Hello.
Me and a friend will go an a brief trip to Poland next month and we're pretty excited about getting to know a bit of this country.
We'll be staying at Warsaw but we were interested in going to Auschwitz to remember and condemn what happened there. It's something that changed the world and i think it can be very important to a person to confrount with that place.
Now, we wanted to go from Warsaw and still get back at night to the hotel and we have in fact already booked a train to Krakow, but i'm worried with something.
How much more time will we spend from Krakow to Auschwitz? We have around 7 or 8 hours before our train at the end of the afternoon back to Warsaw and if we had to spend most of the day just in travels, it could be hard to visit Auschwitz.
Should we procede as planned or should we instead visit Krakow?
While I think Treblinka is a worthwhile trip to make, if it's your first trip to Poland, and possibly your only trip to a concentration camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau is really a must. This is especially true if you factor in Birkenau, which is easily recognisable from films and thoroughly shocking in its scale. There is little to actually see in Treblinka and it's not easy to get to you unless you have a car. Although this does mean there are less visitors.
7-8 hours is a tight schedule to get there and back, see all of the exhibitions in Auschwitz, and explore Birkenhau, although it is doable. I've taken visitors down on day trips from Warsaw before. The downside is the experience is really one that shouldn't be rushed.
There are PKS public buses from Krakow main bus station, which is attached to the train station. Buses take about 90mins. In summer, there are many, many private companies running minibus tours to the camp, although these will cost you a good bit more more cash. I also think visiting the camp is better down privately, but that's up to yourself.
