I'd like to visit the Wieliczka salt mines and the Auschwitz KZ. Is it possible to visit both places the same day? How much time should I stay in each place? What trains/buses are there from central Krakow?
Also, I'm wondering if it will be cheaper and more cost-effective to join an organized group or do it on my own.
It's possible to do both in one day, but I wouldn't recommend it - it's a lot to take in, and makes for a very long day. There's so much to see in Krakow old town, that it's worth spreading them out and spending your down time on a city tour or just walking around trying random foods in old restaurants or seeing the performers in the main square, or just sitting in the parks.
What I did can be read on my blog, so I'll include the links:
They are run by Cracow City Tours, and were pretty reasonable.
Now, the reason I suggest a tour. For the mines, you'll find that as an individual it's possible to get out there (see Wikitravel for bus numbers and directions), but then you'll have to find a tourist group to latch onto, as you can't explore them on your own. Also possible, you just have to ask around.
For the Auschwitz and Birkenau tour, it's one of the most depressing (but important) tours to do, and personally, I found it better to make some new friends on the tour to have someone to talk to about it. We had an Israeli guy with us who'd had relatives at the site, and that was really interesting. But it's quite a moving place, and I'm glad I didn't do it alone, to put it simply.
Also really recommend Greg and Tom's Hostel, by the way - 3 min walk from the train station!
Well, I would like to present some different, than Mark's & Piotr's, point of view. You have plenty of time, so you can get from Auschwitz to Wieliczka by bicycle and visit both KZ and salt mine in a single day :)
Yes, it is possible to do the single trip with Auschwitz and Wieliczka in one day!
Hiring a car, taking an organized trip, or just get Uber/Bolt/Freenow/cheap taxi (see below sections) would be my recommendation. Public transportation would be cheaper but yet more challenging option. It requires more free time and take-ins, but it is not impossible.
You may also get a bicycle trip. Having 5.5 - 8 hrs. spare time (depending on the month) and 80 km distance, you can get to Wieliczka by bicycle.
NOTE that Auschwitz in Polish language is Oświęcim. In Poland, Auschwitz name is considered more as the concentration camp and Oświęcim as both camp and the city.
The Auschwitz concentration camp opening hours varies month by month and are:
Also note:
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)
Time needed for Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp is 3.5 hrs:
As a minimum, however, at least three-and-a-half hours should be reserved.
Please note that Wieliczka has a single salt mine. Another salt mine open to sightseers in the region is Bochnia Salt Mine which is located slightly more than 40 km (~25 mi) from Kraków.
Wieliczka Salt Mine opening hours for the "Tourist Route" are:
The route is open from 09:00 am to 05:00 pm, and the tour in English-speaking takes place at the following times: 10:00 am, 11:00 am, 12:00 pm, 01:00 pm, 02:00 pm, 03:00 pm, 04:00 pm, 05:00 pm
The closing hour means "hour of closing ticket desks and last group of tourists entering the mine."
Please note that alternative routes (Miners' Route, Pilgrims' Route, Group Adventure, The Mysteries of the Wieliczka Mine) have different schedules.
I'd suggest to start with Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
Starting from 8:00 AM + 3.5 hrs = 11:30 AM.
Assuming the last entry to Wieliczka Salt Mine is either 7:30 PM or 5:00 PM, that gives you consecutively 8 or 5.5 hours of time (depending on the month) for getting from Auschwitz to Wieliczka.
The distance from Auschwitz to Wieliczka is approx. 80 km (~50 mi). The route can be taken via "A4" highway and it takes, in the optimistic scenario, 1 hour. You may use Google Maps which calculates pretty accurate traffic in Poland. I wouldn't expect much traffic in the noon/afternoon time.
Hire one and you will have a plenty of free time. Remember to use Google Maps to avoid tolls and traffic.
Whether you go by bus, minibus or train, if you want to check timetable online, you should probably look for:
That may be obvious, but some may want to look for Auschwitz rather than Oświęcim.
Go to the e-podroznik (English language available) and check the route for your destination. There are many options available and the website lists the travel time, walking time, transport type, prize and option to buy a ticket online (for some routes).
Schedules:
As per Auschwitz Memorial & Museum official website:
The Museum is located on the outskirts of the city of Oświęcim on national road 933 (note: entry to the parking lot is at Stanisławy Leszczyńskiej Str. no. 16). The Museum is about 2 km. from the train station and can be reached from there by local buses.
Transportation between camps is as following:
Communication between former Auschwitz I and Birkenau concentration camps
Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau are situated 3,5 km from each other.
Car parks
There are paid car parks available near both former concentration camps.
Museum Bus
Every hour the museum bus shuttles from one concentration camp to another. Departures from the former Auschwitz concentration camp: between April - October every 15 minutes, between November - March every 30 minutes. No bus fare is required.
TAXI
Taxi services are provided by HALO TAXI company. You can find a taxi at the taxi rank in front of the Museum entrance. You can also call a taxi using the following phone number: +48 32 19 194.
By foot
The three kilometre distance between the former concentration camps can be covered by foot (through streets: Leszczyńska and Wyzwolenia), crossing the by-camp premises, where during the occupation were German industrial plants and workshops, warehouses, offices and technical backrooms, in which the prisoners would work and die. There are preserved remains of a few railway sidings and ramps [link to Judenrampe], where the trains with deportees would stop and the members of the SS would make the selections.
