Szemlo-Hegyi Barlang (Showcave)
Szemlo-Hegyi Barlang (Showcave)
4.5
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
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4.5
85 reviews
Excellent
42
Very good
29
Average
10
Poor
3
Terrible
1
Eric N
9 contributions
Feb 2020 • Family
The cave walking tour was probably my favorite activity while in Budapest! I’m not sure why it wasn’t more popular considering it is only at 15 cab ride from the city. It was super well laid out and with a great guide. The caves were amazing and well lit so you can take great pictures. We even saw a few bats sleeping. Cost was 7000 Ft per person for 3 hours of tour of two caves. It was well worth it. My 71 year old mom loved it and she is usually not impressed with anything. Be aware that the walking tour still does involve climbs of around 200 steps and a few very steep ladders. Some at even slippery conditions.
To book we went to caving.hu and emailed them for the English tour. I had to pay through PayPal.
To book we went to caving.hu and emailed them for the English tour. I had to pay through PayPal.
Written February 21, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
TheLynams
London, UK85 contributions
Feb 2022
We walked / got a bus from the centre of Budapest as part of a half term break this February with children. It really is out of town but worth the trip. There were only 6 of us on the 13:00n tour (4 in my family!) and 2 others. Although it seems to be run by volunteers, the man running the cafe and the woman running the tour were superb and very friendly and knowledgable. It's not really touristy but that is part of its charm. The tour was 45 mins and we learned a lot - it was suitable for all ages. Highly recommended.
Written February 26, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
PamikeG
Rockaway, NJ37 contributions
Jul 2021 • Family
This tour was amazing and stared off a new family hobby. 3-D video was included and interesting-but I don’t know if they usually offer English showtimes (the rest of my family understands Hungarian). The tour was about 40 minutes long- the perfect amount of time to see if your family is interested. The path was relatively easy to walk just be sure to bring a light sweatshirt even in the summer because the caves are always 11C. The audio guide was great as well and I was able to keep along nicely by just guessing the next number when the tour began to move.
Written July 21, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Lucy
4 contributions
Jan 2020 • Friends
Really amazing cave tour, with a little chalet type cafe onsite so you can wait to the tour to start! Our guide was really friendly, the tour done in English luckily for us but audioguides were available for other languages. There was only 7 of us on the tour, but he made sure to pause regularly and allow us our own time to investigate! He was very knowledgeable, detailling different formations and types of erosion throughout, as well as lots of jokes! The caves were incredible, we even saw some bat's. The absolute darkness for the first time in our lives, turning the lights off so we could truly expeirence the caves. Can't recommend this enough! Don't worry with arranged tours, you can book them online for such a fair price!
Written January 28, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Bollejef
Leuven, Belgium51 contributions
Nov 2021 • Couples
A bit expensive but lucky for us they gave us the student price. You receive an audioguide that explains a bit about the caves. It is about 40min, but the caves are not very big. Easily accessible inside the caves as the path is made of cement. Slightly outside the center, but a bus stop is found nearby.
Written November 14, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
acme15
Singapore, Singapore109 contributions
Mar 2013 • Couples
Szemlőhegyi cave offers a 1-hr guided tour. The caves are clean, well-maintained, and are nicely-lit. It's quite a showpiece.
It was my first visit to a cave, The guided tour was a leisurely, family-friendly tour. I went on a weekend with my husband and our tour had mostly families with kids.
Tour guide was nice and friendly. He explained at the start of the trip that as it's a primarily hugarian group that day, the tour will be conducted in hungarian and he may not have time to explain in english (we were the only 2 english-speaking visitors for that tour), however, he will try to answer any questions we have. He then passed us an english brochure containing comprehensive descriptions for every 'check point' / feature in the cave, so that we can read it while he explains in hungarian to the rest of the group. A pre-installed torchlight app on your smartphone may come in handy as it was a bit too dark to read at some parts of the walk.
In the caves - we were taken down corridors of well-built walking paths (baby stroller friendly) and the guide will stop at selected features and explain that in hungarian. There were interesting formations and they usually will have endearing names for it, such as rose/ flower garden, witch, polar bear, sinking ship, and some funny ones such as mother-in-law's tongue.. etc. I can't remember the exact names but it was something similar.
