Ljubljana to Postojna Cave

See it before you pay for it

The train, the chambers, and the castle in the cliff

Postojna is the cave you ride into. An electric train runs from the entrance through the karst passages and sets you down in the chambers, where the walking part of the tour begins among stalactites, stalagmites and the galleries the river cut. The vivarium holds the olm, the pale cave salamander Slovenes call the human fish. Then the road climbs to Predjama, a Renaissance castle built into the mouth of a cave in a cliff face, with restored rooms, dungeons and a tunnel running back into the rock. It is cool underground all year round, whatever the weather is doing in Ljubljana. The most-booked trip is rated 4.8 across 2,655 reviews.

Side by side

Five hours, or eleven with Bled or Piran

People book these interchangeably and then find out they bought different days. The short version is the cave and the castle and nothing else: five to six hours, back in Ljubljana by mid-afternoon. That is the minivan trip at $57, the small-group tour at $78, the classic run at $74 with a licensed driver-guide and skip-the-line, and the most-booked trip at $131, rated 4.8 across 2,655 reviews, where admission to both the cave and the castle is already in the price. The long version keeps the same cave and adds a second Slovenia to the day: Lake Bled with its island and cliff-top castle, ten to eleven and a half hours, from $103 to $194; or Piran on the Adriatic, ten hours, $113 and 4.9 from 392 reviews. Longer days mean more driving, so read the hours before the price.

Two-minute check

Which trip fits your day?

Three things decide it. How many hours you can give: five to six covers the cave and Predjama comfortably, ten to eleven and a half buys Lake Bled or Piran on top. Whether you want admission settled in advance: four of the thirteen listings carry entry to the cave and the castle in the fare, including the most-booked trip at $131 and the eleven-and-a-half-hour Bled day at $194, while the rest cover transport and a driver-guide and hand you a discount on tickets at the gate. And how you like to travel: minivans capped at eight passengers on the small-group runs, air-conditioned coaches on the longer ones, with pickup in central Ljubljana on most. Every listing carries free cancellation, so hold the date first and settle the details after.

Six ways there

5,439 reviews across thirteen Postojna Cave day trips

Ratings are the operators’ own numbers on GetYourGuide, shown as published. We do not write reviews and we do not average other people’s into a score of our own.

What it really costs

What a day out of Ljubljana costs, line by line

Prices are per person and cover the return drive from Ljubljana, the driver-guide and the organisation of the day. Where the listing says tickets included, admission to Postojna Cave with its underground train and to Predjama Castle is already in the number you pay here, along with skip-the-line handling and the audio guide at the castle; where it does not, the operator hands you a discount on the two entries at the gate. What moves the figure is hours: five and a half for the cave and the castle, ten or eleven and a half once Lake Bled or Piran joins the itinerary, which is also when a boat out to Bled island or a stop on Tartini Square becomes part of the day. Lunch and anything you buy at the cave are settled on the spot.

The honest answer

Is a Postojna Cave day trip worth it?

Here is the thing worth knowing before you plan the day: Postojna is one of the very few caves anywhere that you enter by train. The electric railway runs from the entrance through the karst passages and puts you down among the chambers, which is why small children and people who would never face a long climb underground come out of it grinning. Predjama is the largest cave castle in the world, wedged into a cliff with a tunnel behind it. Two sights of that size in one morning is the reason these trips exist, and why the shortest of them still runs five hours. Across thirteen listings 5,439 people have rated the day, the most-booked trip sits at 4.8 from 2,655 reviews, and the half-day runs cluster at 4.9.

What it's like

One cave, one castle, and thirteen ways to spend the day

If you have the whole day

The trips that add Lake Bled or the Adriatic

The cave and Predjama Castle fill half a day, and Slovenia is small enough that the rest of it can hold something else. Two of these add Lake Bled in the Julian Alps, one carrying entry to Bled Castle as well; the third runs on past Postojna to Piran on the coast. All three ride the same underground train into the cave, and all three leave from Ljubljana.

Practical

Plan the day

Five things decide how it goes: how many hours you want to be away, whether you book a listing with cave and castle admission already in the fare, whether you want a minivan of eight or a full coach, what you wear for an underground tour that stays cool in August, and how early you hold the date in July and August, when the most-booked trips go first — which is what free cancellation is for.

Best time

When to go

The cave runs all year and the temperature underground barely notices the calendar, so the season changes the surface half of the day — the drive, the castle, the light on Lake Bled and how many people share the platform — more than the cave itself.

Worth knowing

Six things that aren't in the listing

Common questions

Ljubljana to Postojna Cave, answered

Why trust this page

How we put this together