The Postojna Cave tour, step by step

How long is the Postojna Cave tour?

About an hour and a half, the park says, with just over a kilometre of it on foot.

Add the 30 minutes the park asks you to arrive early, plus a stop at the lockers, and budget two hours for the cave. Day-trip itineraries plan for 1 hour 30 minutes (the flagship) to 2 hours (the Slovenian Wander tour), and the Koper port tour allows 3 hours, with the castle as a photo stop only.

Cave and castle together take 5.5 to 6 hours from Ljubljana on the tours on this site.

How does the Postojna cave train work?

An electric train takes you 3.7 km into the cave on what the park calls the world’s only double-track cave railway. The first cave railway here opened in 1872.

Boarding starts 15 minutes before your tour time. The rules are simple: stay seated, don’t lean out, and if something falls off the train, leave it, because staff will bring it out for you. Folding strollers can ride along.

The park mentions Murano-glass chandeliers hanging in the Dance Hall. One guest on the Koper tour summed it up as “a train underneath that feels like Hogwarts”.

How hard is the walk inside Postojna Cave?

Easy underfoot but not flat: the path has no steps, but it rises about 40 metres over 200 metres, a 20% gradient, and then drops again.

The footpath is 1.2 km of non-slip concrete. Once you start walking, there is no shortcut back. One guest wrote: “The cave is beautiful but it is a tough walk. Long steep uphill, then steep downhill. You can’t quit in the middle so I wouldn’t recommend it for someone with walking or stamina issues.”

The park advises wheelchair users to see the train section only, and asks for 2 days’ notice. Visitors with a mobility impairment certificate and their companion get 50% off at the ticket office.

What will you see on the tour?

Halls of stalactites and stalagmites, the Brilliant, a five-metre bright-white stalagmite the park uses as its symbol, and the olms at the end.

• The train ride: 3.7 km into the cave on the double-track line, with Murano-glass chandeliers in the Dance Hall.
• The walk: a railed path past lit formations.
• The Brilliant: its shine comes from a thin layer of flowstone left by dripping water.
• The olms: blind cave salamanders, 25 to 30 cm long, that can live up to 100 years.

The whole system is 24 km long. The tour shows you about 5 km of it, and the rest is reached on the park’s adventure tours.

Want the cave and the castle without buying tickets on the day? The flagship includes both, with pickup in central Ljubljana.

★ 4.8 · 6 hours · from $131

Explore the cave and castle tour with tickets → Tour details

Will you see the olm in Postojna Cave?

Yes: the park says the regular tour ends with the olms, which it nicknames baby dragons, as its family ticket page puts it.

The park counts over 150 animal species in the cave. For a closer look, the Vivarium sits 50 metres from the cave entrance and shows the olm alongside the slenderneck beetle, found here in 1831. It is unguided, so you go at your own pace, and its hours follow the cave tour timetable. A single ticket is €12.80.

Is the Postojna Cave tour guided in English?

Yes: park guides lead every tour in Slovenian, Italian, English or German, and audio guides cover 19 languages for €3.90.

This is the part tour listings blur. Your tour’s guide mostly guides in the van. One guest wrote: “The guide only ‘guides’ during transportation and then you get an audio self guide at the castle and then a separate guide from the cave (which everyone gets with a ticket purchase normally).”

The park’s own guides earn their keep. Another guest wrote: “The team at the cave are highly professional, and provide an engaging and interesting tour.”

Can you take photos in Postojna Cave?

Yes, without flash or a tripod. Recording the guide’s commentary is not allowed.

The cave rules also say: no food, no smoking, no touching the formations, no coins in the pools and no straying off the path. Pets stay outside in two free kennels. Backpacks, large bags and umbrellas are better left in the lockers at the EXPO pavilion.

Hold the phone steady and let the cave lights do the work. Flash would flatten the colours anyway.

What time of day should you book the cave?

The park’s own advice is the castle in the morning and the cave in the afternoon.

The 2026 cave tour times run by season:

• November to March: 10:00, 12:00 and 15:00.
• April and October: 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 14:00, 15:00 and 16:00.
• May, June and September: hourly from 9:00 to 17:00, plus 10:30 and 15:30.
• July and August: hourly from 9:00 to 18:00, plus 10:30 and 15:30.

Day trips do it their own way. The flagship visits the cave first; the half day with all tickets lists the castle first.

Frequently asked questions