The Wieliczka Salt Mine: 10 Fascinating Things to Know
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- čas přidán 7. 03. 2021
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Among the many things there are to do and see in Poland, visiting the Wieliczka Salt Mine in Wieliczka, Poland ranks at the top of the list! Today, I'd like to share 10 of the most fascinating aspects of visiting this amazing mine. Please don't leave Poland without seeing it for yourselves!
Learn more about the salt mine:
1. www.wieliczka-saltmine.com
2. www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...
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I went to this place a few years back but did not have a tour guide. We just walked and walked through and I remember the salt statue of Jesus with his sacred heart lit up and shining through the salt. I was really beautiful. I loved my one and only trip to Poland so much, I applied for citizenship......and got it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (My father was Polish)
Congratulations! ;)
Well if you got it then it's time to dig a little deeper into Poland :)
@@felidiusz thank you!
Where is the Jesus man??
Salt. I need salt.
On my visit in March 2020 with my Polish girlfriend I learned that Mikołaj Kopernik already visited the mine "as a tourist" in the 16th century. Fascinating!
Yay! You got his name right!
You need to add that ( pre Corona of course) people couldn’t resist licking the salt walls as they walked by 😂
i know i did :D
I did lol
salt is antiseptic so you are safe 😀
@@1RPJacob Oh good!!
It is a must see place for anyone visiting Poland...
Nice done! I was there about 2- 3 times and still your narrative was very interesting. 👏
I was to Wieliczka only 4 times. And I was that kid.... that kid that licked the wall to check if it actually was salt. It did not disappoint! The place is incredible. It's much more "refined" now. With wood secured walls painted etc. It used to be much more raw stone walls everywhere. Still, even now it's incredible experience with statues old equipment and the ballroom. It's a must visit place. Just be sure to go off season because queues are pretty long. One thing that's better these days is illumination of interesting places. It used to be really dark and you needed some time to acclimate to the dark.
Yup, Wieliczka is a must-see! Also, part of the site (which is gigantic, you only get shown a small part on the guided tour) is used as a clinic for people with respiratory diseases due to the purity of its air.
And on level -6 there is a concert hall - I've played there once :)
hi… i’m from Slovakia .. visited salt mine with my wife and son this weekend and it was really great experience .. also visited lot other interesting places in Krakow and i am absolutely amazed by this city .. most beautiful city i ever visited, just instant magic .. beautiful city center but also love how much green areas are in entire city … lot lot of trees .. fantastic city, for sure will return there to see more of it .. 👍👍👍 Whole Poland is great country full of warmheart and nice people !!
Wieliczka is like Dwarf's city of Moria from the Lord Of The Rings :)
Other cool fantasy / historic places in Poland:
Skansen Sierpc - real life old Polish village thet looks like one from Witcher 3 game. You can eat traditional food, listen to traditional music, ride a horse or take a carriage. See how village life looked like in Poland centuries ago. Day to go there: every Sunday or every free from work day in Poland.
Skansen Wolin - Slavic and Viking village with warriors, boats, fireplaces and lot of handcrafted souvenirs.
Malbork Castle - one of the biggest well preserved castles in Europe (some say even in the World).
Kraków Old Town and Wawel Castle - see where Kings Of Poland used to live - you won't be disappointed!
Old Town in Toruń city - when you mix Malbork and Kraków in a bit smaller scale. Fun fact: students of the University of Toruń call the building of the Faculty of Polish Philology "Hogwarts" because how it looks.
Old Town in Gdańsk - see what the largest historic trading city in Poland looked like centuries ago. A beautiful historic port, lots of tenement houses, churches and monuments that have been standing in this city for hundreds of years.
It always amuse me that people not include coal mines in Zabrze: Guido Mine with route 320 m below ground with a pub and concert hall (great place for Halloween or Andrzejki party) and Queen Louise Adit (not that deep below ground, but) with boats as part of the route - which are more raw and industrial than clean Wieliczka ;)
There also is Summer school of magic in (Czocha I think) castle, where kids can go for a few days to learn potions, astronomy and other subjects from HP ;)
And probably some national parks could be seen a little elvish ;)
It really is marvellous, isn't it! I went about 50 years ago (my, doesn't time fly?), and missed the tunnels and how the miners descended. What I do, however remember, was the statues and restaurant/ballroom. Oh, and the never ending stairs. One to avoid, if one is claustrophobic. Once you have taken just one step inside, there is no going back. The only way out is at the end of the tour. God, I loved that lift!!!
Tourist route and exhibition is changing and growing
This place is amazing! I’m glad I did the tour with a guide. Plus, I love Poland!
