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The idea of a fun trip to a salt mine may sound a little dubious. And as you head out through the suburbs you may wonder just why you are leaving the glories of the city behind. However, it is not just the antiquity of these mines that makes them worth the trip (things got fully underway here as early as the thirteenth century), they are also home to one of the wonders of Poland. This is the chapel of the Blessed Kinga, which to all intents and purposes is a full blown church, the only difference being that it is 200 metres undergound, and carved entirely from salt, (including the chandeliers that hang from the ceiling). It is a quite astounding sight, and all the more so as it was carved not by an outsider, but by a group of gifted miners themselves.
Entering the mines involves a long descent by stairwell, and it feels very much like a Jules Verne Journey to the Centre of the Earth type adventure. The chapel of the Blessed Kinga is the undoubted show-stopper, yet it is only one of several attractions. There are a handful more smaller chapels, including the seventeenth century chapel of St. Anthony, and a huge underground salt lake. If Tolkien had seen this place he would probably have got down on his knees and kissed the salty ground. Venerable guests such as Goethe and Emperor Franz Josef were themselves suitably impressed. All tours are guided, which means that sometimes you cannot linger in the more captivating rooms for as long as you might like. However, if you have more than two nights in the Krakow, or bad weather strikes, the mines make a very worthwhile trip.
Getting to the Wieliczka Salt Mines from Krakow shouldn't prove too difficult or expensive. Regular buses run from the top of Starowislna Street opposite the Main Post Office, taking around forty minutes to get there. Be warned that buses are a little cramped and we advise you check departure details at one of Krakow's tourist information offices as these routes chop and change quite a bit. You're best asking a friendly Pole where to get off too, as this is a public bus not a tourist service. If you don't fancy taking your chances on the public transport of fair Poland, then booking your transport with our friends at Krakow-tours.com takes all the headache away from your salt mines adventure for just a few extra zloty.
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 | | "Absolute marvellous and a nexpereience for life! We had a wonderful guide, Anna, who made the tour funny and very educational as well. Worth a visit, in fact don't miss it!
Mark S Bradshaw; I think (not sure) that it is Etude op.10 n.3 Tristesse for orchestra." | Marie Larsson
Sweden
Aug.03.2010
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "I was at the mine in February of this year. I was in Krakow for the wedding of my niece - none of us are Polish by the way - and two days after the wedding we went to Auschwitz. The following day we went to the Salt Mine. I was a bit dubious at first,thinking it would be boring,but how wrong I was. Having a delightful young lady as our guide,she made the tour very informative and amusing. I am really glad I went.
However,can someone tell me the name of the Chopin music that was played in the vast chamber that was full of water and the "Treasurer (?)" made a brief appearance." | Mark S Bradshaw
United Kingdom
Jul.21.2010
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "i was in the mine 3 christmases ago and it was amazing my chick is polish although we live in england we will definatley be going back to the mine when our littleone is old enough too apreciate it so ill be back" | mick
United Kingdom
Jul.11.2010
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "Nico, a follow up. The mine tour dispatchers are able to arrange for an elevator to the bottom after you arrive and check in, though you may have to wait a bit until they sort it out. Once at the bottom, though, he will have to walk the remaining distance, including up and down some stairs that wind through the caverns. You'll have to judge for yourself if he's capable of making a 90-minute to 2-hour walk with your assistance. In some places there are benches and places to rest, and I doubt anyone will force him to walk faster than he's capable. Hope this helps." | brien
Poland
Jun.16.2010
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "The 304 bus to the salt mine leaves from Kurniki street which runs off Plac J Matejjki towards Galleria krakowska. It took us ages to find it and even the Bus Station could't tell us where it was!" | John
Czech Republic
Jun.09.2010
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "Maybe Rafal should spend more time learning how to spell instead of being rude to others." | Delphine
United Kingdom
Jun.08.2010
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "Hi, Nico. It depends on how well your father can walk. I am checking for you about tours for people who require assistance and also whether they can descend to the first lower level by elevator, however the tour after the first lower level does require the use of stairs as it rises and descends through the caverns. Will post again when I hear back from them." | brien
Poland
Jun.04.2010
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "I intend to visit the mine with my husband and his father who is 70 years old. How difficult is the descending? Can we stop and rest or we must step down all the 700 steps at once? I'll appreciate your information. Thank you." | Nico
Romania
Jun.01.2010
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "People that are to lazy to walk down stairs should stay home and watch the bloody thing on the discovery chennel. get of your ass and walk." | Rafal
Australia
May.28.2010
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "the mine was breathtaking. my polish wife and i enjoyed the english tour" | shane
Australia
May.28.2010
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "I was privileged to sing solo and unaccompanied in the Church of Blessed Kinga and my own voice made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck - the acoustics are stunning.
