Caves

Above ground Slovenia is a Green Paradise, so it hardly seems fair to the rest of Europe that over half of this country underground is yet another rocky wonderland of massive Karst caves, rivers and pretty dripstones!

A cave is called Jama in Slovenian.. (a surprisingly easy word to remember for once) and to give you an idea of the sheer scale of the incredible underground network of caves and rivers flowing under Green Slovenia, a local caver explained to us that you are only considered a really good caver here if you have found 100 new caves!

Green Slovenia is blessed with over 15,000 discovered caves and almost 40 "show caves" that you can visit, each one completely unique and containing different natural underground treasures & experiences.

This is saying something, but our fave cave in Green Slovenia MUST BE Planina cave.. we love it..
This is saying something, but our fave cave in Green Slovenia MUST BE Planina cave.. we love it..

 

Whatever you imagined about visiting a Slovenian cave, don't worry, you really do not have to slide along mud channels on your stomach or pick bats out of your hair as EACH & EVERY show cave here has it's very own way of taking control of your senses, calming your fears and totally overpowering you with the beauty of nature underground. 

To visit most show caves you just need a reasonable pair of shoes and a warm jumper or jacket!

Each Show Cave here is VERY DIFFERENT to the others.. it would be a big blooper to just do one to tick it off your list to do in Green Slovenia and an even bigger mistake to just blindly go see the most advertised and most visited cave too! 

You wouldn't ignore Paris or New York, just cos you had "done" a Mega city by visiting London.. 

So if it helps.. maybe think about the amazing array of massive caves here in exactly the same way as choosing which mega city to visit, of course you go see London, Paris and New York once in your lifetime, but HERE, when it comes to caves in Green Paradise, you can see one, two three or four during one holiday!

this is why we call it all Green Slovenia Baby.. entrance to Dimnice cave in the Brkini mini region..
this is why we call it all Green Slovenia Baby.. entrance to Dimnice cave in the Brkini mini region..

 

One of our mini missions here at the Lodge is help you make the best cave decision for you and your family or friends.. A choice that should be made NOT based on how many cheesy billboards there are or how many internet reviews or mentions in guide books a heavily marketed cave might have! 

Remember, Green Slovenia is the capital of caves and capital of the Karst and you just don't have such an amazing cluster of caves like this to visit at home.. 

So to reaffirm..

  • There are a lot of show caves here you could visit.. 
  • You have a really fantastic CHOICE of other show caves that are HARDLY or NOT marketed..
  • Just cos you have only read or heard about 1,2 or 3 caves, it does not mean for a second that any of them are the best fit for you!
  • With respect, EVERY one of our 30 plus show caves is probably a much better cave experience than the best cave you have at home!
  • EACH cave here is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT experience..
  • There is no rule that you must visit only one cave here.. Indeed most Lodge guests will visit 2 or 3 during their week, not necessarily the best marketed cave either!
  • Oh yes and some of these caves have Baby Dragons, baby!

Exploring the longest water cave in Slovenia, Planina, by rubber boat..
Exploring the longest water cave in Slovenia, Planina, by rubber boat..

 

Not all the other 15,000 or so discovered caves need to be accessed by expert cavers and many can be found whilst you are out and about on your Green Adventures!

There are so many caves you can just have a quick explore inside or peer into the cave mouth during your hike and others that feed the numerous Disappearing Lakes here in Green Slovenia.. So this means the lake fills from water gushing out of that cave when the massive underground water table shifts and nature decides to fill the lake!

Indeed one of the greatest joys of exploring a disappearing lake is to try to find the caves or massive sinkholes where the water gushes in and out!

This cave helps to fill one of the 17 Disappearing Lakes of Pivka..
This cave helps to fill one of the 17 Disappearing Lakes of Pivka..

 

So now we will tell you all about the different tours, cave features, locations and Green stuff you can do in Slovenia's show caves to give you a clearer picture about which cave might be the best one for your Green adventures tomorrow..

