Wieliczka Salt Mines

Wieliczka Salt Mines are in the south of Poland, a mere 30 or so kilometres from Krakow, the majority of visitors to the city tend to make two day trips - Auschwitz and Wieliczka. Wieliczka is obviously the more cheerful of the two but it's also quite expensive with tickets costing around 45zl these days (around 9 pounds). I've been twice to this place, once in the 90s as a whippersnapper and then again a couple of years ago as I had good memories of the place and was pretty stunned by it as a child. It has been used as a salt mine since the middle ages and as an afterwork hobby some of the miners would design sculptures made of salt and rock. There are many ...  Read the complete review

A short train ride from Krakow Wieliczka itself is a small and regular Polish town. On the train from Krakow it takes around 20 minutes to travel the 14 kilometres costing 4zl (zloty). Wieliczka itself reminds me of my hometown with the small green hills surrounding the town much like the Grampians in the north east of Scotland. I arrived on the first train from Krakow as travelling alone on this part of my journey I love getting up early and getting going. The draw card of Wieliczka and the reason I was there was to visit the World famous salt mines regarded as a modern wonder of the world. The mines themselves open at 7.30am however the first tour in ...  Read the complete review

No trip to Krakow would be complete without a visit to the unforgettable salt mines in Wieliczka. Although they are the oldest mines in the world still open, absolutely no knowledge of Polish history is needed to appreciate them. The tour of the mines involves a lot of walking underground and a steep descent which included 300 steps if I remember correctly. Very young children and the elderly might wish to avoid it. A small portion of the tour is wheelchair accessible but you will need to pay extra for the lift. Remember that it remains a constant 15 degess Centigrade all year round in the mines so dress accordingly. I went in August and although it was ...  Read the complete review

Hello there friends from the very bowels of the earth! For those of you who, like my dear Polish father-in-law, enjoy a few chips with your salt, here is the place of your dreams. For those of you interested in culture, history, religion, mining technology (yes, really!), serious exercise and underground caves, caverns, grottoes, waterfalls and passages here also is the place of your dreams. For those of you who are in any way physically disabled I'm sorry to say that this really is not a place to add to your European tour itinerary, part of it is claimed to be wheelchair accessible but I certainly would not attempt to view any of it ...  Read the complete review