Wieliczka Salt Mines

The salt mines are a thirty minute bus ride from the city centre and a well trodden part of the tourist trail. They are unquestionably a marvel, and they have been under the aegis of UNESCO since 1978. All tours are guided and there are regular English tours during the season, otherwise you can buy a pamphlet and join a Polish group. Unfortunately, this means that you can't breeze through the duller rooms (of which there are a few), or linger in the more inspirational ones. All the same, if you're here for more than a couple of nights, they are well worth the trip. The chapels, above all that of Saint Kinga, are extraordinary. Picasso said that the altarpiece in St. Mary's Church was the eighth wonder of the world, yet the aforementioned chapel can certainly hold its own with Stoss's creation.

disaster dont go, I would rather walk back to uk with nails in both shoes than go their again Had to fein illness to get out!!

Indeed it is expensive , but well worth it! This is totally unique place and the tour lasted well over 2 h. Money well spent I would say.

This place is a tourist trap! Our guid wasn't so nice, she wanted finish quickly the visit... Moreover it's expansive!

Great place to see, especially in Summer as it is wonderfully cool underground. One of the best sights I've ever been too!.

We had our trip organized smoothly by the same company which booked our Hotel in Krakow - Freebookers. Very well organized. Wieliczka is a stunning place and we are very happy that we had opportunity to see it.

This place is magic and in the middle of Winter with the snow around is just like a fairy tale still. Loved it and my kids adored it too!

Wonderful place to visit with great guides. Bit rushed at times but I have been 3 times and will go again.

was sick

This is a totally magical place and an underground lake and a chapel(!) are just stunning. Quite powerful experience to go underground in the tiny lifts. Highly recommended.

"Amazing magnificent they have built the mine with minimal resources and its good they preserved the history. In fact I love the whole experience of me visiting Poland (Krakow History, Market Square, Wawel Castle, Niepolomice Castle, Food, People in Krakow, Zakopane Mountains) Would definitely recommend to everyone and must see place. "

A big thank you to my wonderful friend Kasia.Z for showing me many places around Krakow (trip date: 18-08-2010 to 25-08-2010).

Amazing magnificent they have built the mine with minimal resources and its good they preserved the history.

In fact I love the whole experience of me visiting Poland (Krakow History, Market Square, Wawel Castle, Niepolomice Castle, Food, People in Krakow, Zakopane Mountains)

Would definitely recommend to everyone and must see place.

Just like from the fairy tale. Our kids loved it. We had fun day out! Well worth seeing.

Awesome and very beautiful place! Wrap up warm as it is cold down there:)

I found it one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen. I loved the underground lake.
One piece of advice that I could offer to anyone planning to visit - go on the organized tour, it works out more expensive - that's true. But we have tried to do it by ourselves and had a nightmare catching the minibuses from the centre, as the stops are not clearly indicated. I am sure it is easy when you know Polish well, but if you know only few words - it becomes quite a challenge!

it is! you should book a visit!!!!

Wow. That looks awesome...!

A totally wonderful day to remember for a very long time this place is 1 of the main reasons we holidayed in poland this year and it didnt let us down

Awesome. We took a bus here and it was amazing. apparently if you lick the walls it's all salt, but i didn;t try it this time!

This was certainly worth the trip, although it did drag a bit at times. The main room is amazing...

Been waiting a few years to see the Wieliczka Salt Mines since my Polish friends first described them to me. What a fantastic place to visit! My only wish would that it was wheel chair accessible so everyone could enjoy it.

I'd like to get married in that chamber. Like a sort of elves marriage! Amazing!

It was such a pleasure to go down in the mines! What a unique experience!

I've never been to a place like this! Definitely recommended if you have an extra afternoon in Krakow. Krakow Tours made everything effortless :)

Cool place! I went with Krakow Tours and they took care of everything for me. This salt mine is really unique - definitely worth a visit!!

what an incredible place - not for the claustrophobic as most of the time you are walking in small dark tunnels - but eventually you get to the magnificent room pictured above :) really interesting place!!

WOW! This word describes this place to a tee. A whole underground world, completely built out of salt. Churches, statues, even the chandeliers!! What a remarkable place. Down near the bottom (where they dont take you) there is a sanitorium, where asthma and lung illness sufferers go and the salt and depth makes them better! The mine has schools, hospitals, canteen, churches, rivers, the Pope! A must for anyone to Poland, and dont forget Auschwitz as well.

This is a must do if you are visiting Kracow. Words cannot adequately describe what you will see in the mines, and I'm not that easily impressed, seen the Grand canyon etc but this is a much bigger wow. Plan to stay a little longer after the guided tour as there is a restaurant and museum (at 132 metres below ground). It's only a 20 minute run out of Kracow. There is a lift back up to the surface so less fit people should be ok on this tour. You do have to walk down steps for what seems like forever though. We used Kracow Tours on this site for all our transport and found them to be excellent. Nice vehicles, friendly and very efficient staff. Thank you.

