Krakow for Auschwitz

[Chocachocalatte]

Anyone been to Krakow and visited Auschwitz?

A quick google search has told me that some areas of the city tells me some areas need to be avoided but I can’t find out which!

All advice welcome if anyone has any - thankyou.

You will have a great time, we were there last summer and had a great time. Never felt unsafe at any point. There are a couple of FB pages about Krakow and there were loads of recommendations on there for day trip companies to book with and to avoid.

It's already been said here, but yes, go to Krakow, Auschwitz and the Salt mine. The city is beautiful, the salt mine is absolutely spectacular.

Thankyou, I’m looking forward to it now - Although it does seem morally uncomfortable to feel ‘excited’ about going somewhere so steeped in such trauma.

The advice about where to stay, the Fb groups and which companies to use/avoid is invaluable.

@LlynTegid I am also very sorry for your family’s loss.

We got a better deal by staying in Warsaw, got the train to Krakow and paid for a guide who collected up, took us to the Salt mines, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Birkenau was easy Auschwitz you had a times slot to enter. It was a great day out and even with the train fare it was cheaper. Warsaw is a very nice city, the Zoo is cheap and great, old town is nice, parks are nice too.

We went last weekend. Fabulous city, really walkable - stayed in the Meininger hostel (three of us, with our teen daughter who is doing A-Level history coursework that was relevant to the Auschwitz trip). Would recommend - as nice as most hotels, just didn't have a kettle in the room.

The city? Friendly, lovely food, christmas lights etc still up, sunshine glinting off the snow etc. Fun bars - including a Ukrainian one which just sells cherry liqueur which was a memorable evening (check out the 'secret garden at the back with live music').

Auschwitz, while a weird contrast, was very much worth a visit. We did it first - booked our tour with the monument itself, and then a taxi driver with Krakow Direct who was just so lovely. Didn't see any disrespectful behaviour at all and we were glad to have been.

The salt mine was fun, but an awful lot of the same thing.

There is a direct bus from Krakow centre. No need to book a tour. I would go at the start of your holiday as it's very haunting and stays with you...

The salt mines are also easily accessible by the bus. You get tickets from the newsagent kiosks. Don't forget to validate them in the machine on the buses when you get on

We did this in May. We actually hired a car from the airport and drove to Auschwitz, and joined an English speaking tour when we got there. It was utterly harrowing (although I have a personal link as my great grandfather was there) and I wouldn't recommend doing anything else that day as you need to digest and process. There were lots of tours going from Krakow though, but we just hired a car for very little money and did it ourselves. My DH likes driving abroad though!

We then stayed in Krakow for a few days which was a wonderful city with lots to do.