Auschwitz-Birkenau Gedenkstätte und Museum - Tour von Krakau aus

The pickup was good and timely, the tours of Auschwitz-Birkenau were quite rushed and packed with other groups, but informative and very interesting. Really needed more time to take pictures, explore the sites, and visit the shops, but we were much too rushed through. Also, the guide once at Birkenau, did not use the headphones, so it was much more difficult to hear him. Was great to have the small lunch (at additional cost) that our guide got for us during the tour, but only had ten minutes with which to eat it and use the restrooms, etc. We were back at our hotel by around 3:30, so seemed like more time could be added and would make this much more enjoyable.

We were picked up at a central location in Krakow for our tour. We were told to report to bus #22, but there were no markings on the bus and the bus driver did not speak to us. We weren't sure that we were heading to the correct place until we reached Auschwitz. There, we were met by a company rep and walked from the parking lot to the camp where we met our guide. We were given headsets so we could hear her, which was helpful. She essentially walked us through the process that the prisoners that were sent to this camp went through. After touring Auschwitz I, we loaded up the minivan and were driven to Birkenau (Auschwitz 2) which was about 3 km away. When we arrived, we walked another 3 km in order to see all of the parts of the camp. It was an emotionally difficult day, but it is important to understand what went on in these camps so that it does not happen again. Seeing the evidence of these murders and walking through the gas chamber was heart rending.