I found the caves to be well worth the visit - if you are going to complain about walking down the stairs underground, then you shouldn't go there.
" | Willie
Ireland
May.07.2010
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "i hate it" | barney
United States
Apr.16.2010
rates this page 1/5 |
| | "i hate it" | barney
United States
Apr.16.2010
rates this page 1/5 |
| | "I love everything that is givin. The picture is great and the information is useful." | Nicole
United States
Apr.12.2010
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "Hi, I read somewhere that you can lick the walls in this salt mine, and it all's salt! Is that true...? Cheers" | Jonnie
United Kingdom
Mar.30.2010
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "That room in the picture looks amazing...!" | Janet
United Kingdom
Jan.29.2010
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "I was in this Salt Mine on 11/24/09. Yes, you walk about 700+ steps down a windy staircase to get to the 200+ feet underground mystery of the "salt adventure". I was a little disappointed because even though I can appreciate the hard work everyone did to make this a great success ... and sacrifice ... I expected more of everything. I wished it was over once we hit the 3rd level of 100+ stairs. Good air ventilation - so no worries. sculptures, thou interesting, were boring to me. Sure, the chapel is impressive. My knees and back hurt so bad the next day because of that adventurous walk. They really should find a better way to accommodate people with bad knees and backs. The elevator ride up was 40 seconds in a sardine crowded environment (9 per car-squashed). Very fast and just shut your eyes. If you are on tour with Crakow tours, you will have limited time to pick up souvenirs - work quickly at the end. Overall, interesting to some degree but not enough to bring me back." | Kelly
United States
Dec.06.2009
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "Just read my comments and must say I,m not known for my spelling sorry folks" | Jim Alexander
United Kingdom
Nov.30.2009
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "There on 28 Nov. 2009,absolutely amaxing. The ride up to the top in lift is not for the claustrophobic,did not like this at all,I now know what a sarddine must feel like. However amazing and the guide Sebastian was quite hilarious,Polish people are not usually known for a sense of homour. Jim." | Jim Alexander
United Kingdom
Nov.30.2009
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "I was there back in 2000 and was totally amazed. I did not have to use the stairs, but a rickety elevator that took you down in complete darkness. It rivaled some amusement park rides. It was a very good experience and I highly recommend it. " | Elizabeth
United States
Nov.29.2009
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "We ordered the tour with krakow-tours.com and it was adequate. It was nice that our driver Paul took care of everything for us." | Giselle
France
Sep.15.2009
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "An absolutely awesome experience!! I'm glad I didn't know what to expect because with every step down, I was more and more awe-struck...and then the Chapel!! Wow! The tour was a highlight of my European trip." | Janice harte
Canada
Aug.23.2009
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "An absolutely awesome experience!! I'm glad I didn't know what to expect because with every step down, I was more and more awe-struck...and then the Chapel!! Wow! The tour was a highlight of my European trip." | Janice harte
Canada
Aug.23.2009
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "That big room there is just completely awesome. Has to be seen to be believed!" | Stan
United States
Jul.31.2009
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "Why not use the train? There is an hourly service from Glowny (main) station, costing only Zloty 5.00 each round-trip, takes just 30-minutes and the mine is a 5-minute walk from the terminus. There's plenty of room on-board and it's an environmentally-friendly way to get there." | Paul Haywood
United Kingdom
Jul.18.2009
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "This is definitly an amazing place thar you have to see. You won't see anything like this anywhere." | Marek
Poland
Jun.30.2009
rates this page 5/5 |
| | " Great......absolutly amazed.. going back again." | Ron
Canada
Jun.28.2009
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "I think that the greatness of the Wieliczka Salt Mine is rather exaggerated in the turist guides. I was not so impressed. But maybe that is because we have a lot of mines in Sweden, and I was more impressed by the Sala Silver mine. I recommend you to rather visit that mine if you like that kind of experiences!
