Accessibility


Every show cave, mine or subterranea on this site has a short list of hard facts called Useful Information. With a contemporary browser it will be displayed like this text, with smaller font and darkgreen letters on white background.
In the Useful Information block you find information in a very brief form, which makes some explanation necessary.
It is very difficult to write dates, fees and hours in a well readable manner, so we always tried to find a sort of "international" way of writing it, which should be understood by anybody. But if you do not understand it, here is the explanation:

Show caves and underground structures are generally not barrier-free, there are various problems for visitors with mobility impairments. This is easy to understand, as natural caves often have low ceilings, uneven floors, blocks of rubble on the ground, shafts and narrow passages. Opening up such a cave so that it is wheelchair-accessible usually conflicts with nature conservation, as this would cause massive changes and destruction in the cave. Artificial underground structures, such as mines, cellars or catacombs, are also often narrow and low, have uneven floors and many stairs and even ladders. In this case, the problem is monument protection, which makes major changes impossible.

However, modern mines were intended to allow big machinery, the floors are level and the passages huge. The same with any underground structure which was intended for human accommodation like bunkers, or even modern cellars. And there are obviously even natural caves which have no barriers for disabled visitors, for example because they are very large, so they allow them to visit at least a certain part of the tour.

We think it is important to give an idea of the level of ability required to visit a cave. What's more, we think it's important that disabled visitors can determine in advance whether they can enter the cave. Unfortunately, such information is rarely publicized, and unless you are affected yourself, you may not even notice the barriers. There are a few countries that have institutionalized the publication of such information. There are even attempts to rate accessibility with some kind of numerical value. So while most countries don't bother at all, others have made the provision of this information by law a burdensome task for the operator. We're not sure if this is in the best interests of those affected, but it's probably better than nothing.


Our solution to the problem is simple. We have introduced the accessibility point, which usually only says yes or no. In very obvious cases we have guessed this, but as a rule it is an interpretation of the information provided by the operator.