Visiting the filming locations of Schindler’s List in Krakow

Following in the footsteps of Schindler's List in Krakow lets you discover Oskar Schindler's city through both film and History. Between the streets of Kazimierz, the remains of the Podgorze ghetto, and Oskar Schindler's former factory, you can reassemble many of the film's scenes while keeping in mind what is rooted in reality and what was recreated for cinematic purposes.

This guide offers a complete itinerary, on foot and by public transport, to find the main filming locations of Schindler's List in Krakow and its immediate surroundings. You will also find practical tips for planning visits related to the history of Oskar Schindler, the Krakow ghetto, the Plaszow camp, and Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Whether you are a movie lover, a history enthusiast, or simply curious to understand World War II in Poland from a different angle, these places offer an experience that is both concrete and original during a trip to Krakow.

Tours about the history of Oskar Schindler in Krakow

Before you head out to see the filming locations from Schindler's List, it's helpful to start with the tours that cover the true story of Oskar Schindler and the Krakow ghetto. This gives you a solid foundation for understanding what you'll see later in the streets or at the quarry.

Krakow now offers several guided tours and museums focused on Oskar Schindler, the Jewish quarter, and the Podgorze ghetto. In my opinion, these visits are a good starting point if it's your first time in Krakow or if you haven't seen the film in a long while.

You can begin by visiting the factory where Oskar Schindler saved hundreds of Jews. The building now houses a very comprehensive museum about life in Krakow during World War II, with, of course, a section dedicated to Schindler. You can book an entrance ticket (with or without a guided tour available in English). Time slots are often fully booked several days in advance between May and September, so it's wise to book in 2026.

If you prefer a broader overview, you can explore the Jewish quarter of Kazimierz and the history connected to Schindler's List with this 5‑hour guided tour, which usually combines Kazimierz, Podgorze, and the factory.

Finally, to delve deeper into the historical dimension, there is a 2‑hour route through the Plaszow camp with this guided tour. It's a good option if you want a better understanding of what you're seeing on site.

Schindler's List: between true story and fiction

To really get the most out of visiting the filming locations in Krakow, it helps to understand what comes from the true story and what was adapted for the screen. Steven Spielberg based the film on real events, but he simplified and dramatized certain elements for the sake of storytelling.

Schindler's List is an adaptation of Thomas Keneally's novel, itself drawn from historical facts. On screen, we follow the German industrialist Oskar Schindler (played by Liam Neeson), who arrives in Krakow during World War II, officially to do business. He invests in an enamelware factory, goes into partnership with a Jewish accountant, Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley), and employs large numbers of Jewish workers because their labor is cheaper.

When Nazi commandant Amon Göth (Ralph Fiennes) takes over the Plaszow forced labor camp and the Krakow ghetto is liquidated, Schindler witnesses the violence of the deportations. Gradually, he moves from opportunistic cynicism to a determination to save his Jewish workers, using his influence, bribes, and the pretext of wartime production to protect them.

If you want to go further than what the film shows, I strongly recommend reading "The Road to Rescue" by Mietek Pemper. Mietek Pemper was Amon Göth's Jewish secretary, and together with Itzhak Stern and others, he helped create the famous "list" that saved more than a thousand people. His account is fascinating because he describes the Krakow ghetto, how the Plaszow camp operated, and the behind-the-scenes story of the list, while also explaining the historical liberties taken by Steven Spielberg.

A very telling example:

"For the sake of drama, the establishment of the 'list' was presented in a very simplified way. That Oskar Schindler could have dictated the list from memory to Itzhak Stern was utterly impossible, if only from a technical point of view. Who could have memorized the names of more than a thousand people, along with each person's prisoner number, date of birth, and profession? [...]

Spielberg also explained to me that he had deliberately merged two characters – Itzhak Stern and myself – into one. The concrete circumstances – Schindler's prior acquaintance with Stern, followed by their friendship, as well as my own experience as Göth's personal stenographer and my idea of inflating the production figures – did not lend themselves well to cinematic treatment because of their complexity."

On my own trip to Krakow, reading Pemper's book alongside my visits really helped me distinguish between the images from the film and historical reality.