And I also think that they have spoiled the exciting roughness of The Salt Mine by making it so adapted to tourists. But the salt carvings were nice..." | Sara
Sweden
May.17.2009
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "brill spent 5.hours in the mine
wil be back soon god willing" | ROY.McGOWAN
United Kingdom
May.10.2009
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "This visit is worth the 780 steps (all down)and 2km of footwork underground. The carvings are impressive, I would have liked more time to view the chapel. I'd hate to go on a busy day. The cage coming up is a tight squeeze - especially when people don't think about taking their rucksacks off their backs before getting in. Mine cages are friendly places as any miner knows. " | James P
United Kingdom
May.09.2009
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "me and my mates went and it was pretty cool in my opinion" | yoyo
United Kingdom
May.04.2009
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "Dios me dió la oportunidad de conocer esta maravilla en 1993 y no la he podido olvidar, cada paso lo recuerdo y lo añoro. Hoy visité la Mina de Sal de Nemocón (www.minadesalnemocon.com) cerca a Bogotá y es lo más parecido que he encontrado a Wieliczka!! Gracias!" | Myriam C de Alvarado
Colombia
Apr.10.2009
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "it was a long time ago when I visited the salt mines but it was amazing and I can vividly remember tasting the walls made of pure salt, tasted horrible but woth visiting" | mike moczyk
United Kingdom
Mar.14.2009
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "it was incredible 2 be 135metres underground and it wasnt at all claustrophobic, the carvings were awesome, and the big church just amazing, well worth the visit. " | Brid Mulhall
Ireland
Feb.13.2009
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "This place is amazing it took my breath away, its one of the most amazing things ive ever seen in my life. But wear comfy shoes!
I would reccomend going its fantastic, pure beauty" | lily
United Kingdom
Feb.09.2009
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "not very good sorry :(" | jack lowman
United Kingdom
Jan.09.2009
rates this page 2/5 |
| | "You need to see this place when you visit Cracow. Amazing" | Kathy Heafey
United States
Jan.07.2009
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "i went there in 2008 ..was absolutly amazed.. going back again in january ..for the english version of the tour.." | yeti9389
Ireland
Dec.31.2008
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "Amazing experience. We had a rather amusing guide who didn't report us for taking photos without paying first!!!!!!!!!
We travelled by local train. Dirt cheap if a bit uncomfortable. 5 minute walk from station to trhe Mine." | Mike Zawadzki
United Kingdom
Dec.02.2008
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "me my wife and a friend went to tell you the truth it blue me away fantastic what an experiance i would recomend it to anyone
" | michael ward
United Kingdom
Dec.02.2008
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "Was there in May of 2008 and it was well worth the tour! After the descent down to the bottom which felt like forever, there were so many amazing sights. If in Krakow, you must do this tour!" | Lynn T
United States
Nov.28.2008
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "hi i went to the salt mine this year in 2008 i went around the world i am from QAustralia trust me guys who reads this poland is beautiful but so is Australia but it has completly mazing " | shannon
Australia
Oct.14.2008
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "Simply amazing! I was there in November 2007 (and it was snowing quite heavily) with a friend. The moment you start to descend the (what seems like a million!) steps, the weather outside could be absolutely anything, such is the feeling of segregation from the outside World. Krakow is amazing itself, but if you are here you MUST go and see this wonder of the World. I can't put into words any write up that can convey how awe inspiring this place is. A must see, once (or twice!) event in your life!" | Darren Marsden
United Kingdom
Oct.12.2008
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "an awe inspiring experience, not to be missed" | george hart
United Kingdom
Oct.04.2008
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "I went a few years ago, near the end of 2003. My coworkers and I were on another trip to Poland to help upgrade their Search and Rescue systems. The Polish Air Force group we were with took us to see the salt mines and it was incredible. I want to go back some day and take my children to see this beautiful and historically rich treasure." | Phillip Bracewell
United States
Oct.03.2008
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "Absolutely stunning. Only thing that spoiled it for us was the guides were very abrupt and not very visitor friendly. " | Wendy Deamer
United Kingdom
Sep.25.2008
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "i went on a trip to slovakia and we went to see the salt mines in poland but we were staying in slovakia so it took four hours to get there and four hours to get back so we got back at about 12:30am but it was worth it though!" | HANNAHLAWS
United Kingdom
Sep.20.2008
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "Today 9-19-08 was the first anniversary of my first trip to Poland.
