If you are looking for that one place where you will say, "Ooh, Aah, and Wow," look no further.  These salt mines are not only the bomb to visit, they also can help people who suffer from asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

The Kopalinia Soli Wieliczka Salt Mine is located under the town of Wieliczka, a suburb of Krakow.  It really is a city under a city.  This mine continuously produced table salt from the 13th century until 2007, and it is the oldest salt business in Poland.  It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. 

My wife and I opted to do this tour on our own instead of the tour offered by our tour company.  By the way, we saved almost $40 and had a much longer, comprehensive, and more interesting tour.   We went into parts of the mine that big tour groups don't get to.  The pace of the tour was totally up to us, rather than a look, take a picture, and move on tour group mentality.  We took a local bus #304 for small change that left us off about two blocks from the mine on September 21, 2011.  We paid 68 zloty, about $20 per person, that included the cost of a guide in English.  We also paid a camera fee of 10 zloty, about $3, when we purchased our ticket.  For those tourists that were taking pictures without the sticker, about half-way through the tour, our friendly guide reminded those that didn't have the camera sticker to kindly buy the sticker.

We started our tour by descending a 378 step staircase into the Danilowicz Shaft.  I looked at our guide and my wife about half-way down and asked, "Are we there yet?"  I also said, "I hope we don't have to walk back up."  Our friendly guide told me that we will take an elevator for the ride up.  I told her she was a genie who granted me my wish.  Once down and into the mine, the walk was a piece of cake.  The tour members who purchased the tour from the tour guide paid about $20 more per person.  However, they did take the elevator down instead of walking the wooden stairs.  Walking down gave us a much better perspective of how deep the mine actually is.

Our guide told us commercial mining was only discontinued in 1996 due to the low price of salt and regular flooding of the mine.  She showed us how the salt was mined over the centuries.  She pointed out the models and replicas of the equipment.  We also saw the actual pulleys, winches, and other mechanical contraptions.  She showed us how most of these things worked.

We also saw life-size models of horses and how these animals worked.  She told us the horses would spend almost all of their lives in specially built stables in the mine to save time and effort needed to bring them to the surface every day.  She said when the horses reached a certain age, they were taken out of the mine and enjoyed their golden years in a pasture.  We also saw life like mine-workers, working, coming in, and leaving the mine.

Some of the magnificent chambers we enjoyed were the Kunegunda Shaft with a group of salt statue dwarfs and the Kunegunda Gallery, showing the Neolithic people producing salt.  We also saw the Spalone Chamber, where statues showed the earlier days of mining when these miners used torches on long poles to burn out any methane gas near the ceiling and the Kipernik Chamber, dedicated to the astronomer Copernicus, who was one of the first tourists to visit this mine.  The Saint Anthony Chapel is a fully preserved 17th century chapel depicting salt statues of the crucified Christ and Madonna with Child.  Our guide walked us into a pitch black chamber and hit a switch that rewarded us with fantastic lighting effects, weird music, and wonderful lakes.

One of the most wonderful sights in the mine is the Chapel of Saint Kinga. This chapel is actually a subterranean church carved in rock salt.  Our guide told us that this chapel has been a place of worship since 1896 and is used today.  Looking down into the chapel, the first thing that strikes you is the amazingly beautiful crystal  chandeliers made from rock salt .  The size and beauty are unbelievable.  The carved replica of Da Vinci's "The Last Supper," carved into a wall of rock salt, was spectacular, as well as a carving of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and a salt statue of Pope John Paul II.  The lighting in the mine was fabulous and made for plenty of Kodak moments.

Our guide also told us that Feliks Boczkowski started a subterraneotherapy treatment for people with respiratory ailments and allergies.  Patients come to this underground rehabilitation center for a week or more and stay six hours or more a day.   She did say that these people have to come back every year or so.  To lend credibility to this, she also said that Poland's socialized medical system covers this treatment.

After over four hours in the mine, I looked at my wife and said, "I'm salted out and ready to leave."  I mentioned to our guide that I tasted salt on my upper lip and mustache.  She said some people can taste the salt on their lips from being in the mine.  Our guide took us to a special express elevator up the Danilowicz Shaft from a lower level.  Seven slender people were crammed, not as tight as sardines but close, for this short, quick, and cool ride up to the surface.  They also have souvenir shops and a very nice restaurant that we didn't use.

This is that Ooh, Aah, and Wow place every traveler is looking for.  The pot of gold, or salt, is definitely at the end of this trail.

Recommended: Yes

Best Suited For: Friends
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime