Cave and Karst Expo

What it is

The Cave and Karst Expo (EXPO Jama Kras) is the Postojna park's interactive exhibition on the karst and the cave itself. It is in the black pavilion at the start of the path, next to the main ticket office, about 150 m from the entrance to Postojna Cave. The park presents it as the largest exhibition on the karst and Postojna, and it won the Sejalec award for tourism innovation in Slovenia.

It explains two things: how water and chance gradually carved the cave out of the limestone, and how history and society turned it into one of the best-known tourist caves in the world. It is the visit that gives meaning to what you later see from the train.

What you see

The exhibition tours the world of the karst around the cave and the history of its visitors. Children are guided by an olm and a cave beetle, the two animals that symbolise Postojna, and can try driving a real cave train.

With the same ticket you see two more exhibitions:

• Life over billions of years: the geological eras since the formation of the Earth, told as if the 4,500 million years fitted into one calendar year.
• Butterflies of the world: more than 3,000 species of butterflies and moths.

The park sells it as "three exhibitions for the price of one". The visit is not guided; there is an app, Expo Postojna, in Slovene and Italian.

Opening hours

Open every day of the year. According to the park's official timetable, from November to March it opens from 10:00 to 15:00; in April and October, until 16:00; in May, June and September, from 9:00 to 17:00; and in July and August, until 18:00. Confirm for your date on the park's website.

Tickets and price

The single ticket costs €12.80 and is bought at the park ticket office, which is next door. It is also included in several packages with the cave, Predjama Castle and the Proteus Vivarium. With a package, you can see the Expo on any day in the 30 days after collecting the tickets. See the options under tickets and packages.

How long

Go at your own pace. It is a good plan for the margin the park asks for before your train time, or for after the cave, if it rains. If you are with small children, the three exhibitions fill a good while.

How to get there and park

It is at the entrance to the Postojna Cave park, 2 km from exit 41 of the A1 motorway. The car park costs €6 a day. From Postojna railway station it is about 25 minutes' walk or a local bus.

In the same pavilion are the lockers where you leave backpacks and umbrellas, which cannot be taken into the cave, and nearby, in the shade, the free kennels for dogs.

Accessibility and children

The building is new and fully adapted for wheelchairs. Pushchairs can also get through. It is designed for families, with special attention to the youngest. Dogs cannot enter, as with the other attractions in the park. For eating with children, the self-service Briljant is next to the cave entrance.