Adamkó Péter - Dénes György - Leél-Őssy Szabolcs: The Caves of Buda - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1992)

then descends to the bottom of the corridor. With its “peastone” formations recalling cauliflowers, this is perhaps the most luxuriously ornamented section of the cave. Turning around we proceed to the northeastern end of the Giant Corridor. Along the way we leave behind the Discovery Arm and the entrance to the Whirlpool Corridor. From the end of the Giant Corridor another 20 m long man-made passage leads back to the Long Corridor. We get back to the already familiar trail just before the elevator shaft (The completion of the elevator will allow a circular route of visitors.)

After leaving the cave, the small exhibition in the reception building is worth seeing. It illustrates the story of discovery of the caves in the Buda Hills and displays their most characteristic formations. A small park above the reception building, which is part of environmentally protected area surrounding the cave, offers a splendid view of the city.

The undeveloped caves

Most of the caves of the Hungarian capital are still closed to the public. However, some of them (Ferenc- hegyi Cave, Mátyás-hegyi Cave) can be visited by joining the occasional open tours organized by various caver and tourist clubs. Moreover, at the ticket office of the Pál-völgyi Cave and the Szemlő-hegyi Cave one can sign on to special trips which operate on advance registration basis. The adventurous participants are provided with appropriate wear and carbide lamps. These trips are led by professional cave guides. These tours are rather strenuous and in the absence of powerful spotlights most formations are somewhat difficult to see. However, these challenging underground excursions are more than rewarding. It is needless to say that the persons wishing to participate in such tours should be perfectly fit and in good overall health.

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