Piusa Cave Museum — Attraction in Võru vald

Southeastern Estonia is a rolling landscape interspersed with fields, meadows, and forests. Here, the Piusajõgi River meanders to Lake Pihkva (the southernmost part of Lake Peipus). On the northern shore, about five kilometers from the Russian border, lie the Piusa Caves. These are not natural caves, but rather a 22-kilometer-long system of mine galleries excavated between 1922 and 1966 for the extraction of quartz-bearing sand. Piusa lies on a strip of sandstone nearly 500 meters thick, composed of 99% quartz, making it ideal for glass production. After the mines closed, various species of bats and butterflies began hibernating in the caves, which is why they are now protected. Our visit to the caves began with a very informative film, after which a very friendly, English-speaking young woman showed us around the visitor center and the caves. The short walking trail through the area, the caves, and the visitor center are well...

Piusa caves is a major tourism attraction in the area. In recent times, free random access to the caves has been closed off to tourists.

For a 5EUR (adult) ticket, you can get access to a small reinforced area of the caves - which gives views to some of the rest of the caves. Ticket also includes a short film in the visitor center + a short guided tour to the cave entrance.

There are sand dunes and trekking trails nearby. There's also a local pottery maker and shop and a train station nearby.

It can be a bit crowded at peak times in the summer. The parking lot was full of cars when we visited mid-July. The toilet in the outside is pretty much a dirty "hole in the ground" with no windows or door locks - there's a better toilet inside in the visitor center.

I recommend booking about 30mins for the caves part + maybe another 30mins rummaging around in...

The cave itself looks amazing, but you can't actually go anywhere.

It's a guided group, where a very lovely girl told us about all of it, while we all stood in the reception area, cramped together. The group was blocking the entrance, and the noise was so bad that we missed a lot what was said.

There's also a large pendulum on the sandpit in the entrance with a sign next to it saying it can't be touched. Obviously children ignored it, and the ticket seller constantly told them off. I understand the not touching part, but maybe the decor should be more people friendly.

Following that you are taken into an opening of the cave told brief history of it, and you can take pictures. Then they advise you to walk on the nature trail after that and look at the sand. It is all lovely, but way overpriced for the...