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 a guide-educator
• The fees are charged for engaging a guide-educator. Visitors in groups are required to engage an Auschwitz Memorial guide. There is also possibility for individual visitors to join a guided tour.
• The Museum also organizes online guided tours for groups and individual visitors.
• Due to overwhelming demand, please book in advance and arrive at the Memorial at least 30 minutes before the start of the tour due to security checks. The main car park and entrance to the Museum is located at 55 Więźniów Oświęcimia Street.
• 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: 35x25x15 cm. Please leave your bags in your cars or buses.
Multibook - preparing for a visit to the Memorial Site
DEUTSCH | ESPAÑOL | FRANÇAIS | ITALIANO
Multibook is also available in International Sign language
Guided Tours for Individual Visitors
Individual visitors may tour the Memorial independently or in organised groups with a guide.
Entrance to the Museum, to both Auschwitz I and Birkenau parts, is possible only with a personalized entry pass booked in advance. Reservations can be made at visit.auschwitz.org or on the spot at the cashier. The number of entry passes available is limited.
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. 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
Online guided tours
The online guided tour lasts about two hours and is divided into two parts – in Auschwitz I and Birkenau. The guide's narration is conducted live. Additionally, the educator uses multimedia materials, archival photographs, artistic works, documents, and testimonies of Survivors. Interaction with the guide and asking questions is also possible.
GROUPS / SCHOOLS
The tour for groups is available in 7 languages (English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Polish, and Spanish). Bookings can be made after logging in via a form available on visit.auschwitz.org.
TOURS FOR INDIVIDUAL VISITORS
Individual visitors can join guided tours starting at set times of the day in English, German and Polish. Entry cards are available at visit.auschwitz.org.
Check the hours of online guided tours for individual visitors.
Learn more about "Auschwitz in Front of Your Eyes" platform.
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)
• Guided tours for individual visitors (3,5 h)
• One-day study tours (6 h)
• Two-day study tours (2x3 h)
• Online tour (2 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*:
-
7:30 AM - 2:00 PM December
-
7:30 AM - 3:00 PM January, November
-
7:30 AM - 4:00 PM February
-
7:30 AM - 5:00 PM March, October
-
7:30 AM - 6:00 PM April, May, September
-
7:30 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)
"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 provincial road 933. The visit starts at the former Auschwitz I site. 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:
• parts of the Auschwitz II-Birkenau
• part of the exhibition in Block 5 in Auschwitz I
• the Russian exhibition in Block 14
• The so-called Central Sauna building in Auschwitz II-Birkenau
• the Slovak exhibition in Block 16
• the Roma exhibition in block 13 in Auschwitz I will be closed to visitors from 17/06 to 21/07/2024 (excluding 2/07/2024) and 12/08 - 16/09/2024 (excluding 22/08)