Slovakia: Day 12 - Demanovska Jaskyna Slobody (Cave of Liberty)

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 12.

9/8 Day 12: Visit Demanovska Jaskyna Slobody (Cave of Liberty).

Costs
(1) 1 bus ticket from Liptovsky Mikulas bus stop to Demanovska Jaskyna Slobody (Cave of Liberty) - EUR1,60 (from the bus driver)
(2) 1 bus ticket from Demanovska Jaskyna Slobody (Cave of Liberty) bus stop to Liptovsky Mikulas bus stop - EUR1,55 (from the bus driver)

(3) 100-minutes Long Tour for Demanovska Jaskyna Slobody - EUR24

Food
(1) Lunch at Fabrica Bistro - Fish fillet with vegetables EUR14,90, alcohol-free beer EUR3,90, 

(2) Ice-cream at Gelato Dolcino - gelato 2 scoops EUR3 and waffle cone EUR0,40

The Story

09082026: Today, we will visit a cave! Quite excited by it as it something different than being in the mountain. The day started with espresso, and home-prepared sandwich with a boiled egg, yoghurt and apple juice from yesterday's grocery. Good breakfast! There is an expresso machine in the apartment and the host gave us coffee capsules. We bought extra capsules today as we drank espresso in the afternoon too. The provided capsules were sufficient for 2 mornings.

We walked to town to get to the bus station as we will take the bus to visit Demanovska Jaskyna Slobody (Cave of Liberty). We were looking forward to the cave visit as it will be cooling inside. Seems like it is common to have caves in Eastern or Central Europe - Barac caves in Croatia in 2025, and Postojna cave in Slovenia in 2024. The bus station is beside the train station, so it is almost the same place that we were yesterday when we arrived here.

We went through the town center.

At the bus station, the office is closed as it is a Sunday. I did not see any machine to buy the bus ticket. Luckily, we saw people waiting at bus stop 3 that we were at. I asked a young man and he informed me that they were going to the caves too and we can buy the bus ticket directly from the bus driver. I realised that the older generation is unable to converse in English so I usually approach the younger persons (maybe in 20s or 30s).

The timetable is at the stop. With Google Translate, we could see which time. We will take the 11.10am bus. I did not plan for the earlier bus because I planned to take the Long Tour visit in the cave and it starts at 1.15pm. So, there was no point arriving earlier at the caves.

I read from a blog while I was researching this place that the stop to wait at is Nr 3. The person is still right! The place 'Demanovska Dolina' is also on the sign which is the last stop for this bus. I searched in the Arriva bus website too so I was certain of this information.

Bus arrived at 11.10am. Bus ticket purchased from the bus driver. We could use our bank card. Yay!

The ride took 25 minutes only. I like that there is an option to take the bus to the caves. Slovakia is really good at providing public transportation to the people. They have trains to High Tatra mountains and now, buses to the caves and also mountains. There are no trains here to go to the Lower Tatras. We arrived at Demanovska Jaskyna Slobody bus stop at 11.35am. This place is touristy! Car parks are available. Hotel and a restaurant too! 

Here, you can see the tour times (depending on the months) on the giant signboard. The cave is closed on Mondays. I did not realise that until a month before our trip and I swapped the activities between the two days we were here. The other activity is to hike in Lower Tatra. The sign also states that it is between 6 and 7 degrees in the caves. I was prepared with a towel from our rented accommodation to wrap around me and put on my rain jacket. My travel companions did not bring anything but they survived. They look forward, instead, to the cold temperature as it was very hot.

We went uphill towards the Visitor Centre where I purchased the tickets to the cave. One is not able to buy the tickets online. 

There are signboards along the way to explain how Demanovska caves were found and formed.

It was a long queue to buy the tickets as there is only one counter open. The area to buy the tickets is also the same area the visitors queue up to enter the cave. So, it was crowded as it was the entry time. I bought the tickets for the Long Tour EUR24 and it will take 100 minutes. The Short Tour takes 60 minutes. 

We were an hour early. So, we sat and waited for the time to pass while snacking. I took photos of the place and a less-busy counter now.

There is a vending machine to buy some coffee and tea. I saw some visitors who got their coffee from the machine.

Slightly before 1pm, a queue started to build in front of the door which leads into the cave.

We went down the stairs and into a large space in the cave. There was a guide with us. Unfortunately for us, the guide for the Long Tour does not speak English. It is in the local language. Yup, there are not many international tourists. There is a pamphlet to download by scanning a QR code but unfortunately again, it is for the Short Tour. I could guess a bit which places we stopped at and refer to the pamphlet but extra explanation by the guide is not translated. Too bad for us.

In the beginning part of the tour, the guide explained something and music started. I thought that was disappointing if that is the reason for the long tour for us to listen to music. But we went to other places too which were not part of the Short Tour's pamphlet.

Some of the steps were wet as there is water dripping from the cave. 

Here, the water has dripped until the top and bottom has met.

You can see the long stairs.

Here, we stopped to listen to music. The guide pressed a button to start the music. It felt fake.

The cave has minerals inside which results in the greenish water.

Some formation looks like teeth.

Some orange and dark-blue coloured formation due to the minerals.

A narrow passageway. The tall visitors need to duck a bit. 

We entered into a bright space. There were not lights here. Just a very white cave from its minerals. 

The tour ended at 3pm and we came out from this door.

We took the bus back. Here is the hotel in the photo below. 

Bus' timetable is printed and set up here.

We were lucky that the bus was slightly delayed as it arrived at 3.16pm and not 3.11pm. Phew. Otherwise, the next bus is in an hour's time. We bought our bus tickets from the bus driver. This time, it is 5 cents lesser than the ride to the cave.

We did not alight at the bus station. We alighted a few stops before as my travel companions found a restaurant to have a late lunch and the stop was near to the restaurant. 

Along the way to the restaurant, I had to take a picture next to the sign Liptovsky Mikulas.

We went to Fabrica Bistro for lunch. Had a fish fillet with vegetables and an alcohol-free beer.

Then, it was a walk back to our accommodation. Along the way, stop for gelato. No photos taken. Had to enjoy my ice-cream before it melted from the heat. It was a short walk back within 25 minutes but the heat did not make it an enjoyable walk. Lucky for the ice-cream. We reached our place at 6pm. Rested until the sun was less hot. Went out at 7.30pm and we walked to the lake with the sandy beach where we went to yesterday to take a dip in the waters. This time, I entered the waters. We saw the sun setting behind the mountains. A pretty view. Got home by 9.30pm. I did not enjoy walking back from the lake in the dark when we went through a path, ran across the railway tracks and we saw street lights again when we walked through a housing area.