Spectacular Caves From Around the World
Travel around the world and see these amazing caves.
These caves are popular tourist destinations in the world. Let’s begin our tour in the south.
1. Gardner’s Gut: New Zealand
A visit to New Zealand is incomplete if we’re not going to see some of its popular caves. A cave worth-seeing there is the Gardner’s Gut, an extensive cave system in the Waitomo area. It is located in the Ruakuri Caves & Bush Scenic Reserve, an area that also contains a number of other natural features of note. With a length of over 12 km of explored passages, it is the country’s 6th largest known cave system.
From New Zealand, we’ll climb up to the north.
2. Ease Gill Cave System: British isle
Looking for an exotic cave? Well, the Ease Gill Cave System which is the longest cave system in the British Isles, with over 100 km of passages is the right cave for you. Just looking at its unique krypton-colored stalagmites and stalactites is already an awesome experience. This cave also includes connections only passable by cave diving that spans the valley between Leck Fell and Casterton Fell. The water resurges into Leck Beck.
3. Fingal’s Cave: Scotland
UK offers lots of scenic views and one of these is the natural wonder – Fingal’s Cave. It is a sea cave on the uninhabited island of Staffa, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The cave is formed entirely from hexagonally-jointed basalt columns, similar in structure to the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland making them a unique tourist spots.
4. Gruta de Moinhos Velhos: Portugal
One of the most important cave systems known in Portugal is the Gruta de Moinhos Velhos. The system has about 9 km in extension. It is characterized by the existence of two fossil paragenetic main conduits of about one decameter in diameter with dendritic tributaries, and a set of semi-active passages in a dendritic pattern at the north and angulates at the south. The fossil zone has a drop of 100 meters and the thickness of intermediate zone varies from 80 meters upstream to 60 meters downstream. Water flows in syngenetic galleries, from the northern to the southern quadrant, towards Gruta da Pena spring.
5. Caves of Nerja: Spain
Another well-known tourist spot in the Iberian Peninsula is the Caves of Nerja. These caves are a series of caverns close to the town of Nerja in Andalusia. Stretching for almost 5 km the caverns are one of Spain’s major tourist attractions. Concerts are regularly held in one of the chambers which form a natural amphitheater.
6. Eisriesenwelt: Austria
From Western Europe, let’s proceed to the eastern European countries. One popular cave for a destination is the Eisriesenwelt. The name of this cave means “World of the Ice Giants”. This cave is a natural limestone ice cave located in Werfen, Austria. The cave is inside the Hochkogel Mountain in the Tennegebirge section of the Alps. This cave is really worth visiting because it is the largest ice cave in the world, extending more than 42 km and visited by about 150,000 tourists every year.
7. Caves of Han-sur-Lesse: Belgium
Another cave in the continent of Europe which is regarded as a famous tourist destination is the Caves of Han-sur-Lesse. These caves are a major tourist attraction with about half a million visitors annually. The caves are the result of the underground erosion of a limestone hill by the river Lesse. The caves have a constant temperature of 13°C (55°F) and a high level of humidity.
From Europe, we’ll move to North America.
8. Luray Caverns: Virginia, USA
One of the largest and commercially celebrated caves in the US is Luray Caverns located in Virginia, USA. It has already drawn several thousands of visitors since its discovery in 1878. The underground cavern system is generously adorned with speleothems (columns, mud flows, stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, mirrored pools, etc). The caverns are noted for the Great Stalacpipe Organ, a lithophone made from solenoid fired strikers that tap stalactites of various sizes to produce tones similar to those of xylophones, tuning forks, or bells.
9. Lechuguilla Cave: New Mexico, USA
As of 2008, Lechuguilla Cave is the fifth longest cave known to exist in the world with a length of 193 km. It is also the deepest in the continental United States at 489 meters or 1,604 ft long. This cave is well-known because of its unusual geology, rare formations, and pristine condition.
10. Abukuma-do: Japan
From Continental America, we’ll finally end up in the “Land of the Rising Sun” -Japan. I think something is wrong here, isn’t it more enjoyable if our last destination is the “Land of the Setting Sun? Well, just asking, to continue with our tour, Abukuma-do or Abukuma Cave is perfect cave for our last destination. This cave is a limestone cave located in Fukushima Prefecture discovered only in 1969. Visitors can traverse a 600-meter-long path inside the cave as well as a 120-meter-long exploration course to view the stalactites and stalagmites. Each stalactite has taken more than eighty million years to form. Beyond the public areas lie about 2,500 meters of cave that are not open to the public. The temperature inside Abukuma-do is around 15°C and the humidity is above 90%.
Well, that completes our tour and hope to be with you again.
For related articles see the ff:
The Most Popular caves in the Philippines
Five Holy Caves in the World
Spectacular Caves in the Philippines
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53 Responses to “Spectacular Caves From Around the World”
On March 14, 2009 at 9:08 am
great write nobert and great pictures to assist… excelent job
On March 14, 2009 at 9:23 am
Hmm…interesting article. I could see other images inside the caves or is it only due to my playful imaginations? God bless.
On March 14, 2009 at 9:28 am
And what a stunning tour it was! Great article and beautiful photos, thanks for sharing.
On March 14, 2009 at 9:36 am
These are Absolutely awesome nobert but i can only dream….. Excellent article
On March 14, 2009 at 10:30 am
Beautiful pictures. Very good article.
On March 14, 2009 at 11:16 am
That was an amazing tour. Excellent work and great pictures.
Christine
On March 14, 2009 at 11:19 am
Austria isn’t a eastern european country.
On March 14, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Great tour!
On March 14, 2009 at 12:46 pm
what a tour! wished the crystal caves in Mexico was included..
