Krakow & Wieliczka Salt Mine

From Hungary we made our way into Poland. We set up camp in Krakow and headed straight into the town centre for some traditional Polish dumplings, which went down very well. We spent the rest of the day exploring the beautiful city (with a charitable rose) and tried some of the local beverages. During the day Krakow is a traditional city rich in history and legends. At night time, it is transformed into an atmospheric and hip party town with funky bars in the most unusual places and cocktails galore.

Some sights:

Our rose:

The next day we visited the Wieliczka Salt Mine, a few kilometres outside of Krakow. This fascinating place has been mined for 700 years and brought great fortune and prosperity to the area during this time as salt used to be a highly valuable commodity (it's where the word 'salary' derives from). The tour took us through several kilometres of salt tunnels and 20 of the mine's chambers, just 1% of its total which has over 300km of galleries. Besides the supporting wooden beams, everything was from salt: sculptures, walls, floors, ceilings and even the lights.

Unfortunately it was difficult to get good pictures due to the lighting, but here are a few of the better ones:

A visit to Krakow and the surrounding area is well worth it!