It is located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory northeast of the medieval town of Dachau, about 16 km (10 mi) northwest of Munich in the state of Bavaria, in southern Germany.

The closest city to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site is the town of Dachau itself. Many visitors assume the camp is in a remote forest, but it is actually located on the northern outskirts of this picturesque, 1,200-year-old Bavarian town. From a larger metropolitan perspective, the closest major city is Munich, which is located approximately 10 miles (16 km) to the southeast. The camp was intentionally built near Munich—the "Capital of the Movement" for the Nazi party—to serve as a "model" camp for political prisoners. In 2026, the most common way to visit is to take the S2 suburban train from Munich’s Central Station (Hauptbahnhof) to the Dachau station, a journey of about 25 minutes, followed by a short bus ride (Bus 726) directly to the memorial entrance. Because the camp is so close to the town center, there is a stark and intentional juxtaposition between the somber, horrific history of the memorial site and the normal, everyday life of the modern Dachau residents who live just a few hundred yards from its perimeter.