the salt mines are so amazing, very beautiful, something I will never forget." | Mike Gryczko
United States
Sep.19.2008
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "an absolute experience one of the wonders of our travels" | john+maureen
United Kingdom
Sep.06.2008
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "I went to the salt mines of Wieliczka in 2002 with my wife who was born in Poland and it is one of the most amazing feats of artistry, especially considering the time period that these amazing artistic creations were executed, I have traveled fairly extensively and I will never forget the awe inspiring beauty of the salt mines of Wieliczka." | Jon R. Duffy
United States
Aug.18.2008
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "You have to see it to believe it. It's the most beautiful place I have ever seen." | Gasiorek
Canada
Jul.26.2008
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "i have never seen anything like this in my life, i have travelled all over and i have found this place absolutely amazing. brilliant" | amanda
United Kingdom
Jul.24.2008
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "To see the Salt Mine was one of the host humbling experiences. To think that human hands could creat such a marvellous feat of workmanship. What was profoundly evident was the scrupulous work ethic that these young men of the time had displayed, a work ethic which one might fear will never exist again. A must see for everyone. " | Mhairi
United Kingdom
Jun.29.2008
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "If you are fit and well, walk to Krakow Glowny main train station and catch a train to the mine, its the last stop and then a 300 yard walk, easy." | Mike Davies
United Kingdom
Jun.10.2008
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "My wife and I visited the Salt mines in Krakow in June of 2007 and we were blown away. I highly recommend this site. it is a miracle carved in salt. Lovely." | Francisco
United States
May.26.2008
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "i went in the 2007/2008 holidays and found a magnificent site as soon as my eyes lay upon the chapel of St kinga. a marvellous place i wouold recommend visiting." | Andrew Karpinski
Australia
Apr.05.2008
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "Best ever trip. If you get the chance to see then do not miss. stunning" | Snake
United Kingdom
Mar.14.2008
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "we visited salt mine from ireland, we never saw anything as beautiful, in our life, including our guide, who explained everything in great detail, we will recommend it to everyone." | james & kathleen tate
India
Jan.28.2008
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "Stunning cravings, Ypu can even get married in the big church, nearly 1 km underground." | Damian Byrne
Ireland
Jan.03.2008
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "just got back go there dont miss awesom 900 years of history in one hit this place is a credit to polands history" | nigel brown
United Kingdom
Dec.13.2007
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "If you are fortunate enough to vacation in Poland then take a trip to the Wieliczka Salt Mines, you will not regret it. I visited in January 2006 and was spellbound by the complexity and beauty of the mines. " | Iain T. Christie
United Kingdom
Oct.29.2007
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "To descend into the earth of Poland evokes an incredible sense of history. Wonderful and beautiful. " | Gordon Fulton
United Kingdom
Oct.23.2007
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "amazing,we were awstruck by the vastness of the caverns and carvings, completleu unexpected." | the langley's
United Kingdom
Oct.09.2007
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "A very good trip a must see the carvings on the walls etc are marvellous if you come to krakow its a must see absolutely great ." | Brian
United Kingdom
Sep.19.2007
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "As a Polish tourist attraction, Wieliczka is pretty expensive. It's 63 zloty to visit the mine with an English speaking tour guide. The price seems outrageous when compared with the price of a museum ticket here, but if you consider that it's a 2 hour guided tour that goes through 2 km of mines, it's a bit more reasonable - though still a lot of money." | Dagny
United States
Jul.30.2007
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "its the 8th wonder of the world if you miss this youve missed a big attraction i was really really impressed " | thomas hagan
United Kingdom
Jul.01.2007
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "The Salt Mines in Wieliczka are simply stunning, and well worth the trip from Krakow. Apparently they are UNESCO's 12th rated treasure in the entire world!!!!!!!!!!!!" | Duncski
United Kingdom
Apr.19.2007
rates this page 5/5 |
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