We have also written some SECRET PLACES TO VISIT articles for most of these caves you might not know about further below.. so just click on the buttons to go read a bit more about that particular cave..

But we will kick off first with those 3 world famous caves close to Lipizzaner Lodge, that you might have heard a bit about.. then just whizz down a bit to find some of those other amazing secret cave tours that you could easily do.. if you only knew..

The Karst underworld is another world.. as if you have landed on an alien planet..
The Karst underworld is another world.. as if you have landed on an alien planet..

 

Postojna Cave..

The one Slovenian cave you might have heard about is the local Postojna cave (10 mins from the Lodge) and the most visited tourist cave in Europe, opened in the early 1800's and just 8km from Lipizzaner Lodge, so you could also bike or hike there from here!

The Postojna Cave really doesn't need any more help from us to get noticed by the world!

If you have little legs in your group, then this cave has a train to take you into the vast underground, so often a good choice for a young family..

We would say you do need to see this cave one time in your life, but will it be this visit or the next.. or the next?     

Dove's cave must be another entrance to the underworld..
Dove's cave must be another entrance to the underworld..

 

Cave Tip.. If you are indeed gonna see the Postonja cave and the Skojcan cave on your Green Slovenian hollibubbles, then we always recommend doing the Postojna cave FIRST and the Skocjan Cave second.. 

The Postojna cave will totally blow you away and it is difficult to imagine something underground in Europe bigger and better in nature.. until you go see the Skocjan Cave that is.. 

How lucky Green Slovenia is! You are right to think it is a tiny little teeny weeny country, but boy oh boy, it sure does pack some big Green stuff for you to see!

You can walk into every showcave, but here at Divaca cave you can see how the first explorers got in..
You can walk into every showcave, but here at Divaca cave you can see how the first explorers got in..

 

Skocjan Cave..

Just down the road from the Lodge in the direction of the Mediterannean seaside is the really stunning, really massive, Unesco protected Skocjan cave (22 mins from the Lodge)..

This is the biggest underground hole in Europe and our guests return from a trip here in total awe at how overwhelmingly huge the deepest cavern is..

It might remind you of a Lord of the Rings film and you get to walk over a bridge (a bit like an Indiana Jones film) that feels so high up inside the cavern, but is actually very deep underground.. All this with the mighty river thundering even deeper below you!

There are lots of different walks you can do in and around the Skocjan caves too AND you can also do a short 10 min hike directly from the Visitor Centre to see one of the best vistas in Green Slovenia, (which is really saying something), looking out over the second largest open hole in Europe.. so do not make the mistake of just doing the main tour and leaving. 

We absolutely recommend you also visit the local micro museums in the nearby Skocjan village and hike up to the Skocjan church where the views across the valley are stunning.. read a bit more in stuff to do at the amazing Skocjan cave.

Cave Tip.. The Skocjan cave is protected so numbers are restricted and more recently we noticed in the peak months of Jul and Aug, guests should buy their tickets Online in Advance, maybe two days, but at least one day ahead.. we wrote a little Blog about it, with a few extra tips if you are interested.. Need to Know BLOG

This hole is so massive at Skokjan, you could fit the largest Pyramid inside..
This hole is so massive at Skokjan, you could fit the largest Pyramid inside..

      

Krizna (Cross) Cave..

The last of the "big three" (not in size, but known) caves is the Križna cave, translating as Cross cave (40 mins from the Lodge), where you will get much more of an authentic "caver's experience"..

This is a huge water cave and most guests will do the standard hour and a bit walking tour, which you just need to turn up for a 10 minutes before..

You go into the cave alongside the river and the tour finishes up with a boat ride on the crystal clear water, so you get a very pleasant and gentle cave tour with way fewer people too!

But if you only knew about the 4 hour tour.. If you book early enough, we are talking months at least ahead, then you get to put on a caver's helmet with torch and rubber boots and go beyond the chamber where the main boat tour stops and experience more secret caverns in their full glory.

