Auschwitz-birkenau & Wieliczka Salt Mine – One Day Guided Trip

This tour company was excellent! Great communication right from the start of booking, regular updates, fast responses to my queries. The guides were friendly and knowledgeable, great English. Clean modern comfortable transport, easy pick up point right by the main square. The tour itself was amazing, obviously the concentration camps were somber and thought provoking but the tour was handled so well and we had loads of time at all the destinations. You need to be fit to do all the tours we did! Loads of steps, walking and standing.

It's a long day and the tour is designed for travellers with limited time. It worked for me perfectly.

An unforgettable day that was moving, special and organised to perfection. We felt privileged to have this opportunity and the private pick up was perfect, and the local guide passionate and so informative at Auschwitz and Birkenau. Heavy traffic lead to a long transfer to the Salt Mines, but a unique experience to gain. Cannot put into words how much we learned at Auschwitz and Birkenau - even though we both felt prior to going we were well informed. Great communication prior and on morning of trip.

The tour was planned so well and all information was sent to us. The tour guide was so knowledgeable and friendly. The only thing I would be aware of is the time. I chose 8am thinking this was the pick up time but it wasn't and we were picked up at 5.40am!. So beware that the time must be at Auschwitz itself. It was a very somber and sobering experience. Doing it all in one day was hard but doable. We had to change transport to go to Salt Mines and again all was planned so well they were waiting for us to take us. Can't fault the planning at all I would recommend Viator and use them again.

The tour at Auschwitz was led by the Hello Cracow guide Hubert, and he was wonderful - informative, very organized, with very clear directions for such a large tour group (30!). The tour at the salt mines was led by an employee of the salt mines, who was also great, but doesn’t reflect one way or the other on the tour company. Here’s why the experience is not five stars: I booked this specific tour specifically because it said it started at 8 am. Three days before the tour I received a message that my pickup would be between 5:20 and 5:35 am. Unlike another reviewer, this did give me enough notice to get there in time, but there are a hundred options for Auschwitz tours with similar ratings and since I booked this one specifically for its start time, it felt like a bait-and-switch. Three days before the date, the other tours were all sold out though, so I couldn’t switch to a different start time. I spoke to three other people on the tour and the same thing happened to them (probably because the tour is advertised as starting at 8 on Viator). The tour at Auschwitz, as I said, was excellent but felt rushed, especially at Auschwitz II. In fact when our guide finished he SPRINTED to another bus that had already started moving because he “had another tour.” Obviously there was no time for questions, and we moved through Auschwitz II very very quickly. When we got back to the bus on our own, the driver thanked us, said this concludes our tour, and we’re going back to Krakow. Those of us on the salt mine tour were calling and messaging the tour company, which the driver told us to do, and they were apologetic but a little evasive; finally they said there would be a different driver to take us to the salt mines. After some confusion about where he would be meeting us, the bus driver pulled over at a random gas station outside krakow and told everyone on the salt mine tour to get off. Luckily a different driver WAS there with a mini van. He drove us the 20 minutes to the salt mines and WhatsApped us our tickets, showed us where to get in line for “individual travelers without a tour guide,” and left after checking we were okay / understood. Our timed ticket entry was unfortunately an hour after we arrived, but there was a small park and restaurants nearby so it wasn’t too hard to spend the extra time. (Having to wait an hour on such an already long day was frustrating however.) The driver was waiting for us exactly where he said he would after the tour was over and drove us all back without further incident. For $150 a person and promises of a specific start time and smooth experience traveling back and forth between locations, I didn’t this think was worth it.

Guides were very knowledgable. It's a long day, but totally worth it. We took water & snacks to keep us going.

Great communication, professionally organised trip, clear instructions, could not ask for more! Pick up on time

Our tour guide Lucas was very knowledgeable and extremely sensitive and respectful in telling the story he told of the people that lost their lives in Auschwitz. His facts and stories gave a moving insight to the history of the place where so many people lost their lives. We followed on to the salt minds. Was not sure what to expect but so glad we went. A very long day but well worth it

The place is a memorial to the poor people who perished there, and hopefully it will be there for ever as a reminder for future generations. Our visit was ruined by a poor guide. She didn't seem to realise that not everyone could walk at her speed, so by the time we caught up, the talk was over and we learned nothing. This happened on three or four occasions. On another three occasions the guide decided to miss out parts of the tour by going downstairs when there were still rooms upstairs to see. We were promised a detailed talk about the deeds of Josef Mengele further round the tour, I've been home 2 days and I'm still waiting. If someone asked a question the guide would walk away with the person who asked, and just gave answers to them, there was no group involvement. Her talks were very monotone and there was no emotion in her descriptions. I left underwhelmed with emotion rather than full of emotion, sadness and tears, which I was expecting. Hopefully you will get a different guide and be better served.

