"Krakow" to "Auschwitz (Oswiecim)" by bus and cost

If you will go to Poland🇵🇱, you should visit "Auschwitz" at least once in your life.

To get to Auschwitz, you must first take a bus from "Krakow" to "Oswiecim." (The name "Auschwitz" is the English version of "Oswiecim")

Compared to the article information from a few years ago, the places to get tickets and bus fees seemed to have changed, so here is the information as of December 2022.

The information is also included with notes on riding the buses and touring Auschwitz.

How to get from "Krakow" to "Oswiecim" (Auschwitz) by bus

There are two ways to get from "Krakow" to "Oswiecim": by bus or by train.

Departure from "Krakow bus terminal"

The buses leave regularly in the morning starting at 6:20 a.m.

The earlier you get on the bus, the fewer passengers there are, so you can take your time. (When I took the bus at 6:20, there were only 4 passengers. The return bus was full.)

It usually takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes to get there.

How to buy the bus tickets: You can pay directly to the bus driver

There is no particular need to purchase tickets in advance. (*Fares may change depending on the season.)

Basically, credit cards are accepted for payment.

There is a counter to buy tickets at the bus terminal, and when I tried to buy tickets there, I was told to "pay the driver directly."

It is possible that this may change depending on the time of the year, so it is a good idea to ask the staff at the counter ahead of time just in case. If you say "Oswiecim," they will understand.

Check Boarding Places and Times on the Bulletin Board

There is a bulletin board in the terminal.

Check the destination "OSWIECIM" on the left side, and "Departure time" and "Boarding station number" on the right side.

In my case, it was "6:20" and "G1".

It stops at several places along the way, but most people get off at the "Auschwitz" bus stop, so just get off there with them.

You can also buy the bus ticket & check the time "online website"

You can also check the bus time schedule and purchase tickets from this website.

For the bus from Krakow to Auschwitz, depending on the time of day, it may not be necessary to buy tickets in advance.

However, as for the return bus, it is expected to be quite crowded.

In my time, people with "advance reservations" were given priority to get on the bus, and those without reservations were seated in the empty seats.

To avoid getting irritated, it may be a good idea to make reservations in advance.

 Arrival at "Auschwitz" bus stop (Oswiecim)

From where you arrive, a 3-minute walk will take you to the "Auschwitz Ⅰ [Museum]". (The "Auschwitz Ⅱ [Birkenau]" is about 3 km away from here.)

Before you do, check the "return bus stop and timetable" and the "shuttle bus timetable to Auschwitz Ⅱ[Birkenau]".

The "Return Bus Stop and Timetable" is posted at the bus stop diagonally in front of where you got off the bus.

Or you can also check this website.

The distance between "Auschwitz Ⅰ [Museum]" and Auschwitz Ⅱ[Birkenau] is about 3 km.

It is possible to walk there, but it will take about one hour on an empty road.　That was fun, though.

This timetable is also posted at the same bus stop as above, so you can avoid unnecessary time loss if you check it in advance.

Let's Start seeing All "Auschwitz"

You can finally start your tour of "Auschwitz", but there is one thing you need to be careful of.

One thing to note is that the"Auschwitz Ⅰ [Museum]” is only open for tours in the a.m.

If you want to tour at your own pace, you will have to come later. ※check the official Web site

(If you are okay with an English or German-speaking guide, or if you are okay with a tour, you can enter in the morning.)

オープン時間	月	個人入場可能時間
7:30~14:00	12月	12:00~
7:30~15:00	1月、11月	13:00~
7:30~16:00	2月	14:00~
7:30~17:00	3月、10月	15:00~
7:30~18:00	4月、5月、9月	16:00~
7:30~19:00	6月、7月、8月	16:00~

Opening hours are different each month.

Therefore, "tour hours" and "individual tour hours" also change each month.

Since I visited in December, the opening hour has been short, and "individual tour hours" was available from 12:00 p.m.

However, in other months when the opening hours are longer, "individual tour hours" is available later.

You can make a reservation in advance here either tour or individual.

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However, the [Birkenau] (the one with the station, railroad tracks, gas chambers, bedrooms, etc.), 3 km from here, has no restrictions on admission.

So the basic route is to see "Auschwitz Ⅱ[Birkenau] first and enter "Auschwitz Ⅰ [Museum] later.

But you need to be careful about the "shuttle bus time" if you want to have this basic route.

The first shuttle bus time is from 10:10.

If you take the first bus in the morning from Krakow, you have no choice but to walk to [Birkenau].

I walked to [Birkenau Camp]. It seemed quite far, but it was fun.

I recommend taking a bus in the morning → [Birkenau Camp]→[Birkenau Museum]

I recommend taking the bus first thing in the morning (6:20 am).

After arriving at Oswiecim, buy the ticket brochures at "Auschwitz Ⅰ [Museum]", and walk to the "Auschwitz Ⅱ[Birkenau].

It is a bit hard, but you can enter the "empty Auschwitz" as shown in the photo above.

When I asked the staff, they said, "You are the third person, maybe," but in this rather large site, three people can see each other, but rarely pass each other.

Walking in such silence, the chilly cold feeling of those days in the past stings more.

I got that feeling that I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible, but I couldn't do so without seeing everything properly.

By the time I had walked about 4 hours, there were a lot of tourists coming in, and when they did, it suddenly felt like it had changed from a "heritage" site to a "tourist" site, which I had a bit of trouble with.

Please feel the history of Auschwitz as it is, first thing in the morning when it is quiet.

*If you go to the "Auschwitz Ⅰ [Museum] after 12:00 pm on your own, it must be crowded. Give up.

End...

Thank you for reading this far.

This time, I mainly introduced bus transportation from "Krakow" to "Auschwitz".