Visiting Auschwitz/Birkinau was top of the list for me when visiting Krakow. I visited Dachau over…read more10+ years ago which was the very first concentration camp but Auschwitz-Birkenau was a scale larger and meant for extermination. It certainly was eye opening, upsetting at times and unimaginable in horrors. Booking online ahead was important to secure an English tour on a date/time that worked for my schedule. Note there were two tours available: (1) normal took 3.5 hours or (2) 6 hour educational. I booked mine about one month ahead of time (March visit for me) but tours could sell out sooner depending on the season. After booking, recommendation was to arrive min. 30 minutes prior to allow time to clear security. No large backpacks were allowed (though inconsistent in applying the rule) and had to be checked in across the street. I suggest taking the Lajkonik bus from Krakow (22zl each way) which dropped us off right in front of the main museum entrance. It was a better option in my opinion versus taking the train and then having to walk (20+ minutes) or taxi. Return buses can quickly fill up so book a seat online for a time slot at least 1/2 hour after your tour ends (to give you enough time to get back from Birkenau). However, if you miss your scheduled bus or want to leave earlier then the online ticket cannot be reapplied. Tours left every fifteen minutes which seemed a bit rushed initially as some tours started backing up or speaking over each other. However, after the first half hour the spacing finally improved and it was a better experience. Our guide was an excellent source of information and really helped us understand the importance of every stop along the way. Photos without flash were allowed but the guide will inform when it's not allowed. The total tour was 3 hours, 30 minutes across both camps. ~2 hours to complete Auschwitz, a break and bus ride in between, and ~1 hour to complete Birkenau. I could say more but it's a must to experience for yourself.

No amount of reading can prepare you for standing inside the very buildings where this history…read moreunfolded. Auschwitz is one of those places every person should experience--not because it's easy, but because it's necessary. One of the most haunting buildings is Block 10, where medicine was transformed into a weapon. It became the center for medical experiments on prisoners, particularly women, who were selected not because they were ill, but because Nazi doctors viewed them as expendable. Many endured forced sterilization experiments as part of the Nazi obsession with racial purity. Physicians tested methods they believed could sterilize millions of people quickly and cheaply, inflicting unimaginable pain and suffering in the name of pseudoscience. Just steps away stands Block 11, known throughout the camp as the "Death Block." This prison within the prison was reserved for those accused of resistance, attempting escape, helping fellow prisoners, or violating camp rules. Beneath the building are the infamous standing cells--tiny chambers, roughly one square meter in size, where four prisoners were forced to stand together through the night with almost no air. Other cells were kept in complete darkness, while the starvation cells slowly claimed lives by denying prisoners food and water. Between these stands the Black Wall, reconstructed after the original was dismantled by the retreating Germans. This quiet courtyard became one of Auschwitz's primary execution sites. Thousands of prisoners were led here, ordered to face the wall, and executed with a gunshot to the back of the head. The wall itself was covered with black insulating material to absorb bullets and reduce ricochets. Nearby stands the reconstructed gas chamber and crematorium, among the first facilities at Auschwitz used for systematic mass murder. About the actual tour: stay close to your guide, the headphones don't pick up too well. Drink a LOT of water. The tour felt super rushed so it's hard to be able to stop and read what's going on. And the next tour group will be pushing into your tour group (literally standing on top of you to move). I wish there was a museum that you were able to browse through to absorb everything. And I hate we barely got to talk about the medical aspect and didn't go into the buildings involved in this.

Hmm... Yelp has a separate listing for the Castle and the Cathedral. The Cathedral is on the castle…read moregrounds; you can't get there without going into the castle area. So... basically just do it all. The castle grounds are within solid brick walls. The main building is heavily art work and tapestries. The cathedral has some really creative tombs. I'll attach pictures - better than words. There's also a small cave that you can go through and see a dragon statue that breathes fire periodically. The cathedral and the cave cost a small amount. We got an English speaking tour guide for the castle which really helped us understand the history. Poland's been through some tough times and came out successful.

There's no way that you can stay in Kraków and not see Wawel Castle. It's the heart and soul of the…read morecity. A national treasure! The castle grounds, cathedral, and royal residences are all very impressive. You can spend as much time as you want up there taking in the views of the city and the castle complex. There's no admission fee to walk around the castle grounds. It's a small fee to enter the cathedral to see the exhibits, royal tombs, and the bell tower. There are separate fees to enter the residences and the museum. I didn't see any combo tickets offered to see everything. However, I believe you can purchase them online if you know exactly what you want to see on the day of your visit. We just bought our tickets at the cathedral ticketing office. There wasn't much of a wait in the afternoon on a weekday. We actually visited twice during our stay since our hotel was nearby. The first time was during a walking tour of Old Town. We decided to go back a 2nd time on our own to see the cathedral & gardens. It was a beautiful sunny day.

The equestrian statues always impress me the most. They just look more regal in my eyes. This one…read morecommemorates the 500th anniversary of the 1410 Battle of Grunwald. Unfortunately, the original statue of 1910 was destroyed during the invasion of Poland. There are still pieces of the original statue in the Museum of Kraków. I saw what appeared to be the a head from the statue at the Oskar Schindler museum, although I'm not sure if it's replicated or the original. It's placed in the perfect place. It's just outside the Barbican near the start of the Royal Route that leads to the castle. It's certainly difficult to miss seeing it when walking towards the Academy of Fine Arts. It's right there on Matejko Square. There is a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front of it. It's a place of victory and remembrance. This is also where you can get a beautiful picture of the Barbican towers. It was a memorable visit.

Because there are so many beautiful monuments in this neighborhood, you might actually miss it…read moreamongst the city life. Don't let it fall into your background. Appreciate it!

Yelp Review 2023 #280:…read more A square in Podgorze with 30 plus chairs right next to Eagle Pharmacy. People taking pictures (so was I), children running around and trying to sit on every single one, influencers influencing I don't know what and how. I tried to count all the chairs but there was too much chaos. Plac Bohaterow Getta (Ghetto Heroes Square) used to be a bustling market called Zgody Square. Then, the Nxxis came and changed all that. It became a square for publicly dehumanizing and taking lives of Jewish people or be sent on a train to one of 3 concentration camps in Poland - depending if you're fit enough to work or not. Until the streets were empty. Those that tried to hide were caught and were not spared. So what are these chairs doing in this square? Why not use something easier to understand to symbolize what happened here? Each chair is supposed to represent thousands of lives that were lost during the Holocaust. Like things that were of no value to Nxxis: furniture, clothes, pictures, anything that's not a precious metal or stone - thrown away. Certain people and their lives were devalued and discarded - no care for humanity at all. Empty.

We all know of the horrors that began in these Ghettos and Krakow's Ghetto was no exception…read more There's not a lot left of the Ghetto today, from what I could tell there are no markers as to where the boundaries were or anything but it's clear there wasn't a lot of space. You can also visit Schindler's Factory and read all about the war and how it affects Krakow. Getta Square is also a good place to visit to see the memorial. Getta Square is a very important place to visit when you're walking about Krakow's Ghetto. There is a simple yet effective memorial in the square - a collection of chairs marking those who were walled in and who died during the horrific event that was WWII. I would definitely recommend checking it out, but read up on the significance of the square before you go as there isn't a lot of information around to explain the significance of the chairs etc.