Exploring Postojna cave and Predjama castle with kids is a travel blog post which recounts my family’s visit to these wonderful tourist attractions in southwestern Slovenia. My kids were 3 and 5 years old at the time of our visit (November 2022).

Postojna Cave and Predjama Castle are fascinating tourist attractions in Slovenia to explore with kids of any age. Many schools from Slovenia and Croatia organize school trips to these places. The main reason why Postojna cave is so kid friendly is its unique tourist train ride that takes you on a 3.5 km tour around the cave. It’s also one of the only caves where you can see a “baby dragon” but more about that later in the post. Since the world’s largest cave castle, Predjama castle, is only 10 km away from Postojna cave it makes sense to visit both sights in one day.

Exploring Postojna cave and Predjama castle with kids

Postojna cave

It was a cold, November day when we took this Slovenian day trip. Our friends with a young daughter joined us for a day of cave and castle exploration. Kids were happy to be together and we had plenty of snacks for all of them. We arrived at Postojna cave around opening time with our online tickets. There is a huge car park, a hotel, self-service restaurant, public toilets and souvenir shops near the entrance to Postojna cave. For more practical information about your visit to Postojna cave click here.

Despite the cave system being almost 25 km long, tourists only visit 5 km of cave during an hour and a half guided tour. The best part of the guided tour is the train ride at the beginning and at the end of the tour. The kids loved it! You can see all sorts of stalagmites and stalactites and other natural cave “decorations” from the train. Kids liked the “spaghetti” decorations too. But be careful and lower your head during the train ride! Photography inside the cave is allowed with some restrictions so I did take a few photos. After our thrilling train ride finished we all walked around the cave listening to the guide. We passed through the huge “Dance Hall” and saw several exhibits including a so called “baby dragon” (olm or proteus). I remember these blind, slippery creatures from my school textbooks especially since in Croatian they have a rather funny name (Čovječa ribica-direct translation is small human fish). Warm clothes and non slippery shoes are a must for your visit since the all year round temperature inside the cave is around 10 °C. The air quality is good inside and it doesn’t feel too damp. My kids complained a bit about the cold and my son said that he had an earache. You can feel some pressure similar to the feeling when you fly in an airplane but we discovered after our visit that my son actually had an ear infection. Near the end of the tour you go through a souvenir shop. Then, you hop on the train again. To be honest, my kids found the walking part a bit boring which was expected because preschool kids lack attention span required to listen to interesting facts from the guide. Nonetheless, they had a fun and educational visit of Postojna cave.

You can combine your visit to Postojna cave with a visit to Vivarium and Expo Cave Karst and Predjama castle.

Predjama castle

After a 15 min car ride we arrived near magnificent Predjama castle. I’ve visited both Postojna cave and Predjama castle when I was at school so I knew what to expect. Still, the sight of a large medieval castle perched in the middle of a high cliff took my breath away. If you are a fan of Witcher, then you might recognize Predjama castle from the series as well. Given its natural location, the castle was practically impregnable and it served as a great hiding place for a notorious knight Erazem who used the tunnels behind the castle to get supplies. There’s also a bat cave under the castle (real bats, not movie bats).

We had audio guides and followed the recommended tour around the castle during our visit. There are a lot of high steps so you might want to carry younger kids. Our kids didn’t mind the stairs. On the contrary, they happily ran around the castle in wonder. We saw a couple of furnished rooms and lots of weapons and knight’s armors and canons. The views of the surrounding area from the castle towers are also pleasing. My son enjoyed ringing the danger bell. It’s quite loud but visitors are allowed to do it for good luck. Our kids also rejoiced when they saw a cat sleeping on the bed in one of the rooms. We all really loved Predjama castle. It’s definitely one of the most fascinating castles I’ve ever visited.

All in all, this was quite a successful day trip. Kids had plenty of fun and were on their best behavior most of the time. Surprisingly, these two wonderful Slovenian attractions aren’t on UNESCO World Heritage List. However, I fully recommend visiting Postojna cave and Predjama castle with your kids.

Have you been to Postojna cave and Predjama castle?