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The Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland What to know before you go, see and what to do?
If you go to the Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland, you will enjoy a unique place in the world , a salt mine that will leave you speechless.
A visit to the Wieliczka Mine will transport you to a labyrinthine world brimming with secrets. Did you know that tourists only have access to 2% of all underground excavations? Imagine the treasure hidden within these mines!
Don't miss the Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland, you'll love it!
Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland
What to know for your visit?
On your trip through Poland you must visit the amazing Wieliczka Mine. It is a unique place, which you have to visit at least once in your life, we tell you from the heart. We have traveled the world a lot and seen many monuments and unusual places, but these mines have stolen our hearts. It is the underground salt cathedral, a sculpture in itself.
Why visit the Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland?
If you enter the Wieliczka Salt Mine, you'll immediately understand that you're standing before a priceless monument of world cultural heritage, inscribed in 1978 on UNESCO's first World Heritage List . This is already a significant achievement, as it was one of the first sites to be included on this renowned list of must-see places in the world.
Infinite galleries full of sculptures ... and all of salt ...
As you walk through the mine, you'll get the feeling that the cross-sectional, inclined, and longitudinal tunnels never end. But did you know that tourists only have access to 2% of all the underground excavations?
Initially the galleries that were excavated were low and sinuous, in later times, when the miners had more experience and knowledge that allowed them to more efficiently assess the location and extent of the deposit, the galleries became wider and more orderly.
The total length of the existing galleries in the Polish Wieliczka Salt Mine is approximately 245 km . The miners of Wieliczka maintain a precise inventory of the underground saltworks, and each excavation and gallery has its own unique name. Today, during your visit to the mine, you will still see many miners working to keep the mine safe for everyone.
It is no exaggeration to say that it is a complex, multi-level salt labyrinth, which is why tourists can only visit the Mine accompanied by a qualified guide who knows the underground passages like the back of his hand.
It is worth knowing that Poland's Wielicka salt mine has 9 levels , the lowest of which is at a depth of 327 meters.
Impressive .. no?
How to visit the Wieliczka Salt Mine
Are you going to Wieliczka? The famous Polish salt mine has to be definitely on your list of destinations for Polish lands.
Visiting the mine is a great adventure, so it's well worth discovering its secrets. Don't be afraid of the dark: all areas of the tourist route are well lit.
Furthermore, you're always accompanied by a guide who will lead you through this salt labyrinth and reveal all its secrets. I assure you that without a guide you'd get lost; it truly is a salt maze. You can't visit the mine on your own.
Our guide was Agata, a Polish girl who spoke perfect Spanish and had a great sense of humor. The truth is that the visit was unbeatable thanks to her. In fact, she gave us the phone number since she was also a guide in Krakow and I'm going to leave it here because if you have the opportunity to hire her as a guide, you will have a great time with her, be it here or in Krakow. You can contact her by whatsapp at 00 + 48 506 619 897, really and from the heart that she is a wonderful person and with children I treat 10!
The Wielicka Salt Mine Guided Tour in Spanish
During the visit to the Polish Salt Mine in Wielicka you can discover and admire the underground tunnels of the old Polish salt mine filled with sculptures made of salt by the miners themselves or spectacular underground salt water lakes with light and music shows. In addition, you will be able to know the trade of the salt miner, his tools and appreciate the healing properties that the salt mine itself has, where today there is also a hospital for the cure of respiratory problems.
Book
First of all, to guarantee your spot and have a guide in Spanish, you must book your tickets online. The website is in Spanish and the purchase process is very simple. You can access it here to buy your tickets.
Pricing
The normal ticket price is 100 zlotys, about € 22 uros. If you are a family, there is a family ticket, for 2 adults and 2 children, that you save a little money and it will cost you 280 zlotys for 4, about € 65 for 4.
Once you have bought the tickets, you already have your day and time to enter with your guide in Spanish who will accompany you. Guided tours in Spanish are usually around 13:XNUMX p.m. each day.
Access, duration and difficulty of the visit
Access is through the Daniłowicz shaft, descending 380 steps to reach a depth of 65 meters . The guided tour begins here and lasts approximately two hours, covering a 3,5 km route that descends through three levels of the mines, reaching a depth of 135 meters . In total, you will descend 800 steps , which are not at all strenuous, and you will return to the surface by elevator.
Of course, the visit to the Wieliczka Salt Mine is done with breaks. The first lasts about an hour, in the area of the Drozdowice and Weimar chambers, where you can use the bathroom and visit a small snack stand.
The second break takes place after another hour of walking, in the vicinity of the Wisła-Warszawa-Budryk chambers. In this area there are also shopping stalls and the Karczma Górnicza restaurant, where excellent Polish cuisine is served.
Tips
- Book your tickets before so as not to miss the visit in Spanish.
- Carries warm clothes if you go in summer, You will do the whole visit at a temperature of about 17-18 degrees.
- If you go with a baby, you can do the visit with cart for the most part, but better use a folding cart to go down the 800 steps.
- You can take a guided tour with Wheelchair, you have to book in advance and it is adapted, you can see a part of the route and go down with the elevator.
Where to park and spend the night in the Wieliczka salt mine in Poland by motorhome or camper
The Wieliczka Salt Mines make it easy for you, like all of Poland. In the same car parks at the entrance of the mines you can park and they have a parking lot on grass for motorhomes that is signposted where they allow you to spend the night and have bathrooms. The price is 30 pln all day, and day and night 50 pln, about € 10 uros. They do not have but specific services for motorhomes. In this case, not far away you have a campsite in Wielicka with all services.
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