For the people who have travelled to Terazin, is it better to do it yourself or is a guided tour (we were looking at Matana)better. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

I think you should have a guided tour because once you get to the actual camp, they will switch you over to another guide who works there. If you go on your own you may not be able to guarantee yourself an English-speaking guide. But do go, it's quite amazing.

I agree with previous post to hire a guide. We did not do that when we went there but were lucky because there was a private tour starting in English when we arrived. We asked the guide if we could join the tour. They graciously said yes. You will get a better understanding with the guide. One option might be to get there on your own like we did and have the guide prearranged to meet you there.

Whatever way you do it, it is worth the trip.

Hi
I went with family a few weeks ago, we went with a guide arranged through Wittman Tours (based in Prague, they also offer tours of the Jewish section in Prague, and other tours.) Our guide Martina was excellent. She spoke perfect English, knew a lot of history and detail, and let us make decisions during our walks as to what we were most intereted in.

www.wittmann-tours.com

I recommend you take a guided tour.

FYI: I don't think Matana is in business any longer. I tried to locate them before we went to Prague last September and couldn't find them on the internet. I finally contacted the Jewish Museum in Prague and they said that Matana was no longer in business and recommended Precious Legacy tours.

In spite of the recommendation, we decided to use Wittmann tours for a tour of the Jewish quarter to be followed up with a tour of Terezin on another day. Frankly, we did not have a good experience with the the first tour and cancelled our Terezin tour with them and opted for Precious Legacy instead. We were glad we did. Our tour was led by a Terezin survivor and it was one of the most memorable parts of our trips. The small bus was new and clean and the whole organization seemed like a class act. The tour guide shared his personal experiences which gave us a much better understanding of what went on there.

We just may have had a Wittmann tour guide who was having an off day. (She lost the entrance tickets in the middle of the tour, it was difficult to understand her with her heavy accent, took personal calls on her cell phone during the tour and allowed herself to be monopolized by one member of the tour leaving the remaining people out of the conversations.) I also would have preferred someone who may have more personal insight rather than having learned everything she was telling us about out of a book. Wittmann is recommended in all the guidebooks and Elaine clearly had a good experience so you may want to take our experience for what it's worth--just one person's experience. Nevertheless, you may want to check out Precious Legacy. You can just put their name in Yahoo and their website will come up. It's something like www.legacytours.com.

Hi
I agree that a group tour is best. We signed up for a Jewish tour while visiting the Jewish section. She was a survivor of Terazin, who had lived in Isreal and the USA and moved back to Prague. She made all the difference in the world for our experience.

I also want to recommend Precious Legacy Tours. We took a tour of Terezin with them a few years ago and we were very pleased with them. Our guide's husband was a Terezin survivor and she told fascinating stories about both of their experiences during that time. I checked and their website is www.legacytours.net.

Just returned from Prague a week ago and did a Tour with Wittman tours. It was excellent. The driver was very good, van comfortable, and the guide, Martina, was very knowledgable and interesting. I wouldn't do the tour alone because you need someone to describe the lay out of the town and the camp and to provide all of the details about the use of the Terezin, the art, and "the Red Cross story"...hmmm.