The bus to the Salt Mine looked a bit complicated so we opted for the train. Got up early and grabbed a coffee in the train station, then waited for the on-time and completely uncrowded train. It took about 25 minutes and we saw a lot of construction for new rail lines along the way.
The train only runs once an hour so we had some time to walk around town before our 10am entrance for the English Tour.
I stood in line and watched as more and more people joined the queue for the English tour – 35 in total – which was way too large a group in such a confined space. Most of the time it was hard to hear the tour guide and when people can’t hear they start chatting amongst themselves, most of the time not in English. I would imagine some other languages would have smaller groups as English seemed to be the default ‘other’ option for many tourists.
The tour started with about 6-7 minutes of walking downstairs (no joke), then lots of walking in the tunnels. In all, we walked almost 4 miles underground. The cathedral and lake chambers were our favorite spaces with chandeliers made of salt and partially petrified logs throughout. There were some cheesy special effects, and of course, you exit through multiple gift shops.
a selfie during the 1+ mile walk to the exit elevator!
We did it, but I’m not sure I’d actually recommend it to everyone. We decided to hit up a wine bar back in town, so we took an Uber back for better positioning and to save time.