We have been lucky enough to do this 4 hour adventure and it was one of the best Green tours we have ever done and we have travelled around the world for a whole year, so this is high praise indeed!

It is like going to a different planet and time just flies by as you paddle up river helping the guide to carry the rubber boat over rocks into new chambers to see an underground island, one of only 6 massive stone cave mushrooms in the world, (a unique stalegtite formation) a rock pyramid sitting in the emerald green water and a pirate ship in what can only be described as an silent underground paradise.    

The little boat ride at the end of the Krizna Cave one hour tour, photo thanks to Peter Gedei..
The little boat ride at the end of the Krizna Cave one hour tour, photo thanks to Peter Gedei..

  

The Križna cave is one of the only caves in the world where a new calcium river is being forged by the water, so it is strictly protected and you must follow exactly in the guide's footsteps, using mainly the rubber boat and there are only 1,000 people allowed every year for the 4 hour visit!

The cherry on the cake for the end of this tour are some amazing waterfall cascades where you can even walk a little bit. Our strong advice is to book ahead! Here is the page where you can book a Krizna tour.

If you miss out on booking the 4 hour rubber boat tour and want to do a bit more than the standard tour, then you can also book a day ahead to do the "Bear Cavern" tour, where you do the standard tour plus another chamber with a bear skeleton inside and this lasts a little longer at 1 hour 45 mins!

Cave Tip.. Krizna Cave hit the international news machines in 2023 with a cave "rescue", but we want to set the record straight as the story was way over sensationalised, so you do not need to worry in the slightest!

The "rescue" happened during an even more exclusive and epic 7, yes Seven hour underground adventure, ONLY OPEN TO 100 people per year, which goes even further along the river, deeper into the cave to discover some even more spectacular chambers..

We have been lucky enough to get a place on this tour for autumn 2024 and we are so excited about it, we just cannot wait!!

We know the guides at Krizna and know how professional they are and monitor the weather reports and water levels very closely.

The issue happened deep in the cave, way past where you even go for the 4 hour adventure by the way, where they got a once in 100 year rise in water making just one tiny part of the journey with a low roof impassable. That is it!

The Guide took the decision to wait it out in perfect safety rather than swim out and was always in control of the situation as the safety protocol procedures kicked in..

The major reassuring thing for you to know is that there are numerous cave experts and professionals here in Green Slovenia who put your safety first.. so really folks.. we cannot imagine a safer place to experience the wonders of the Karst than here!

 

But there are Lots of other Fantastic Show Caves in Green Slovenia!

We call Postojna, Skocjan and Krizna caves the "Big Three" as they are the 3 ones you are most likely to have read or heard about..

They are all amazing in their own way, but now we will tell you about some other fantastic, but lesser known caves that you might prefer to go visit.. If you only knew!

Please do not think for one drip of a stalegtite that these caves are in any particular order or prefernce.. ANY one of them could be the best cave vist you have ever done!

 

the "Batcave" under Predjama Castle..

Did you even know, there is a fantastic guided tour in the cave under the amazing Predjama castle (10 mins drive, 40 min epic forest track walk from the Lodge). You could be forgiven for not knowing about this tour as it is hardly even mentioned by the same marketing machine that seems to want you to just go see the Postojna cave and Castle combi..

We call this cave under the castle the "Batcave", as during winter, it has the largest number of different bat species in any cave in the world.. But don't worry, in the summer only one tiny, non scary species remains and so this is the only time of year when tours are permitted.

the only extra kit you need for the Predjama Batcave is a helmet to protect your noggin..
the only extra kit you need for the Predjama Batcave is a helmet to protect your noggin..

 

You get a safety helmet and spend just an hour walking along and exploring the secret cave tunnels behind the castle.. you will be totally amazed at where you finish the tour and pop out of the cliff face to safely & easily walk back down to the castle!