Thank you Russell. Enjoyed my "trip" to Wieliczka through your eyes!
I was there on my first trip to Poland in 2010. What a great experience, thanks for sharing this
It's well worth the visit :) Went several years ago and licked the walls lol. I bought a bag of sól and am stingy about using it lol.
Good choice, this is the absolute must see if you are around. I'm visiting Wieliczka every time someone new comes to Kraków 😎
You should have included a glimpse of how the stairway looks when you look down the stairs - it always gets me!
When I can travel from UK will stop over at the salt hotel
I also went to the Salzburg salt mine in Austria, what I mostly remember about that was the wooden slide that you and the miners use to to get down to the bottom and the small train ride, but that what was not anywhere close to being as amazing as the Wieliczka mine, not even close!
Wieliczka is on a whole other level of amazing! Its the minor leagues vs the Major leagues.
Hi, were you also in the Silver mine in Tarnowskie Góry already? Highly recommended 😁
I LOVE your videos. You are my link to seeing things in Poland. I've got some medical issues that would prevent me from walking any great distance so I appreciate all your videos!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. How I wish I could visit Poland!!
As to Wieliczka - you can still visit it. They have wheelchairs for people with walking difficulties. Then you must book your trip in advance and hire a guide for yourself and people you are with, because you will go slightly different way (a bit shorter, but main attractions are included) and you will go down by an elevator, not the "never ending" stairs.
It is a bit more expensive than regular ticket but still quite affordable and if you take a wheelchair one person who is with you enters for free.
That's how it was in 2009, when I visited the mine with my disabled friend, hope this hasn't changed in the meantime.
Just as a note, the white on the walls of the wooden corridors was not to reflect light. It's lime and it makes the wood more resistant to fire. So it was a fireproofing measure.
Dual purpose then...
To ja dodam, że jest kilka alternatywnych tras, każda z nich ma własne atrakcje. Byłem np na takiej (zapomniałem nazwy) gdzie każdy dostawał własną latarkę, kask i strój i nasze latarki to było jedyne oświetlenie. Było kilka miejsc, żeby być aktywnym. Np zaplatać line, przeciskać się przez szczelinę, czy kilka innych atrakcji, szczególnie dla dzieci. Reasumując. Jednorazowa wycieczka to może być za mało, warto co jakiś czas wybierać się tam na alternatywne trasy:)
To musiała być trasa górnicza. Kilka lat temu też ją przeszedłem. Byłem na wycieczce zorganizowanej i mieliśmy też nocleg w kopalni! 😀
I toured it back in 2014 as part of my week long visit to Krakow. Unfortunately, I booked a tour through an agency and paid as much for myself as you paid for your entire family. That said, no harm. It was still amazing to see, and I am happy to contribute to the economy of my forefathers' homeland!
Aww. I visitéd as à teenager (when I first fell in love with Poland!). Then lo and behold I met ‘Marcin Bojarski’.. ând married him 😆. He and thé kids have not visited this mesmerizing place so I think that means we better come back for Christmas (especially if it’ll be 15 degrees). Another beautiful vidéo !!
I was there once, as a kid and really want to visit the place again. The salt mine is absolutely amazing and really great if you have allergies, I remember being able to breath there much more easily than outside.
I love your videos very much. Thank you for all your work.
Kopalnia w Bochni jest starsza i według mnie bardziej interesująca niż w Wieliczce, chociaż nie tak popularna i sławna. Dodatkowym atutem jest leżące w pobliżu muzeum porcelany. Naprawdę warto tam zajrzeć.
Yeah Russell, you really should visit Bochnia Salt Mine especially with your sons. It is multimedia tour
there is restaurant down there also.I adore this place
Being restored nowadays 🙄
I liked your Tube about the salt Mines in Krakow . I am 75 and want to know about the stairs UP to get out of the underground . It was impressive to see the stairs going down .
I was there last week (24th October 2023).I really loved it and tourist guy said many good interesting information about this salt mine
I was in Wieliczka just once and I loved it….great job Russell 👍🇵🇱🇺🇸
We just come back from a weeks holiday in Krakow and yes we visit the Salt mine
Great job Russell, I’m embarrassed to say that with my over 30 trips to Poland over the last 11 years I’ve always ‘missed’ visiting, guess I’ll have to change that.....! Best from your friends in Nevada.....! 🇺🇸🇵🇱
Thanks! Chilled draught piwo is waiting for a long- anticipated 2nd meeting, John!
