Pál-völgy Cave - Budapest

Pál-völgy Cave bemutatása

The first few hundred meters of underground passages, now named Pál-völgy Cave, were discovered in 1904 in a little quarry beside “Szépvölgyi út” (Szépvölgyi street) in the Buda Hills. As it was rich in dripstones and with interesting dissolution forms it soon attracted the attention of speleologists. Exploration was intensified in the 1980’s as a result of which, with the length of its known passageways now totalling to 32 kilometers, it has become the longest explored cave in Hungary.
The length of passages made accessible for the general public is 500 meters. They are rich in dripstones, various high but narrow corridors decorated by unusual dissolution forms (spherical niches and hemispherical kettles or pockets). Enlarged by dissolution, the corridors become spacious chambers at places where they are crossed by other corridors. The cave tour is quite adventurous: participants have to tackle a change of level of 28 meters by climbing 400 stairs and a “Chicken Ladder”, as well. There will be a rather steep section, too, the “Giant’s Stairway”. Therefore it is not recommended for visitors younger than 5 years and/or shorter than 115 centimeters.
The cave climate is equable all the year round (~11 Centigrade) giving a sensation of pleasant warmth in wintertime but nice and cool in the summer. Though the section accessible for the general public can be visited in normal walking clothes, in summertime a warm sweater or a light jacket and comfortable, light touring-shoes (all the year-round) are recommended.