Many of our guests have said how much they enjoyed the Batcave as it gives you a slightly more physical real cave exploring experience, so please try to factor this in to your Predjama castle visit.. Kids as young as 7 can do it by the way, so it is not so tough.

Lodge guests usually hike along a secret forest path direct to the castle after breakfast to avoid the later castle crowds, then maybe do the Batcave tour and have a spot of lunch and return mid afternoon with time to go see the Postojna cave later when not so busy.. WOW what a day!

So including the Batcave in your day is "how you do the castle".. if you just treat the most unique castle in the world as an afterthought to the Postojna cave visit and simply rock up, take a selfie outside and then leg it, you are missing out on so, so much!

Batcave tours are up to 3 times a day in the summer, buy your ticket when you get to the castle.

You paddle past this pyramid in the 4 hour Krizna cave tour..
You paddle past this pyramid in the 4 hour Krizna cave tour..

 

Planina Baby Dragon Cave..

The amazing Planina Baby Dragon cave, (15 mins from the Lodge by car and 30 mins by bike) is a really personal tour in a stunningly green location inside the only cave in Europe where 2 underground rivers crash into each other to form both a completely new river and another unique part of the River of 7 Names

This cave is so special and you can also just walk inside a bit and explore in the massive cave entrance next to the river that also feeds one of Slovenia's biggest disappearing lakes.. Planina Disappearing Lake..

Planina cave is the longest water cave in Green Slovenia and also home to over 1,000 Baby Dragons! The different shades of green around this cave will absolutely blow you away and the main car park for the cave sits directly under the amazing Rapunzel Tower!

This is what you do on the 5 hour Planina cave boat adventure..
This is what you do on the 5 hour Planina cave boat adventure..

 

There are TWO different tours you can do in the Planina Cave, taking place between May and September.

The daily hour long Planina Cave walking tour starts at 5pm every day and you might easily be the only people on the tour.. how good is that!

You get to walk deep into the cave along a pathway high above the new river until the place where you can see and hear the rivers Pivka and Rakek crashing into each other to form the new Unica river!

Epic Paradise chamber at the end of Planina cave..
Epic Paradise chamber at the end of Planina cave..

 

And you might get to spot a Baby Dragon too!

The other tour available is an EPIC 5 hour Rubber Boat Tour that you need to book ahead to do and takes you right to the END of the cave!

You get togged up into cave overalls, rubber boots and a caver's helmet and carry your oar along the main walking tour route into the cave and then jump into rubber boats to paddle along the quieter Pivka river to the very end of the longest water cave in Green Slovenia!

Wow, what about that! We did this tour last September with some Lodge guests and it totally blew us all away, it was simply EPIC!

on the way to the 5 hour rubber boat epic adventure inside Planina Cave..
on the way to the 5 hour rubber boat epic adventure inside Planina Cave..

 

It is soooo different to the Krizna 4 hour tour and at the end of the cave you are surprised with a climb up into a huge secret chamber packed with all types of massive, beautiful dripstones!

As you paddle along, you will almost certainly see Baby Dragons swimming alongside and we can safely say there is simply nothing like this sensational cave tour! 

 

Vilenica Cave..

There are a couple of really fantastic, but unknown show caves just over 20 mins from the Lodge, very close to the better known Skocjan cave & the Lipica horse farm.

We call that region the Red Karst, as it is the other significant half of Slovenia's Karst region with red soil and a local unique red wine called Teran.

Spectacular start for the Vilenica cave tour..
Spectacular start for the Vilenica cave tour..

 

The Vilenica cave is ONLY open to visitors on a Sunday at 3pm, so you need to plan your day and cave visit, but do not expect crowds here.. We have had guests be the only foreign visitors on the tour!

The location in the Red Karst countryside is absolutely beautiful and the hour long tour goes through massive chambers packed with pretty dripstones and a really colourful "Fairies Chamber", with underground colours you will just not believe!

