"Down the salt-mine" Wieliczka by leics

And that's all, really.

As part of the excellent 2010 VT Euromeet a large number of VT-ers visited the salt mine at Wieliczka.

Many (most?) visitors to Krakow do the same, I think.

First, you walk down a huge number of wooden stairs. Not exactly a spiral, but not far off.....perhaps 10 steps on each section, then a 90 degree turn and another 10 steps..and so on and so on. Best not to go too quickly or it can make you feel dizzy. And best not to look don the gap either, especially if you are afraid of heights (fortunately, the treads are solid).

Then the guide takes you through numerous passages and caverns, with sundry sculptures, carvings and models. The tour takes about 2 hours (and it's about 2 miles of easy walking) but the mine is truly vast and visitors only see a tiny part of it.

The highlights for most are the huge chapel, its carvings created by just 3 men, and the enormous cavern which has seen the world's deepest bungee jump and the world's deepest balloon flight (which tells you how huge it is).

Fortunately, you don't have to walk back up to the surface. There are speedy lifts to take you. Unfortunately for me (a bit claustrophobic and disliking lifts at the best of times) out group ended up rising to the surface in the lift for disabled passengers. Crammed like sardines into one of its 4 sections (good job we all knew each other!) the journey was, mercifully, swift and fairly short.

I didn't visit the mine on my first visit to Krakow, and I doubt I'd have gone this time if it were not for the VT meet. I find mines and caves interesting, on occasion but not so much that I go out of my way to visit them. This one, I think, is of interest more for the huge human efforts involved over the centuries than for its physical properties.

One of the salt carvings

The enormous chapel

• Pros:Fascinating place
• Cons:Can be very busy
• In a nutshell:Go down the saltmine!