Tapolca Lake Cave - details and images
Tapolca Lake Cave lies beneath the centre of Tapolca, close to Lake Balaton. Streets, houses and shops stand above ground, while only a few metres below them begins a network of passages filled with water. The visit starts in the dry section of the cave and later continues in a small boat, through underground passages where the limestone walls sometimes come close to the sides of the boat.
The cave was discovered by accident in 1903. Workers digging a well broke into an unknown cavity, and later exploration revealed more passages. Ten years later, the cave was open to the public and became the first tourist cave in Hungary equipped with electric lighting.
Its geological story began far earlier. The limestone surrounding the passages formed around 13.7 million years ago from sediments deposited in a sea that once covered the region. Water later entered cracks in the rock and slowly enlarged the spaces between them.
Two different types of water meet around Tapolca. Cold karst water, at around 10°C, comes from the surrounding mountains, while water rising from greater depths is heated underground to about 40°C. When the two mix, the water in the cave reaches around 18–20°C. Over time, this mixture dissolved the limestone and created the low passages through which boats travel today.
The public route is 250 metres long. After descending 73 steps, visitors walk for about 70 metres before reaching the water, where the next 180 metres are covered by boat. The air temperature remains close to 20°C throughout the year, while humidity is high.
The boats are small and visitors row them themselves. In some places, the passage narrows enough for the walls to come within a short distance of the boat, while the ceiling drops low overhead. Other sections widen and reveal more of the limestone surface under the lights installed along the route.
The water does not remain trapped inside the cave. It slowly moves towards the Mill Lake area of Tapolca, where it returns to the surface through springs. Work carried out around the lake at the end of the nineteenth century raised the underground water level as well, helping create the conditions for boating through the cave.
Animals adapted to this environment also live here. One of them is the small fish Phoxinus phoxinus, found in the cool, clean water. The cave and its water system receive a high level of protection because of their geological and biological value.
The visit begins in the modern visitor centre above ground, with displays about karst landscapes, volcanic activity around Lake Balaton and cave formation, before the route descends underground. The boat journey remains the easiest part to remember: a short trip across clear water between limestone walls, directly beneath the streets of Tapolca.
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