 

Divaca Cave..

Just down the road from the Skocjan cave, so still just over 20 mins from the Lodge, is the other unknown secret show cave with more unique caverns, massive dripstones and a final chamber we could only describe as a Pharoahs Avenue!

You can still see so many spectacular underground treasures like this at Divaca Cave.. without the crowds..
You can still see so many spectacular underground treasures like this at Divaca Cave.. without the crowds..

 

There is always a 11am Sunday tour available and scheduled daily tours for the Divaca Cave during the summer, so again, if you want to have a quieter, special, more unique cave tour, then the Divaca Cave could be the one for you!

There is an entrance chamber here so huge they call it the "Dancing Chamber" and this is not a small cave at all, taking over an hour to tour and was once visitied by Sigmund Freud.. so maybe have a real good think about coming here too!

Cave Tip.. Why not have a Super Sunday cave extravaganza viiting the Divaca cave at 11am, then seeing the Vilenica cave for the 3pm tour with either some lunch or a larger meal later in the local town of lovely Lokev, where Italians stream over the border to eat as there are so many good options to eat the amazing Red Karst Cuisine there!

You can walk into every showcave, but here at Divaca cave you can see how the first explorers got in..
You can walk into every showcave, but here at Divaca cave you can see how the first explorers got in..

 

Dimnice (Devil's Barbeque) Cave..

The entrance to the fantastic Dimnice cave (25 mins from the Lodge) is down a 40 metre spiral stone staircase that wraps itself around the top of the cave like a huge chimney.. mysterious smoke drifts up out from the cave all day during winter.. This cave is known by cavers as one of the most complete caves in the world.. as it has a little bit of everything inside.

There are 10 kinds of bat in this 8km long cave and a river all year round. We cannot recommend this cave experience enough, it is beautiful and to go see it, you need to book a private tour with a friendly local expert caver, which costs much less for a family than you might think!

The Dimnice cave is in the much undiscovered stunning Brkini mini region, on the way to the coast and SOCERB castle with a stunning sea cliff for a perfect view of the Gulf of Trieste and Italy, Slovenia & Croatia.. not many people know that just 100 metres from Socerb castle there is also Sveta Jama, Saints Cave, with Slovenia's only underground church and a wine cellar to delight visitors!

Another spectacular entrance to Dimnice Devil's Barbecue Cave..
Another spectacular entrance to Dimnice Devil's Barbecue Cave..

       

Black Cave..

And if you don't fancy the crowds at Postojna cave then why not jump on one of our bikes and cycle into the Green Karst for about a bit along a secret forest track to the wonderful Black cave, (Pivka cave) (10 mins away by car). This is actually at the other end of the massive Postojna cave and Partisans used it to sneak up on the Nazis and destroy their munitions dump in WW2 through a secret back doorway! 

The cave is called "black" as the smoke from thousands of years of people taking shelter at the mouth of the cave and lighting fires has blackened the walls to leave some fascinating shadows.

This cave is only open in the summer, the group sizes are usually small, say 5-15 people, so you can hear and chat with the excellent guide and really get a feeling for some other of Slovenia's massive underground paradises.

This cave was used for a recent Sony smartphone Experia TV advert where the guy is playing the piano in a cave.. well this is the very cave.. 

Remember you are not JUST going underground, you will also get to explore a little bit of Green Paradise on top too, when you visit a Slovenian cave.
Remember you are not JUST going underground, you will also get to explore a little bit of Green Paradise on top too, when you visit a Slovenian cave.

       

Not all Slovenian show caves are here in the Green or Red Karst South West..

About half of the Green Slovenia that is above ground is covered underground with Karst caves, rivers and other formations.. indeed they think there might be another 2 caves still to find even bigger than Postojna!

It is true that most show caves are in the south west close to Lipizzaner Lodge, but there are other areas of Karst around and here are two very special caves that you might consider as part of other possible day trips..

