Located a 40-minutes drive east of Kraków lies Bochnia. It is one of the two salt mines that the region has been famous for since the 1200s. The other one being the salt mine of Wielicka. Both are UNESCO World Heritage, and both can be visited. The cool thing about the mine in Bochnia is, that it is still operational. So, when on a guided tour, you meet the actual miners on your way (who prefer not to be photographed).
Healthy air for kids
Children that grew up in Bochnia know the mine for having healthy air, and often parents sent their kids to overnight stays 250 metres (820 feet) down in the mines, a custom has lived on till today. Poland still has one of the worst air pollution ratings in the world, mostly due to the use of coal in electricity and heat production, and clean sea air is a 6/ to 7-hour journey away. Take a tour in the mine, and you will likely come across the bunk beds for this adventure.
Train ride and boat ride
Although a tour through the mine takes you mostly through one main tunnel, it starts with a train ride into the depths, and includes a shaky but fun boat ride over a salt river.
Interested in the history of the Bochnia Salt Mine?
Taking steps further down
A side tunnel in the Bochnia Salt Mine
A closed off section of the still operational mine.
The boat ride on the salt river
Active mine trains take also tourist into the mine. The locomotive is named Kuba, after the last horse that worked in the mine in the last century.
A mill in the mine to power movevement in the mining process, horses were used to make the go-around.
Wooden beams keep the tunnels intact
Salt has taken hold of this wheel.
The miners dug out their own church.