Can you visit Auschwitz and Salt Mines in one day?

Krakow is one of the most visited tourist cities in Poland. Just a short distance from Krakow in Poland are two major UNESCO-listed tourist attractions – the Wieliczka Salt Mine and the museum at the former Auschwitz concentration camp in Oświęcim. Many tourists wonder if it is possible to visit Auschwitz and the Salt Mines in one day. Is such a trip possible? How to organise it? Is it worth it? We suggest how to visit Auschwitz and the Salt Mines in one day from Krakow.

Is it possible to visit Auschwitz and the Salt Mines in one day?

Before we consider how to do it, it is worth briefly answering the question posed. Is it possible to do it? Yes. Is it worth doing? Yes in summer, no in winter because in Poland daylight is short in winter time. Generally speaking, both attractions located close to Krakow can be visited in one day, but it will be a day of intensive sightseeing, so we do not recommend it for older tourists.

Both attractions are very easily accessible by cheap and fast public transport. Read how to get to Auschwitz and how to get to Salt Mine here We can also rent a car but this makes no sense because public transport is faster. It makes the most sense to visit both attractions in one day in summer. We will now give you tips on how to do it.

How to visit Auschwitz and the Salt Mines in one day?

If you want to visit both attractions in one day it will be a day of intensive sightseeing, which you will need to start in the morning. We recommend starting with the Wieliczka Salt Mines.

The Wieliczka Salt Mine is easily accessible by direct train from the main railway station from the centre of Krakow. Getting there from the centre costs 7 PLN (EUR 1.65; USD 1.69; GBP 1.39) and takes about 20-25 minutes. Then from the train station “Wieliczka Rynek Kopalnia” you walk to the mine for about 5 minutes.

First tours of the mine start at 9 a.m. in the low season, at 8 a.m. in the middle season and at 7.30 a.m. in the high season, i.e. July and August. The tour of the “Tourist Route” lasts from 2 to 3 hours.

Assuming that we start our visit at 9:00 a.m. we should be back at the main railway station in Krakow around 1 p.m. From the centre of Krakow there are buses of the Lajkonik company for 22 PLN directly to the Auschwitz Museum car park in front of the main entrance. The journey takes about 1h 20 minutes. We should be at Auschwitz in front of the camp around 3pm.

You can visit the camp either by buying paid tickets for a guided tour which lasts about 3 hours or completely free on your own. The free self-guided Auschwitz tour requires only a free entrance ticket reservation on the official website. It is better firstly because it is free and secondly because we can spend as much time as we want in the museum, so we can see it in an hour or in 3. For a day visit when time is important we recommend booking the free entrance tickets which are only available in the afternoon.

 

We can then spend either 1 or 2 in the museum or stay almost until closing and return to Krakow between 8 and 9 p.m. This is an indicative plan. It is possible to finish such a tour earlier.

If we like to spend money on things that can be had for free, the described tour of two attractions in one day can be reversed. Take one of the first buses or trains to Auschwitz on a given day, go on the first ticketed tour of the day which starts very early in the morning and be in Wieliczka in front of the mine already around 12-13 pm.

You can choose to go by car. It is best to rent a car in Krakow for one day and drive to both places and return the car in the afternoon. There are carsharing cars in Krakow which we can drive.

It is worth bearing in mind that taking a car or another extremely expensive “private transfer” to Wieliczka will not be faster than taking a direct train. The bus and train from Krakow to Auschwitz is also not much slower than taking a very expensive transfer or Bolt. Both trips are extremely easy to organise yourself without overpaying. Here you can read the detailed price list for tickets to Auschwitz tours.

Read detailed guide on easiest and cheapest ways to get to Auschwitz from Krakow city center.