On March 14, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Very nice
On March 14, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Those are beautiful photos. Nice article; very interesting. I prefer though to just see them in pictures. I have always experienced eerie feelings when I am inside caves. btw, the “I like it” button is not working.
On March 14, 2009 at 6:53 pm
What an excellent tour her! Thanks!
On March 14, 2009 at 7:26 pm
A huge adventure here. Very nice article.
On March 14, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Your articles never cease to fascinate and delight me!!
Blessings.
Sincerely,
-Liane Schmidt.
On March 14, 2009 at 8:42 pm
These are spectacular and frightening. I would love to visit them. My son was a splunker when he was growing up and he would love to explore these caves.
On March 14, 2009 at 9:54 pm
These pictures seemed to be from a far distant galaxy of some sort. There were so breath taking, I can hardly believe they’re real. I would love to visit those cavesshiat. Thanks for taking us on this unusually uplifting “icy” like adventure.
On March 14, 2009 at 9:57 pm
I have no idea what happened in my previous comment. Still trying to learn. That word ’shiat’ on the end of the word {caves}were the letters I was to type in the box. Why the “/” was injected in the sentences, who knows? Anyway, I really liked your article.
On March 14, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Fascinating read.
On March 14, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Famous and mysterious caves.
On March 15, 2009 at 1:01 am
They are awesome!
On March 15, 2009 at 1:22 am
thanks for that excellent quick tour. It was really fun to be with you during the tour to this wonderful and awesome caves.
I love it.
On March 15, 2009 at 2:54 am
Hey cool to see New Zealand got a mention!
RJ
On March 15, 2009 at 4:24 am
A wonderful collection.
On March 15, 2009 at 6:27 am
These are awesome sights. Makes me want to go exploring. Fine article.
On March 15, 2009 at 8:13 am
better late than never. great article ading.
On March 15, 2009 at 11:03 am
This is a great find. These are heavenly. There is one in Barbados as well – a very popular one, but it’s been a long time, so I’ve forgotten the name now.
Jim, this is not a place for you to promote your runescape articles. Do you actually think anyone is going to use your link?
On March 15, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Awsome and informative
On March 15, 2009 at 7:52 pm
realy good, you hve wonderful picture
On March 15, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Spectacular as always. Thanks for the tour.
On March 16, 2009 at 12:24 am
Fascinating article, I loved it!
On March 16, 2009 at 12:26 am
Awesome collection of caves! Interesting article!
On March 16, 2009 at 5:49 am
Fluid and decorative…fascinating. Nice. Thank-you.j
On March 16, 2009 at 9:53 am
..Hi nobert, great work, nice trip. Thanks.
On March 16, 2009 at 10:38 am
Cool story idea. There’s also a cave in Ireland called the Aillwee Caves (in County Clare). Very similar to the ones you mentioned.
On March 16, 2009 at 11:29 am
wow… excellent article! wahh… why you didnt include our underground river? It is believe to be one of the beautiful and longest navigable underground rivers in the World which features cathedral-like caverns and domes. The stalactites and stalagmites formation resembles like religious images, fruits and birds. it’s officially world’s new seven wonders of Nature.
On March 16, 2009 at 11:32 am
Wow! Thanks for the tour.
On March 16, 2009 at 5:25 pm
http://www.autorneto.com/Literatura/Ensayos/Identidad-nacional-en-Perú.582179
On March 16, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Love the piece Norbert I just adore caves, they are a fascinating geological treasure.
On March 16, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Outstanding tour of some wonderful caves systems. We have been to Ruby Falls. It is an underground waterfall in Tennesse. It was wonderful and scary to be so far underground.
On March 17, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Hey i’m knew to this thing so how do you this and i need small head start how to do this, but awesome cave with awesome facts and pic.
Coolio!!!
On March 17, 2009 at 10:34 pm
jeitta grotto in lebanon is also breathtaking!
On March 18, 2009 at 5:11 am
Good Article
On March 18, 2009 at 6:09 am
amazing caves! the one in Portugal is very interesting. Thanks for the tour Nobert.
On March 18, 2009 at 12:00 pm
USA and no Mammoth Cave?
On March 18, 2009 at 3:31 pm
I love the pictures! Nice article!!
On March 18, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Great article Nobert. Its great looking for and finding these places. I enjoyed researching and finding the various caves, when I did an article about Fingals Cave and the other caves on Staffa.
On March 18, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Cool, I think the one in Japan is my favorite, but it could just be the lighting.
On March 19, 2009 at 12:40 am
hmmm very enticing. I think I’m gonna see when I go to Scotland end of this month. The Eisriesenwelt looked like a giant mouth opened wide like those ones I see in a dental clinic.
Lechuguilla Cave in Mexico was like a painting but I’d definitely want to visit it one day. thanks for sharing these photos.
On March 22, 2009 at 1:41 am
Excellent! That was great article. well written piece and well presented. nice pics too..Well done! I always enjoyed reading your works. Keep it up. Thanx for sharing this great article..Arios
On March 26, 2009 at 1:18 pm
I agree with “i” jeita grotto in lebanon is with out a doubt, AMAZING !
On March 28, 2009 at 1:46 am
You missed some.
check these out:
http://www.jeitagrotto.com/index/gallery/?height=800&width=1280
http://www.atlastours.net/lebanon/jeita.html
On March 31, 2009 at 4:47 am
I’ve been in the first caves, the Waitomo caves, here in New Zealand. Caves are inspiring to me, and create lots of new ideas for stories. Thanks for sharing.
On May 8, 2009 at 9:24 pm
wow what pretty caves!!lol
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