The Lurgrotte Semriach, the largest stalactite cave in Austria, impresses with its impressive rock formations and underground halls. On a guided tour you can admire bizarre stalagmites and stalactites as well as huge stalactite formations. The Lurgrotte stretches for several kilometers and offers a fascinating natural experience for cave explorers and visitors.
The Lurgrotte is the largest active water cave in Austria. The Lurbach flows through it from Semriach down into the Murtal. However, it is very rare that you actually see the water flowing. Climate change is also making itself felt here. During a guided tour, you walk through underground rock gorges and can discover a beautiful cave world with sinter formations, stalactites and rock domes.
The oldest depiction of the Lurgrotte Semriach dates from between 1601 and 1605. It was first mentioned in documents in 1822. Its actual discoverer is considered to be Max Brunello, who was able to reach the Great Cathedral on April 1, 1894. The first complete crossing of the approximately five-kilometer-long cave was achieved in 1935. In the following period, work began on converting the Lurgrotte into a show cave with the help of walkways and tunnels. From 1962, visitors were able to walk through the entire cave until a storm washed away large parts of the buildings on July 15, 1975. Today, the Lurgrotte can be explored with guided tours from both sides for a total of around two kilometers.
We visit the Lurgrotte in the off-season, at the end of October. There isn't a single car in the parking lot. However, the friendly guide in the shop tells us that it looks very different in summer and during school times. We spend a long time looking around the shop until the tour starts. There are all kinds of stones for sale here - although many of them don't come from the cave.
Shortly before 2 p.m., 4 more people arrive. At least there are more than 5 of us, so the tour lasts about 70 minutes instead of 55 minutes. The guide locks the shop and leads us to the cave entrance, where he opens a gate for us. We enter the cave. It is a constant 9°C here. It is well lit and also secure.
However, it is not suitable for strollers or wheelchairs, as there are a few stairs and narrow paths to negotiate. Although the guide is very entertaining and humorous, the beginning of the tour is, to be honest, a little disappointing, as there is nothing extraordinary to see. As mentioned, we had imagined flowing streams, but these are increasingly rare.
After a few minutes, however, the path becomes narrower, more winding and also more interesting. More and more stalagmites (stalactites hanging from above) and stalactites (growing up from the ground) can be seen. The guide keeps telling us interesting things about the cave. We even spot a few small bats.
After some time you reach Great Cathedral (Halle), the absolute highlight of the tour. With a length of 120 metres, a width of 80 metres and a height of 40 metres, the cathedral is one of the one of the ten largest cave domes in the world. We finally cross and circle the cathedral.
After climbing a few stairs again, we reach the largest free-floating stalagmites in the world, as the guide tells us. The size is simply impressive. Finally, we turn around and walk through the cathedral again. We stop at a platform and enjoy a light show that helps to present different parts of the grotto. The omnipresent dripping of water in the Great Cathedral is accompanied by classical music. After about 70 minutes, we leave the cave again.
Conclusion: A really beautiful cave and a great presentation. We can only recommend this tour to everyone.