A long day but a good full day trip to both the Salt Mine and Auschwitz 1 & 11. We took a packed lunch to make the most of the short break. Vehicles were small and comfortable. Drivers were friendly and knowledgeable. The guides at both sites were excellent. We had individual head phones to hear each guide. A good way to see both places in one day.

Full day - but worth the time. I would recommend this full day covering two sites, as with short city trips there’s not a lot time to get the full experience of the city.

Absolutely terrible experience with Hello Cracow, particularly the driver Michal and Patrycja (via WhatsApp). The pickup time was changed from 6:00am to 5:40am at short notice. Despite this, the driver left before the agreed time. At 5:41am, Michal rang my phone and immediately hung up when I answered. It appeared to be an attempt to create evidence of a “missed call” rather than genuinely trying to contact us, even though we were at the agreed location. Afterwards, I received multiple messages on WhatsApp claiming we didn’t arrive until 5:55am. This is completely untrue. I provided my Google Timeline as proof that we were there on time, but this was dismissed. We spent a significant amount of money on this booking and were refused a refund. The only solution offered was that we could pay additional money to go the following day. Given what had already happened, we had no confidence that the service would be fulfilled properly, so we declined. Appalling customer service and no accountability. I would strongly advise others to avoid this company.

We booked the Auschwitz and Salt Mines tour with Hello Cracow, with a confirmed meeting point at Wielopole 2 at 5:40am. At no point during the booking process was it stated that we needed to arrive 5–10 minutes early. We arrived at 5:40am exactly, as instructed. We were directly across the road from the pickup point, waiting for traffic and trams to pass so that we could cross safely. At 5:40am, we messaged Hello Cracow on WhatsApp to inform them we were there and crossing. At 5:41am, we received a call from the tour guide, Michał. We answered immediately — and he hung up instantly without speaking to us. Within seconds, we saw the bus drive away. We were no more than 10 seconds from the pickup point. If Michał had simply stayed on the line for even a few seconds, he would have known we were directly across the road and arriving safely. Instead, it appears the phone call was made purely to “tick a box” to say an attempt at contact was made before leaving. We then spent the next 30 minutes calling and messaging both Michał and Hello Cracow on WhatsApp with absolutely no response. Other buses continued to arrive at the stop, which added to the confusion, and we waited in good faith believing there had been some mistake. This level of service is completely unacceptable and extremely unprofessional for a well-known tour company in Krakow. Leaving customers behind at the exact scheduled time — without speaking to them, without warning that early arrival was required, and without responding to repeated calls — is not reasonable behaviour. We were awake before 5am and incredibly excited for this tour. Instead, our day was ruined due to poor communication and a complete lack of basic customer care. Given that: * We were present at the scheduled time. * There was no instruction requiring early arrival. * We answered the guide’s call immediately. * We made repeated attempts to contact the company with no response. We expect a full refund for this tour. The situation was entirely avoidable and was not due to negligence on our part. We are extremely disappointed with how this was handled and hope the company takes responsibility for what was clearly a failure in communication and professionalism. Also on this booking it gives the impression that it’s a small mini bus or van tour - it is not it’s a massive coach so don’t be fooled

Excellent trip . Company kept us updated with times etc and couldn’t fault at all . Driver and guide were exceptional. Would highly recommend

Really well organised company.Booked the Auschwitz and Berkenau tour.We were worried after reading many horror stories about other tour companies going there at silly hours.But they reassured us and every detail was just perfect.Wewere picked up at 08.40,on time.we also booked a packed lunch which was fresh and good value for what we had.nice touch the packet of tissues.its an emotional day but taking the worry out of getting there was brilliant.really good company at communication by what's app.we would certainly book through this company again.well done

Amazing tour provided. Great way to learn the history and step into the past. Hubert was very accommodating and kind making us feel at ease

Super easy and comfortable tour. Great guides both on the bus and on the museums who told us everything we needed to know.

Fantastic!our pick up guide (Hubert) &our driver (Pavel) made sure we were well informed and safe. At the mine our guide spoke clearly and at a good pace.no delays.thank you!

Very well organized pick-up service. Very competent and friendly guid. Thanks a lot to the guid Hubert and the driver! Highly recommended!

Friendly staff and drivers. Well organized. Good communication from the team. Very good tour guides too.

Fantastic customer service from all staff via WhatsApp. They were always there to help. Booked Auschwitz Birkenhau and the salt mines. Would use this company again definitely. Prices very competitive

Very profesional orginsed trip. Driver Max was very helpfull and explain everything clear. 5 /5 . Honestly high recomended.