We also have coal mines for tourist in Zabrze, less than 100km from Kraków. Guido Mine with route 320 m below ground with a pub and concert hall (great place for Halloween or Andrzejki party) and Queen Louise Adit (not that deep below ground, but) with boats as part of the route - which are more raw and industrial than clean and overtouristic Wieliczka ;)
For the people interested in going underground (of course not by subway!) there are also couple of underground tourists attractions - like another salt mine in Bochnia (already mentioned in the comments), silver mine in Tarnowskie Góry (including Black Trout Adit) and coal mine Guido in Zabrze (plus underground waterway in Adit Queen Louise). All of these are located in Silesia district, which was the mining center in the last century. So, Russel, grab your wife and kids and go visit these places (although I'm almost sure you've already done it).
I have to see it! 👍
It always amuse me that not as many people know about those places. Guido Mine have probably the deepest pub in the world, where you can drink special Guido beer 320m below ground level ♥ and quite nice parties for Halloween and Andrzejki (with different attractions in different chambers: dancefloor, karaoke, a little quiter room to chat with friends)
Wow, thank you for showing me! I wish I had the means to go
just an amazing looking place - well done.
I am going today. Your brief and informative video is a great help
Thanks 😊
Remembered this place randomly, went on a school trip about 6 years ago. Love this place, my friends and I licked the floor, everything is salty :)
Very informative and interesting video ; thanks, Russell. BTW, for some reason, watching this video made me want to grab a soft pretzel!!😀
In all my years here, I've never seen a soft 🥨 😉
My blood pressure began to skyrocket just watching this. God I wanna go there!
Personally I think that Malbork castle is a number one destination, however Wieliczka salt mine is undoubtedly in the top 5.
I don't know if it's still offered, but I think there were two? types of tours you can get. One was the general guided tour, and the other was a "miner's tour" where you wore overalls, a helmet, and a lamp and went inside and "dug up" some rock salt which you could take as a souvenir.
Beautiful Russ🤗
I lov❤ Poland 🇵🇱
An amazing place! ❤❤❤
Hard to believe really - just amazing .
ohhh Wieliczka my town !!!
Very nice
Once again an excellent video. I had the pleasure of visiting the salt mines twice in the past. One question I have is how friendly is the visit for people with mobility disabilities? Elevators? Thanks Again.
It seems they've made it fully compatible for such tours. 👍
I've written that several posts above, but in order to spare you searching:
They have wheelchairs for people with walking difficulties. Then you must book your trip in advance and hire a guide for yourself and people you are with, because you will go slightly different way (a bit shorter, but main attractions are included) and you will go down by an elevator, not the "never ending" stairs.
It is a bit more expensive than regular ticket but still quite affordable and if you take a wheelchair one person who is with you enters for free.
That's how it was in 2009, when I visited the mine with my disabled friend, hope this hasn't changed in the meantime.
For people who loves mines, caves it's strongly reccomendend to visit a Kłodawa salt mine. It's a salt mine still full operational, but tourist visiting is now available. In Kłodawa mine You can get a salt caverns few times bigger as in Wieliczka.
Where is this?
Hey Dude! Wieliczka? Arek you kidding? The most spectacular Salt mine ever is in Kłodawa!!
No w końcu, takie cuda "za rogiem" a Russell jeszcze nie zrobił odcinka :)
You should see also Bochnia Salt Mine - you can even take an underground trip in a boat!
And you should abandon your hopes of becoming a Viking, they are the thing of the past.
Miasta królewskie: Kraków, Kazimierz ( dzisiaj dzielnica Krakowa), Wieliczka, Niepołomice i kopalnia soli, Bochnia i kopalnia soli. Te zabytki Unesco są w odległości jedynie 40 kilometrów ! Pozdrawiam
Bochnia is so underappreciated... And they have underground boat ride!
I noticed on the website there are different tours you can purchase. Which one did you go on?
I don't think that this was the mine featured in the amazing race season 27. But what impressed me about that mine, was the fact that it was pristine. It was the cleanest mine I ever saw.
Clean indeed!
Nice
The glass of beer down there was the best attraction!
Was it salty?
@@pawelpap9 Beer? No! But when you need some salt to your soup you do not need bother a waitress. Just turn round and scrach some salt from the wall :)
You forgot about the underground lake and the beautiful light show they do there.
I missed the illuminated part there, otherwise I would have put it in 😅
Great clip, thanks 👍💪 next you should go to see Kłodawa salt mine - they mine the pink salt there, which Germans buy and resell as himalayan 😮 it's still operating and is based between Łódź, Włocławek and Konin 😉 maybe not as sofisticated as Wieliczka, but it's huuge, impressive, cheaper and you go by lift [if I recall it's ca. 5 m/s for 2 minutes (?)]. recommend wholeheartedly 👍💪
The underground museum is really good.
