Salt Mine

Lonely Planet review

Just outside the administrative boundaries of Kraków, some 14km southeast of the city centre, Wieliczka (vyeh- leech -kah) is famous for its ultra-deep Salt Mine, which has been in continuous operation for 700 years and can be visited. It's an eerie world of pits and chambers and everything has been carved by hand from salt blocks. The mine was included on Unesco's World Heritage List in 1978.

The Wieliczka mine is renowned for the preservative qualities of its microclimate, as well as for its health-giving properties. An underground sanatorium has been established at a depth of 135m, where chronic allergic diseases are treated by overnight stays.

The mine has a labyrinth of tunnels, about 300km distributed over nine levels, the deepest being 327m underground. A section of the mine, some 22 chambers connected by galleries, is open to the public as a museum, and it's a fascinating trip.

You visit three upper levels of the mine, from 64m to 135m below the ground, walking through an eerie world of pits and chambers, all hewn by hand from solid salt. Some have been made into chapels, with altarpieces and figures, others are adorned with statues and monuments - all carved out of salt - and there are even underground lakes.

The showpiece is the ornamented Chapel of St Kinga (Kaplica Św Kingi), which is actually a fair-sized church measuring 54m by 18m, and 12m high. Every single element here, from chandeliers to altarpieces, is of salt. It took over 30 years (1895-1927) for one man and then his brother to complete this underground temple, and about 20,000 tonnes of rock salt had to be removed. Occasional Masses and concerts are held here. Other highlights are the salt lake in the Eram Barącz Chamber, whose water contains 320g of salt per litre, and the 36m-high Stanisław Staszic Chamber with its panoramic lift.

Included in the price is a visit to the Kraków Saltworks Museum, accommodated in 14 worked-out chambers on the 3rd level of the mine, where the tour ends, but most visitors appear to be 'salted away' by then. From here a fast mining lift takes you back up to the real world.

Visitors are guided in groups and the tour takes about two hours. You walk about 2km through the mine - wear comfortable shoes. The temperature in the mine is 14°C. In July and August English-language tours depart every half-hour. During the rest of the year there are between six and eight daily tours in English.

Minibuses to Wieliczka depart Kraków every 10 minutes from the northern end of ul Starowiślna, near the main post office, and drop passengers off at the bottom of the road leading up to the salt mine entrance. Trains between Kraków and Wieliczka leave every 45 minutes throughout the day, but the train station in Wieliczka is over a kilometre from the mine.

To avoid the tremendously long queues at Wieliczka itself, especially in season, you are strongly advised to buy your ticket from one of the tourist offices in Kraków before setting out.