Castellana Caves Amusement Park

Address: Grotte di Castellana, Piazza Umberto I, Castellana Grotte, Bari province, Apulia, Italy

Website: https://www.grottedicastellana.it

Hours: Daily; seasonal hours-check official site for exact times

Admission: Adult €13-€15 (varies by season); reduced rates for children and seniors; check official site

The Castellana Caves (Grotte di Castellana) are a karst cave system near the town of Castellana Grotte in Apulia, southern Italy, first explored in modern times in 1938. They are one of the most visited cave sites in Italy and include a notably bright chamber known as the “White Cave.”

Guided tours run along developed passages and chambers that showcase stalactites, stalagmites, columns and draperies, with electric lighting installed on the show route. The site offers routes of different lengths and difficulty; the main tourist path is the prepared, walked circuit used for standard visits.

The caves were brought to wider attention in 1938 by speleologist Franco Anelli, after local knowledge of the entrance. Since then they have been developed for tourism with paths, stairways and lighting, and have been managed as a show cave site with established visiting routes.

The entrance lies a short drive from the town of Castellana Grotte in the Bari area of Apulia, on the Murge limestone plateau of southern Italy. The site is accessed by road from nearby towns and from the coastal city of Bari.

The caves are in Castellana Grotte, Bari province. From Bari it is a roughly 40-50 minute drive on the SS16/E55 and SP113; there are regional trains to Castellana Grotte station with a short taxi or walk to the cave entrance. Visitor information and times are best checked on the official website.

• Buy tickets in advance during summer weekends-tours can sell out quickly.
• The guided tour follows a marked route and includes many steep stairs; take care with children and limited-mobility company.
• Bring a light jacket: underground temperatures are roughly 15°C year-round.