Wroclaw to Wieliczka Salt Mine Tour

The Wieliczka Salt Mine reaches down 327 meters and extends in horizontal levels for over 287 kilometers (178 miles). The rock salt is naturally of varying shades of grey, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white crystals that visitors might expect. Since the middle Neolithic period, brine flowing up to the surface had been collected and processed for its sodium chloride (table salt) content. At the turn of the 13th century, wells began to be sunk and subsequently the first shafts were dug to extract the rock salt.In the late 13th to early 14th century, the Saltworks Castle was built. Wieliczka is now the location of the Kraków Saltworks Museum.

Many shafts have been dug over the period of the mine's operation and various technologies were added, such as the Hungarian horse treadmill and the Saxon treadmill for hauling salt to the surface. During World War II, the mine was used by the occupying Germans as an underground facility for war-related manufactures. The mine features an underground lake, exhibits on the history of salt mining, and a 3.5-kilometer (2.2-mile) visitors' route (less than 2% of the mine passages' total length) including statuary carved from the rock salt at various times in the past, as well as sculptures by contemporary artists. Even the chandelier crystals are made from rock salt dissolved and reconstituted to achieve a clear, glass-like appearance. The mine also houses a private rehabilitation and wellness complex.

The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as "Poland's Underground Salt Cathedral". In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

In the mine you will join the guided tour arranged by the museum. After the tour you will have some time for shopping or lunch. Then it will take 3h to return to Wroclaw.