The filming locations of Schindler's List in Krakow

A large part of Schindler's List was filmed right in Krakow, especially in the Old Town and the Jewish district of Kazimierz. Many locations are very easy to find on foot, often by combining this exploration with a more classic tour of the city.

Krakow's main train station, Krakow Glowny

Krakow Glowny station appears at the beginning of the film, when Jews arrive in Krakow to register. These scenes were filmed in the old station building, which still stands today right next to the modern station.

The historic building (Dworzec Kolejowy Kraków Główny) is located on Jana Nowaka Jeziorańskiego Square, right next to the large shopping mall attached to the current station. When you arrive in Krakow by train, you are literally just a few meters (a few yards) from one of the very first filming locations used in the movie.

In the film:

The old station building in real life:

In the film, you also see Kraków Prokocim station, located on the outskirts of the city. Historically, this station made it possible to organize deportations more "discreetly" than in the heart of Krakow. Later in the movie, you also see Krakow Plaszow station, used for the convoy that takes children and sick people from the camp to Auschwitz.

As for Brněnec-Brünnlitz station, where Schindler sets up his new factory toward the end of the film, those scenes were not shot on location in the Czech Republic. They were filmed in Niepołomice, about twenty kilometers (about 12 miles) from Krakow.

How do you get there? If you arrive by train, you're already there: just follow the signs for "Stary Dworzec" (old station) or for Jana Nowaka Jeziorańskiego Square. From the Old Town, it's about a 10-minute walk, crossing the Planty, the park that surrounds the historic center.

Tram 87 at the Museum of Municipal Engineering

Tram no. 87, which you catch a brief glimpse of at the beginning of the film, is an actual period vehicle, built between 1938 and 1939 and then restored around 1990. It now belongs to the collection of Krakow's Museum of Municipal Engineering.

For detail lovers, it's a nice little touch to be able to see it in real life after spotting it in the film. During my visit, it was one of the streetcars displayed indoors, which lets you take your time observing it.

How do you get there? Tram 87 is generally visible in the exhibition halls of the museum located at 15 Wawrzyńca Street, right in the heart of Kazimierz. It is the former tram depot, converted into a technical museum. You can check the current exhibitions on the museum's website before you go, as some of the streetcars may be moved.

Tram #87 in Schindler's List:

St. Mary's Basilica (Mariacka)

St. Mary's Basilica, on Krakow's main square, appears in the film as the backdrop for black market scenes, when the inhabitants of the ghetto try to trade goods and food. Even though you only see a few shots of it, the atmosphere of the main square is instantly recognizable.

In any case, St. Mary's Basilica is a place I highly recommend visiting, whether you are interested in the film or not. You can go inside for free, but the paid ticket gives you access to the decorated interior, which is truly remarkable: starry ceilings, a carved altarpiece, vivid colors.

How do you get there? The basilica stands on the edge of Rynek Główny, the large square in the historic center. When you are facing the main façade, the ticket office is in a building on the right. Opening hours can vary depending on the season and religious services; check them in advance, especially if you are traveling in high season or at Christmas time.

St. Mary's (Mariacka) Basilica in the film:

The filming location in real life:

The Pilsudski Bridge over the Vistula

The Pilsudski Bridge appears at the beginning of the film, during the forced transfer of Jews from Kazimierz to the Podgorze ghetto. In reality, the event took place on this same bridge, but Spielberg reversed the direction of the crossing on screen to avoid showing modern buildings in the background.

Today, the Pilsudski Bridge is still a very busy thoroughfare, with a lovely view over the Vistula and the colorful façades of Podgorze. As you cross it, it is easy to picture columns of families loaded down with suitcases, leaving the Jewish quarter.

How do you get there? The Pilsudski Bridge (Most Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego) links Kazimierz to Podgorze. From Krakowska Street, you can reach it in 5 to 10 minutes on foot. It is a good starting point if you then continue on to explore Podgorze and the traces of the ghetto.

The Pilsudski Bridge in Schindler's List:

The Pilsudski Bridge in real life:

The Old Synagogue in Kazimierz

In the scenes showing the confinement of Jews in the ghetto, you can see the Old Synagogue (Stara Synagoga) of Kraków in the background. Later in the film, the square in front of the synagogue appears again, when Jews deemed fit for work receive their "Blauschein", the famous certificate that was supposed to protect them by declaring them "essential to the war effort."

