Javoricko Caves

The Javoricske jeskyne were found in 1938 in the limestone of the Javoricko karst and opened to visitors shortly after, and they are usually rated among the two or three richest dripstone caves in the Czech Republic. The decoration is the reason: dense curtains, thin hollow straws hanging in clusters, columns and flowstone, in colours from white through amber to reddish depending on the mineral staining, concentrated in halls that were spared the damage that ruined the formations in some other caves. The Dome of Nature is the largest chamber. The route runs about eight hundred metres with a climb of some sixty metres inside the hill, and there is a colony of bats using the system, so parts are closed in winter for hibernation. Bouzov castle, a heavily romanticised nineteenth-century reconstruction used as a film location, is a few kilometres away.

What you actually see

• Dense dripstone - curtains, columns and clusters of hollow straws.
• The Dome of Nature - the largest chamber on the route.
• Eight hundred metres - with about sixty metres of climb inside the hill.
• A bat colony - using the system, which closes parts in winter.

When to go

April to October. Two hours.

Honest expectations

Guided tours only, on a timetable, and busy in summer. Around eight degrees inside. Many steps. Parts close for bat hibernation in winter. The village is small with little else.

Nearby

Bouzov castle is a few kilometres away; Mladec caves are north.