Dachau Concentration Camp Day Trips

Dachau is one of the concentration camps built during World War II. Today, it has been turned into a museum to honour the victims and to remember the horrors committed during this period of history, with the aim of ensuring that they are never repeated. Read on to find out about the best excursions to visit Dachau from Munich.

The best option

Dachau Concentration Camp Day Trip from Munich

Discover Germany's history with this excursion to Dachau with an expert guide.

For around five hours, you can explore the cells and gas chambers that were used in the Dachau concentration camp, the closest to Munich and which you can reach with this guided tour, including train transport.

From S$71 at Hellotickets

Visiting an important concentration camp such as Dachau in Munich at your own pace is fine. But this visit is definitely not complete without a specialised guide to put everything that happened there into context. That's why I recommend booking a guided train tour to Dachau, where you'll learn about the prisoners' lives as you visit the barracks and memorials that were erected there.

What's more, the comfort of the train that takes you directly to the concentration camp means you won't have to worry about finding other ways to get there.

Recommended if... You prefer to learn about the history behind this concentration camp to better understand its significance.

Please note that admission to the Dachau museum camp is free, so an organised tour will provide you with transport from Munich and the services of a specialist guide who will accompany you on your visit to the camp, all from S$71 Given the enormous historical significance of this place, I recommend taking the tour with a specialist who can help you put everything you see into context.

What these tours include

These excursions to the Dachau concentration camp from Munich are designed to offer a complete experience that respects historical memory. Here is everything that is included:

• Local tour guide with explanations in English throughout the tour.
• Entrance to the Dachau concentration camp and its museum with permanent exhibitions.
• Screening of an informativedocumentary that contextualises the events that took place there.
• Return transport by train from the centre of Munich (departure from Marienplatz).
• Option of a small group or private tour, depending on availability.

An intense but highly recommended activity if you are interested in learning about one of the most shocking chapters in recent German history.

The Dachau concentration camp is considered one of the most popular guided tours among all those who travel to Munich. The guidance of a tour guide makes the tour of the Dachau camp a historical lesson that you will find difficult to forget once your trip is over.

What does this excursion include?

You can book your place on this tour online by selecting the day you want to visit. If you change your mind or something comes up, don't worry; you can cancel free of charge up to 24 hours before the scheduled date of the visit.

This experience is available in Spanish and English and lasts half a day. You can have lunch in Munich and spend the afternoon in the city. The procedure is as follows: you will meet your guide first thing in the morning near Munich Central Station, where the local train will take you to Dachau.

Itinerary

Once you arrive at Dachau station, a bus will pick you and your group up and take you to the concentration camp memorial museum. Once there, you will have an approximately three-and-a-half-hour tour during which your guide will show you every corner of the camp. Once the tour is over, you will return to Munich by train.

Please note that children under the age of 14 are not allowed on the tour and that although photography is not prohibited, it is a place where respect is always requested when taking pictures.

Let's not kid ourselves: a tour of the Dachau concentration camp may not be suitable for the most sensitive visitors due to the connotations of this place. In fact, children under the age of 14 are not allowed to enter. This does not mean that the experience is not recommended from both a historical and human perspective, but it is important to know what you are going to see there.

The visit is organised to provide a historical overview of the entire history of the camps. This includes learning how and why the first camps were created, how many of them became what the Nazis called "the final solution", how prisoners arrived at the camp and how they were distributed, what punishments they received and how they lived there, and finally, how this and other camps throughout Europe were liberated in 1945.

Areas included in the tour

The Dachau concentration camp is about half an hour's drive from Munich and about 25 minutes by S2 suburban train, which runs regularly every day from Munich Central Station. Please note that if you arrive at Dachau train station, you will need to take bus 726 to the camp.

The Dachau concentration camp is open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but as admission is free, you may find it very crowded, especially at weekends, so I recommend going first thing in the morning.

Once you arrive, you can book a guided tour or rent an audio guide in several languages if you have not booked the excursion from Munich. The tour lasts about three and a half hours, so I recommend wearing comfortable shoes and clothing.

The most important thing during the visit is to remember that you are in a place with a very difficult history. Out of respect, I advise you to avoid taking photos as much as possible and to behave respectfully towards the victims and other visitors.

Book your private tour of the Dachau concentration camps

Both the Dachau camp and most of those remaining in Europe are a history lesson in themselves and are best appreciated with a guide who can explain the details of how they were built, what happened and how, at the end of the war, the prisoners were liberated and the remaining officers brought to justice.

If you choose to organise your visit to Dachau yourself, I recommend that you read up on the camp before you go and purchase an audio guide at the entrance for around £3. Admission is free, and to avoid crowds, it is best to go on a weekday and first thing in the morning. Allow around three hours for your visit to the entire complex.

How to get there

As for how to get there, if you don't have transport booked, the best option for getting to the Dachau concentration camp from Munich is the local train. The train is the S2 and leaves from Munich Central Station. Each journey costs around €6, but you can buy a day pass for around €8, which will pay for itself on the return journey to Dachau.

After about 25 minutes, you will arrive at Dachau station, where you should take bus 726 towards Saubachsiedlung, which will drop you right at the gate of the camp.

The tour of the Dachau concentration camp is not the only one you can do from Munich. A very popular excursion that I recommend including in your trip, and which contrasts greatly with the harshness of a visit to the Dachau camp, is a visit to Neuschwanstein Castle.

This castle is one of the most famous in Bavaria and is said to have inspired Disney to create the famous Sleeping Beauty castle. In addition, the surrounding landscape is an ideal contrast to change the mood and relax after recalling the horrors of the Dachau camps. Here is a link to my article about Neuschwanstein Castle Tickets and Tours.