 

Pekel Jama, Hell Cave..

Hell cave has a menacing devil like natural formation over the entrance to the cave and is just off the motorway, direction Maribor in the East, even so, just 1hr 20 mins from the Lodge!

You actually need to duck under this cave curtain on the Pekel cave tour..
You actually need to duck under this cave curtain on the Pekel cave tour..

 

The cave is hidden away in a forest, but it feels more like a green jungle it is so beautiful. Inside the cave there are so many different formations, a waterfall and the tour has a bit of an Indiana Jones feel.. but of course the rock is real!

We really enjoyed our visit here, it was just us on the tour with a wonderful guide and there is a cute forest cafe outside the cave.. if you are heading East for the day, then seriously consider a stop here on the way!

 

Supernova Cave, Zupanova or Mayors cave..

When caves were the cutting edge rollercoasters of tourism and our south West bit of Slovenia was part of Italy between the World Wars, Zupanova cave was the main tourist cave in old Yugoslavia!

a monster chamber in Supernova, Zupanova cave..
a monster chamber in Supernova, Zupanova cave..

 

You can see how the network of paths inside were built for the masses, but nowadays, this is another of those secret unknown caves to put on your list if you don't like crowds!

It is located just outside Grosuplje, south east of Ljubljana and still just an hour from the Lodge and has an ice cave and some huge chambers as you go down and down and down!

The really cool feature is there is another entrance, where the old mayor first abseiled down into the cave, (now there are steps as well), hence the name of the cave, but it is possible to still go down into the cave by rope! Now that is a cave entrance!

This gorgeous little Green Karst pocket is a perfect example of other spots of Karst geology dotted around Green Slovenia and not enough people enjoy a day out around here, when there are SO many things to do..

You could have the most amazing daytrip Forest walk along the Kingfisher Trail and see a secret castle protecting a church on top of a hill AND the Zupanova cave ALL on the same hike.. 

 

Grotta Gigante..

Just across the paper border near Trieste, Italy, you will find the correctly named Grotta Gigante, 30 mins from the Lodge, which is also one of the largest tourist caves in the world. There are 500 steps down into the gigantic cavern, hence the name! There is a modern visitor centre with really nice museum and plenty of free parking if you would like to visit a cave Italian style!

 

To finish off, just a final reminder of how many amazing caves you will just stumble upon if you make the time to do a few hikes in Green Paradise here and our final tip is just so amazing and free, by the way, that if you visit Green Slovenia and have not hiked Rakov Skocjan, then sorry, you have simply not visited Green Slovenia!

the River of 7 Names flows under the BIG Bridge along the epic Rakov Skocjan hike..
the River of 7 Names flows under the BIG Bridge along the epic Rakov Skocjan hike..

 

the Rakov Skocjan Stone Arches..

This world class rock treasure was a gigantic cave.. it's just that a couple of million years ago the cave roof collapsed to leave a 3km long rock valley with two massive stunning arches (the old cave entrances) at each end and one more section of the River of 7 Names flowing through the middle!

In those next couple of million years a green paradise has grown over the rocks and it is one of the best examples of the Green Karst Jungle you can find..

It is hard to believe that just 10 mins from the most visited tourist cave in Europe is a completely free and uber sensational Rock nature park, with a perfect 4 hour hiking path or other shorter paths to take you back in time!

This is yet another secret Green place (20 mins away) that our guests express surprise and disbelief at how amazing it really is and we totally urge you to make time to go explore here.

 

Sometimes guests might arrive and announce their intention to go see "the cave".. we know exactly which cave they mean, but now you know why we always cheekily ask them.. "oh really, which cave"!

Only then can the real underground adventures can begin.. happy cave exploring!

Email: info@lipizzanerlodge.com

Address: Landol 17, Postojna 6230, Slovenia

Phone: +386 5620 3443
Mobile: +386 40 47 0239 or +386 40 37 8037

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