Cueva de Nerja

The Cueva de Nerja was discovered by 5 boys in 1959. Where they used to visit a small cavity (Las Minas del Cementerio), this time they decided to enter the cave through an opening used by bats. This brought them to a large space known as the ballet hall and the hall of the ghosts. After telling their teacher about their discovery, the cave system was introduced to the world. In the years that followed the discovery, further sections were discovered through the systematic speleological explorations of the cave system.

On June 1960, the cave was opened to the public. With a length of 4823 meters, it is one of the most extensive caves in Andalusia. The cave can be divided in two sections: The tourist-accessible section and the non-visitable section.

The tourist section has a total length of 546 meters along which tourists have to climb/decent 458 steps. Along this route, many of the galleries are accessible (Vestíbulo, Belén, Cascada or Ballet, Fantasmas, and Cataclismo,...) 

The cave stands out archaeologically for housing one of the largest collections of cave art in the world. There are 589 cave paintings as far as they know, and although you won't be able to see these cave paintings during your walk due to conservation requirements, the cave is more than spectacular enough to impress even the most unlikely to be impressed. The chambers within the cave are just huge, and some of the stalagmites and stalactites are just huge.

The cave art dates back to around 35,000 years ago, with the largest number of paintings dating back 20,000 years ago. Over 50 figurative paintings that were executed in red and black pigment have been identified to be deer, horses, goats, seals and fish. Through excavations within the cave system, traces of activities like production of stone and bone tools, daily food preparation ,.... have been found. Many of these artifacts can be seen at the Nerja museum, a museum definitely worth a visit.

When we visited the cave, we decided to do the whole tourist package. This meant first visiting the Nerja museum where we were introduced to the cave, its artifacts ,.... After that visit, we took the tourist train at Av. Mediterraneo which brings you in about 15 minutes to the cave which is located approximately 5km from Balcon de Europa. The drive is fun, especially for kids who love nothing more than waving to the many pedestrians and cars.

Visiting the Nerja cave system will leave you in awe, especially when you get to see the world's longest stalactite that with can be found in the Cataclysm Hall. Standing beside this 33 meter high monster is just spectacular. The paths throughout the cave are very easy to navigate/walk, but many steps need to be taken to reach the lower parts of the cave system


Another interesting experience that is included in your ticket is the VR room. The Virtual Reality Room at the Nerja Cave complex represents an innovation that brings visitors even closer to the cave after they finish the physical tour. The Virtual Reality technology implemented in Nerja Cave allows visitors, through special glasses, to feel as if they are actually in the place being shown, thanks to a 360º immersive simulation.

Food:

A large restaurant with a beautiful terrace overlooking the Mediterranean Sea provides a great choice of food and drinks, but many picnic options are also available within the forest.

Tickets:

The best place to buy tickets is the official website: Link
Each day, there are 60 free tickets available for entrance at 9:30AM, but looking at the website, they are booked out months in advance