Wieliczka is a small town, 10 km southeast from the centre of Krakow. It’s famous for its unique, deep salt mine considered as one of the world’s oldest operating salt mines. The mine reaches a depth of 327 m. It has a huge labyrinth of tunnels with total length exceeding 300 km, located over nine levels. Small, 3 km long part of the mine is open to the public. The tourist section of Wieliczka salt mine consists of over 20 chambers, from 64 m to 135 m below ground, interesting exhibits on the history of salt mining, amazing salt statues, and an extraordinary underground lake.
Wieliczka tours
Today the Wieliczka salt mine is one of Poland’s most popular attractions. It welcomes over 1 million visitors each year (with a record number of 1,7 million visitors in 2017). Usually tourists visit Wieliczka during the holidays in Kraków, which is a really good solution. There are many Wieliczka tours starting in Kraków. Individual visitors arriving in the mine are guided in groups including a maximum number of 40 persons. Foreign tourists can participate the foreign language tours guided in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Russian. The temperature in the mine is between 14°C and 16°C – warm and comfortable clothes are recommended even in summer. The whole trip lasts about 3 hours.