# Caves — tourist attractions in Romania [Romania](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/attractions) › [Categories](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/categories) > Show caves and karst formations. Romania's karst is concentrated in the Apuseni Mountains, the Banat, the mountains of Oltenia and a few massifs of the Southern Carpathians. The caves in Romania developed for the public have lit routes, stairways and guides; the undeveloped ones are visited only with equipment and a guide. A few shelter underground glaciers, others cave bear bones, and some have had their ceilings collapse and turned into natural bridges or gorges. The temperature stays low all year round, so an extra layer is useful even in summer. In [Crișana](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/region/crisana), the [Bears' Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/pestera-ursilor) at Chișcău is probably the best-known show cave in the Apuseni, and [Cetățile Ponorului](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cetatile-ponorului) is one of the largest karst complexes in the country. In Alba county, the [Scărișoara Ice Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/pestera-ghetarul-de-la-scarisoara) holds an underground glacier that is among the largest in Europe. [Women's Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/pestera-muierilor) in Oltenia was the first cave in Romania to get electric lighting, [Comarnic Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/pestera-comarnic) is in the Banat, and [God's Bridge](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/podul-lui-dumnezeu) at Ponoarele is a natural bridge with a road running over it. For which caves you can visit, area by area, with opening hours, tickets and a table of every cave, see the [guide to caves in Romania](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/guides/pesteri-din-romania). ## Tourist attractions 47 attractions - [Bears' Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/bears-cave) — Caves · Chișcău, BH · 40 lei · 45 min · Top 100 Romania's most visited cave: 488 m of lit galleries beneath the village of Chișcău, full of stalactites and stalagmites, with the bones of some 140 cave bears left where they were found. - [God's Bridge](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/god-s-bridge) — National parks and reserves · Ponoarele, MH · Free · ½ – 1 hours · Top 100 Romania's largest natural bridge and the only one in the world carrying a public road: a 30 m limestone arch left standing after a cave roof collapsed, in the village of Ponoarele on the Mehedinți Plateau. - [Ialomița Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/ialomita-cave) — Caves · Moroeni, DB · 30 lei · ½ – 1 hours · Top 100 A cave cut into the wall of the Ialomița Gorge, in the heart of the Bucegi Mountains at 1,660 m, with a monastery built against its mouth and 480 m of lit galleries leading to the Bears' Hall and the Altar. - [Scărișoara Ice Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/scarisoara-ice-cave) — Caves · Ghețari, AB · 45 min · Top 100 A cave in the Apuseni Mountains with the Scărișoara Glacier (Ghețarul Scărișoara), one of the largest underground glaciers in the world: a block of ice over 10,000 years old, reached by stairs down a 60 m wide shaft. - [Women's Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/women-s-cave) — Caves · Baia de Fier, GJ · 20 lei · 40 min · Top 100 A four-level cave at Baia de Fier, in the Galbenul Gorge at the foot of the Parâng Mountains, with 860 m of lit galleries, cave bear bones and some of the oldest modern human remains in Europe. - [Cetățile Ponorului](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cetatile-ponorului) — Caves · Bihor County · Free · 3½ – 4 hours · Top 100 A karst complex on the Padiș Plateau: three huge sinkholes with walls over 200 m high and a portal 76 m tall where the Cetăților stream vanishes into the mountain. Seen from a marked hiking loop, not a show cave. - [Valea Cetății Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/valea-cetatii-cave) — Caves · Râșnov, BV · 35 lei · ½ – 1 hours A lit cave on the slopes of Postăvarul, between Râșnov and Poiana Brașov, with a great hall over 20 m high, visited with a guide and sometimes used for concerts. - [Dâmbovicioara Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/dambovicioara-cave) — Caves · Dâmbovicioara, AG · 30 min A small, easy-to-visit cave on the Rucăr–Bran corridor, in Piatra Craiului National Park: a dry gallery carved by the Dâmbovicioara stream, with about 250 m laid out and lit. - [Bolii Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/bolii-cave) — Caves · Bănița, HD · 10 lei · ½ – 1 hours A cave crossed by a mountain stream north of Petroșani, with a 20 m-wide portal and a gallery of about 466 m walked end to end on footbridges, beneath the Dacian fortress of Bănița. - [Focul Viu Ice Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/focul-viu-ice-cave) — Caves · Pietroasa, BH · Free An ice cave in the forests of the Galbena Valley near Padiș, reached on foot along a marked trail. Around midday, light pours in through a hole in the roof and falls on the ice. - [Meziad Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/meziad-cave) — Caves · Meziad, BH · 40 lei · 50 min One of Romania's oldest show caves, with a 16 m high entrance arch, vast chambers on two levels and one of the largest bat colonies in the country. - [Wind Cave (Peștera Vântului)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/wind-cave) — Caves · Șuncuiuș, BH · 1½ – 2 hours The longest known cave in Romania, with more