Group Visits & School Tours to Auschwitz-Birkenau

Organising a group visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau — whether a school trip, a university study tour, a community group, or a corporate delegation — is a task that rewards careful planning. This guide sets out every requirement, option, and practical consideration for group organisers.

The Mandatory Guide Requirement for Groups

This requirement exists for two reasons: to ensure the historical accuracy and sensitivity of the information conveyed to visitors, and to manage the flow of large numbers of visitors through a site of great historical and physical fragility.

Groups of fewer than 10 may visit with or without a guide, depending on availability and entry pass type.

Headset Requirement for Large Groups

All groups of more than 10 people are required to use a headphone guiding system (sometimes called a whisper system). These are provided by the museum and are included in the guided tour fee. The headsets ensure that all group members can hear their educator-guide clearly in the outdoor sections of the site, particularly at Birkenau where background noise and distance can make unaided speech difficult to hear.

How to Book a Group Visit

Group visits must be booked through the museum’s group booking system at visit.auschwitz.org. The process is as follows:

1. Register for an account at visit.auschwitz.org
2. Navigate to the “Visit for Groups” booking section
3. Submit a booking request via the group booking form, specifying your preferred date, tour type, group size, and language
4. Await confirmation by email — the museum processes group requests and responds to confirm availability and guide assignment
5. Once confirmed, you will receive personalised entry passes for all group members

Note that guided tour slots for groups are not confirmed instantly — the museum processes requests manually and responds by email. During peak season, the booking process may take several days. Submitting your request as early as possible gives the museum maximum time to accommodate your preferred date and language.

Lead Times: How Far in Advance to Book

For school groups, the typical planning cycle means booking during the previous academic term — a school trip planned for April or May is best booked in January or February at the latest.

Available Tour Formats for Groups

General Guided Tour — 3.5 Hours

The standard group tour covers both Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau in approximately 3.5 hours. It is the most widely used format for adult groups, community visits, and older secondary school students. The tour covers the main permanent exhibitions, key buildings including Block 11 and Crematorium I, and the full Birkenau site including the railway ramp, barracks, gas chamber ruins, and International Monument.

One-Day Study Tour — 6 Hours

The one-day study tour is specifically designed for educational groups who want significantly deeper engagement with the site and its history. It includes areas not accessible on the standard tour — the Kanada warehouses where confiscated property was sorted, selected national pavilions hosted in the blocks of Auschwitz I, and extended access to areas of Birkenau rarely visited by general visitors including gas chambers IV and V.

• Best for: Secondary and university students, teacher groups, researchers, adult educational groups
• Duration: 6 hours across both sites
• Also covers: The Kanada warehouses, national exhibitions, extended Birkenau access

Two-Day Study Tour — 3+3 or 4+4 Hours

The two-day format splits the visit across consecutive days. This is the most comprehensive educational format available and is recommended for groups with a serious pedagogical focus — university seminars, teacher training programmes, and memorial foundation visits. The extended time allows for genuine depth in each area of the site without the physical and emotional exhaustion of a single very long day.

• Duration options: 3 hours per day or 4 hours per day
• Best for: University groups, teacher training, in-depth educational programmes

Online Guided Tour for Groups

For groups unable to travel to Poland, the museum offers a live online guided tour led by a museum educator in real time. The tour lasts approximately two hours, is divided between Auschwitz I and Birkenau, and allows interaction with the guide. This format is available for school classes, university seminars, and community groups as a preparatory or standalone educational experience.

Bookings for online group tours are made after registration at visit.auschwitz.org. Full details are in our guide to online virtual tours.

Languages Available for Group Tours

Licensed educator-guides at Auschwitz-Birkenau are available in the following languages:

Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Portuguese, and Ukrainian.

If your group’s language is not on this list, confirm availability directly with the museum when making your booking request. English-language tours are the most widely available and have the broadest guide availability throughout the year.

Pricing for Group Tours

Entry to the grounds of Auschwitz-Birkenau is free for all visitors, including groups. The costs associated with a group visit are:

• Guide fee: Charged per group, not per person — the fee covers the educator-guide for the full tour duration. Current pricing is available at auschwitz.org
• Headset fee: Required for groups of more than 10 people, included in the guided tour fee
• Parking: Fees apply for coaches and large vehicles in the museum car park

The museum does not charge admission. Third-party tour operators selling “tickets to Auschwitz” are selling transport, guide, and logistical packages — not museum admission, which is free. Our guide to entry passes explained clarifies this distinction in detail.

Preparing Your Group for the Visit

The museum strongly recommends that groups — particularly school groups — engage in preparatory educational work before the visit. Arriving at Auschwitz-Birkenau with some foundational knowledge of the Holocaust and the history of the camp allows the visit to deepen understanding rather than simply overwhelm.

The museum’s education department offers substantial preparatory resources for teachers and group leaders at auschwitz.org/en/education/. These include lesson plans, documentary materials, and guidance on how to structure the pedagogical experience around the visit.

Key practical preparation points for group organisers:

• Inform all group members that the visit is not recommended for children under 14 — our guide to visiting with children sets out the museum’s position fully
• Ensure all participants have valid photo ID whose name matches their entry pass exactly
• Remind participants of the museum’s dress code — modest and appropriate for a site of mourning
• Ensure no group member brings a bag exceeding 35×25×15 cm; coaches and buses can store larger items
• Read the full rules of conduct and visitor etiquette with your group before the visit

Getting a Group to Auschwitz-Birkenau

For groups travelling from Kraków, organised coach transport is the most practical option and is included in most guided day tour packages. For groups from further afield, read our city-specific guides:

• Tours from Warsaw — including train-based options for large school groups
• Tours from Wrocław
• Tours from Katowice

For international school trips combining Auschwitz with a stay in Kraków, our where to stay guide covers accommodation options in the area.