Dachau Tour from Munich

The Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site stands on the grounds of the camp the Nazi regime opened in March 1933, the first of its kind and the model on which others were built. It operated for twelve years, until its liberation in April 1945. The site is preserved as a place of remembrance for those imprisoned and killed there, and this visit takes you to it from Munich with a guide and brings you back.

You enter through the gatehouse and its wrought-iron gate, and follow the camp road along the line of the barracks, of which two have been reconstructed to show the conditions prisoners were held in. The roll-call square, where prisoners were made to stand for counts in all weather, lies immediately inside.

The permanent exhibition occupies the former maintenance building and sets out the history of the camp, the people held in it and the system it belonged to, through documents, photographs and personal accounts. At the far end of the grounds are the religious memorials raised by different faith communities, and the crematorium area.

Your guide provides the historical context and the chronology. How long you spend in front of any part of it is yours to decide.

This is a difficult visit and it is meant to be. The exhibition deals directly with imprisonment, medical experimentation and mass killing, and the memorial site advises against bringing children under 12. Consider in advance whether it is right for everyone travelling with you.

Visitors are asked to behave as they would at any place of mourning: quiet conduct, no eating or drinking on the grounds, and no photographs of a kind that would be inappropriate to the dead. Much of the visit is outdoors on open ground with little shelter, so dress for the weather and wear shoes you can walk in. The memorial closes on 24 December.