The Tailor-Made Guide to The Concentration Camps of The Holocaust - Treblinka & Majdanek
- Barry Pickard
- 5 days ago
- 7 min read
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Regardless of this, please be advised that all opinions expressed in this blog post are genuine and authentically my own.
Author: Barry Pickard
Hi, I'm Barry, the owner of Tailor-Made Itineraries and I have been designing bespoke self-guided tours for adventurous and curious travellers since 2015. I am a history graduate with a passion for travel.
I created this blog to show, through my own adventures, how you can have an incredible travel experience as an independent traveller, giving you the information to navigate the world with confidence.
Contents
Concentration Camps of The Holocaust
How do you visit Treblinka and Majdanek concentration camps in Poland? Standing at Treblinka where 800,000 people were murdered, surrounded by 17,000 stone monuments inscribed with town names, the silence broken only by wind through trees and distant birdsong, I understood why these sites demand something different from visitors than typical historical tourism.
At Majdanek, the smell of damp earth and old wood fills the air as you walk between preserved barracks. Watchtowers loom against Polish skies, and your footsteps echo on concrete paths where prisoners once shuffled in forced labour. The mausoleum holding victims' ashes sits beneath a massive stone dome, creating an almost cathedral-like hush. At Treblinka, there are no buildings left – the Nazis burned everything to hide evidence before the Soviet army arrived – just an open landscape where stone markers stand like a petrified forest, each representing thousands of lives extinguished.
I'm Barry, a history graduate who's been designing self-guided tours since 2015, and I need to tell you upfront – visiting Holocaust sites isn't like visiting other historical locations. These aren't museums where you tick off exhibits and move on. Treblinka and Majdanek demand reflection, respect, and the emotional stamina to confront humanity's capacity for systematic murder. I've visited numerous World War II sites across Europe, but standing where industrialised genocide occurred changes you in ways that reading about it never can.
If you're planning to visit Treblinka and Majdanek as an independent traveller and you're trying to understand how to get there, what you'll actually see at each site, and how to prepare yourself mentally for these profoundly affecting experiences, you've found the right guide. I'll walk you through the practical logistics – Treblinka is about an hour northeast of Warsaw, while Majdanek sits in Lublin's suburbs two and a half hours from Warsaw – and explain what makes each site uniquely powerful. Treblinka operates as a memorial with symbolic markers where buildings once stood, while Majdanek is one of the Holocaust's best-preserved camps with original barracks, gas chambers, and that haunting mausoleum of ashes. This isn't about dark tourism or morbid curiosity; it's about bearing witness to history's darkest chapter and ensuring these atrocities are never forgotten.
Don’t forget that Tailor-Made Itineraries delights in creating bespoke self-guided tours. So, if visiting any of these Holocaust sites is of interest to you, reach out to me by email. I would be more than happy to design a self-guided tour around your requirements incorporating the Holocaust sites of Poland, or indeed, a general tour of this fascinating country.
Treblinka Extermination Camp
The Treblinka camp is located roughly 100 kilometres northeast of Warsaw and takes just over an hour to reach by car. There is a small museum near the car park, and this is the best place to start before exploring the camp.
It’s estimated that around 800,000 Jews and several thousand Romani (gypsies) lost their lives at the Treblinka death camp. Today, Treblinka serves as a memorial rather than a traditional museum. Unlike other camps, it has few remaining structures, and its power lies in what is left behind—a sombre landscape with symbolic markers honouring those who perished. The lack of buildings was due to the Nazis burning down everything to avoid leaving a trace of what had gone on in the camp to the advancing Soviet army.
Visitors will find that the Treblinka extermination camp requires introspection, with the camp’s history conveyed through stone monuments inscribed with the names of 1,700 towns and villages from which victims were deported. It’s not only a place for learning but also for remembering, providing an opportunity to contemplate the atrocities and pay respect to those who suffered.
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If you are enjoying this post, remember and subscribe to my mailing list to receive my latest blog posts.
Majdanek Concentration Camp
Majdanek Concentration Camp, located near Lublin, Poland, is one of the best-preserved concentration camps of the holocaust and a stark reminder of the Holocaust’s horrors. Lublin itself is a lovely city to visit, with a charming medieval centre, offering a counterbalance to the dark history of its camp. Lublin is a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Warsaw.
Majdanek was primarily used as a work camp, with prisoners from nearly 30 countries being forced into labour. Apart from Poles and Jews, the Russians, Byelorussians, and Ukrainians constituted the largest groups of inmates. The liberation of Majdanek finally occurred on the night of July 22-23, 1944.
Its preservation allows visitors to see some original buildings, including barracks, watchtowers, and the gas chambers, presenting a comprehensive view of the camp’s structure and the lives endured within its confines.
After the visitor centre, the first structure that you will immediately notice is the huge Majdanek memorial at the entrance to the camp known as the Monument of Struggle and Martydom.
One of the most moving features of Majdanek is the mausoleum, which holds the ashes of victims found in the camp. Majdanek’s ashes serves as a powerful visual of the scale of the tragedy. Although Majdanek started out as a work camp, it did switch to becoming a death camp, with approximately 80,000 people being exterminated here between 1942 and 1943.
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The layout of the camp is both accessible and hauntingly raw, allowing visitors a deeper understanding of the living conditions, forced labour, and day-to-day existence within the camp. Majdanek is both a historical site and a place for honouring the memory of the victims, making it an essential stop for those exploring Holocaust history.
Conclusion
Visiting these camps is a significant experience, not only as a lesson in history but as an act of remembrance. The Polish countryside surrounding these camps seems calm, contrasting starkly with the memories that these places preserve. Treblinka and Majdanek encourage us to learn from the past and reflect deeply on the resilience of human memory.
While challenging, these visits contribute to a fuller understanding of the impact of World War II and the Holocaust. Travellers who engage with these spaces thoughtfully will find them both educational and transformative, with each site offering insights that extend beyond the facts to affect the heart and mind.
Related Blog Posts
If you are interested in finding out more about Poland, please view the Tailor-Made Itineraries posts below:
If you would like more information on the dark history of the Nazis and how to visit these sites, please view the Tailor-Made Itineraries posts below:
Where to Stay
The nearest town to Treblinka is Ostrów, and there are some accommodation options there with the likes of Dworek Nad Stawem & Łaźnia Piwna but most visitors will base themselves in Warsaw, either hiring a car or booking a day trip to the camp. As for myself, I stayed in Warsaw, at the Ibis Warszawa Stare Miasto, which I found was handily situated to explore Warsaw's Old Town.
With regards Majdanek, I would advise staying in Lublin, with the camp being in the southeastern suburbs of the city. Lublin is a major city, so plenty to options, but I can highly recommend the Hotel Luxor and its restaurant is amazing too!
Share your reflections about visiting Treblinka or Majdanek in the comments below – these conversations help preserve the memory of what happened at these sites.
Don’t forget that Tailor-Made Itineraries delights in creating bespoke self-guided tours. So, if visiting any of these Holocaust sites is of interest to you, reach out to me by email. I would be more than happy to design a self-guided tour around your requirements incorporating the Holocaust sites of Poland, or indeed, a general tour of this fascinating country.
Tailor-Made Itineraries posts every two weeks, and you can subscribe to the latest blog and newsletter here. Until then, happy reading and safe travels.
Barry
Contact Me: tailoritineraries@gmail.com
Tailor-Made Itineraries creates one-of-a-kind bespoke self-guided travel itineraries for adventurous and curious travellers.
These self-guided tours deliver a personalised and exciting holiday experience that takes the effort out of trip planning.
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