I was on the official site of the salt mines and somehow ended up on the Headout site which charged twice the price of the venues tickets and would not refund my tickets when I realized what had happened although their site guarantees a refund.

We ended up visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau from Warsaw and it was a very long day. The tour company picked us up just after 6 am and we did not return to our hotel in Warsaw until pretty close to midnight. Part of the reason is that Auschwitz-Birkenau allows only so many tour groups at a time (I think, as you are given a scheduled time for your tour group). Our particular tour group got delayed until 1 or 2 in the afternoon for our visit. To fill in this voided time after arriving in Krakow, we were giving approximately 2 hours to explore Krakow before meeting back up for the drive to Auschwitz-Birkenau. The drive from Krakow to Auschwitz is via vans and likewise going back. However, transportation between Auschwitz to Birkenau is on small buses (30-35 passengers) and they are packed. We had to make the journey 3-4 times between Auschwitz to Birkenau as there appeared to be some mix up with the tour company. The buses were so full that you literally had to sit shoulder to shoulder. A couple of the trips on the small buses were so busy that a few passengers had to stand in the isle and hold on. The buses were not clearly marked as to which one you were supposed to board so several people had to ask for clarification before boarding. Another mix up was once we arrived back at Krakow late in the evening after the tour. There were four of us that had traveled in from Warsaw and we all had the understanding that the small van at the Krakow drop-off point would be there in the evening to take us back to the train station for the trip back to Warsaw. The van was not there nor did it show up. We called the tour company and they instructed us that we had to get to the Krakow train station on our own and then we would meet up with another representative from the tour company. So, there were some challenges that we encountered. The tour itself was pretty good. Our tour guide got delayed due to his car breaking down (which might explain some of the aforementioned situations), but to his credit, he made it and was very knowledgeable of the subject matter. The tour seemed rushed due to the fact that there was always another tour group on our heels that seemed to, in a sense, push us through to the next point of the tour. This was the situation while you were inside the various buildings, but not outside as there was plenty of room outside. You were given audio guides to follow along with the tour. However, with the quick pace and wanting to take a few pictures, it was easy to get separated enough to where you would lose the reception range of the audio guide. My recommendation would be to tour Auschwitz-Birkenau on your own if at all possible. That way, you can go at your own pace and take all the time you want.

Thanks to our Polish guide, the visit of the site of the two camps made us better grasp the unforgettable and unforgivable horrors committed by the Nazis in Auschwitz-Birkenau. I can only recommend it to anyone who wants to understand our past and present perils. However, I would like to warn visitors against a rather distasteful scam performed by a society called Edutours Poland, which operates the auschwitz-bilety website, sells tickets for a guided tour on Internet, sends a voucher to its clients, mentioning the date, the hour and the meeting point for the visit—but the guide fails to materialize and the voucher has no value for the Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau. On the day of my visit, August 6th, a dozen visitors were left stranded in this manner by Edutours.

It is not about the tour, but the lack of company’s (headout aka the auschwizt tours at this case) emphaty and basic understanding. DO NOT RECOMMED as it might be living purely on the customers they have fooled, as they change the times of the tours however they want and give you no actual options for cancelling services after they change the time. It’s all an illusion :) another tip for customers - DO NOT book any other attractions when you schedule your tours with these potential scammers as they might move your tours like 4-5 hours ahead in the same day and do not refund anything because they have warned you that they can do with your booking whatever they please. Buy the tour from official museum site and avoid these potential scammers at all costs

Watever you do, do not book through the auschwitz tour company. Booked a skip the line tour and the day before changed the time for earlier that day. Claiming not enough tour guide. So re-schelduled for couple of days later. The day before the tour yet again changed time by 4 hours but told me less than 24hours so cudnt get refund.