Visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau and Salt Mine in one day. Learn the history of the largest Nazi camp in Europe thanks to a professional guide. Discover one of the oldest mines in the world written by UNESCO on the first World Heritage List. Use the transport from your hotel and booking service without waiting in queues. Travel by comfortable air-conditioned vehicle from Krakow.
• Door-to-door service – guaranteed
• There is no need to wait in line, admission – included
• Learn the history of Auschwitz-Birkenau and the Salt Mine thanks to the guide who is provided
REMEMBER !
Visiting the Auschwitz-Birkenau & Salt Mine takes place with a guide in groups of up to 30 people.
Posted By : Wayne_S
I have taken many Viator tours, and enjoyed nearly all of them, but this was an appalling experience and pitiful performance by the company. I booked a private tour to the Krakow Salt Mines and Auschwitz-Birkenau on May 18th, with a pickup at 8am at the Stradom Hotel in Krakow. The driver was around 15 minutes late. The driver basically spoke no English and was not able to respond to basic questions. Instead, throughout the drive he shouted into his phone in Polish and then thrust it towards the back seat of the vehicle while a translation program attempted to play back what he was saying, which was often not understandable. While doing this the driver frequently took his eyes off the road, which seemed dangerous, and on a number of occasions he had to jerk the wheel to get us back into the lane.
He dropped us off at the salt mine tour and pointed to a building landmark which he told us to walk toward when the tour ended. While the building was visible from where the tour started, the tour ended in a completely different area, 0.2KM away and the building he had pointed to was no longer in site. We spent 20 minutes walking around trying to locate the building. The driver had not provided me with his cell phone number in the event of such circumstances even though I asked for it at the beginning of the tour - he just waved off the request. I later realized that he likely did not understand what I was saying as his English was practically non-existent.
The car itself was an old VW van. It did not have any connections to charge one’s phone and while the driver was charging his phone via the cigarette lighter, he did not ask if we needed our devices charged. The car was cluttered and when we pulled up the window sun screen it was badly rusted. There was no water available in the car and when we asked the driver if we could get some water he pointed us to a vending machine. The worst aspect of the car is that the air conditioner was partially broken in that none of the air outlets in the back seat operated. When we asked the driver for air in the back seat he told us (via his translation device) that the air was already on full blast but he did lean down the front passenger seat so there would be better circulation. After we stopped for lunch, the driver acknowledged that the back seat fans/vents were all broken and said that it was probably “a fuse” and that he would try and fix this while we were visiting Auschwitz - but when we finished our tour it was still broken. Again, all this communication was via his translation device which sometimes delivered very fractured translations.
On the trip from Krakow to Auschwitz, the driver talked pretty constantly. While he was a nice and friendly man (and I don’t blame him for much of our disappointment) he is clearly in no way qualified as a tour guide and should never have been selected for this task. He pointed out various buildings and areas - some of no real interest - but did not have a deep knowledge of any of them, and prefaced many of his statements with the phrase: “I read on the Internet that this place . . .”
When the driver was not pointing out this building or that, he spent the rest of his time expounding on various of his political views and conspiracy theories, of which he had many. The various topics he addressed at some length included: (i) the war in Ukraine; (ii) Vladimir Putin; (iii) U.S. assistance to Ukraine; (iv) whether Putin is actually dead and a “doppelgänger” has taken his place (it’s true! “I saw it on some TV show”); (v) whether Hitler actually died in Germany at the end of WWII or survived and made his way to South America (he did! “I read it on the Internet”); (vi) whether aliens live among us (they do!); and (via) whether the U.S. has possession of an alien spaceship (they do!) and have designed their own aircraft based on this alien ship (they have!).
We decided for a private tour as opposed to a large group, as a large group often slows you down and you often get a much better guide. But this was in every way worse than a large group tour. It was not more efficient (we had way too much time between stops and the tickets had been purchased for times that could easily have been much earlier), the driver had no relevant information about anything a tourist would be interested in, the driver’s vehicle was much worse than the typical larger tourist coach or van, we did not feel safe as the driver was talking, translating and distracted during the trip, and it all of this cost twice as much.
I think Viator needs to rectify this situation, particularly for a repeat customers. I would prefer to keep this a private matter but I do have video of the driver “translating while driving” and photos of the vehicle (including the rusty shade) that I can share in a Trip Advisor review if something isn’t done.
Thank you.
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Posted On : 2024-05-19 07:45:21 
Posted By : Paul_B
Our driver was Marrioush, he was excellent, very informative and polite, I would highly recommend him.
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Posted On : 2024-02-05 08:25:21
Posted By : Michelle_B
The trip was well organised and our driver, Gregor, made sure we were looked after.
The Auschwitz tour is very sad but one that everybody should see. The tour guide was very respectful and informative.
The Salt Mines are amazing. Fantastic to see.
Good to combine both tours when you’re short on time in Krakow. Highly recommended.
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Posted On : 2023-12-18 21:32:00
Posted By : Margaret_S
What a great one day trip. We had an amazing driver, Marioush, who taught us a lot about Poland and Polish history. He was also super attentive and always making sure we were ok/.
The visit itself was amazing. The salt mines were stunning and definitely worth a visit to see. Our guide was informative and had a great sense of humour. Auschwitz was sobering and humbling but a must see so history is not forgotten. I learned a lot from the visit and our guide was really knowledgeable and provided a great experience.
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Posted On : 2023-10-07 02:31:23
Posted By : TERRY_S
We enjoyed our day with Gregor visiting the salt mine and camps. He was friendly, knowledgeable and went out of his way to be sure we were having a good trip. Highly recommended!
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Posted On : 2023-10-04 21:02:54
Posted By : Solecandee
My friends and I loved this tour! Our driver was prompt, kind, and very informative. The Auschwitz tour along with the salt mine were great to see in one day. I would recommend this service and tour to anyone planning a visit to Krakow.
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Posted On : 2022-02-24 08:15:16 
Posted By : Janni_N
Our third time here. The shock and sadness only get harder by each time. How this could happen, i will never accept or understand. Pool souls. May they rest in peace.
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Posted On : 2021-07-13 11:19:58
Posted By : thehunties
Driver Gregor very good and recommended a good lunch stop near Salt Mine. Guide at Alshwich not so friendly.
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Posted On : 2020-02-12 07:04:02
Posted By : TinaV1971
we had booked the private Tour and our Driver came to pick us up at the Hotel at 9 am. He was very friendly and shared his knowledge about history already on the way to Auschwitz. As we had enough time he did an extra stop to show us more. Everything was perfectly organised, every tour, our lunch, the guides at Auschwitz, Birkenau and the salt mine.
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Posted On : 2020-02-02 13:39:40
Posted By : Milkas123
Amazing driver, very kind and nice, gave us alot of knowladge of country and a good ride! Was a amazing day, thanks mariusz
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Posted On : 2019-11-16 16:46:00
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