Castellana caves: the short tour or the Grotta Bianca

The Grotte di Castellana are visited on one of two routes: a partial one of 1 km in about 50 minutes, or the full 3 km in about 100¹ minutes, which is the one that reaches the Grotta Bianca.

Two routes: 1 km or 3 km

The partial route covers 1 km in about 50 minutes. The full route covers 3 km in about 100¹ minutes and includes the Grotta Bianca. Both go down to about 70 meters below the surface.

The choice is really about the Grotta Bianca. If it's the reason you came, only the long route gets you there, at twice the time underground. With children or a tight afternoon, the short route is the sensible one.

3,348 meters long, 122 deep, 62°F

The caves run for 3,348¹ meters and reach 122¹ meters below the surface, at a constant 16.5°C¹ (62°F).

They were discovered on January 23, 1938, by the speleologist Franco Anelli, who went down through the Grave, the sinkhole at the entrance. The entrance is 1.5 km from the center of Castellana Grotte.

In August, 62°F after a Puglia afternoon is a real drop, so a layer is worth carrying even for the short route.

No 2026 prices are published

No 2026 prices are published in readable form. The official tickets page sends you on to an online box office without showing a list, and the alternative pages we tried return errors.

So this page quotes no price. That is a gap in the operator's publishing, and a figure copied from a reseller could be out of date by the time you book. Check the price at the moment of purchase.

The Puglia Musei Card: €20 for six months

The Puglia Musei Card costs €20 (2026) and gives six months of access to all the sites of the Direzione regionale Musei nazionali Puglia, except the museum at Mattinata and the Castello Carlo V in Lecce.

Nothing we read says whether the caves are part of that network, so don't count on the card here. Where it clearly works is the state sites: the Castello Svevo in Bari, run by the same Direzione, costs €10 on its own and opens Tuesday to Sunday from 9 am to 7 pm, with Sundays cut to 1:30 pm from October to March (2026).

At €10 for the castle alone, the card needs at least one more state site of similar price to pay off. For a single site there is also a €1 add-on that extends one ticket for six months.

For comparison, the Marche's show cave is at Frasassi, and the region is at Puglia.

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