Demänovská Cave of Liberty (Demänovská jaskyňa slobody), Slovakia
Demänovská Cave of Liberty is a part of bigger Demänovská Cave located on the northern side of Low Tatras in the Demänovská Valley in Slovakia. This cave was discovered by Alois Kral and Adam Mišur in 1921. Three years later, in August 10th 1924, after finishing the sidewalks and installing electric lighting, the cave was made available to tourists. It is currently the most visited cave in Slovakia.
Parking at Demänovská Cave of Liberty
As usual, we start by finding the car park for our car. There is no problem with that - near the cave there is a car park with a capacity of several places (P1; GPS: 48.998660, 19.582782). The price is a little bit overrated (5€) - although you can leave your car for a whole day, who will visit the cave for the whole day? Probably during heavy tourist traffic you may park also on the much larger car park located a little bit further (P2; GPS: 49.000747, 19.582858), but during our stay it was closed.
The entrance to the abyss
Then we go a few hundred meters up the hill where the building with the cash desk and the entrance of the cave is located (A; GPS: 48.9981744, 19.5851647). There are two routes - shorter (approx. 1 km) and longer (approx. 2 km). For shorter routes the ticket prices are as follows: adults 9€, children and handicapped people 4,5€, students and senior citizens 8€. In the case of the longer route prices are almost twice higher: adults 16€, children and handicapped people 8€, students and senior citizens 14€ (the prices are valid for 2020). If anyone would like to take pictures or record a video, must reckon with an extra 10€. The temperature in the cave is approx. 7°C, so be sure to be prepared to explore. You must also have comfortable shoes and fitness enough to overcome the 913 or 1,118 steps, respectively for shorter and longer routes. This however should not be a problem for even older people who minimally care for their condition, because the guides often stop and talk about the places. Sightseeing time: 60 minutes for short track, 100 minutes for long track. If you don't know yet such caves of similar size, this visit for sure will be very impressive. Particularly interesting is the underground river Demianovka, as well as greenish karst lakes.
See also: