PePlaiuri.roTourist attractions in Romania

The largest cave in Romania and the other records: the longest, the deepest, the oldest show cave

A cave chamber with a white roof covered in formations, stalactites reaching down to a row of stalagmites and columns
A cave chamber with a white roof covered in formations, stalactites reaching down to a row of stalagmites and columns · Cristian Bortes · CC BY 2.0

The largest cave in Romania by length is the Wind Cave (Peștera Vântului) in Bihor, with more than 42 km of surveyed passages; by the size of its halls, the largest underground spaces in the country are in the Poienița–Humpleu system in the Bihor Mountains, and the deepest cave is Avenul de sub Vârful Grind in Piatra Craiului, explored in 2025 down to −815 m. None of them is a show cave: you can only enter the Wind Cave on caving tours with a guide, while Humpleu and Grind are for cavers only.

Below, each record is taken in turn, with the figure, its source and how it is measured, because ‘large’ can mean the length of the passages, the volume of a hall or the size of the entrance. For the list of caves you can visit, by area, see the guide to caves in Romania.

In short

  • The longest cave in Romania is the Wind Cave (Peștera Vântului), near Șuncuiuș (Bihor), with 42,165 m of passages according to its caving record; other sources give 50–52 km, because exploration is still going on.
  • The deepest cave in Romania is Avenul de sub Vârful Grind, in the Piatra Craiului massif, explored in November 2025 down to −815 m; Avenul V5 in the Bihor Mountains, at −653 m, is second.
  • The largest underground spaces in Romania are in the Poienița–Humpleu system, with a hall about 700 m long, 100 m wide and 40 m high, according to the Apuseni Natural Park Administration.
  • The largest cave entrance in Romania is at Coiba Mare (54 × 45 m), and the highest is the portal of Cetățile Ponorului (76 m); you can see both freely from the marked trails.
  • The first cave in Romania to be electrified was the Women's Cave (Peștera Muierilor) at Baia de Fier, in 1957, and Vadu Crișului Cave was already taking visitors with a guide in 1905.
  • The largest underground glacier in Romania is the one at Scărișoara, with an ice volume estimated at 100,000 m³, whose base is about 10,500 years old.
  • The largest cave in the world by volume is Hang Sơn Đoòng in Vietnam (38.5 million m³), the longest is Mammoth Cave in the USA (686 km), and the deepest is Veryovkina in the Caucasus (−2,212 m).

Which is the largest cave in Romania

‘The largest’ has no single answer. Cavers measure a cave by its length, the total of all surveyed passages, and by its vertical range, the height difference between its highest and lowest points. Volume is not measured for a whole cave, only for a hall at most.

By length, the largest is the Wind Cave (Peștera Vântului). By the size of its halls, the Apuseni Natural Park Administration gives first place to the Poienița–Humpleu system, near Doda Pilii (Mărgău commune, Cluj county), where a single hall is about 700 m long, 100 m wide and 40 m high. The second-largest single underground space in the country is the Paul Matoș hall in Avenul V5: 1,200,000 m³ and 415 m long. Humpleu cannot be visited: only equipped cavers with a permit go in, and in July 2026 Cluj County Council announced that it wants to build visitor routes there.

The table puts the records side by side; ‘visitable’ says whether you can go in without being a caver.

