You can easily go to Dachau yourselves by public transport - Take the S-Bahn to the Dachau station then a bus from out front to the camp, not far away - takes less than an hour to get there. No need of a guide to get there and once there there probably will be audio-self-guides or actual tour guides. Can take S-Bahn right from airport.

First off, thank you for wanting to visit the site and remember what happened there and throughout Europe in the 1930s and 40s.

According to the web site (http://www.kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de/index-e.html), the memorial is open daily except Mondays from 9am to 5pm. The web site has lots of practical information about how to get there and the history of the camp. From my experience at other camps, you would not need a guide, though that's of course very much a personal choice.

Thanks!! I appreciate the help and can't image being in Munich and not making that a stop!!

when you transfer from S-Bahn train to bus the Bus should have "Gedenkstaette" on its front list of places it serves if i recall correctly. Not sure how much it costs to go to Dachau from Munich proper but you may want to look at some day pass for regional transit that covers everything in Munich and nearby surroundings - coud be a money saver and you could also use if to and from the airport and all day in Munich itself.

We took the S2 train to Dachau and the 726 bus to the memorial site. It was easy to do with public transportation.

I would probably do the barracks, bunkers, crematorium, etc. first and then do the exhibition. The exhibition was excellent, but very lengthy and we were a bit tired by the time we got to the other things, which were actually of great interest.

We did not find the need for a guide.

Just went to Dachau and it is indeed the routes that jgg mentions. On the S2 it will be 3 or 4 'zones' from downtown, each zone being 2.40€ - buy one 10 zone book for the both of you, it's cheaper.

The exhibits are self-paced and all in English - tons of photos and reading. There is a movie (multiple languages scheduled at different times) you might want to watch first. I found some of the more interesting things at the back of the camp, like the multi-denominational churches and the burial grounds/memorials which are sort of hidden on a garden path along the back wall.

One other thing might help maximize your time there. Dachau is an excellent memorial to the people who suffered and died there, but either they didn't fully touch on some topics or I missed them while I was there (there's alot to take in). I'd probably have had a more informed/efficient trip if I had researched it on the web a bit before going. I'm sure there must be guides available somewhere, but I didn't see any lingering near the entrance nor did I see anyone/any groups going through the grounds with one.

Thanks, all!

We took a guided tour or Dachau from Munich; it included our S-Bahn & bus tickets. We thought it was worth it based on topics and info we wouldn't have gotten on our own, but we had free time to go thru all the buildings and see and read everything on our own also.

We also took their "The Third Reich Tour". My DH is really into history.

We first visited Dachau in 1970. We again visited in 2001. It was very moving both times. We did not use a guide. I do not think you will need one.

When we visited in 1970 you could not get local Germans to give you directions on how to get there. The license plate symbol for a car registered in Dachau is DH. In 1970 people would do what they could to avoid that license plate as border guards would give them a bad time. It was still too close to the end of WWII 25 years prior.

traveldawg - very interesting comment regarding getting directions to Dachau. My father was in the US Air Force and was stationed in England a few years after the war (1954, I believe), when I was about 6. We visited Dachau as part of a tour through Europe before being rotated back to the States, and I remember clearly my father mentioning, at the time and years after, the difficulty he had finding Dachau because the local residents refused to admit that anything like that had ever existed in the ares.

"ares" = "area"
)Would be nice if Fodors could get the software that just about everyone else has that allows editing of posts.)

DAH. In 1970 people couldn't care less and no border guard cared. It wans't an issue at all.

As if it wasn't bad enough, why are people making up those stories.

Public transport is in permanent strike mode for more than a month now!! Which means 1/4 of the subway trains operating at peak times, 1/2 during the rest of the day. Roads are PACKED with cars esp. during rush hour. Traffic is like everyday were christmas eve before 2pm.
No parking anywhere, tons of cars.
There's no end predicted and people start getting really annoyed. Only S-Bahn so far is operating almost according to schedule.

We just visited Dachau on our trip to Germany last month. We took the S-bahn and the bus buying the partner day ticket for the two of us which cost less than 12 euros for both of us. We had planned on taking the English tour given at the site but, for some reason, it was canceled. It didn't matter. We used the audio guides which were excellent and all of the signs and explanatory materials were in English.

For those who have traveled to Dachau from Munich: is a pre-arranged tour that includes transportation, guide, etc... best - or, as I believe, is it best to take public transport and visit the camp on one's own schedule? I'll be there with my wife and three children. Thank you.

I think it depends on your family. I knew that my husband would want to see Dachau at his own pace and spend time at the places that particularly interested him. That being said, I think when I was researching it, many people were pleased with going on a pre-arranged tour. Depending on the age of your children, they might get more out of a pre-arranged tour where things are explained to them.