28 Mar 2023
Not a great day. We visited Auschwitz & Birkenau and the whole trip was rushed to the point that we had no time at all for a drink, to look at things properly or to take in the place at all. Whilst i do understand that the place was busy, i feel that we missed so much. The day was booked thinking that we would go straight to the salt mines afterwards but no, despite asking the tour guide who had no idea what was happening, the driver wanted to drop us at a random hotel in Krakow and insisted that we wait on the street outside for almost 2 hours to be collected for the Salt Mine visit. We refused that and asked that we be taken back to our hotel. We did get dropped off at our hotel. Later that day we got a call from the driver of the Salt Mine visit as he was waiting at the random hotel. We explained what had happened and he was nothing less than brilliant. He came to our hotel, collected us, provided us with a bottle of cold water and took us to the salt mines. This guy was exceptional, the mines were brilliant and the driver waited for us but kept telling us not to rush and to take our time and see everything. He literally sat and waited in his car the whole time. He then offered to drop us off anywhere in Krakow. Salt Mines themselves were exceptional and i would highly recommend them to anyone but if you are going to Auschwitz, DONT book a guide just buy a guide book and go alone.