Visit other salt mine museums in Poland: Bochnia and Klodawa.
Was there in November 2020.
Amazing place by the looks of it.
Pozdrawiam 🇵🇱❤️
I showed your videos to my foreign friends and now they want to come to visit this country (but they cannot due to the Covid restrictions)
They'll be able to travel here soon enough.... 😊Thanks
I like undeground lakes in the mine.
I really hope I get to Poland before I die
You've got to do what it takes to make it happen 😊 👍
Wieliczka is exactly like the mines of Moria 😁
Where's Gollum?
Russell is not Juliusz Słowacki chapel but saint John Paul 2nd (5:20)
Is there a lift down please?
Uuuu.... tłumów nie było, kolejki też nie? Wyjątkowa sytuacja, czy to już pandemia?
When you were down there, was the air dry? Did you notice your skin drying out?
Not really, but the saltwater made my hands super dry. I needed body lotion afterwards 🙂
i think i was there once, one cannot lick the walls as i remember :d
👍
I prefer salt mine Bochnia. Smaller one. You can sleep inside! No queue
So you understood everything what polish guide said?
just been here today after visiting auschwitz, i'm on my 3rd year in poland and it was only today i got to visit these 2 tourist attractions. anythng else you can suggest for me and my friends to visit?
World War 2 museum and Warsaw uprising museum in Warsaw. Toruń's interactive Gingerbread factory.
Guido Mine and Quuen Louise Adit in Zabrze :)
Visit Bochnia salt mine museum.
Should i book a tour guide or buy ticket from the official site and get in??
I'd book a tour!
How difficult is it for seniors around 70 yrs old couples to access? Is there any elevator? How many steps should they need to get down to visit the main attractions?
Elevators are available. No problem whatsoever to get around. Some areas require many steps, so parts would not be accessible. The tour would still be worth it in my opinion.
@@LoveMyPoland Thank you dear friend
Isn't there a medical facility/spa there also?
In Wieliczka i'm not sure. But in Bochnia Salt mine there is.
Little bit like the mines from the lord of the rings experience in my opinion...
we also have coal mines for tourist in Zabrze, less than 100km from Kraków. Guido Mine with route 320 m below ground with a pub and concert hall (great place for Halloween or Andrzejki party) and Queen Louise Adit (not that deep below ground, but) with boats as part of the route - which are more raw and industrial than clean and overtouristic Wieliczka ;) both combine would be really close to LOTR mines
Eben Alexander- Dowod , a w orginale:Proof of Heven A neurosuregon's journey into afterlIfe
My guide was very salty.
Mine too, actually 😜
@@LoveMyPoland 🤣🤣🤣
My lungs were very happy
Go Jetters
And there is underground hotel inside and restaurant
Extra, extra!
Read more about it
I was there in 1985. The tour guide spotted me as a foreigner. He took me aside and tried to sell me a salt crucifix for five bucks.
😂
Incredible video! When visiting another city or country, every educated person must visit a museum. Visiting museums is very useful and fascinating. A love for the "eternal" and "beautiful" is awakened in a person, the beginnings of greatness and respect for history are inculcated. It is impossible to turn the excursion into something banal, ordinary and boring. The person should be a comprehensively developed person, cultured, educated, critically and analytically thinking, with knowledge of foreign languages. It is the knowledge of a foreign language that opens wide prospects for a person to realize his/her creative potential, career and financial growth. I would like to recommend the practical training course by Yuriy Ivantsiv "Polyglot Notes. Practical tips for learning foreign language", where you can find lots of useful information how to learn a foreign language quickly. Learn a foreign language and realize your creative potential on an international scale! The international community needs creative ideas! Thanks to the author of the channel for a very fascinating tour!
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You totally forgot about sanatorium.
Salt mines you say??!! They made all that to get some salt? And the miners were artists with so much free time and love of the game to stay behind in the mines to do all the extra work? Do people even think anymore?
What is your take?
@@LoveMyPoland i have no idea (yet) what it was made for, but surely it wasn't a salt mine.
Its like saying they built Notre Dame to store grain and rice! Places made for commercial purposes are made cost effectively, but here they must have had to sell their own homes's salt to pay for this place!! :)
The gnomes!
Over 400 ft
This is how it ends when the grand duchess of Poland drops her ring. ;)
W tym rejonie sól była wykonywana przez ostatnie 2000 lat
Kopalna soli w Bochni lepsza
"$1,500!".... in North Carolina, it can cost $5K to rent someone's back yard for a wedding.
It looks like the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory but with salt!