"The Wieliczka Salt Mine" Top 5 Page for this destination Wieliczka by ThiagoRamos

If you get tired of castles, palaces, churches and old squares - or even if you don´t - the Wieliczka Salt Mine is an excellent alternative for a tour. Located in the outskirts of Krakow (around 10km I think), the mine is easily accessed by minibus in half an hour.

The mine was opened in the XIV Century (!!!) and the salt was extracted manually from the rocks by the miners. It seems that many miners had artistic vocation because they started to sculpt the salt rocks producing wonderful statues.

With time salt began to lose its original value and the mine became a tourist attraction. Nowadays there´s no mining there anymore.

Statue representing miners working

First you descend unfinishable stairs and, when you´re more than 60 meters below the surface, the tour starts. You walk around 2 hours, passing through many chambers with all these amazing statues, a lake, the chapels and the guide explains the history of the mine, the legends and everything you need to know about it.

You walk almost 2km and the tour ends 135 meters below the surface. There you can buy postcards, souvenirs, visit the mining museum and take the elevator back to the sunlight.

The Great Chapel

For me the highlight of the tour was the Great Chapel!!! Unbelievable!!!

• Pros:Unusual tour, once in a lifetime experience...
• Cons:Krakow - you may prefer to enjoy a little more of Krakow...