Attractions in Kraków area: the underground salt mine in the town of Wieliczka

The underground Wieliczka [vyel-ich’-kah] salt mine is one of the world’s oldest (established in the 13th century) salts mines, located in southern Poland, only 14 km from the city of Kraków. It’s available to tourists who can go down and admire underground lakes, unique statues sculpted in the salt, chapels, long corridors, and… underground church carved out of the rock salt.

When you arrive in the modest town of Wieliczka, you don’t expect that under your feet there is a huge city carved entirely out of the rock salt. It’s not only available to tourists to visit, but there is also a health resort including an underground gym, a restaurant and a ballroom for weddings, concerts and other events, and every Sunday at 7 am you can go down to the salt church to take part in a mass. You can even book an overnight stay (135 m/443 ft underground) and enjoy the therapeutic microclimate where pulmonary and allergy-related diseases are treated.

The tour of the salt mine is long (2-3 hours and 3.5-kilometer/2.2-mile) but time flies when you are having fun – the combination of amazing views and a professional guide who tells anecdotes and explains the history how operations in the mine began in the 13th century when the salt was called white gold because of the prosperity it brought to the country.

Since mining was always a dangerous job, miners built chapels inside their mine to pray for their safety. The biggest one in Wieliczka – the Chapel of St. Kinga – is a working church, where mass is celebrated every Sunday. Everything there is made of salt by the hands of miners – altars, crystal chandeliers, statues of saints, “The Last Supper” the salt-carved “Last Supper” inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, even carved floor.

The salt mine in Wieliczka (together with a nearby mine in Bochnia) is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List (more on UNESCO’s website). UNESCO recognizes “hundreds of kilometers of galleries with works of art, underground chapels and statues sculpted in the salt, making a fascinating pilgrimage into the past”.

How to get to the Wieliczka Salt Mine?

Wieliczka is the town located in southern Poland, 14 km from the city of Kraków (location on Google map)
The mine’s name in Polish: Kopalnia Soli Wieliczka
The most popular tour available in different languages is called Tourist Route and it takes place at Danilowicz Shaft. You can put in your navigation: Wieliczka Salt Mine, Daniłowicza 10 Street
The cheapest way to get to Wieliczka from Kraków is by bus number 304 (timetable and the list of stops and ticket prices). The bus departs from the area of the main railway station (Dworzec Główny), it takes about 45 minutes to get to Wieliczka. You should get off at the “Wieliczka Kopania Soli” stop and walk about 4 minutes to the mine
Another option is to get to Wieliczka from Kraków with Uber. From the center of Kraków, it takes about 30 minutes. You can get a price estimate for Krakow here on Uber’s website
Of course, you can take a taxi from Kraków or go with a car (please note that available parking lots are often full so remember to include in you journey itinerary some extra time for finding a free parking spot)

Tips about tickets and skipping the line to the Wieliczka Salt Mine

The Salt Mine in Wieliczka is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Poland = usually long lines to the ticket office. There are some ways to skip the line:
- you can book a tour online with an external tour operator (you will find many options on the internet, they usually include transport from Kraków)
- you can buy tickets online for a particular day and hour
Important – if you buy online tickets you will get via email ‘a confirmation of purchase’, which means you have to go to the ticket office in Wieliczka to collect your tickets. Fortunately, there is a separate ticket office dedicated to online tickets so no long lines. Online ticket collection point (in Polish: punkt odbioru biletów online) is located at the entrance gate, in the tourist information office. No need to print your online tickets / a confirmation – you can have it on your phone. Online tickets are can be purchased not sooner than 2 days before your planned visit (meaning it’s not possible to buy online tickets for today or for tomorrow)
The ticket price includes a headset and a guide. Important – you can visit/enter the Wieliczka Salt Mine only with a local guide (so you don’t need to have an external guide)
You can pay with a card in the ticket offices

Practical advice to read before visiting the Wieliczka Salt Mine

Wear comfortable shoes – the tour starts with climbing down 380 steps. In total, there are nearly 800 steps up and down along the entire route (about 3.5-kilometer / 2.2-mile). Along the tour, there are some places you can sit down for a moment while listening to your guide and a short break at the biggest chapel (the Chapel of St. Kinga)
The tour takes about 2-3 hours and ends with a lift to come out (it happens that you have to wait a bit for the elevator)
Dress appropriately – the temperature underground is about 17°C/62°F
There is no age limit for children to participate in the tour (free entrance for children up to 4 years old). However, because of the number of steps, the mine doesn’t recommend to use strollers (there is the luggage room where you can leave your stroller)
There is a tour dedicated to children/families, however, it’s available only with Polish-speaking guide (more in Polish)
The tour (specifically the most popular route – The Tourist Route) is available in Polish, English, German, French, Italian, Russian, and Spanish (time of tours in different languages)
When you buy tickets for a particular time and language, all you have to do is to go to the flag of your language tour and wait for your time and announcement (don’t be surprised – there will probably be a long queue of people who want to buy tickets or have tickets for an unspecified time)
At the beginning of the tour, you will get a headset and follow your guide who will tell fascinating stories in the langue of the selected tour
There are toilets available on the tour route
Wheelchair users can tour (in Polish or English) the exhibition of the Cracow Saltworks Museum (level III) at 9 am or 3 pm. The tour begins in the Regis Shaft building. It’s required to make a reservation in advance
After the tour, you can have lunch/dinner in the underground casual restaurant and buy souvenirs

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What to do in the Kraków area: Wieliczka salt mine

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