than 42 km of passages on several levels, which can only be visited on caving tours with an accredited guide. - [Bat Cave at Moieciu](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/bat-cave-at-moieciu) — Caves · Peștera, BV · 45 min A natural cave 162 m long in the village of Peștera, Moieciu commune: a natural monument with bat colonies and traces of Palaeolithic occupation, a few minutes' walk from the village. - [Coiba Mare Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/coiba-mare-cave) — Caves · Casa de Piatră, AB · Free An undeveloped cave in the Bihor Mountains near Casa de Piatră: a huge portal, 54 × 45 m, through which the Gârdișoara stream vanishes underground. - [Piatra Altarului Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/piatra-altarului-cave) — Caves · Răchițele, CJ A cave in the Bihor Mountains, discovered in 1984, with chambers richly decorated with calcite formations; a class A reserve, padlocked and open only to scientific research. - [Unguru Mare Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/unguru-mare-cave) — Caves · Șuncuiuș, BH · 20 lei · 30 min A cave with an entrance more than 30 m high facing the Crișul Repede, reached over a suspension bridge and inhabited by people as far back as the Neolithic. - [Zeicu Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/zeicu-cave) — Caves · Câmpu lui Neag, HD · 5½ – 6 hours A speleological reserve in the Retezat Mountains, above the Scorota Valley, with a 6 × 8 m portal, a 50 m entrance hall, a chimney and a deep shaft; a vertical cave, closed to tourist visits. - [Cetatea Rădesei Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cetatea-radesei-cave) — Caves · Bihor County · 1½ – 2 hours A tunnel cave on the Padiș Plateau, with a portal of about 15 m and 260 m of underground route where the Rădeasa stream runs past boulders, roof openings and a narrow canyon. It is crossed on foot, through the water. - [Comarnic Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/comarnic-cave) — Caves · Iabalcea, CS · 35 lei · 1½ – 2 hours A wild, unlit cave in the Anina Mountains with more than 6 km of passages on three levels, 1,750 m of which you explore with a helmet and head torch, led by the national park's rangers. - [Ponicova Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/ponicova-cave) — Caves · Dubova, MH · 2 – 2½ hours The largest cave in the Danube Gorge, with more than 1.6 km of passages running through Ciucaru Mare; entered from the Ponicova Gorge, off the DN 57, or from the Danube by boat. - [Puturoasă Cave (Smelly Cave of Torja)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/puturoasa-cave) — Caves · Turia, CV · 1 – 1½ hours The former gallery of a sulphur mine on Mount Puturosu, 14 m long, with post-volcanic gas rising from it: the walls are coated in yellow sulphur and the vault has been lined with stone since 1892. - [St Andrew's Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/st-andrew-s-cave) — Monasteries · Ion Corvin, CT · ½ – 1 hours A small cave in the woods near Ion Corvin, fitted out as a church, where tradition says the Apostle Andrew lived; a monastery has grown up around it and draws pilgrims on 30 November. - [Thieves' Cave (Peștera Hoților)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/thieves-cave) — Caves · Băile Herculane, CS · 30 min A 143 m rock shelter, five minutes up a concrete staircase behind the Hotel Roman; its walls carry visitors' signatures from the 19th century, and excavations have uncovered traces of habitation from the Palaeolithic to the Roman period. - [Vadu Crișului Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/vadu-crisului-cave) — Caves · Vadu Crișului, BH · 20 lei · 45 min A show cave in the Crișul Repede Gorge, with a stream that leaves it as a small waterfall at the entrance, stalactites, bat colonies and a 680 m guided route. - [Vârtop Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/vartop-cave) — Caves · Casa de Piatră, AB · 15 lei An undeveloped cave in the Bihor Mountains, with ice at the entrance and white formations, where a Neanderthal footprint at least 62,000 years old was found in 1974. - [Veterani Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/veterani-cave) — Caves · Dubova, MH · 20 min A broad grotto just above the Danube in the Great Cauldrons, with fortification walls from the Romans to the Austrians; reached only by boat, from Dubova or Eșelnița. - [Bat Cave at Bistrița (Vâlcea)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/bat-cave-at-bistrita) — Monasteries · Costești, VL · ½ – 1 hours The cave of St Gregory Decapolites, in the Bistrița Gorges near Bistrița Monastery, with two churches built inside: Ovidenia (15th c.) and the Holy Archangels (1633); it shelters bats. - [Cioclovina Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cioclovina-cave) — Caves · Cioclovina, HD · ½ – 1 hours A karst reserve in the Șureanu Mountains: a 6.7 km underground traverse along the Ponorici stream and the fossil cave where the roughly 33,000-year-old “Cioclovina 1” skull was found; access for authorised cavers only. - [Cloșani Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/closani-cave) — Caves · Cloșani, GJ A cave with white and reddish calcite formations above the village of Cloșani, an underground laboratory of the Emil Racoviță Institute of Speleology since 1959; closed to the public, entry only with the institute's approval. - [Coliboaia Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/coliboaia-cave) — Caves · Câmpani, BH A cave in the Sighiștel Valley, in the Bihor Mountains, with charcoal cave drawings some 32,000–36,000 years old, considered the oldest in Central Europe; closed