Visiting
Basic information
• Admission to the grounds of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial is free of charge. The entry cards should be reserved on visit.auschwitz.org. For better understanding the history of Auschwitz we suggest a visit with an educator
• The fees are charged for engaging a guide. Visitors in groups are required to engage an Auschwitz Memorial guide. There is also possibility for individual visitors to join a guided tour.
• Visitors to the grounds of the Museum should behave with due solemnity and respect. Visitors are obliged to dress in a manner befitting a place of this nature. Before the visit please read "the rules for visiting".
• The grounds and buildings of the Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau camps are open to visitors. The duration of a visit is determined solely by the individual interests and needs of the visitors. As a minimum, however, at least three-and-a-half hours should be reserved.
• The maximum size of backpacks or handbags brought into the Museum can not exceed dimensions: 30x20x10 cm. Please leave your bags in your cars or buses or use the locker available.
System of online booking - visit.auschwitz.org
Due to an overwhelming interest in visiting the Auschwitz Memorial, a new website has been created: visit.auschwitz.org. An online reservation is the only guarantee of entering the Museum on the date and time of your choice.
The new website is dedicated to both individual visitors and organised groups. A new function on the user-friendly website is a possibility for individual visitors to book a group tour with an educator, as well as to make the payment online.
Guided Tours for Individual Visitors
Individual visitors may tour the Memorial independently or in organised groups with a guide.
Due to the huge interest visitors are kindly requested to book in advance at the website visit.auschwitz.org, as well as to arrive at least 30 minutes before the start of the tour. Larger luggage should be left in vehicles in the car park or the left luggage room during the opening hours of the Museum. Before the visit, please read the rules of visiting and the opening hours of the Museum.
HOURS OF THE VISIT CAN BE RESERVED ONLINE: VISIT.AUSCHWITZ.ORG
Guided tours options. Prices.
We offer visitors several options for guided tours. Each includes tours of Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau.
• General tours (2,5 h)
• General tours (3,5 h)
• One-day study tours (6 h)
• Two-day study tours (2x4 h)
• Guided tours for individual visitors (3,5 h)
Because of a large number of visitors guides should be reserved at least two months before a planned visit.
Guide services may be reserved:
• on the visit.auschwitz.org (upto 5 days before the visit)
• by telephone or (2-5 days before the visit): +48 33 844 81 00 or 80 99 (Mo-Fr, 7 a.m. - 3 p.m. CET)
Plan a visit
In order to take in the grounds and exhibitions in a suitable way, visitors should set aside a minimum of about 90 minutes for the Auschwitz site and the same amount of time for Auschwitz II-Birkenau. It is essential to visit both parts of the camp, Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, in order to acquire a proper sense of the place that has become the symbol of the Holocaust of the European Jews as well as Nazi crimes againt Poles, Romas and other groups.
The grounds and most of the buildings at the sites of the Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau sites are open to visitors. Some buildings are not accessible to visitors (including the blocks reserved for the Museum administration and its departments). Please familiarize yourself with "the rules for visiting ".
Opening hours
The Museum is open all year long, seven days a week, except January 1, December 25, and Easter Sunday. You can start the visit in the following hours*:
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7:30 AM - 2:00 PM December7:30 AM - 3:00 PM January, November7:30 AM - 4:00 PM February7:30 AM - 5:00 PM March, October7:30 AM - 6:00 PM April, May, September7:30 AM - 7:00 PM June, July, August
* These are the hours of entrance to the Museum. A visitor may stay on the site of the Museum 90 minutes after the last entrance hour (i.e. 5.30 in February or 8.30 in July)
Virtual Tour
The Virtual Tour of the Auschwitz Memorial includes over 200 high-quality panoramic photographs. The 360⁰ images present the authentic sites and buildings of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp, complete with historical descriptions, dozens of witness accounts, archival documents and photographs, artworks created by the prisoners, and objects related to the history of the camp.
See the Virtual Tour
"Reserve" buildings available for the visitors
Study tour groups may visit Block 2 and 3 of the former Auschwitz I camp and wooden hospital barracks (B-80 and B-210) at the Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp. Block 2 and 3 are ones of so-called "reserve blocks" of the Museum, maintained and presented in their original condition. Since the liberation of the camp, the interior of the blocks has been preserved almost intact. It comprises rooms for prisoners, a washroom, toilets and other areas, furnished with original strawbeds, bunks and other elements of block furnishing.
Getting to the Museum
The Museum is located on the outskirts of the city of Oświęcim on national road 933 (note: entry to the parking lot is at Stanisławy Leszczyńskiej Str. no. 11). The Museum is about 2 km. from the train station and can be reached from there by local buses. (GPS coordinates: GPS coordinates: 19.20363 E, 50.0266 N )
There are PKS and minibus stops adjacent to the Museum, with service to Cracow and Katowice. There are also two international airports within about 50 kilometers of Oświęcim: Kraków-Balice and Katowice-Pyrzowice.
Temporarily closed for visitors
Closed for the visitors:
• 19-26 September: the Polish exhibition in Block 15 due to conservation works will not be accessible for visitors
• the Austrian exhibition in Block 17