Auschwitz-Birkenau Private Tour from Krakow

Spent almost $600 Australian dollars on tickets and changed my whole itinerary just to go to Auschwits. My ticket was for a small private group of 1 - 7 people. This has been confirmed with GetYourGuide I paid over double to what the other people in the tour paid and then we were all just carelessly thrown into tour groups of 30+ people. When I raised my concerns I was told I’m wrong, I booked the wrong thing. So to break it down. I paid $600 for a 1.5 hour car ride there and 1.5 hour return. With 5 other people who paid €827 in total. It’s roughly $55 AUD for a ticket and entry. So they are charging approx $535 for a 3 hour car ride a bottle of water and a snack. Thats $178 an hour. Just to drive 3 hours and carelessly throw customers who paid for a small tour with 30+ other people and then do nothing about it. I was happy to pay the extra money because I expected for this experience to be sobering, intimate and meaningful however this clearly wasn’t the case. The providers attempted to offer me lifts to the airport which they charge $30 for however I already had one booked and they offered a “tour of Krakow but Unfortunately this ruined my experience of Krakow and Auschwitz 1 and 2 and I just wanted to get home. I have not yet been offered any compensation from the company, so I’ve had to go through GetYourGuide to request it. When talking with Alija in person after I told her how unhappy I was and my concerns she got defensive and stated “I already know what I’m going to show GetYourGuide so it’ll be fine” You think a tour group that has been operating for about 10 years would have better code of conduct and ethics then to try scam their customers.

A colleague and I took a private tour with Alicja and I would highly recommend her service. She was on time, professional and really knowledgeable about the area and its history. We had a lot of questions for her and she answered them all in great detail and enthusiasm. She also brought us snacks and took us to a cafe where she recommended local specialties which we very much appreciated. She also added stops to the tour that we asked for and you can easily work with her to modify what you'd like to see and where you'd like to spend time. We picked up a number of books at the bookstore in Auschwitz-Birkenau which she recommended and they've been excellent (and would have been hard to find at home). Wonderful, though understandably difficult visit and I've already recommended her to a friend who will be in Krakow in August.

Let me just start by saying that Alicja is simply amazing - she took care of every small detail and went above and beyond to make sure we were taken care of and comfortable every step of the way . We did Auschwitz-Birkenau on a 6 Hour private guided tour with a “bite of Krakow” thrown in by Alicja afterwards - and everything she planned out for us for just outstanding. If you are visiting Krakow and looking for a guide, she would be the only option in my book.