Exploring caves - adventure and excitement
Caves have always had something mysterious for us: fairy tales and legends tell of devils, dragons, dwarves and other creatures who live in dark cavities deep inside the earth. But caves exist not only in fantasy, but also in reality.
What they all have in common is that hardly any sunlight penetrates from the outside. That’s why it’s cool and dark within the earth’s interior. To be considered caves, they must be at least large enough for people to enter and must also have formed naturally.
Caves in Franconian Switzerland
Franconian Switzerland is one of the richest regions in Germany in terms of caves. Over 1,000 smaller and larger caves have been formed over the millennia. In them you will find dripstones or fossil bones that have been discovered! Visit the caves in the near vicinity of our family hotel with your family and experience incomparable vacation moments during a themed tour or cave hike.
Important: Don’t forget warm clothes in summer. Inside the cave it can be quite cool!
It is probably the most impressive of the three tourist caves in Franconian Switzerland: the stalactite cave “Teufelshöhle“ (Devil’s cave) in Pottenstein. Through a massive rock grotto, you reach an 8-meter-high cave terrace, behind which is the actual entrance to the cave interior. Join the approximately 45-minute guided tour through this unique stalactite cave and learn all about its formation and history. Highlights of the tour include a visit to the largest cave room, the 45x18x15 m “Barbarossa Dome”, the bizarre, imaginative stalactite formations and the completely preserved skeleton of a cave bear.
Teufelshöhle Pottenstein
B470, 91278 Pottenstein
Phone: +49 9243 208
www.teufelshoehle.de
A trip to the Binghöhle – about 20 km from the Friedrichshof in Obertrubach – is also very suitable for very young children from 3 years. Enjoy this natural spectacle in a class of its own during your family vacation! The Binghöhle cave stretches over 400 m through the limestone. The visitor path leads directly past spectacular stalactite and stalagmite formations as well as graceful, crystalline glittering sinter formations. This stalactite gallery is unique in all of Germany! After its renovation in 2005, the Binghöhle impresses with lighting technology that emphasizes the character of the cave. A “cave tour” is a dry alternative on rainy days and very pleasant as cooling on warm summer days. Book one of the many themed tours through the cave for your family, e.g. the fairy tale tour for 3-5 year olds or the adventure tour for children and adults.
Binghöhle Streitberg
91346 Wiesenttal
Phone: +49 9196 340
www.binghoehle.de
Just a 20 min. drive from Obertrubach lies the Sophienhöhle cave in the idyllic Ahorntal valley. It is a nice destination for your family vacation in Franconian Switzerland in Bavaria. Also visit the castle Rabenstein in the immediate vicinity. The Sophienhöhle is considered the oldest cave in the Franconian Alps mentioned in documents. As early as 1490, an attempt to extract saltpeter in the antechamber of the cave is reported. Fascinating finds of pottery point to the use of the cave already 2.5 million years ago!
Until today, the Sophienhöhle has preserved its original charm. Here you can see stalactite formations of great variety of shapes and colors. Besides animal skeleton finds, the cave is famous for its unique inhabitants, the whirl worms. In the Sophienhöhle you can marvel at an almost completely assembled cave bear skeleton from original finds.
Absolutely unique in Germany is the exhilarating multimedia show “Sophie at Night”: computer-controlled light programs with over 480 spotlights make the cave interior shine. Specially composed music accompanies the illumination.
You can also visit one of the cave concerts: Twice a month during the summer, concerts are given by candlelight in the vestibule of the cave.
Sophienhöhle
95491 Ahorntal
(10 Min. Footpath from Burg Rabenstein, Rabenstein 33, 95491 Ahorntal)
www.sophienhoehle.de
