The journey in one line
One place in Poland. Arriving is the journey.
Auschwitz stands on its own because for most people it is the journey, whole and by itself. It is the place people mean when they say they went. There are two parts and they are visited together. Auschwitz I is the brick barracks, the museum and the archive. Birkenau, about two miles away, is the ramp, the ruined gas chambers and a great deal of open ground.
About one million one hundred thousand people were murdered here. Roughly a million of them were Jews, deported from across occupied Europe. Poles, Roma and Sinti, and Soviet prisoners of war were killed here too. The Germans tried to destroy the evidence before they left. What survives is the ramp, the foundations, the rail spur and the objects taken from people as they arrived. Birkenau is deliberately kept as ruin rather than rebuilt. The museum is also the largest archive of the camp's records, and it traces individuals for families who ask.
Entry passes are free but must be reserved in advance, and visit.auschwitz.org is the only official booking site. Passes sell out. Photo identification is checked on arrival. All guided tours start at Auschwitz I. A shuttle runs to Birkenau. Allow at least three and a half hours for both, and more in summer. The museum does not recommend visits by children under fourteen. Much of Birkenau is exposed. Dress for cold, wind or heat.
Where it goes
Preparing the map. The order below is the same information.
- 1Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, Oświęcim, Poland
1 places on this journey, in order.
The places on this journey
What a visit means here. One place. A recorded visit means entering the memorial grounds at Auschwitz I or Birkenau. The wording is always visited, never completed, and the record is private by default.
- 1
Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum
Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau w Oświęcimiu
Oświęcim, Poland
Photo: Logaritmo, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsThe entrance to the Auschwitz I museum grounds, in winter, with no people in frame. About one million one hundred thousand people were murdered here, roughly a million of them Jews. Auschwitz I holds the museum and the archive. Birkenau, two miles away, holds the ramp, the ruined gas chambers and the ground the ashes were spread on. It is the place people mean when they say they went.
What counts as a visit
The Auschwitz I museum grounds and the Birkenau site, which are visited together on one entry pass.
Access
Entry passes are free but must be reserved in advance, and visit.auschwitz.org is the only official booking site. Photo identification is checked. Visits by children under fourteen are not recommended. Allow at least three and a half hours for both parts. Checked 16 September 2026.
A place of reflectionPermit required
Check access · last checked September 16, 2026
Respect and access
This is a burial ground. Around it, the ordinary rules of a cemetery apply and the museum publishes them: no eating, no drinking except water, quiet, and no photographs of yourself posed on the site. Do not enter roped areas or touch the ruins. Do not photograph other visitors. This app records that you went, and nothing more.
- Permit required
- Entry needs a permit, a booking or a ticket arranged in advance.
- A place of reflection
- This is a memorial or a site of atrocity. Visitors are asked to be quiet, to follow the custodian's guidance on photography, and to treat it as somewhere people grieve.
Opening times, prices, permits and eligibility change. Nothing on this page is a statement about today. Follow the Check access link on a place before you plan around it.
Sources
- auschwitz.orghttps://www.auschwitz.org/en/ · checked September 16, 2026
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