We are in Bihor, where the mountains hide world’s second largest ice cave. The county’s numerous hidden treasures attract each year tourists from all over the world. Some come to relax at the Baile Felix thermal spa, others visit the Apuseni Mountains with their amazing sceneries and over 400 caves.

From all these caves, the most famous and also the one that attracts the largest number of visitors each year, is the Bears’ Cave (Pestera Ursilor).

If you think the name is just a metaphor, think again. Cave bears (Ursus spelaeus) visited these catacombs over 15.000 years ago. Their skeletons were discovered in 1975 when the cave was explored for the first time by an amateur speleologists group who called themselves “Speodava”.

The cave was first time opened to the public in 1986, after being modernized with paved sidewalks and electricity. Although not impressive in size, the cave has amazing formations of stalagmite and stalactite, as well as a lot of like marks and fossils of cave bear.

If you remember from your visit in the ice cave, Romanians give always creative names to the galleries of the caves, and the Bears’ Cave is no exception. You’ll be entering the cave through an entrance situated at 482 altitude and visit in oreder The Bears Gallery, the Emil Racovita Gallery and the Candles Gallery and exit through the Olds’ Council.

The cave is almost 1 km long, but open to tourists are passages that together sum 488 m. The rest 521 are closed to the public and treaded as scientific reservation.

Although a short distance, the visit will take about 45 minutes. Unlike other caves where you are free to explore everything at your own risk, the Bears’ Cave will always have a guide to show you around. Temperature in the cave is +10°C (constant the whole year). You can visit the cave any day (except Mondays) from 10 to 17.

Photos courtesy: Pop Paul, Rossy 07, Vilceloiu, Armaggedon Cristi

Amazing Romanian Cave – Pestera Ursilor is a post from: Rounite

Have you ever imagined spending the summer in a place that’s got it all? Beautiful sea, amazing blue lagoons, challenging peaks, fairy woods, mystic hills, snow under the hot summer sun and so many hidden wonders you can’t even count? Well, Romania is such a place.

Some things can’t be described in words and the writer needs real images to help her expose the beauties that stole her heart so long ago. I miss these places and I miss their stories. Each place has a legend, something from illo tempore that breathes to the present and makes the traveler step carefully on each path.

There is no place in Romania that doesn’t hold a gem waiting to be discovered and yet we know so little about these wonders. It’s my intention to reveal all I know about my country, one step at a time.

Did you know that the Carpathians hold the largest ice cave in Southeastern Europe and the second largest in the world after the Eisriesenwelt Ice Caves in Austria? This cave is on Romanian territory, in the county of Bihor, part of the mountain chain in Carpathians called the Apuseni Mountains.

Photo courtesy Andreea Gerendy

The cave is 1165 meters above the sea level; it is 105 m deep and 720 m long. The entrance, an impressive sinkhole, has 60 m diameter and descends 48 m, leading you to the body of the cave where you will walk on 70000 cubic meters of ice (20 m thick). Wear warm clothes and good shoes when you go in, because while outside you could “burn” under the hot summer sun (which in Romania leads often to temperatures above 35°C), the temperature on the glacier in the cave is constantly below 0°C.

Photo courtesy Anomis.Anap

Photo courtesy The Lion Sleeps Tonight

While in the cave you’ll probably encounter bats and some small ice beetles called Pholeuon prozerpinae glaciale. Although a Rupicapra skeleton was discovered in the ice, there are low chances that you will encounter other animals in the cave.

You can visit the cave each day between 9:00-17:00. Once again, remember that the temperatures in the cave are lower than outside. Walking on ice is not the easiest thing either. The atmospheric pressure is heavy so the cave is not suitable for people with health problems.

If you spend the night in the region, be sure to book in time a room at the Scarisoara Hostel, as there are only 10 rooms available (pensiunea_scarisoara@personal.ro). The hostel is 750 m away from the cave, and aside accommodation it also offers riding in the summer and sleigh rides in the winter. There are two other caves to visit in the region: Coiba Mare and Vartop, but about these… another time.

Deep in the Heart of the Ice Cave is a post from: Rounite