven 70 kilometers south to Oświęcim in a private vehicle — just your group, no other travelers. The ride takes roughly an hour and a half, and the driver handles the route while you sit in an air-conditioned car with bottled water and WiFi. There's no negotiating entry lines or figuring out how to get there; the logistics are already done. When you arrive at Auschwitz I, you have about two hours to walk the grounds — the barracks, the prisoner records, the gas chambers — with time to absorb what you're seeing instead of being rushed through.

From there you move to Auschwitz II-Birkenau, the larger camp three kilometers away, where you spend roughly an hour. The scale is different here — the barracks stretch across the landscape, the rail tracks lead to the selection ramp where new arrivals were divided, and the crematoria ruins sit at the far end. Your driver takes you between the two sites, so you're not managing transport or trying to find the shuttle. The whole visit to both camps is structured around what you can actually absorb in a day, not what fits into a schedule. A lot of people don't realize Birkenau is separate from the main camp, and seeing both gives you the full picture of how the complex operated.

The private tour format means your group moves at its own pace — if someone needs to sit for a moment or stand longer at a particular spot, there's no pressure to keep up with thirty other people. Children can ride in a stroller if needed, and service animals are welcome. You're back in Krakow by evening, hotel drop-off included. The skip-the-line access is built in, so you avoid the queues that can stretch for hours during peak season.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel pickup and drop-off in Krakow, private vehicle transport to and from the camps, bottled water and WiFi on board, skip-the-line entry to Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and roughly three hours total at both camp sites. The vehicle is air-conditioned and reserved exclusively for your group.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Your Krakow Journey - Transfers & Tours

Is this one for you?Choose this if you want to visit both Auschwitz camps without arranging your own transport or standing in entry lines — the private vehicle and skip-the-line access are what make a full visit to both sites manageable in one day from Krakow.