If you travel to the Munich area, I strongly suggest taking the train out to Dachau for a guided tour. You can do an audio tour and walk around on your own, however the guided tour is nice for a more personal perspective of the era and the camp itself. It is 20 minute train ride to the bus station in the town of Dachau, and then another 15 minutes or so to the concentration camp.
The size of the camp is staggering. As you go through the tour, there are only a couple of barracks still standing, but you can clearly so the rows of prisoner housing that once existed. It understandably leaves one with an eery feeling. Just walking through the gate to the camp leaves a pit in your stomach, as you’ve likelz seen images and photographs of prisoners entering through the very same gate- many to never leave the camp. The number of people interned at the camp is staggering; not to mention the tens of thousands of people that died there.
The memorials that have been erected in recent years are a touching tribute to the different groups (religions) of people that suffered, perished, and survived there. The museum on the grounds is also nice. Though with the guided tour, there wasn’t much time to take it all in. There is a short video to watch as well, toward the end of the tour. It was an experience I won’t soon forget…and I hope that I never do.
Our Munich accommodation at the Hotel Monaco was very nice.