The Old Synagogue is one of the oldest synagogues in Poland, built in the 15th century by Jews who had fled the pogroms in Prague. It was badly damaged during World War II, then restored starting in 1956. Today, it houses a Jewish museum that explains the history of Kraków's Jewish community very clearly.

How do you get there? It is located on Szeroka Street, in the heart of the Jewish quarter of Kazimierz. You can easily include it in a walking tour linking the synagogues of Kazimierz with the main square of the Old Town.

The Old Synagogue in Schindler's List:

The filming location in real life:

Oskar Schindler's Apartment on Straszewskiego Street

If you would like to walk along one of the streets where Oskar Schindler lived in Kraków, head to No. 7, Straszewskiego Street. In the film, you can clearly recognize the entrance to the building and the street, located just behind Wawel Castle, where Governor General Hans Frank had set up his administration.

In another shot, around 2:08 into the film, you can see the silhouette of Wawel Cathedral behind Schindler, at the moment when the ashes of the deportees from Plaszow fall back onto the city. It is a powerful shot that visually anchors the fiction in the real landscape of Kraków.

Historically, Schindler did not live only at this address. Several accounts mention other apartments in Kraków: at No. 24, Zygmunta Krasińskiego Street; at No. 14, Sereno Fenn'a Street; and also at No. 9, Tadeusza Romanowicza Street.

How do you get there? From the Old Town, you reach Straszewskiego Street in 5 to 10 minutes on foot, walking toward Wawel Castle. The street runs along Planty Park and is one of the main routes you will probably take naturally during your stay.

The Podgorze Ghetto Wall

In Schindler's List, the ghetto wall, with its distinctive tombstone-like shape, is visually very prominent. This wall was reconstructed for the purposes of filming, as were some of the ghetto gates that no longer exist today.

However, there is still a small original section of the ghetto wall preserved on Lwowska Street. It is a stark, unadorned place, but it allows you to physically grasp what it meant to be confined within this perimeter.

Historically, one of the entrances to the ghetto was at the beginning of Lwowska Street, the other at the intersection of Limanowskiego and Kalwaryjska Streets. On site, you will also find Bohaterów Getta Square, with its empty chairs paying tribute to the deported residents.

How do you get there? From Kazimierz, cross the Pilsudski Bridge, then walk up toward Bohaterów Getta Square. From there, you can easily reach the preserved sections of the wall and several informational plaques.

Oskar Schindler's Factory (Deutsche Emailwaren-Fabrik)

Oskar Schindler's Factory is both a filming location and an important historic site, converted into a museum in 2010. It is by far the most essential place to visit if you are interested both in the film and in the history of the city during World War II.

During the war, Schindler produced enamelware there before switching to the manufacture of shells and parts linked to the war effort. At the end of the conflict, he had to flee Krakow, fearing arrest as a member of the Nazi Party and former German intelligence agent. He left with a statement signed by several Jews he had saved, to attest to his actions if he were prosecuted.

He spent practically his entire fortune bribing officers and keeping his workers alive, then went on to live in Switzerland, Germany, and Argentina, without ever regaining the same financial success. He died in 1974, at the age of 66, and is buried in Jerusalem.

The factory itself continued to operate after the war. It was taken over by a telecommunications company, Telpod, which manufactured electronic components there from 1948 until the early 2000s. The current museum opened in 2010, in the same buildings.

From a filming perspective, Spielberg's team only used the exterior and the staircases of the factory. The interior scenes were shot in another factory, in Olkusz, a town located about 40 km (about 25 miles) from Krakow.

Oskar Schindler's factory in the film:

Oskar Schindler's factory in real life:

During your visit, you will see objects produced by the factory, the old carts once used to transport heavy loads, numerous photos of the "Schindler Jews," and immersive scenography recreating the atmosphere in Krakow under occupation. At the end of the exhibition, if you have the film in mind, you will probably recognize the staircase where Ben Kingsley (Itzhak Stern) runs after Liam Neeson as he leaves the factory.

