Skocjan Caves (Skocjanske Jame) Tours and Tickets

What a wonderful experience. I have been to many caves in the US. None of them offers the same scenery and experience as this one with a deep dropoff into a sharp canyon with a roaring river beneath ALL within a cave. WOW!! While the beauty of this cave is the main attraction of this tour, I like to give some heads-ups on the stair climbing required towards the end of the tour. It is not to be underestimated. It requires a lot of physical strength if you are not in good shape physically. Because of the descending path into the cave in the first 50% of the tour, you will have to climb back out all of it and probably in the last 10% of the tour, making it a much steeper climb out. The climb out can be broken into 3 sections. (1) from river level (~170 meters or ~500 feet below ground surface) to ground surface level all within a relatively short distance. This section involves continuous stairs and is very physically demanding. The hard part about this section is that it is hard to stop to rest for a few seconds before continuing climbing because the tour guide climbs fast and everyone has to keep pace with him. Furthermore, the path is narrow, making stop almost impossible as people behind continue to climb up. If you stop to rest, you are blocking their path. Upon reaching this ground surface, the guided portion of the tour ends. (2) from ground surface to where the funicular car is via return path option 1, it involves another continuous and strenuous stairs climbing probably just as much as the climbing in section 1. This was a surprise to me as I thought reaching the ground surface means almost reaching the end of climbing. I would estimate another 100-150 meters (or 300–450 feet) of climbing in a relatively short distance, making the climb quite steep and exhausting. (3) upon reaching the top of the funicular car, there is further climbing back to the ticket office level but at a more gradual pace with ascending path and stairs. I estimate the height climbed in the last section is probably 1/3 of that in section 1 or 2. Upon returning back to the ticket office, I was totally exhausted. So be aware of the not-so-easy climb out if you are not in good shape physically (like me). Meanwhile, enjoy while inside the cave. I keep telling myself that beauty of the cave is worth of effort to climb out in order for me to forget about the climb out experience. Haha!!

Wonderful time at the Škocjan cave. Nice to visit the seaside town of Piran. Barbara, our guide had great information

Fantastic experience, our guide Dean was really friendly, professional and attentive. The horses are both beautiful and impressive while the caves are breathtaking in their size and magnificence. Note you do need a reasonable level of fitness for the caves as there is a lot of walking and many steps are uphill.

Was a little disappointed with the Lipica horse farm. I was hoping that we would be able to see the horses performing but all we were able to see were the horses either in their stalls or in fenced areas. The caves were absolutely beautiful, so different from others that I’ve been to; however it was a grueling adventure with many steps and high walkways. I didn’t think I would make the last few steps to the top! Glad I did it.

Quite a bit of walking up and down but well worth the trek. The information provided is adequate. No picture taking which is good because of safety issues.

Excellent trip. Well organised, on schedule and friendly. Spectacular caves only 30 minutes from Koper.

The operation is well run, and punctual. The cave is fascinating. And because of several abandoned stone stairways and bridges conjurors though Tolkkens Lord of the rings.

Both locations are fabulous to visit and guide was very good and informative. It’s a well worth doing trip. We felt a bit rushed in Piran to get lunch. I’d recommend we do the guided walking tour right away upon arrival then leave remaining time for lunch. Also, the description of the level of difficulty of the caves could be clearer. There’s a lot of stairs and climbing