We followed the recommendations here on tripadvisor and booked the full day tour of Auschwitz and Krakow from Warsaw on rather short notice. E-mail communication was very good, easy payment to confirm the booking (you pay a deposit, the rest is paid in cash on the day of the tour), clear instructions on what to expect on the day of the tour. We really enjoyed the day, I just have some minor suggestions for improvement:
- Our tour started with lunch at 11.30 am at a restaurant close to Auschwitz (we also had a 30 minutes stop at a McDonalds on the way out). It was a bit early for some of the people in our group, but fine for me. However, the food and service was only average: Tomato soup (starter) and some kind of traditional Polish stew with mashed potatoes/sauerkraut. Only one jug of water at the table. We were not offered to order any additional drinks (or even a second jug of water) and there was no information at all about what the food was. I asked the waiter about that because my husband is a vegetarian. He got fried eggs instead of the stew at least. Maybe we should have communicated this at the time of our booking.
- The tour of Auschwitz is with a larger group (so not just the people you travel with on the day). Everybody gets a receiver and headphones, so you can hear the guide at all times. It gets a bit crowdy in the exhibition and the guide was rather quick, so you have to pay attention to keep up. However, the tour met our expectations. if you already know the basics about what happened at Auschwitz, you won't learn a lot of new stuff. Still, I appreciated the opportunity to visit the place for myself!
- We arrived in Krakow after 5 pm and met our guide. Unfortunately, the castle hill is closed after 5 pm, so we could not enter that area. It seemed like one of the most interesting parts of the city, so we will definitely come back and explore the city a bit more in detail. The guide was very knowledgeable, friendly and open to questions.
- Apart from the lunch stops, there are no fixed toilet/food breaks. However, both the driver and the guide in Krakow offered to take a break anytime we wanted (we just had to tell them). The schedule was quite tight (but efficient!) and given the cold weather, a fixed afternoon break with some snacks/tea and coffee might be a good idea during the winter months.
- According to the e-mail instructions before the tour, you are not allowed to consume food or hot drinks in the car. I found that a bit patronizing, both because you might get hungry during the drive (3,5 hours one way) and especially in the winter, a hot drink might make things a bit more cosy. Our driver had coffee in the car in a takeaway cup, so I'd say trust your guests enough to not spill things everywhere :-)
All in all, I'd say be prepared to have a long day (we got picked up at 7 am and got back home at 10.15 pm), take snacks and dress appropriately. We had some really cold wind in Auschwitz and Krakow, but I still enjoyed the tour - despite being 5 months pregnant and maybe needing a toilet break more often than the others. :-) Special shoutout to our driver as well, who was driving very responsibly!
