Visiting Dachau Concentration Camp: A Step-by-Step Guide

Dachau Concentration Camp is a memorial site that you can visit on your own, free of charge, in about half a day. It lies in the town of Dachau, 25 minutes from Munich Hauptbahnhof by S-Bahn. The Best Travel Destinations' count of GetYourGuide listings for Munich on 28 October 2026 found 12 titles naming Dachau, from €31 per person, while the memorial itself is free to enter.

Step 1: Know what visiting Dachau Concentration Camp means

Dachau was the first regular concentration camp of the Nazi government, and it opened in March 1933. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum reports that more than 200,000 people were held there and at least 40,000 died. American forces liberated the camp on 29 April 1945.

Today the site is a memorial and museum. It asks visitors to respect "the character of a cemetery, a place of mourning and remembrance", as its visitor FAQ puts it. Speak quietly and do not treat the grounds as a place for entertainment.

A memorial site asks for time and quiet before it asks for anything else.

Step 2: Plan your day and what to bring

Plan about half a day, and arrive in the morning. Doors are open every day from 9:00 to 17:00 and closes only on 24 December. The area of the former crematorium closes at 16:30, so go there before then. The memorial's opening hours page states that entry is free and that you need no appointment.

Visitors should be at least 13, says the memorial. Its guidelines advise that children under 12 do not visit the exhibitions, the grounds or the crematorium. There is no special exhibition for children.

Leave large bags in Munich. You are asked not to bring luggage, and the lockers near the visitor center are very few. It suggests the lockers at Munich Central Station instead. Dogs are not allowed, except assistance dogs, and bicycles are not allowed on the grounds. Private photos of the grounds and exhibitions are allowed. Drones are banned, and so is filming in the former crematorium.

Pro Tip Leave your suitcase in a locker at Munich Hauptbahnhof, because the memorial's own lockers are very few and it asks you not to bring luggage.

Step 3: Get to Dachau Concentration Camp from Munich

Take the S2 from Munich Hauptbahnhof towards Dachau/Petershausen to Dachau station. The trip takes about 25 minutes. How often the S2 runs is not published there, so check your train on the day.

From Dachau station, take bus 726 towards Saubachsiedlung to the stop KZ-Gedenkstätte, which is at the memorial entrance. The memorial's directions page names only bus 726.

Buy the Munich M-1 day ticket, as the site advises. It covers the S-Bahn and the bus in Dachau and costs €11.70 for one person or €21.20 for a group, while a single trip costs €6.40. For ticket types and machines, see how Munich's public transport works.

You can also drive. The car park at Alte Römerstraße 73 costs €3 per car and is sometimes overcrowded. It does not take cards, so bring cash.

Step 4: Visit the memorial in order

Start with the documentary film. It lasts 38 minutes and shows in the auditorium in English at 10:15, 11:45 and 14:00. German showings are at 9:30, 11:00, 13:15 and 14:45. You do not need to reserve, and the hall has 200 seats.

Then walk the exhibition and the grounds at your own pace. For help, you have two choices. The audio guide costs €5 plus a deposit and comes in 18 languages, including English and German. A guided tour for individual visitors, run by the site itself, costs €4, lasts about 2.5 hours and is for ages 13 and up.

The English tour runs at 11:00 and 13:00 every day, and the German tour at 12:00. A group has up to 30 people. Buy your ticket at the Visitors' Center at least 45 minutes before the tour. You cannot reserve a place, so come early.

Key Takeaway The memorial's own English tour costs €4 and runs at 11:00 and 13:00, but you cannot book it ahead, so arrive before 10:15 to fit in the film and the ticket.

The pages checked do not state how crowded the grounds are on a given day. They also do not say how many visitors come. The car park is sometimes full, so a morning arrival is the safer plan.

Step 5: Decide between going alone and a guided tour

Go alone if you want the lowest cost and you are happy with the film, the exhibition and an audio guide. The site's own tour adds a guide for €4. A tour from Munich costs more, but it adds the transport and a guide who stays with you.

A limit of the do-it-yourself visit: you need to read timetables, change from train to bus and decide on the spot between the tour and the audio guide. If you want the history told for you, a tour of Dachau Concentration Camp from Munich handles the trip and the guiding in one booking. These tours are guided education, and each one is led by a guide who explains the site.

The Dachau memorial day tour is run by Munich Walk Tours and meets at Marienplatz 5. It takes about 5 hours, includes a public transport ticket and costs from €47 per person. It runs in English and German and has free cancellation. It has a 4.8 rating from 3,240 reviews on GetYourGuide.

The half-day trip to the memorial is run by Radius Tours GmbH and takes about 5 hours by bus and train. It costs from €45 per person and has free cancellation. It is not suitable for children under 13. Hotel pickup is not included, and it has a 4.8 rating from 2,940 reviews.

The full-day tour with a memorial-certified guide is run by InMunich Tours and meets at Marienplatz 11. It takes 5 to 6 hours, costs from €41 per person, and the group has up to 25 people. It is not suitable for children under 14, wheelchair users or people with mobility impairments. It has free cancellation and a 4.9 rating from 1,854 reviews.

Prices and ratings as shown on GetYourGuide on 28 October 2026.

For all guided options, see the page on Dachau Concentration Camp tours from Munich. If you want to see more of the region on another day, read about day trips from Munich.