After explaining in hungarian, he did come up to us and repeat everything again in English. The tour guide did everything right to make us feel included, and also made an effort to chat up with us and answer all the cave-questions we have. In fact, I think we chatted more than he did to the hungarian visitors, which was quite different from what I expected at the beginning - when I thought that was the end of our interaction when we were given the brochure to 'sort things out on our own'.
At one point, the guide also put on some soothing music in the background through the PA system while the visitors were given some time to walk around freely in the section of the cave. That created an even nicer atmosphere and was my favourite part of the visit. See short video here: http://youtu.be/K62Agp38POQ (watch in HD).
On our walk back to the entrance, the guide made everyone gather around and then he turned off the lights in the cave for a short while to let us experience how pitch-black it was in the cave.
There's also a small exhibit where you can visit before or after the guided tour. We were 10mins late for the tour so had to join the next hour's tour. Therefore we had ample time at the exhibit before the tour - can be done within 15 - 45mins, depending on your interest level in the cave systems. Some of the exhibits were not in english, that was a bit of a bummer, but there were also some good information in English (showing what are the things you can find in the caves, different type of rocks, what is a cave, how many caves are there in Hungary, etc). Pretty good information if you go with schooling children as I think it should be fascinating to them. There were also some live-sized mannequins on the upper level showing cave rescues, and various types of knots.
It was an interesting experience for us as we've never been into a cave before. I feel it's worth going if you are pressed for time, or want a relaxing visit to the caves, especially if you are travelling with children and the elderly. It's a worthwhile educational trip for the whole family and I highly recommend it for families. If you are the adventurous type, then I think you are better off heading to the Palvolgyi Cave for the adrenalin-pumping 2.5-3 hours caving experience.
I visited the Szemlőhegyi Cave in the morning before heading for the caving experience at Palvolgyi Cave (check my review for Palvolgyi Barlang). Palvolgyi cave also offers a 1hr guided tour similar to Szemlőhegyi cave and I think they offer combined tickets for the 2x 1hr tours if you want to do both. I didn't not try the 1hr guided tour at Palvolgyi cave so can't offer my opinion. They are less than 2km away from each other. The lady at the sales desk said we can walk to Palvolgyi cave from Szemlőhegyi cave, but we chose not to because Buda is hilly, we needed to conserve energy for the caving, and we are generally the lazy/ comfort-seeking type of tourists ;) We took the bus down to Kolosy ter and boarded another bus to Palvolgyi cave. Both are around 5 stops from Kolosy ter.
Tips:
1) Allocate ample time to get there as there ar only 3-4 buses per hour. We wasted some time to locate the correct bus stop to board our bus there.
2) Ask for keys to the locker and put your bags inside before the tour if you don't want to carry your backpack during the tour. You will need to provide an ID to exchange for the key.
3) There's a cafe and toilets on site
4) Free wifi - good to keep you occupied if you are there early and are done with the exhibit.
5) Bring jacket - it's around 11~13 degrees in the cave all year round.
It was my first visit to a cave, The guided tour was a leisurely, family-friendly tour. I went on a weekend with my husband and our tour had mostly families with kids.
Tour guide was nice and friendly. He explained at the start of the trip that as it's a primarily hugarian group that day, the tour will be conducted in hungarian and he may not have time to explain in english (we were the only 2 english-speaking visitors for that tour), however, he will try to answer any questions we have. He then passed us an english brochure containing comprehensive descriptions for every 'check point' / feature in the cave, so that we can read it while he explains in hungarian to the rest of the group. A pre-installed torchlight app on your smartphone may come in handy as it was a bit too dark to read at some parts of the walk.
In the caves - we were taken down corridors of well-built walking paths (baby stroller friendly) and the guide will stop at selected features and explain that in hungarian. There were interesting formations and they usually will have endearing names for it, such as rose/ flower garden, witch, polar bear, sinking ship, and some funny ones such as mother-in-law's tongue.. etc. I can't remember the exact names but it was something similar.