Thank God this isn't in the UK or the US or they would have a McDonalds down there! Visit it whilst it remains unspoiled. It is well worth the effort.

not to be missed when visiting Krakow

Amazing - they also said the air is good for you and that the 3hr underground tour is healthy who knew!

undeniably beautiful; lots of steps; stairways not for people afraid of heights; definitely worth seeing the chapels

The most spectacular and amazing sight to have ever experienced, truly in awe!!!!

Excellent - I have never seen anything like it

Well worth visiting indeed. The Chapel is truly marvellous.

I visited the Wieliczka salt mines, not knowing what too really expect,I was so amazed,by what i saw, unbelievable, amazing, is how i would describe this visual feast.The tour guide was great, he really made the journey through the mines live and breathe the magnificent histoty behind all aspect of them.

Krakow was magnificient. The Wieliczka Salt Mine is worth a trip by itself. If t had been in the Free World for the last 50 years it would be known as one of the Man-Made Wonders of the World. Our guide Marta was excellent.Be prepared for a fair amount of walking.

I love Monica-she's the greatest!

Oh my god, the most wonderful city in the world. The Salt Mines were incredible no photographs do the craftsmanship justice. If you nothing else in this life spend a few days in Krakow, for me the best in the world.

everything in this room is made of salt.. except the door which is made of wood ... priceless !!!

My colleagues were discussing holiday trips and asked me which is the most unforgettable trip for me. I was there in 1998 after an exhibition in Paris, took a one week side trip to Eastern Europe, visiting Budapest, Warsaw and Krakow - the salt mine. I remembered we took a train from Warsaw -it was a pleasant ride where we had lunch and some wine onboard and frankly, I wasn't expecting anything interesting in a salt mine but wow, the hundreds of steps down the 3 levels, the sights underground were spectacular and I especially liked the chapel, sculptures and those ancient equipment on display. To me - this is the most recommended must see place in Poland.

Fantastic, GO!

I visited the salt mines as part of my birthday weekend in Krakow. I went with 12 friends and not one of us was disappointed (hungover - yes)! It was an amazing experience and our guide Mark was superb! He knew everything about everything and his english was excellent.

I can't recommend the place enough, we booked through the tourist info centre in the market square and it cost about 90z, well worth every penny!

salt is such a link with human life, to experience a real life mine was very interesting, but more the sculptures produced by miners in their own time (difficult to believe) but the quality from guys used to wielding hand tools with force is just fantastic. Tour very entertaining and informative all questions answered with authority. A must visit when in Cracow, easy bus trip too.

as a person who takes thousand each year on various tour of various 'must see' sights the salt mines are a reall joy to investigate always fun and interesting with a real twist of the sureal given the world that lies around this particular area of concentration camps and (in the pat) poverty and hardship these salt mines provide a light hearted break from the doom and gloom of what could be very depressing excursions!!! Great

I'm not a ig fan of tours, and went there with low expectations but was really gobsmacked! There's one really large hall which is quite awesome. It feels a bit like Raiders of the Lost Ark as you make your way around the rickety-looking wooden bridges and stairs. One tip - if you have kids - hold on to them tight!

I have visted the saltmine several times, and as far as I am concerned it is a 'must see' experience. When telling other people it is hard to make it sound exciting - but everyone I have taken there has been 'wowed' [if there is such a word] by it. I am looking forward to going again next time I visit Poland.

Absolutely breath taking - shame Pope John-Paul was unable to make the journey in his lifetime to view the statue made of him. Well worth a visit.

the things i saw were breath taking.i was lucky enough to see the most beautiful architecture i had ever seen and the most amazing thing was that it was by the ordinary working man.
i went in 2005 and was absolutely blown away by the warmth of the staff and there love for the place.

If you don't like queuing and want to be sure of an English speaking guide, blow the expense and book on-line. Whatever your choice, you will not be disappointed by the Salt Mines.

well.... despite the fact our tour guide of the salt mines spoke english i found myself having to strain and focus really hard to understand what he was saying. The tour seemed to take forever however it was an experience i will never forget. the staff however that worked in the salt mine seemed ever so rude to me! i enjoyed the ball room that was a spectacular sight and well worth all the boring parts of the tour just to see that. i would recomend you go see this place if you get the chance but it could be an extremely boring place for a child. my favourite part of the whole salt mine experience was the cage at the end i thought it was absolutely ace and wanted to go on it again. i recomend you wear sensible shoes as there is about 400 steps at the very beginning.

I was lucky enough to have an English tour at the salt mines and found it to be a breathtaking place. The most astoishing thing down there is the magnificent ball room, where weddings are held nowadays. And the fact that my phone had reception right at the bottom. My only complaints are about the seemingly never ending factor of the tour, and the rattly metal cage that they drag you back up in.

Interesting, and quite a spectacle for about twenty minutes, but unless you manage to luck onto an English speaking guide the stopping at every view for a 5 minute discourse gets a bit tiresome. The main hall pictured is a sight to behold, but the whole tour took 2 hours and even then we were left hanging about like spare dicks at a wedding at the cafe/souvenir area for twenty minutes whilst we were expected to shop. Took the train to it which was pleasant, albeit a bit difficult to understand the timetable and buy the tickets. Still preferable to getting one of the many grief-hole/minibuses from the train station.