How do you get there? Oskar Schindler's Factory is located at 4 Lipowa Street, near the "Plac Bohaterów Getta" tram stop. From the Old Town, you can take a direct tram or walk for about 25 to 30 minutes. You can book your tickets online or opt for a guided tour in English of the factory and the nearby ghetto.

h3 class="maxidetails">Szeroka Street in Kazimierz

Szeroka Street, right in the heart of Kazimierz, is one of the most recognizable filming locations from Schindler's List. During the liquidation of the ghetto (around one hour into the film), you see the SS arriving in a square lined with fences shaped like menorahs.

Today, Szeroka Street is a long, wide square bordered by restaurants, cafés, and synagogues. You really feel the stark contrast between the neighborhood's present-day life and the history it has lived through. When you have the film's images in mind, it adds a special dimension to your walk.

How do you get there? From the Old Town, you can reach Szeroka Street in 15 to 20 minutes on foot. It lies at the heart of a walk through Kazimierz and is often included in guided tours of the neighborhood.

Szeroka Street in the film:

Szeroka Street in real life, one of the most recognizable Schindler's List filming locations:

Ciemna Street and the surrounding streets

Ciemna Street appears in the film in a memorable scene: Poldek Pfefferberg (Jonathan Sagall) narrowly escapes execution by telling Amon Göth that he has been ordered to clean the street, which is littered with abandoned suitcases.

This street has been completely renovated since filming, which makes it less immediately recognizable than other locations. Still, walking through this part of Kazimierz with that scene in mind helps you grasp just how much the neighborhood has changed since the 1990s.

Other streets were used for filming as well, notably Poselska, Skawińska, and Jakuba Streets. If you enjoy hunting for details, you can compare your photos with stills from the film and have fun tracking down the camera angles.

The courtyard at 12 Jozefa Street

Another powerful ghetto liquidation scene shows Nazi soldiers forcibly driving residents out of a building that opens onto a small inner courtyard. This is the courtyard at 12 Jozefa Street in Kazimierz.

In the shots, you can clearly make out the exterior staircases and the U-shaped layout of the façades. When I went there, I was struck by the uncanny feeling of instantly recognizing a staircase or a railing. The place is still inhabited, so it's important to remain discreet and respectful if you go.

How do you get there? Jozefa Street runs clear across Kazimierz from one end to the other. Number 12 is just a few minutes' walk from Szeroka Street. You simply follow the façades and look for the passage that leads into the inner courtyard.

12 Jozefa Street in Schindler's List (spot the staircase!):

The courtyard at 12 Jozefa Street in Kraków:

The Liban Quarry: the limestone quarry from Schindler's List

A few minutes from the actual Plaszow camp, the Liban Quarry served as the main natural set for the camp scenes in Schindler's List. It's not a developed visitor site, but rather a place that is wild, rugged, and marked by its industrial past.

I chose to devote a separate article to the Plaszow camp, specifically to avoid confusing what belongs to historical memory with what was built for the film. That said, the two places are physically very close and are usually visited on the same day.

Spielberg chose not to film inside the Plaszow camp, out of respect for this place where several thousand people were murdered, but also because the modern buildings around it would have broken the illusion on screen. The main camp scenes were therefore recreated in the Liban Quarry, right next door.

During the war, this quarry was not technically part of Plaszow, but it was used as a labor camp for Poles. The scenes of Amon Göth's villa, where we see him shooting at prisoners from his balcony, were also not filmed in the real villa, which is located farther away, but in a reconstructed house near the quarry.

A brief history of the Liban Quarry

The Liban Quarry was established in 1873 by two Jewish families from Podgorze, the Liban and Ehrenpreis families. Limestone was extracted there and then turned into lime in the large kilns that can still be seen today.

Over the decades, the quarry has changed owners and purposes: limestone extraction, labor camp during the war, film set for Schindler's List, then slow reclamation by vegetation.

Today, the quarry is largely abandoned, heavily flooded in places, and riddled with deep cavities. The paths are not marked, there is no tourist infrastructure, and some areas are frankly dangerous if you venture too close to the stagnant water or the rock faces.

Before going there, I had never realized that the Plaszow camp as we see it in the film was actually a set built in a quarry. It was only when rewatching the film afterwards that I noticed you can indeed see the quarry walls in many scenes.