After explaining in hungarian, he did come up to us and repeat everything again in English. The tour guide did everything right to make us feel included, and also made an effort to chat up with us and answer all the cave-questions we have. In fact, I think we chatted more than he did to the hungarian visitors, which was quite different from what I expected at the beginning - when I thought that was the end of our interaction when we were given the brochure to 'sort things out on our own'.
At one point, the guide also put on some soothing music in the background through the PA system while the visitors were given some time to walk around freely in the section of the cave. That created an even nicer atmosphere and was my favourite part of the visit. See short video here: http://youtu.be/K62Agp38POQ (watch in HD).
On our walk back to the entrance, the guide made everyone gather around and then he turned off the lights in the cave for a short while to let us experience how pitch-black it was in the cave.
There's also a small exhibit where you can visit before or after the guided tour. We were 10mins late for the tour so had to join the next hour's tour. Therefore we had ample time at the exhibit before the tour - can be done within 15 - 45mins, depending on your interest level in the cave systems. Some of the exhibits were not in english, that was a bit of a bummer, but there were also some good information in English (showing what are the things you can find in the caves, different type of rocks, what is a cave, how many caves are there in Hungary, etc). Pretty good information if you go with schooling children as I think it should be fascinating to them. There were also some live-sized mannequins on the upper level showing cave rescues, and various types of knots.
It was an interesting experience for us as we've never been into a cave before. I feel it's worth going if you are pressed for time, or want a relaxing visit to the caves, especially if you are travelling with children and the elderly. It's a worthwhile educational trip for the whole family and I highly recommend it for families. If you are the adventurous type, then I think you are better off heading to the Palvolgyi Cave for the adrenalin-pumping 2.5-3 hours caving experience.
I visited the Szemlőhegyi Cave in the morning before heading for the caving experience at Palvolgyi Cave (check my review for Palvolgyi Barlang). Palvolgyi cave also offers a 1hr guided tour similar to Szemlőhegyi cave and I think they offer combined tickets for the 2x 1hr tours if you want to do both. I didn't not try the 1hr guided tour at Palvolgyi cave so can't offer my opinion. They are less than 2km away from each other. The lady at the sales desk said we can walk to Palvolgyi cave from Szemlőhegyi cave, but we chose not to because Buda is hilly, we needed to conserve energy for the caving, and we are generally the lazy/ comfort-seeking type of tourists ;) We took the bus down to Kolosy ter and boarded another bus to Palvolgyi cave. Both are around 5 stops from Kolosy ter.
Tips:
1) Allocate ample time to get there as there ar only 3-4 buses per hour. We wasted some time to locate the correct bus stop to board our bus there.
2) Ask for keys to the locker and put your bags inside before the tour if you don't want to carry your backpack during the tour. You will need to provide an ID to exchange for the key.
3) There's a cafe and toilets on site
4) Free wifi - good to keep you occupied if you are there early and are done with the exhibit.
5) Bring jacket - it's around 11~13 degrees in the cave all year round.
Written March 26, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
AMWard
Dursley, UK133 contributions
Szemlo-hegy show cave
This is an interesting cave for me I cave as a hobby in England and Wales (and some times other bits of the world) and the caves I am used to are (mostly) formed in carboniferous limestone by solutional activity via down flow of water. This cave is of thermal origin caused by an up welling of warm mineral rich water from a deep level the water that has been underground for a considerable time and is rich in minerals in solution. This cave is also in the city limits of Budapest with housing on all sides it is not to hard to reach by public transport. Take the bus number 29 (from the city centre) to Barlang utca the cave is a 200 meter from there, it is open every day except Monday
We found the show cave staff the most friendly and helpful I have ever meet .Inside the entrance building has a display of caves in the Budapest area and is well worth looking at. The cave is 2.2Km long with 500 meters open to the public the paths in the cave are well made and easy to follow. there are lots of mineral formations to look at .In some places the passages are high (up to 15 metres and 3 to 5 meters wide).
All in all a very worth while trip away from the normal Budapest tourist areas.
