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When in Kraków and you haven’t been already, I’d have to go as far as making a recommendation that you pay a visit to the Wieliczka Salt Mine. It’s definitely on the more organized side of the tourist site spectrum, which is to say you probably don’t just go there and wonder around all by your own, but instead you have to take the guided tour. In hindsight, we probably didn’t have to rely on a tour company to take us there, but instead  could have used local transit and pick up tickets pre-bought online. However, Kraków transit is in the centre of the Google Maps ‘transit dead zone’ (seriously, this Polish tourist haven and there is little to no transit info on Google Maps…), so we played it safe and over-paid for a local tour company that we have now learned are basically glorified taxi companies. God only knows how much they add for the minor convenience of door to door service.

Why would anyone in their right mind want to visit a salt mine? Not sure either, but Wieliczka isn’t just any old run of the mill salt mine. For you LOTR-lore geeks out there, it is the Moria of mines. First off, it is the oldest Salt mine in the world that a whopping 700 years in is still in production, with the caveat that in more recent memory, the extraction of salt is done through water that trickles through the rocks. The salt that was mined here had a huge impact on the overall prosperity of Poland back in the day when salt fetched the same price per ounce as silver. To ensure the valuable salt wasn’t so easily stolen, the clever miners extracted the salt in large cylinders often weighing as much as two tonnes. The value of such a difficult to move beastly thing would supposedly be enough to buy an entire village, although it’s not clear exactly what size and shape such a village would be in, the number of goats included etc., but you get the point. We were not alone in taking a break from the sunshine and descending some 135m down into the, in places literally, briny deep. This is such a popular destination that the custodians of this site had to deploy a computer system that effectively schedules and routes guides with their groups automatically to ensure there’s no overflow or blockage in the, at times, cramped spaces. Not a small feat considering the thousands that are led through the intricate system of paths.

All good things must come to an end however, and contrary to us leaving Warsaw, I felt six nights in Kraków was just about right and I was ready to head on south to Budapest. Despite our colourful and less-than-stellar experience taking Flixbus from Rotterdam in the Netherlands to Copenhagen, Denmark last year (16 hours where the on-board toilet broke after 10), we had decided to throw caution to the wind and give them another chance. The price of 32 Euros for both us may have had something to do with it. Just saying. It was just about 8 hours on the bus with one stop through southern Poland, straight through Slovakia and about one hour into Hungary to reach the Népliget bus terminal in Budapest. Two quick tram rides and we were at our apartment. I suspect I might comment on it again, but the initial impression of the transit system in Budapest is that is incredible. The coverage is comprehensive and the frequency by which buses and tram run make it a viable transportation alternative for any reasonable person visiting Budapest.

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