The region south of Bayreuth, towards Nuremberg, is called Franconian Switzerland. There, limestone dominates with all the consequences, including whitened shoes and a floor in a car and chalk stripes on clothes.
Rocks of the most bizarre shapes suddenly grow here and there. Limestone also means karst and stalactite caves. There are already three of them opened for public.
Werfen has long attracted my attention with its castle and the Werfen ice cave Eisriesenwelt. On my first journey in Austria, I prefered an ice cave in Dachstein. But I always doubted – what if the cave in Werfen is more interesting? Now I can say that the choice was correct. Not because it is not interesting in Werfen, but because the visit is made with too much effort.
Not far from Wernigerode there are two large Rübeland stalactite caves. Let’s look, what else you can visit around Wernigerode. Read more about old centre of Wernigerode – colorful city of Harz – in the first part.
Wernigerode Old city
Harz. 5. Thale, children program
Harz. 4. Quedlinburg old town
Harz. 3. Goslar – what to see
Harz. 2. Brocken, Wurmberg
Harz map. Center and East – from Wernigerode to Tilleda
The karst mountains of the Dachstein and the massif opposite, called the Dead Mountains, are dotted with numerous and longest cave systems. In fact, 240 caves and cave systems have been discovered in the area and new ones are found every year. But three Dachstein caves are open to the public: ice, very large and “roaring” cave.
If you want to see two caves in one day and walk along the plateau, then plan for this all day and arrive early. But it is better to do it within two days.
Vallorbe caves are very large, varied and most impressive of all caves I’ve seen. There are no such bizarre figures as in Harz. But there is an underground river, huge halls and curtains of thin, thin icicles.