This is an interesting cave for me I cave as a hobby in England and Wales (and some times other bits of the world) and the caves I am used to are (mostly) formed in carboniferous limestone by solutional activity via down flow of water. This cave is of thermal origin caused by an up welling of warm mineral rich water from a deep level the water that has been underground for a considerable time and is rich in minerals in solution. This cave is also in the city limits of Budapest with housing on all sides it is not to hard to reach by public transport. Take the bus number 29 (from the city centre) to Barlang utca the cave is a 200 meter from there, it is open every day except Monday
We found the show cave staff the most friendly and helpful I have ever meet .Inside the entrance building has a display of caves in the Budapest area and is well worth looking at. The cave is 2.2Km long with 500 meters open to the public the paths in the cave are well made and easy to follow. there are lots of mineral formations to look at .In some places the passages are high (up to 15 metres and 3 to 5 meters wide).
All in all a very worth while trip away from the normal Budapest tourist areas.
Written March 15, 2005
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Beekysky
Edinburgh, UK89 contributions
Nov 2013 • Couples
We went here first as it was easily found on the tourist map (bus 29 direct or bus 91/11 with a walk). Mostly sloping paved paths, good for people with mobility issues or very young children as there is also an 'interactive exhibition'. The guide was very knowledgeable, obviously passionate about her work, even though her English struggled at times to keep up with her knowledge and enthusiasm. The guy at the front desk was terrible, on the phone the whole time and we had to stand there for ages before he sold us our ticket. Tours are on the hour and they are closed on Tuesdays.
Written November 16, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Marchidanu A
89 contributions
Jan 2018 • Couples
The cave is not very big or spectacular, but it has portions that are nice and look like cauliflower.The ticket is 3-4 euro (if you choose to take tickets for multiple caves, the price is lower- there are 4-5 caves in the same region).
Written January 9, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Sarah H
London, UK46 contributions
Jan 2016 • Friends
The caves are out of the city centre but it is reachable by bus. Tours are every hour so make sure you try to get there on the hour (departs 15mins past). It isn't a strenuous tour so it's suitable for most people and kids, it gets a bit chilly down in the caves so I would make sure you have a jacket if visiting in the summer. Our group was consisted of a school group and a Hungarian family, we were the only ones who didn't speak Hungarian but the tour guide was great. He let us know to stick with the group and on the way back he'd explain all the stages of the tour to us in English which was great. Would highly recommend a visit!
Written January 31, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Lorena L
Modena, Italia30 contributions
Buo giorno costo biglietto? Esistono tour in italiano? Gtaxie
Jennifer V
Palaiseau, France165 contributions
How to get there by public transport? Thank you!
walkerm029
Budapest, Hungary195 contributions
Can you dig for crystals/minerals here? Or are there places you can do that in Hu?
SubhrajitRoy123
Mumbai, India96 contributions
Not here for sure ... but I recollect there were other caves around Budapest which gives you a more authentic caving experience - not sure if you can actually dig for minerals there though!
Check out PÁLVÖLGYI CAVES
Szemlo-Hegyi Barlang (Showcave) (Budapest) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go
Frequently Asked Questions about Szemlo-Hegyi Barlang (Showcave)
- Szemlo-Hegyi Barlang (Showcave) is open:
- Wed - Mon 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
- We recommend booking Szemlo-Hegyi Barlang (Showcave) tours ahead of time to secure your spot. If you book with Tripadvisor, you can cancel up to 24 hours before your tour starts for a full refund. See all 1 Szemlo-Hegyi Barlang (Showcave) tours on Tripadvisor
- Hotels near Szemlo-Hegyi Barlang (Showcave):
- (1.13 mi) Island Hostel Budapest
- (1.73 mi) Maison Bistro & Hotel
- (0.36 mi) Zen House
- (1.62 mi) Parliament Penthouse Budapest B&B
- (2.18 mi) Hotel Clark Budapest
- Restaurants near Szemlo-Hegyi Barlang (Showcave):
- (0.23 mi) Cafe 57 Restaurant
- (0.16 mi) Volgy Etterem
- (0.29 mi) Daubner Cukraszda
- (0.51 mi) Vadrózsa Restaurant
- (0.50 mi) Wasabi Running Sushi & Wok Restaurant - Szépvölgyi út