CriterionCaveFigureVisitable?
LongestWind Cave (Bihor)42,165 m surveyed; other sources 50–52 kmcaving tours with a guide only, first ~800 m
Largest hallsPoienița–Humpleu system (Cluj)a hall of ~700 × 100 × 40 mno, cavers with a permit only
DeepestAvenul de sub Vârful Grind (Piatra Craiului)−815 m (November 2025)no
Second deepestAvenul V5 (Bihor Mountains)−653 mno
Largest entranceCoiba Mare Cave (Alba)54 × 45 myes, the portal, free access
Highest entranceCetățile Ponorului (Bihor)76 myes, the portal, on a marked trail
Longest show cavePolovragi Cave (Gorj)over 10 km, 800 m open to visitorsyes
Longest lit routeWomen's Cave (Gorj)860 myes
Longest guided routeComarnic Cave (Caraș-Severin)1,750 m, unlityes, with the rangers
First electrifiedWomen's Cave (Gorj)1957yes
Among the first opened to visitorsVadu Crișului Cave (Bihor)1905yes
Largest underground glacierScărișoara Ice Cave (Alba)~100,000 m³ of iceyes
Oldest human traceVârtop Cave (Alba)Neanderthal footprint, over 62,000 yearsyes, with a guide
Oldest modern human fossilsPeștera cu Oase (Caraș-Severin)37,000–42,000 yearsno
Oldest drawingsColiboaia Cave (Bihor)32,000–36,000 yearsno

Figures from the cave pages on this site, the Apuseni Natural Park Administration website, the speologie.org records and expedition reports, checked on 31 October 2026. Lengths and depths grow with every expedition.

The largest cave you can visit in Romania

Of the show caves with paths and lighting, the longest is Polovragi Cave, with more than 10 km of surveyed passages, but the tour only covers the first 800 m or so. Second is the Women's Cave, with more than 8 km on four levels, 860 m of them fitted out, followed by Meziad Cave, with about 4.75 km.

If ‘large’ means the space you walk through, Meziad has passages 20–30 m wide and 15–20 m high, and at the Natural Bridge the ceiling rises to 35 m. In Ialomița Cave, the Bears' Hall is more than 70 m long, 35 m wide and 25 m high.

The largest openings can be seen without a ticket: the portal of Coiba Mare Cave, 54 × 45 m, the largest cave entrance in Romania, and that of Cetățile Ponorului, 76 m high, the highest in the country. Their interiors are for cavers only.

The longest cave in Romania

The Wind Cave (Peștera Vântului), about 2 km from Șuncuiuș, in the Pădurea Craiului Mountains, is the longest known cave in Romania. The figure varies with the source and the year: the caving record and the official Pădurea Craiului page give 42,165 m of passages, a 2009 resurvey gave 34,673 m, and the press and some travel pages say 50–52 km. The surveyed figure, 42,165 m, is used here, with the note that exploration is continuing. The vertical range is about 170 m, over four levels.

Next come systems you cannot visit: Poienița–Humpleu, about 40 km after the resurvey completed in 2024, Pârâul Hodobanei Cave, with 22,142 m, the most branched in the country, and Topolnița Cave in Mehedinți, with more than 20 km over four levels.

Regional records, from the cave pages: Izvorul Tăușoarelor Cave, about 17 km after recent explorations, is the longest in the Eastern Carpathians; Limanu Cave, about 3.6 km, is the longest in Dobruja; Comarnic Cave, with 6,201 m, is the second longest in the Banat, after Buhui Cave.

The Wind Cave can only be visited on caving tours with an accredited guide; why, in the guide to the caves you cannot visit.

The longest show cave in Romania

The answer depends on what you count. By the total length of a show cave, Polovragi wins (more than 10 km), but the passage electrified in 1984 is about 800 m. By lit route with paths, the longest is at the Women's Cave: 860 m along the upper passage. Then come Polovragi, about 800 m, Vadu Crișului Cave, 680 m, Bears' Cave, 488 m, and Ialomița, 480 m.

By route you walk without being a caver, the longest is at Comarnic: 1,750 m on the fossil level, with a helmet and headlamp, together with the rangers of Semenic – Cheile Carașului National Park, in a cave without electric lighting. In the Wind Cave, the caving tour covers about 800 m, with fixed metal ladders, so it is harder than an ordinary visit.

The deepest cave in Romania

The deepest cave in Romania is Avenul de sub Vârful Grind, in the Piatra Craiului massif. In September 2023, an expedition of 46 cavers reached −800 m in a Romanian cave for the first time, and the trip of 12–17 November 2025 surveyed the new passages and confirmed −815 m, at a sump that is now the known end.

