I was rather impressed with this magnificent cave complex and the wonderful surrounding countryside. Whilst I don’t have a huge amount of knowledge to judge the quality of these caves compared to other examples on the World Heritage list, I can certainly say they were a spectacular site.

The first part of the guided tour takes you through a complex with various impressive examples of stalagmites/tites and other forms of dripstone. The guide did a pretty good job of explaining how, why and for how long they have formed; we were then led into another rather massive chamber.

After that came Europe’s largest underground canyon. I wasn’t really expecting it to be so remarkable, from the moment we entered it you could hear the water thundering below. After plucking up the courage I peered down to see it bubbling and gushing deep below me. The recently added bridge is rather magnificent and gives a wonderful sense of scale as you stare down at the huge drop below.

One thing I hadn’t appreciated beforehand was how pretty the area outside the caves is. The exit from the underground section brings you to a very lovely gorge which looked at its very best in the bright early summer sunshine. The high temperature and mildly tight time frame meant I decided to ride the funicular railway back to the top; however on another day I think I would have enjoyed the 50 minute walk through the gorge, to see the rock arches and waterfalls up close. At the top there was another fine view point of the surrounding area.

The caves are located a short way from the tiny town of Divača, which had a free shuttle bus that coincided with the arrival and departure of trains to/from Ljubljana. If like me you are using public transport to get to the caves it is worth taking note that despite them being only 10 miles from central Trieste there are essentially no transport connections between them. So heading from Ljubljana is perhaps the easiest way, unless like me you want to sample the Tito-era frontier town delights of Nova Gorica. Apart from the free shuttle bus and a friendly if slightly down at heel bar, there isn’t a huge amount to do in Divača, so I would recommend sourcing your food and drink at the slightly pricey but very tasty restaurant at the caves.

All in all I was really impressed with Škocjan, the underground trail was very impressive and above ground was a delightful surprise.

[Site 7: Experience 6]