Their white color often makes them "invisible," all the more so because they are in the background, which makes you less likely to notice them.

How do you get to the Liban quarry?

The Liban quarry is still visible from its edges, but getting to it is no longer as easy or as unrestricted as it once was. Safety work carried out by the city has changed how close you can get, and you should no longer think of this place as an open, no‑limits exploration site.

So I don't recommend planning this as a must‑see stop with a guaranteed route, especially if you don't know Krakow well or are traveling with children. The simplest way to reach it is generally to walk along the edges of the Plaszow site and the cemetery to get to the quarry area.

That's what I did during my visit: after walking a few yards through the woods, you suddenly emerge at the rim of a vast white basin, very deep and silent. This kind of approach now needs to be considered with more caution than before, because securing the site has changed things.

In other words: yes, the place still exists and can still be located, but I suggest treating it as a site to be observed with care, not as a standard tourist visit or a descent to attempt at all costs. I took all of these photos at a time when the site had not yet been secured.

It is estimated that the quarry covers nearly 100 hectares (about 250 acres), with fairly high walls and an uneven floor dotted with ponds and marshy areas.

What Remains of the Schindler's List Set

When you start looking around the quarry, several features evoke both its industrial past and the filming of the movie.

First, you can see the old lime kilns, tall brick structures that were used to "bake" the limestone.

These kilns are a useful landmark: to find the areas used as sets in the film, you basically just need to head in their direction.

In Schindler's List, you briefly see these kilns (around 1h15 into the film), just after the scene where Amon Göth shoots at prisoners from his balcony. On screen, they appear to be part of the camp infrastructure, whereas in reality they are an industrial relic of the quarry.

Down below, you start to make out rows of barbed wire, stretched along aligned posts. In the film, they marked the perimeter of the camp and the corridors used by the prisoners. Today, everything is overgrown, and these strands of barbed wire seem to emerge between the trees, sometimes in the middle of a puddle or a bed of reeds.

You can see them very clearly in the scene where Amon Göth shoots at the prisoners from the balcony. Today, everything is overrun by vegetation and the ground can be largely flooded in places.

Farther on, you come across a path paved with tombstones. In the real Plaszow camp, the Nazis did in fact use tombstones from former Jewish cemeteries to pave a road nicknamed "the King's Way." Spielberg recreated this feature in the quarry, with fake headstones, to film an emblematic scene (around 1h15 into the movie).

The stones you see at the bottom of the quarry are fake; they were created specifically for the shoot. So you can walk on them without worrying that you are disturbing the memory of the deceased, even if it is still best to keep in mind what they symbolically represent.

Continuing toward the back, you come to the shell of an abandoned building, with numerous openings. I've never been able to confirm whether it was part of the remaining set or a remnant of the quarry's industrial operations, and I haven't spotted any building that looks exactly the same in the film. If you know more, I'd be glad to hear about it.

Overall, your exploration is quickly limited by the water: in some spots the ground is waterlogged, forming large pools that block the way. At one time, it was possible to walk through almost the entire bottom of the quarry.

Today, nature has reclaimed the site, and the quarry is known as a true haven for birds, butterflies, and dragonflies. It's a strange contrast: a place strongly associated, in the collective imagination, with a film about the Holocaust, but which has become a refuge for wildlife.

Schindler's List and Auschwitz-Birkenau

Auschwitz-Birkenau is naturally associated with Schindler's List, but the film was not shot inside the camp. The train scenes linked to Auschwitz were filmed near the site, without entering the camp itself.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum had already authorized filming for Robert M. Young's movie Triumph Of The Spirit, but did not want to open the camp again to a large Hollywood production like Spielberg's. The management feared it would undermine the dignity of the site.

In the film, a transport of Jews from Schindler is mistakenly sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau. The scenes you see were filmed mostly outside the Birkenau camp, using reconstructions that evoke the selection ramps without directly using the historic buildings.

If you are planning to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau from Kraków, I would suggest keeping in mind that you are not visiting a movie set but a memorial. The film can help you understand certain aspects, but the visit itself goes far beyond the images, with very structured guidance, exhibitions, and testimonies.