Great tour company ‘hello Crakow’ with great communication on WhatsApp. Patrick was our guide, he was amazing and knowledgeable. The tour was great, it was a long day but worth it. Thank you hello Crakow team and thank you Patrick 🙏🏻

From the moment we were picked up Everything was fantastic Prompt pick up Driver explained exactly what we would be doing Driver queued for tickets & was waiting for us at the end 5 star Will definitely use again

It was really easy to book our trip using WhatsApp and Hello Cracow had very good communication, keeping us up to date with any information we needed. The trip was very well organised and our pickup arrived on time. We had a great time at the salt mines, and would definitely recommend people use Hello Cracow for their trips!

We were very happy with the service provided for our day trip. Our driver picked us up early from the hotel, which was super convenient, and he was excellent throughout the day. He also arranged a lunch box for us, which was a great help and very reasonably priced at around £9. Visiting Auschwitz was a deeply somber and emotional experience. Our guide was clearly knowledgeable, but unfortunately, her English was quite hard to understand at times—she might be better suited to leading tours in Polish. It was a good idea to have the Salt Mine visit scheduled afterwards—it offered a lighter end to the day. The sculptures and underground chambers were amazing, and we really enjoyed that part of the trip. Overall, a well-organized and memorable experience.

After hearing about many trips of Auschwitz being cancelled I starts to feel alittle nervous. But there was no need Hello Cracow were reassuring and in contact with me straight from the moment of booking letting me know meeting points and times. Would definitely recommend.

From booking this trip, right the way through until we left the coach this company was excellent. Up to date information and on board experience brilliant. The camps. If you visit Krakow it's a crime not to go to remember the horrendous way pow's, not only Jews, were treated by the Nazi regime. The tour guide on our trip was amazing, so knowledgeable and very understanding of how some visitors may react, we left feeling very angry, some were tearful. History should never repeat this horror.

we went on the aushwitz/Birkenau and saltmine trips. Both trips were well organised. Our drivers were well informed and were on time. The trips also had their own guides whose knowledge was unbelievable. Very helpful throughout and nothing was too much

We booked the Wieliczka Salt Mine + Auschwitz & Birkenau Full-Day Guided Tour. This was a very good day ( though obviously partly harrowing) and I would absolutely recommend it but I will start with some things which I feel are negative which is a real shame. We booked through Hello Cracow, but it seems we were on a tour with “Choose Cracow”. It dawned on us when we were given different types of physical tickets to the rest of the bus and we were not given the option of preordering a packed lunch like everyone else. I feel that really we should have been informed that we weren’t going with who we booked with especially as they had been so good at communicating before that. Also there was a £30 price difference, I have emailed about this but yet to receive a response. We received WhatsApp messages a few days before from Hello Cracow just checking in and then the day before given a location and time to meet at, with a map link which was perfect, just a 5 minute walk from the hotel, also we were given the vehicle type snd registration. We were met by guide Zee and bus driver at the time stated and off we went. Zee is an outstanding guide, he explained the day while on the bus, and as we got to the first location he began telling us about the area. Zee was our guide around Auschwitz & Birkenau, accompanied by a guide from the museum. A good guide knows his stuff, can answer questions, can continue discussing a subject when you are held up by the group in front of you, Zee did all this and more, you can tell he was not just reading a script. Zee kept the group updated and ensured we knew where to be and when. The salt mine tour was done by a member of the team from the mine, Zee made sure we all knew where to meet at the end of the I can not recall the bus driver name but he was a great driver and we felt safe on the bus. It was a long day doing both locations but if you are short of time visiting Krakow then it’s perfect way to see them. It such a shame I feel like I was misled and overcharged otherwise I’d of given 5 stars.

I absolutely loved the Salt mine part of the tour. Beautiful carvings, a lot of walking though. Auschwitz-Birkenau were very emotional. Glad we went. A huge day. Amazing bus driver - Peter thank you

I went to Krakow with 10 friends and booked all the trips via Hellow Krakow e.g. Salt mine, Aushwitz, Zakopane etc. The service provided was unbelievable, every day I received a plan of where we going, where is the meeting point, advice what to bring with us, how long is the trip, who will be our driver and also link to the meeeing point so it is easy to find. On top of that, any questions I asked were answered straight away. Highly recommend this site if you want to visit places in Krakow without stressing out! Hellow Krakow thank you!

We did the full day tour of Auschwitz and Birkenau and the Wielickza salt mines. It was a long day but absolutely worth it. The tour was amazing from start to finish. We were picked up from our hotel by our driver Lukasz. The journey was very comfortable in the minivan and Lukasz was very knowledgable and kind. The tour of Auschwitz and the salt mines ran smoothly, we did not have to wait long to enter and our guided tours were excellent. Really recommend Hello Cracow, they had excellent communication via emails and WhatsApp beforehand.