Schedules:
As per official website:
Almost all underground routes begin at the Danilowicz Shaft located in the area of the Mine. Only The Miners’ Route and the Mysteries of Wieliczka Mine start from the Regis Shaft located in the centre of the town.
There are many organized tours in Kraków, so you may easily reach one and ask for a single day tour.
Example: Cracow City Tours organizes a full day trip to Auschwitz and Wieliczka.
You may also try Uber, Bolt or FreeNow.
I've just checked Uber and Bolt options -- it costs around 275 PLN to get from Oświęcim to Wieliczka.
If not, you may try to call either iCar or Mega Taxi, which are the cheapest and the most reliable taxi options. Both taxis have mobile apps, so you may use these as well.
It's around 80 km to get from Auschwitz to Wieliczka, so... why not biking. Having 5.5 - 8 hrs. spare time (depending on the month) and 80 km distance, you can get to Wieliczka by bicycle.
You may use Google Maps for the bicycle trip, but Google Maps may do not find suitable path for your bicycle type. I'd recommend to use either Mapy.cz app (free option and you can choose between Mountain Bike and Road Bike) or Naviki (free with minimum options, but you can choose between plethora of bicycles: Everyday/Leisure/Mountain/Racing/S-Pedelec).
With avg. of 25 km/h, you will get to Wieliczka in less than 3.5 hours.
Also, I'm wondering if it will be cheaper and more cost-effective to join to an organized group or do it on my own?
Organized trip would cost you about twice as non-organised trip with public transportation. The cost of a single-day organized trip with tickets included is 260 PLN (~60 EUR). An entrance to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp is free. An individual ticket for Wieliczka Salt Mine costs from 80 PLN (~20 EUR). Public transportation requires more take-ins and may be much more difficult, but still – it is doable.
There's even a sculpture called AUSCHWITZWIELICZKA:
Mirosław Bałka's sculpture AUSCHWITZWIELICZKA was created in 2008–2009. The work takes the form of a concrete tunnel 17 metres long, 2.5 metres high, 2.5 metres wide and weighing 17 tonnes. The inscription ‘AUSCHWITZWIELICZKA’ has been cut into the ceiling of the tunnel and is projected onto its walls. As of 2018, the sculpture has been part of the MOCAK Collection.
Mirosław Bałka's work is an ironic reference to Krakow tourist offices offer of combined tours to the Wieliczka Salt Mine and the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. This combination advertises the service, but is completely devoid of any reflection on the meaning of these places and the memory that belongs to them. Mirosław Bałka chose the form of a tunnel because it is a symbol of passage. However, there is no passage between the two places, because they are different worlds. One does not merge with the other. The irony is highlighted by merging the names of these places into one word. The material used in this sculpture – raw concrete, often appears in this artist’s works.
Read more at Mocak.
It's not easy and not recommended to do both in one day!
The best is either to have the private car or to choose the rush tour starting very early morning:
The tour of Wieliczka Salt Mine takes at least 3 hours. The location of the mine is half an hour drive by car from the center of Krakow. The town of Oswiecim (in German: Auschwitz) is about at least 1 hour and 15 minutes drive - better to say 1,5 h drive by car from Wieliczka (the highway is distant). And you need there at least 2hours to see the most important parts of Auschwitz KZ.
You should add an extra 1h for traffic jams (very common in Krakow) and it is: 3,5-4,5 hours of drive + circa about 5-6 hours for both tours (it's not easy to shorten them, especially in Wieliczka Salt Mine where is almost obligatory to have the reservation for the entrance). So it can be a tiring 10 hours without lunch and stops. Let's say 11-12 hours.
These are opposite directions from Krakow, so you would spend a lot of time transiting between the two of them. For the salt mines the SKA train from downtown Krakow (about 30 minute journey) gets you to about a 10 minute walk to the mines. In the opposite direction to Auschwitz (about 75 /90 minute train), from the train station it is maybe 25 minute walk to Auschwitz memorial/museum - there is an "M" bus that would take you there from the train station.
In 2024, it seems (almost)? impossible to do either one of these destinations truly as an individual. For Auschwitz, there does exist the option to "buy" a "tour for individuals without an educator" (costs $0) but there are very limited numbers, and all the times seem to be after 5pm - so maybe after all the educator-led tours have left?. However, you can buy a ticket for an educator led tour direct from Auschwitz - no need to use an outside agency.
For the salt mines you just buy a ticket for a time and language, and you'll get put into a group on arrival. Again, no need to contract with an outside agency.
As users before suggested - it's quite difficult to make it in one day, but it is possible.
From Krakow to Wieliczka it's not very far, but there can be traffic. Traffic between Wieliczka and Oswiecim is also quite "difficult", and it would be more then hour one way. For Wieliczka - You need about 3-3,5h with guide only, for Auschwitz more or less the same time, and it's also suggested to have a group, toured trip. Summing the fact, that You need to move around quite a lot, and have 2 guided tours, did you consider ordering a day service? It may be the better way in your situation (low on time, lot's to see :) ).
Good luck!
