Krakow: Auschwitz-Birkenau Guided Tour with Pickup

A heavy but important visit that everyone should make. Well organised, responsive, on-time, clear instructions, and a good tour guide as well from See Krakow. Definitely recommend.

Overall a good tour. The guide was excellent. Some more time could have been given to the participants to buy food or snacks as it was a long tour from start to finish

The whole booking process was easy and the tour itself was great. The guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. The only negative I have is that the mini bus driver we had was very rude. He didn't speak any English which made it quite hard to communicate and after finishing the Auschwitz part of the tour the guide told us to have a 15 minute break to use the toilets and get a drink before heading back to the mini bus to go to Birkenau. In that time the driver tried to get us to go to the bus multiple times and myself and other members of the group tried to explain by pointing at the vending machine that we needed a drink and he shouted at us. When I then returned to the mini bus 5 minutes later, he shouted in my face as I was walking up the bus steps. It was very unprofessional, rude and very intimidating. The tour itself was 5* but the driver was not even 1*.

I am quite ambivalent in how I feel. Auschwitz is such an memory and scar in the human experience. But you couldn't take anything in, due to the crowds. You had to really fast walk around the museum halls and move on because another group were coming. On places where it was not so crowded (such as the incinerator, or the second part of Birkenau) you could be emotionally touched. At the same time I do not want to limit the number of tourists arriving. This is something everyone should see. Never forget. But I guess I had expected to be crying for two hours walking around the grounds, but what I got was more of a "meh". So please go see this - but be aware that it is hugely overcrowded. Prepare yourself for that mood.

The organization from the office was shocking Conflicting times of pick up. Initially told 9:15am, changed to 10:15am. Waited an hour for collection. No direction once arrived at venue. Confusion on which party we belonged to. In our opinion our group was annexed to another. Result was a very large unwieldy group. Not the intimate small tour we were hoping for, as was experienced by friends. Saved only by the excellent guide who took us round. No coordination with change of venue. In conclusion, Group was too large so time wasted with many pick up points which resulted in late arrival at venue so we missed our time slot. Would not recommend your company for this trip.