The previous record was Avenul V5, on the eastern slope of Vărășoaia Peak, in the Bihor Mountains, discovered in 1986. The ‘Z’ Caving Club of Oradea gives it −653 m, reached in 2005, and more than 19 km of passages; the Apuseni Natural Park page still gives −642 m, an older figure. Neither has a page on this site and neither can be visited: they are potholes, caves that develop mainly downwards, reachable only with rope descent techniques.

Of the caves on this site, the deepest is Izvorul Tăușoarelor in the Rodna Mountains, with a vertical range of 409 m in the reserve's management plan; it is closed to ordinary tourism, except for approved caving groups.

The oldest show cave in Romania

The first caves opened to visitors are in Bihor, and the name linking them is Czárán Gyula, the pioneer of mountain tourism in the area. At Vadu Crișului, he blasted the entrance open with dynamite on 10 November 1903, and in 1905 the cave received its first visitors, with a guide he wrote. Meziad, which he explored almost entirely at the beginning of the 20th century, had become a fashionable destination for the townspeople of Oradea, with balls in its large halls; its page calls it one of the oldest show caves in the country.

The first electrified cave is the Women's Cave, in 1957, according to the Țării Crișurilor Museum; Vadu Crișului was the second, in 1969, over 500 m.

As the oldest known, Ialomița has its first written description from 1793, and the passage to the back halls was widened in 1896. Peștera Mare at Merești, in the Vârghiș Gorge, is the first cave in Transylvania to have been studied scientifically.

The largest underground glacier in Romania

The largest underground glacier in Romania is the one in Scărișoara Ice Cave: the Apuseni Natural Park Administration estimates its volume at 100,000 m³ and calls it the largest in the world, and drilling has dated its base to about 10,500 years, which makes it the oldest known underground glacier. For Focul Viu, Vârtop, Borsec and how fast the ice is melting, see the guide to ice caves.

The oldest human traces and cave paintings in Romania's caves

  • The oldest human trace: in Vârtop Cave, cavers found in 1974 a 22 cm footprint attributed to Neanderthal man; the stalagmite that grew over it is about 62,000 years old, so the footprint is older.
  • The oldest modern human fossils: in Peștera cu Oase (Cave with Bones), near Anina, dated to 37,000–42,000 years, among the oldest in Europe.
  • The skull from Baia de Fier: in the Women's Cave, the skull of a woman from about 35,000 years ago was found in 1952, and in Cioclovina Cave, the ‘Cioclovina 1’ skull, about 33,000 years old.
  • The oldest drawings: in Coliboaia Cave, the charcoal drawings, with a bison, a horse, bears and rhinoceroses, are 32,000–36,000 years old and are considered the oldest in Central Europe.

The Women's Cave and Vârtop can be visited; Cu Oase, Coliboaia and Cioclovina cannot: why, in the guide to the caves you cannot visit.

The largest cave in the world

  • The largest by volume: Hang Sơn Đoòng, in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, Vietnam. The British-Vietnamese expedition led by Howard Limbert measured a volume of 38.5 million m³ in 2009; the record is for the largest cave passage, not the longest network.
  • The longest: Mammoth Cave, in Kentucky, USA, with 686 km (426 miles) surveyed, according to the national park administration.
  • The deepest: Veryovkina Cave, in the Arabika massif, in the Caucasus, at −2,212 m, reached in March 2018, according to Guinness World Records. Its neighbour, Krubera, has a similar depth, and the order has changed several times after new surveys.
  • In Europe, the longest is Optymistychna, in western Ukraine, a gypsum cave of about 236 km.

The longest cave in Romania is therefore about a fifth of Optymistychna, and the deepest a little over a third of the depth of Veryovkina.

