What‘s Included

Reviews

• Sobering Experience

  Paul W,

  May 16, 2025

  - Viator

  4.00

  This is a must do tour. It was fantastically delivered by an excellent tour guide. Our bus driver (Michael) was also a font of local knowledge, which was tremendous. All in all a very good experience.

• Way too rushed. Too many people. Chaos.

  Sadie K,

  May 16, 2025

  - Viator

  1.00

  First of all the meeting time needs to be set earlier on the Viator app. I saw multiple reviews about this already. Be prepared to be given an earlier meeting time. I signed up for the 0700 tour but was notified the evening before that pick up will be at 6am instead. I was under the impression that this early pick up only applied to those doing hotel pick ups but that is not the case. So I had to walk 15 mins to the meeting point at 5:45 am through the rain. Of course, the rain is no fault of the company. The bus is tiny. You are crammed in there. Don’t expect a ton of space. They show you a documentary on the way to pass some time. So that’s nice. The driver we had didn’t talk much or explain things the best. There was very little instruction given on what to expect/time frames. The drive to Auschwitz is about an hour. Upon arriving, it is chaos. We arrived around 7:15am. It was PACKED. This was May 15. There were several hundred people in line in groups outside of the facility. In the parking lot. Waiting for toilets. He gave us a 10 min break to use the toilets before we began. However, the line was about 20 people long. So that was stressful. Upon exiting the toilets, there are hundreds of people. It’s so hard to find your group. The spot where he said he was going to be waiting… he was not there. Our group members were just wandering trying to figure out what to do. We finally found him and got in line. Waited in line about 45 mins. Outside. In pouring rain. 37 degrees Fahrenheit. It is what it is. So be prepared based on the weather forecast that day. You are handed a paper ticket that you have to scan twice. As well as your passport needed for identification. You also have to have your bag searched and go through metal detectors. That was chaos as well. People pushing to get inside. People not paying attention, as if they’ve never had to go through a metal detector in their life. Very little instruction given from staff. Lots of shouting. Once through the metal detectors, we met our guide. We then had a period of about 30 seconds before she took off walking. Most of us were still trying to put our passports back in our bags, situate ourselves after the security screening, etc. I’m not even sure she counted to make sure we were all there. We then went through another gate (needed to scan the ticket again. The one we all just put away not knowing it was needed again so soon). We picked up our headsets and were basically expected to put them on while walking. There was no check to make sure they worked or that we could all hear her. Some of the older people on the tour were struggling. Anyway, then the race throughout Auschwitz began. She just took off walking at the speed of light to our first stop. It was very chaotic and stressful. The tour is so fast. You don’t have any time to stop to look at things, take pictures, or read anything. There are so many groups back to back, you are essentially just in a giant line throughout the whole tour. A line that moves so fast. There is a ton of walking involved. Over very uneven terrain, slippery steps, no hand rails, etc. Let’s just say I stand on my feet all day for a living (RN). I also workout 4-5 days a week at a pretty high level. Pilates, lagree, CrossFit, yoga. I was out of breath keeping up. There were many older people in the group that lagged behind. I could hardly focus on the tour because all I could focus on was keeping up with the group. The group behind will run up on you. It’s hard to keep groups separated. This whole thing literally felt like a race. While going through the building/exhibits you hardly even had a chance to look at anything, or pay respects at any of the memorials because by the time you even got to see what she had been talking about, she’s already outside the building, far enough away that the audio is cutting out. I do not recommend a group tour like this. I would have much preferred to go at my own pace. Unfortunately, this was my only option. This tour is exhausting, compounded by the fact that what you’re seeing is very emotionally draining. Sorry for the long review. But all in all, they need to do better. I don’t think the way they do tours is appropriate. I don’t think herding tour guests through these buildings like cattle is doing anything to honor the memory of those who perished here. It reminded me more of a tourist attraction, with people pushing in front of you to take pictures of everything, instead of a memorial to the victims. They need to limit the number of people who can visit each day. I understand the demand, but this was not what I expected at all.

• Unbelievable sad experience

  Violet B,

  May 15, 2025

  - Viator

  5.00

  Although very sad it is a trip that everyone should experience. The size of these camps is overwhelming

• Very Disappointed with Tour Guide

  Diane T,

  May 12, 2025

  - Viator

  2.00

  So Disappointed. Wanted to visit Auschwitz for a long time. Signed up for the 7AM tour pickup. The night before I got an email saying time was changed to 6 AM. Had I not checked my mail, we would have missed it. Woke up very early to get to pickup point. Ride was fine and they showed a documentary which was good. Little confusing when we got there but fine. The big disappointment was our tour guide. She was horrible. Sorry I did not get her name but she was speaking so quietly that even with the headset up, it was difficult to hear her. (Older woman with accent) She clearly didn’t want to be there and wanted to get through the tour as quickly as possible. Wanted to just walk by significant parts. We walked past a field with a memorial that other groups were stopped at. Had to ask her what it was-memorial where ashes were spread. Didn’t provide much information other than how many died. She seemed annoyed if you asked her a question. She ruined the whole experience.

• Definitely not my first.choice

  Alan P,

  May 11, 2025

  - Viator

  2.00

  Somewhat disorganized from the get-go. Never knew what was next. Our guide at the camps was clearly very knowledgeable but had poor command of English. Difficult at times to understand her. She appeared to just go through the motions. Headphones broke in and out constantly making it difficult to follow her