Auschwitz tickets

[mrsconradfisher]

Appreciate it’s not exactly holiday related but figured someone on here might be able to help.
We are visiting Krakow in April for my DS’s 21st Birthday…yes I realise it’s not exactly the usual 21st location but that’s what he wanted to do!
Im trying to book tickets to Auschwitz when I’m there however when you go on the website to book tickets it just says “website under maintenance” and has done for the past few weeks. The whole point of us going is to visit Auschwitz so I’m reluctant to book flights etc without securing tickets first. I’m not sure if I’m doing something wrong or anyone has got any bright ideas of what I can do…

Go with a tour who organise it for you as well as pick you up at the hotel? We went with KrakowDirekt. V good.

We booked through a tour group. Think it was just called Auschwitz tours. Included pick up in Krakow, tickets and tour guide. Think there are lots of different companies you can book through

We did it as a tour to both Auschwitz and Birkenau and they picked us up from our accommodation and dropped us back, it was worth doing it that way as I remember it being a bit of a drive out of Krakow.

We were also taken to the saltmines in the afternoon, apparently they’re incredible, I think I was too overwhelmed by the camps because I can’t remember a thing, so if you want to see them do it on a different day.

“What did you do for your 21st?”
”I went to Auschwitz”…

I was there a few months ago and got tickets through Get Your Guide.

Bit rude

We went through Trip Advisor for both Autswitz and Salt Mines. They picked us up from our hotel in Krackow and dropped us back after. We also had an English speaking tour guide who was amazing. If you are planning on doing Salt Mines also then I'd suggest doing separate days like another poster has suggested.

Yes if you are staying in krakow get a Tour company that collects you at the hotel. Is quite a journey from krakow centre, at least an hour /hour and a half if I remember correctly.

We did both but on separate days, both through the same tour company who picked us up
and dropped us back to our hotel. They sorted all the tickets and a packed lunch for both days.

I love Krakow - you’ll have a great time! I didn’t rate the salt mines but so many others do. We also went through a tour company - easiest way as it’s quite some drive x

Incredibly rude!! Just because he doesn’t want to go on an all day drinking session for his 21st birthday, you think it’s ok to make fun of him?

I didn’t mention it as it wasn’t relevant but my Mum died a couple of years ago and left me a small sum of money to give to him on his 21st Birthday. She loved reading books about the war especially about Auschwitz and before she got dementia she always said it was important that everyone go once in their lifetime as it was such an important part of history. DS decided that it would be a nice idea to go there for his birthday. His girlfriend doesn’t want to go so I’m going with him. He will have plenty of other celebrations with his mates at Uni and his girlfriend.

Husband and son went couple of years ago. Also did visit to salt mines. Booked as a tour once in Krakow. Excellent tour guide etc. I have very mixed feelings on the whole thing, making money as a tourist attraction out of something so unbelievably horrific. But guide said that in general that area is quite poor and not a lot of 'opportunities', and she (the guide) appreciates that from all the devastation and suffering, the people who died have left their own (sad) legacy for the next generation.

Thanks everyone. I will have another look at the tours, the ones I saw on Get your Guide were just the transport and you still needed an actual ticket which is the bit I can’t get.

That sounds good, was it all included in the price?

I hope you are able to find a tour, and that your day there is as you wish it to be.

I intend to visit myself at some point, as four ancestors of mine were deported there, possibly on the centenary of the birth of the youngest. None of them survived the war, and it would have been five but for D Day and the subsequent liberation of Paris.

Book tickets direct from Auschwitz yourself. Tickets are available three months in advance and it is advisable to book direct from them yourselves. I booked a few days ago for the end of March and website seemed fine then. Also join Facebook group on Krakow tips -lots of advice on there and how to get there without tour. I’ve been looking at this constantly myself the past few weeks so hope this helps.

I actually don’t think you can just go and visit without being part of an organised tour. When I went, we booked with a Get Your Guide, and on arrival,at Auschwitz everyone seemed to be there in large groups, with audio equipment to hear your guide. I recall thinking at the time that maybe you couldn’t visit without being part of a guided tour.

Be very careful if you book a guided tour. I went to Krakow a couple of years ago and am still on a FB group about it. Apparently most of the tours don’t book tickets in advance and end up picking you up at times like 1-3 am and you queue for hours with no guarantee of a ticket. It’s highly recommended to book directly but that doesn’t seem possible if the website is down.

I checked on copilot apparently the site is down quite often but is put back up quickly it recommends trying early morning or late evening for best chance of it working.

I booked a week or so ago - are you in the right site? I’m in an krakow fb page and you need to be very wary not booking direct: there are many tales of people having a 2am (yes that’s correct) pickup as the agent doesn’t have tickets and you need to queue on the day

Looks like they release them 90 days ahead at 12pm (noon) CET which is 11am in the UK. They sell out quickly though and this may be why the website isn’t working when you look. Worth a go anyway.

There are many places in krakow where you can book. Please take photo id when you go, they request to see that now with your ticket when you arrive.

Yes that’s what I’m trying to do but the website says “undergoing maintenance”

You can definitely go on your own, it’s apparently the best way to do it as so many of the tours are unreliable. It just seems like the website is down so I can’t actually book.

Yes I’ve just checked myself and can see that there are issues. Try again in the morning - depending on what date you need they may not be released yet. There is also an email address and phone number - I emailed them on Tuesday as the tickets hadn’t come through straightaway and they responded within about 2 hours.