Short info:
- Where is the Lurgrotte? 25 kilometers north of Graz. Address: 8102 Semriach Lurgrottenstraße 1
- Opening hours? Summer operation from April 15 to October 31, daily guided tours at 11:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Winter operation from November 2nd to April 14th, guided tours on Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. and on Sundays at 11:00 a.m. Here you can find all opening times for summer and winter. - How much does entry cost? 9€, here you can find all prices
The Lurgrotte in general
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 having an impact here.
In the course of a guided tour, you go through subterranean gorges and can discover a beautiful world of caves with sinter formations, stalactites and rock domes.
The history
The oldest representation of the Lurgrotte Semriach dates from the years between 1601 and 1605. It was first mentioned in a document in 1822. Max Brunello, who was able to advance to the Great Cathedral on April 1, 1894, is considered to be its actual discoverer.
The first complete crossing of the five-kilometre-long cave was made in 1935. In the years that followed, the Lurgrotte began to be expanded into a show cave with the help of footbridges and tunnels. From 1962 it was possible for visitors to walk through the entire cave until a storm on July 15, 1975 washed away large parts of the buildings. Today, the Lurgrotte can be walked through with guided tours from both sides for a total of around two kilometers.
The tour
We visited the Lurgrotte in the low season, at the end of October. There isn’t a single car in the parking lot now. However, the nice guide in the shop tells us that it looks very different in summer and during school hours.
We look around the shop until the tour starts. You can buy all sorts of stones here, but many of them don’t come from the cave.
Shortly before 2:00 p.m., 4 more people come. After all, we are more than 5, 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 in turn unlocks a gate for us. We enter the cave. It’s consistently 9°C here. It is well lit and also secured. However, it is not suitable for prams or wheelchairs, as there are some stairs and narrow paths to overcome.
To be honest, although the guide is very entertaining and humorous, the start of the tour is a bit disappointing as there is nothing out of the ordinary to see. As mentioned, we had imagined flowing streams, but these are becoming increasingly rare. After a few minutes, however, the path becomes narrower, more tortuous and also more interesting. More and more stalagmites (dropstones hanging from above) and stalactites (rising from the ground) can be seen.
Again and again the guide tells interesting things about the cave. We even discover a few small bats. After some time you reach the Great Cathedral (Hall), the absolute highlight of the tour. At 120 meters long, 80 meters wide and 40 meters high, the cathedral is one of the ten largest cave domes in the world.
We finally cross and circle the cathedral. After climbing a few more stairs, we arrive at the world’s largest free-floating stalagmite, as the guide tells us. The size is just impressive.
Finally we turn around and cross the cathedral again. We stop at a platform and enjoy a light show that presents different parts of the grotto. The ubiquitous 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 successful staging. We can only recommend this tour to everyone.