Toirano Caves

The Grotta della Basura holds prints in the soft clay left by people who went deep into the cave in the Palaeolithic, including handprints pressed into a wall and footprints of what appear to have been young people; cave bear tracks and claw scratches are in the same passages, along with bones and a hollow where bears hibernated. The neighbouring Grotta di Santa Lucia Inferiore is heavily decorated with stalactites, straws and crystal formations. The two are visited on one route of about a kilometre. The tour also crosses a hall where the cave once held water and left crystalline deposits on the walls.

What you actually see

• The human prints - footprints and handprints left about 12,000 years ago.
• The bear traces - claw marks, bones and hibernation hollows.
• The crystal hall - walls coated with deposits from standing water.
• The formations - stalactites and straws in the Santa Lucia cave.

When to go

Year-round; the caves hold a constant temperature around sixteen degrees, so a layer is useful. Tours run at set times and are busiest on summer weekends.

Honest expectations

Access is only on a guided tour on a fixed route with many steps. The prints are viewed from the walkway at a distance. Photography rules apply.

Nearby

Finalborgo lies west; the coast is a few kilometres away.