Caving in Budapest – a unique way to get to know the city
Just as with every other trip we started our journey by looking for activities and sights we would like to visit. During our research we stumbled onto an unusual experience: “Caving in Budapest”. It took us a few moments to understand what the company is actually offering. In general, they are offering different tours in the underground of Budapest. Definitely not the typical way to get to know a city, but more an unusual activity.
There are different tours you can book, which are all presented on their website: https://caving.hu. Next to the “normal” tours, you can also go on an “Adventure Tour”. This tour does not only focus on showing you the undergrounds of the city, but also on the sport called “Caving”. A few impressions on social media platforms showed people crawling to the narrowest spots in the undergrounds of Budapest.
Both of us are very interesting into trying out new stuff and (sporty) activities. Therefore, we decided to go for the “Adventure Tour” to see this unusual experience in Budapest. We contacted the guys of Budapest Caving by E-Mail and received a very quick answer to our questions. A few hours later we had a confirmation for our preferred tour on a Friday. By chance, this unusual experience in Budapest was the last activity we did on our trip.
Caving in Budapest: The start of our tour though the underground of Budapest
Although we had an appointed tour, we were quite unhappy when we waited an hour before our tour actually started. In the end we actually understood why we waited an hour, but let’s start from the beginning.
Our tour started by the guides handing out the very fashionable overalls we already saw on several pictures.
The caves have a fixed temperature (approx. 10°) over the whole year. That’s why the guides recommend to bring long and comfortable trousers and a t-shirt you can wear underneath the onesie. I was happy that I actually decided to leave my pullover in the lockers above the ground before entering the cave.
After we finished the briefing provided by our guide, our group of around 10 people started walking. We were quite fascinated by the entry to these natural caves. It is actually an unobtrusive steel door, somewhere next to the street. Our group kept moving into the underground until we faced our first challenge of this unusual experience in Budapest. A 10m long ladder would bring us down. Although I feel a little uncomfortable with high ladders, all of us managed to climb down and overcome the first challenge.
Finding the different rooms throughout our tour
We still remember the first small hole we crawled through to start with the first “room” of our tour. What seemed to be a narrow hole at the beginning turned out to be one of the spacious holes we passed. The nearly 3h long tour was divided into smaller stages. Our guide started to explain the challenges we would face during the next stage and gave us tips on how we could pass through them. After the whole group passed the stage (what could take less or more time) we ended up in a “room”. These rooms are natural areas which are often named after “overground similarities” by the cavers.
We have been to a room where a rocky sphere was located at the top of the room. This room was called “the globe” for example. Another room had an obstacle which resembles to a counter – that’s why the room got called “bar”.
The stages really differed in their intensity and difficulty. One of the most challenging stage was the so-called “sandwich”. At this point we actually asked ourselves how a human body could fit through that narrow crack.
Why we actually had to wait an hour
Next to actually learning a lot about the natural cave system, our guide also explained us a few other things. He told us how the tours of this unusual experience in Budapest are planned and realized. The reason why we initially waited for an additional hour was due to the fact how groups are organized. The guides group the participants depending on their “sportiness”. We, for example, have been in the most sportif group. That’s why our guide decided to take us on the most challenging tour, which is available for the participants. In the end we were quite happy with the fact that we waited an hour to be assigned to the group which would experience this crazy tour.
Although we had a few concerns throughout the tour, mainly relating to the question: “How can a human body fit through that?”, we really enjoyed the tour. In the end we got so fascinated by the activity that we decided to search for more opportunities. We already looked up companies which are organising caving tours for our next trips.
Things you should know
If you are uncomfortable with narrow places, please carefully read through the information on the website of Budapest Caving. You can also contact the guides if you are unsure whether you can participate in a tour or not.
The price for the adventure tour is 10’000 HUF (around 30€).
Are you looking for a way on how you could get the headquarters of Budapest Caving? Have a look at our article about ways to get around in Budapest.
Marc
Marc is an enthusiastic software developer related to television broadcasting worldwide. When he’s not in front of the screen, he likes to tell flat jokes, listen to podcasts and take a good run. Already as a child he was interested in photography. Since then, he has topped up his equipment, pressed the trigger thousands of times, watched several long and dissolute tutorials and learned a lot of great stuff. Because of the job of his parents, Marc was able to sniff the remote air of the big wide world already at a young age. He spent a few years in Abu Dhabi, Warsaw and Geneva. Travelling and living among other cultures simply is in his genes.
