Crovenia Road Trip: Day 4–Postojna Caves
My visit to the Postojna Caves was probably the coolest experience of the whole trip. I’ve never been inside a cave before. At first it was super disorientating, but soon I got acclimatized to the dim lighting and smaller space.
From the entrance, you board the cave train which takes you to the Great Mountain and the start of the on foot portion of the tour. We weren’t allowed to take pictures once we were off the train, but here is a short video of the train ride:
To be honest, I don’t know much about caves and the tour guide we were given wasn’t speaking loud enough. The English tour group was massive and if you weren’t right next to the guide, you wouldn’t be able to hear anything. All I could do was follow the group and marvel at the amazing formations around me.
The Postojna Cave is a 20-km long karst cave system, a web of underground passages, galleries and chambers. 5.3 km of the caves are open to the public, the longest publicly accessible depth of any cave system in the world. It is the largest cave in the “classic karst” and the most visited show cave in Europe.
After our cave visit, we went to the nearby Predjama Castle. Predjama castle is located in the middle of a 123 m high, overhanging, limestone cliff, in the entrance of a cave. Beneath the castle, the Lovka stream runs into another cave. There is also a smaller cave which was used as horse stable. When I first saw the castle, it reminded me of the castle that was used in the second Sherlock Holmes released last year.
From the castle, it was a 4.5 hour drive back to Budapest. As we drove back, I was filled with a sense of contentment. This trip was difficult (never again will I travel with 10 other people with different budgets and itineraries), but in the end, I saw so much of the country.
I didn’t know what to expect before going to Ljubljana and Slovenia. I didn’t know much about the city or the country at all, but now that I’ve been there, this little country has surprised me. It has flown so under the radar. I don’t think most people can even point to it on a map. The people are friendly and are willing to point you in the right direction. Most spoke English and were not shy about having to use it if need be. The city and country was very clean. In many ways, it reminds me of home. There are snow capped mountains, and lots and lots of green. I really enjoyed my time in Slovenia and I really like the country and would definitely return.
This is part 5 of a 6 part series on my recent road trip to Croatia and Ljubljana. To read about the rest of my trip, click here.