How to plan your "Schindler's List" day in Kraków?

It is entirely possible to organize a day, or a day and a half, devoted to the filming locations and to Oskar Schindler's path between Kazimierz, Podgórze, the factory and possibly Płaszów and its surroundings.

Typical one-day itinerary

In one day, you can concentrate on most of what lies within Kraków itself, possibly keeping another half-day to continue on to Płaszów if you want to take your time.

Here is a suggested itinerary:

• Morning: walk around Kazimierz (Szeroka Street, Old Synagogue, Józefa Street, Ciemna Street, tram 87 at the Museum of Municipal Engineering if it is open).
• Lunch: break in Kazimierz or near the Piłsudski Bridge.
• Early afternoon: cross the Piłsudski Bridge, discover Podgórze (Bohaterów Getta Square, remaining sections of the ghetto wall).
• Late afternoon: visit Oskar Schindler's factory (having booked your time slot in advance).

If you are a good walker, you can also head back up toward the Old Town at the end of the day and stop in front of St. Mary's Basilica or Kraków Główny train station to complete your "reading" of the film in the city.

Adding Płaszów and the Liban Quarry

To include Płaszów and the Liban Quarry, I would recommend planning at least an additional half-day. The easiest option is often to:

• Go to Płaszów (by tram and then on foot from central Kraków).
• Walk around the former camp site, following the information panels and memorials.
• Then continue on foot to the Liban Quarry.

This half-day is more demanding physically and emotionally than a simple walk in the city center. It may be wise to schedule it in the middle or rather toward the end of your stay, so that you still have time afterwards to "come down" with other, lighter activities.

Summary table of the main places related to the film

To help you prioritize based on how much time you have, here is a summary table of the main places in Krakow connected to Schindler's List.

The impact of Schindler's List on Krakow

The release of Schindler's List profoundly reshaped how Krakow is seen internationally and had a very concrete impact on certain places in the city, particularly the Jewish quarter and Schindler's factory.

The film's success notably prompted the city to buy back Oskar Schindler's former factory and turn it into the current museum. Without this push, the factory would probably have continued to decay like any other disused industrial site. The film also drew attention to the Kazimierz district, as much of it was shot there even though the ghetto was, in reality, located in Podgorze.

After the war, Kazimierz was very run-down, emptied of most of its Jewish population. Of the 70,000 Jews who lived in Krakow in 1939, only about 4,000 survived. In the 1990s, some residents still saw Kazimierz as a somewhat marginal neighborhood. The film's fame helped attract visitors, cafés, galleries and, gradually, breathed new life into the district.

Today, Kazimierz is a lively area, full of cafés, restaurants and street art. This revival sometimes sparks debate, as in other places marked by the history of the Holocaust, but it has also helped save several synagogues and remarkable buildings from ruin.

There is still, however, a lot to be done to preserve the memory of Plaszow. A museum on the camp site was inaugurated in 2024, although it is not yet fully completed (only the outdoor spaces are open), with the aim of explaining the history of this place that remained abandoned for so long. It is a late initiative, but one that should help protect the traces that are still visible and better structure visits for future generations.

As you walk through these places, between film and reality, you realize how much a work of cinema can influence the way a city tells its own story.

The Traveler's Memo for the Schindler's List filming locations in Krakow

Are you getting ready to visit Krakow in the footsteps of Schindler's List? Here are answers to the most common questions to help you plan your route and adapt your itinerary according to your schedule and travel style.

Walking between cinema and history in Krakow

Exploring Krakow in the footsteps of Schindler's List means accepting that you're constantly on the boundary between staging and reality, between the images from the film and what actually happened here during World War II. By connecting the filming locations, Oskar Schindler's factory, Kazimierz, the Podgorze ghetto, Plaszow and, if you wish, Auschwitz-Birkenau, you'll create an itinerary that is very full, but also extremely illuminating.

If these subjects interest you, I really encourage you to pair your visits with reading material such as Mietek Pemper. It lends a different depth to details one might otherwise mistake for simple movie sets.

And if you're planning a trip to Krakow, feel free to take a look at my complete Krakow travel guide to organize the rest of your stay: accommodations, good places to eat, walking ideas, and other visits to combine with this route.