The Wieliczka Salt Mine
The Wieliczka Salt Mine (Polish: Kopalnia soli Wieliczka) is a salt mine that has existed for over 700 years in the town of Wieliczka, near Kraków in southern Poland. Salt was mined there commercially until 1996, when it was affected by falling prices and mine flooding. Over many centuries, the mine had been crucial for the economy of Poland.
It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, visited by about 1.2 million people every year. It features 26 shafts, 245km of labyrinthine passageways and over 2000 chambers hollowed out in salt rock. There are displays of historic salt-mining technology, an underground lake, four chapels, numerous statues carved by miners out of the rock salt, as well as sculptures by contemporary artists.
Located 16km from Krakow, the Wieliczka Salt mine can be reached by bus, car or train.
Bus 304, which you can catch near Galeria Krakowska in the Krakow Old Town, runs every 10 minutes on weekdays (less often before 6am and after 6pm) and three times per hour on weekends. It takes around 33 minutes to get to the mine.
You can take a Koleje Malopolskie train line from Krakow’s Main Railway Station to Wieliczka Rynek-Kopalnia station. It takes about 20 minutes.
By car, the mine is about 30 minutes away from the centre of Krakow with regular traffic.