It was a great experience. Our guide Kaspar was an impeccable professional and we thank him very much! From the hotel that picked us up to the return, everything was perfect. I have already suggested to friends that we should return to Krakow next time and repeat this particular tour as well as the rest of Hello Cracow.

We had limited time in Krakow so decided to do this tour combining Auschwitz, Birkenau and the Salt Mines. The tour lasted 11 hours but was well worth it. Our driver, Tomasz, was punctual, friendly and efficient, providing a door to door service. The transportation was extremely comfortable. Our guide at Auschwitz was extremely well informed and highly respectful given the history of the site. A humbling experience. The Salt Mines provided a contrast, helped again by our guide who used to work there and was extremely knowledgeable and witty. All in all, an excellent day - we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the services of Hello Cracow - thank you.

The whole experience with Hello Cracow has been a pleasant one. The communication is excellent. I'm kept informed through Whatsapp since booking up to the day before the trip. Our driver Nobert was friendly, polite and informative. His car was clean and comfortable. We did Auschwitz-Birkenau and Salt Mine in one day and the two trips were connected seamlessly. It's been a long day but completely stress free. All the details were taken care of. We just had to turn up and emerged ourselves in history. I would recommend this tour operator to anyone who's thinking of visiting Krakow.

Great trip well organised, Lukasz our driver was polite and friendly, Hello Cracow messaged us every day to let us know time and pick up point, driver was on time. Salt mines were amazing, really enjoyed the whole day. Hello Cracow are great to deal with, we also used them for airport transfers and drivers were on time and very polite and helpful.

Great tour and well organised. Pick-up was on time. Excellent. The driver was pleasant and informative. The vehicle was clean and comfortable. The whole trip flowed well.

This was a wonderful way to see the Salt Mine and Auschwitz in one day. The bus driver and guide were efficient and clear. The tour guides at each site were amazing! Was nice to sit back and relax and have all the organisation done for us.

This was such a well-organised and coordinated trip. I got regular updates from the tour company and they were on time for pick-up. Although it was a long day, there was plenty of time to take a break between journeys. The guides were excellent and the ticketing process was very smooth.

Great tour, great driver and guides at both locations, really great price. Very helpful in the lead-up to the tour and the driver made the day very easy and enjoyable. Couldn't recommend this company more.

I had a fantastic tour day of the prison camps and salt mine just outside Cracow...The tour guide was very kind,informative and relaxed through the tour.It wasn't rushed and I enjoyed the amount of history learned from the tour.I highly recommend this tour for the day.This time of year make sure you bring thermals and wolly hats as it was freezing.

Norhing wrong to say really! The driver came on time and was very friendly and good english. Same with the guide. 10/10

Vi havde en fuldstændig sublim oplevelse med Hellocracow. Fantastisk service inden vores tur, så den kunne gennemføres. En særlig tak til Peter, som på alle måder gjorde vores dag til en succes. We had a sublime experience with Hellocracow. Great service before our trip so it could be completed. A special thank to Peter, who in every way made our day a success.

This is our second visit using this company to visit Auschwitz/Berkenau and the Salt mines and we can’t rate them highly enough. Each taxi driver we met while in Krakow was very friendly and very helpful, nothing was too much trouble for them! The driver arranged time of pick up with us the day before our trip and we had the same driver for the whole day, they drop you off exactly where you need to be and supply you with the tickets needed for your entry. They then wait for you until your visit is over and return you to your hotel. This service is very helpful and makes the trip stress free while being in another country. They also speak great English so communication is very easy! On one of our trips we needed to go directly from the Salt mine to the airport so the driver collected us in the morning from our hotel with our suitcases and stayed with us for the duration. He waited for us to finish the salt mine tour and on the way back to the airport we had a spare hour so we asked him is he could take us to the local shopping mall. The driver waited for us to have a look around the mall and then continued our journey to the airport, where he dropped us directly outside. The best taxi service in Krakow!

Driver was fantastic, the tour was fantastic. Very informative and covered everything we wanted it too!

We were transferred to and from the airport and all a very good price and a good english speaking driver. We had our trips booked to salt mine and Auswitch which were dead on time and very well explained. And a good price. Also our friend broke her pelvis while there and the staff and drivers were excellent in helping with our taxis and luggage. Couldn't fault them.

Excellent, the visit to the concentration and extermination camp was a bit hard, but it is part of history that is worth it. The salt mine is a very interesting find

Everything is very well organized from A to A, we received all the information upstream and everything went perfectly. The guides were perfect, very interesting. A real once in a lifetime experience.