to the public. - [Crystal Cave of the Farcu Mine](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/crystal-cave-of-the-farcu-mine) — Caves · Roșia, BH · 40 lei · 25 min A small cave lined with calcite crystals, broken into by miners in a gallery of the Farcu bauxite mine; it is visited with a guide, after an exhibition on mining. - [Gura Dobrogei Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/gura-dobrogei-cave) — Caves · Târgușor, CT · 45 min A cave reserve in the limestone plateau of Dobruja, also called the Bat Cave, with three entrances, more than 480 m of passages and colonies of protected bats; people sheltered here as early as the Palaeolithic. - [Huda lui Papară Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/huda-lui-papara-cave) — Caves · Sub Piatră, AB · 300 lei · 3 – 3½ hours An active cave in the Trascău Mountains, with a portal almost 40 m high in the limestone wall and an underground river of lakes and waterfalls, visited only on guided tours in a wetsuit. - [Izvorul Tăușoarelor Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/izvorul-tausoarelor-cave) — Caves · Rebrișoara, BN A very deep cave in the southern Rodna Mountains, with gypsum flowers, mirabilite, the “Tăușoare balls” and cave bear bones; a reserve closed to ordinary tourism. - [Limanu Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/limanu-cave) — Caves · Limanu, CT A labyrinth of galleries nearly 4 km long, cut into the limestone beneath the plateau of Limanu commune, close to Mangalia; a nature monument and bat shelter, not a cave developed for tourists. - [Movile Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/movile-cave) — Caves · Mangalia, CT A cave near Mangalia, sealed off from the surface, where life depends on chemosynthesis rather than sunlight; closed to the public, open only to researchers with permission. - [Onufrie's Cave (Peștera lui Onufrie)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/onufrie-s-cave) — Monasteries · Vorona, BT · 1 – 1½ hours A sandstone shelter in the Vorona forests where St Onufrie lived as a hermit from 1764 to 1789; a pilgrimage site ~1.5 km from Sihăstria Voronei Monastery. - [Peștera cu Oase (Cave with Bones)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/pestera-cu-oase) — Caves · Anina, CS A cave closed to visitors in the Miniș valley near Anina, where some of the oldest modern human fossils in Europe, about 40,000 years old, came to light in 2002. - [Poarta lui Ionele Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/poarta-lui-ionele-cave) — Caves · Gârda de Sus, AB · 45 min A show cave in the Ordâncușa Valley near Gârda de Sus, with a 22 m high entrance portal, a stream that runs through it all year and small tufa cascades right at the entrance. - [Polovragi Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/polovragi-cave) — Caves · Polovragi, GJ · 20 lei · 45 min A cave more than 10 km long, carved by the Olteț river into the limestone of the Olteț Gorge, with 800 m of gallery open to visitors and legends about Zalmoxis, a kilometre from Polovragi Monastery. - [Râșnoavei Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/rasnoavei-cave) — Caves · Râșnov, BV A wild cave of about 390 m in the limestone of the Postăvarul mountains, a few kilometres from Râșnov, decorated with flowstone and visited only with a guide or caver, using exploration gear. - [Românești Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/romanesti-cave) — Caves · Românești, TM · 2 – 2½ hours A cave with three levels and 1,450 m of passages in the Poiana Ruscă Mountains, with a wide entrance and a hall with good acoustics, where concerts have been held since the 1980s. - [Sihla Monastery and the Cave of St Theodora](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/sihla-monastery-and-the-cave-of-st-theodora) — Monasteries · Agapia, NT · 1 – 1½ hours A hermitage of monks hidden among the crags of the Neamț mountains, with a wooden church of 1813 and the cave where St Theodora of Sihla lived as a recluse. - [St John Cassian's Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/st-john-cassian-s-cave) — Caves · Casian, CT · ½ – 1 hours A cave in the limestone face of Casian Hill above the Casimcea valley in Dobruja, reached by a metal staircase; the nearby monastery uses it as a place of prayer. - [Șugău Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/sugau-cave) — Caves · Suseni, HR · 25 lei · 45 min A cave reserve in the Giurgeu Mountains, with over 1,000 m of passages on four levels, visited only with a guide on a torch-lit route, among stalactites, columns and aragonite crystals. - [Topolnița Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/topolnita-cave) — Caves · Cireșu, MH · ½ – 1 hours One of the longest caves in Romania, with more than 20 km of passages on four levels, on the Mehedinți Plateau; the interior is a protected area with no tourist route, but the Gura Prosacului portal can be seen from a short trail. - [Vârghiș Gorge](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/varghis-gorge) — Gorges and canyons · Merești, HR · 3½ – 4 hours A limestone gorge about 3 km long, with 70–80 m walls and over a hundred caves, between Merești (Harghita) and Vârghiș (Covasna); visited on foot, on marked trails. --- Full page: https://peplaiuri.ro/en/caves Other languages: Română: https://peplaiuri.ro/pesteri.md · Deutsch: https://peplaiuri.ro/de/hoehlen.md · Italiano: https://peplaiuri.ro/it/grotte.md · Français: https://peplaiuri.ro/fr/grottes.md · Español: https://peplaiuri.ro/es/cuevas.md · Magyar: https://peplaiuri.ro/hu/barlangok.md Source: Pe Plaiuri (https://peplaiuri.ro/en) — Guide to tourist attractions in Romania