Budapest Guide
Óbuda and Margit-sziget
The caves
The hills rising to the west of Óbuda feature a network of caves that are unique for having been formed by thermal waters rising up from below, rather than by rainwater. Two of the sites have been accessible to the public since the 1980s, with guided tours (some English spoken) every hour on the hour, if there are five people. In both cases the starting point is Kolosy tér in Óbuda (accessible by bus #86 from Flórián tér or Batthyány tér, or bus #6 from Nyugati tér in Pest), from where you catch bus #65 five stops to the Pálvölgyi Cave, or bus #29 four stops to the Szemlőhegyi Cave. As the two caves are ten-minutes' walk apart, it's possible to dash from one to the other and catch both tours within two hours.
The Pálvölgyi Stalactite Cave (Pálvölgyi cseppkőbarlang; tours hourly Tues– Sun 10am–4pm; 1250Ft) at Szépvölgyi út 162 is the more spectacular of the two labyrinths; part of the longest of the cave systems in the Buda Hills, it is still being explored by speleologists. It was discovered in 1904 by a quarryman searching for a sheep that disappeared when the floor of the quarry fell in. Tours, on which you negotiate hundreds of steps and dank constricted passages, last about half an hour. You start on the lowest level, which boasts rock formations such as the "Organ Pipes" and "Beehive". From "John's Lookout" in the largest chamber, you ascend a crevice onto the upper level, there to enter "Fairyland" and finally "Paradise", overlooking the hellish "Radium Hall" 50m below.
Quite different is the Szemlőhegyi Cave (Szemlőhegyi barlang; tours hourly Mon & Wed– Sun 10am–4pm; 1250Ft) at Pusztaszeri út 35, with less convoluted and claustrophobic passages and no stalactites. Instead, the walls are encrusted with cauliflower- or popcorn-textured precipitates. Discovered in 1930, the cave has exceptionally clean air, and its lowest level is used as a respiratory sanatorium. After the tour you can view a museum of cave finds and plans from all over Hungary.