Mix-ups: the largest, ‘Peștera Mare’ and ‘the largest in Europe’

  • The largest is not the longest. The Wind Cave has the most passages, but the largest halls are at Humpleu and in V5, and the largest entrance is at Coiba Mare.
  • ‘Peștera Mare’ (Big Cave) is a name, not a record. It is the name of Peștera Mare at Merești, with about 1,500 m of passages, and of the Bat Cave at Moieciu, 162 m. Neither is the largest in the country.
  • No cave in Romania is ‘the largest in Europe’. With 42 km surveyed, the Wind Cave is far from the roughly 236 km of Optymistychna, and Grind's −815 m is far from the caves of over 2,000 m in the Caucasus. Headlines that say otherwise mix up length with volume or with salt caves, which belong to the salt mines in Romania.
  • V5 is no longer the deepest. The −642 m figure still circulates, but Avenul de sub Vârful Grind went past −800 m in 2023.
  • Scărișoara as ‘the largest glacier in the world’ is the wording of the Apuseni Natural Park; the cave's page on this site more cautiously places it among the largest underground glaciers in the world.
  • The length of a cave is not the length of the tour. Polovragi has more than 10 km, but you visit 800 m; the Bears' Cave has more than 1,500 m, but the route is 488 m.

Which records you can see for yourself

  • The highest cave entrance: the 76 m portal of Cetățile Ponorului, from the blue-dot trail from Glăvoi; the full circuit takes about 4 hours, with no ticket.
  • The largest entrance: the Coiba Mare portal, near Casa de Piatră, free and open access; in rainy periods, stay at the portal.
  • The largest underground glacier: Scărișoara, with a ticket, on the stairs going down into the 60 m wide shaft.
  • The longest cave: the first 800 m or so of the Wind Cave, with a caving guide and equipment provided by the operator, not for children.
  • The longest lit route: the 860 m of the Women's Cave; the longest guided route: the 1,750 m of Comarnic, with the rangers.
  • The oldest human trace: Vârtop, with a local guide, booked through the park ranger.

Opening hours, prices and how to get there are on each cave's page. How many caves Romania has and which can be visited, in the guide to caves in Romania.

Frequently asked questions

What is the largest cave in Romania?
By length, the Wind Cave (Peștera Vântului) in Bihor, with 42,165 m of surveyed passages (other sources give 50–52 km). By the size of its halls, the Poienița–Humpleu system in the Bihor Mountains, with a hall of about 700 × 100 × 40 m.
What is the longest cave in Romania?
The Wind Cave (Peștera Vântului), near Șuncuiuș, with 42,165 m according to its caving record and the official Pădurea Craiului page. It can only be visited on caving tours with a guide, over the first 800 m or so.
What is the deepest cave in Romania?
Avenul de sub Vârful Grind, in Piatra Craiului, explored down to −815 m in November 2025. Second is Avenul V5 in the Bihor Mountains, at −653 m. Neither can be visited.
What is the largest cave you can visit in Romania?
Of the show caves, the longest is Polovragi, with more than 10 km, of which you visit about 800 m. The longest lit route is in the Women's Cave (860 m), and the longest guided route at Comarnic (1,750 m, unlit).
What is the oldest show cave in Romania?
Vadu Crișului Cave took its first visitors with a guide in 1905, and Meziad was already being visited at the beginning of the 20th century. The first electrified cave is the Women's Cave, in 1957.
What is the largest underground glacier in Romania?
The Scărișoara glacier, in the Apuseni Mountains, with an ice volume estimated at 100,000 m³ and a base about 10,500 years old. It can be visited with a ticket.
What is the largest cave in the world?
By volume, Hang Sơn Đoòng in Vietnam, with 38.5 million m³. The longest is Mammoth Cave in the USA (686 km), and the deepest Veryovkina in the Caucasus (−2,212 m).
Is the Wind Cave the largest in Europe?
No. With 42 km surveyed, it is the longest in Romania, but the longest cave in Europe, Optymistychna in Ukraine, has about 236 km.

Sources

All guides