The Orlova Chuka cave is situated at a distance of about 40 km from Ruse, near the village of Pepelina. The cave was found in 1941 by a shepherd who was shepherding his flock in the region. Nowadays, about 3 km of the cave are accessible and illuminated for the visitors. People enter the cave in groups (not more than 15 people) at every round hour. Taking pictures in the cave is allowed, but lighting of fire, disturbing the animals which inhabit the cave, as well as visiting the raw galleries of the cave is forbidden. It is also forbidden to visit the cave within the period of 1 November – 1 April; and during the rest of the year the tourist visiting is only allowed within the time between 9 am and 5 pm. Information materials and souvenirs are sold in the site. People enter the cave only accompanied by a tour guide.

What an awesome cave! The best part is the guide, Kayulian who speaks fantastic English so you can enjoy the tour, hearing all about the history and changes happening in the cave. It's fascinating and Kayulian is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the cave so 45 min goes by in a flash! The cave have some special effects like Hollow shapes formed in the rocks, creating unbelievable sounds. Kayulian told me they used to hold concerts in the cave, I can only imagine how amazing that was with the unique dome shaped ceiling. I highly recommend visiting the cave on weekdays if possible when it's not so busy. The drive is easy and beautiful, lush green landscapes as far as the eye can see. Entrance is 6lv. There's a small snack shop with Coffee. Tour is every round hour, last tour is at 6pm. After take a short drive to Cherven Fortress to enjoy an amazing sunset.

CLOSED BETWEEN 1 NOV TO 1 APR The cave is very nice and special, but the fact that is closed between 1 Nov to 1 Apr is not mentioned on the internet. We went there to find it on a billboard. and many people were coming, given it’s a warm weekend still. It’s a shame

Really nice cave to visit in the Ruse region. The tour was bilingual in Bulgarian and also English. They seem to be acquainted with foreigners. Tour lasted about 45 minutes and was really interesting. This cave was different from the one's we have visited so far. Entrance is 10 BGN per adult. Temperature is 14 degrees all year round. So it was really pleasant especially since outside were 25 degrees :) going down to the cave entrance means going down a few sets of steep stairs. So have this in mind.

(Translated by Google) Orlova Chuka Cave is located about 40 km from Ruse, near the village of Pepelina. The cave was discovered in 1941 by a shepherd who was grazing his flock in the area. In 1959, 124 stone steps were built in Orlova Chuka, and an artificial tunnel was drilled, which serves as an entrance. Cavemen begin to explore the cave and find skeletons of cave bears. It is believed to have been inhabited by humans during the Paleolithic and Stone Age. Today, about 3 km from the cave are accessible and illuminated for visitors. Its name comes from the rock wreath that stands above the entrance. The bald eagle is home to the great horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum), the small horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus Hipposideros) and the night owl (Myotis blythii). The galleries are also home to the squeaky bat (Chiroptera), which is a unique species in Europe. Explorations of the cave continue to this day. From the artificial entrance of Orlova Chuka you enter the first cave hall. It is called "Concert" because due to its good acoustics it often hosts concerts, and every year in August, during the Cave Festival, a festive concert is performed. It is in the "Concert Hall" is the "Great Stalactite" with a height of 3.5 m and a diameter of 50 cm. There are many other interesting formations in the cave - "Dinosaur", "Owl", "Turtle", etc. In the "Great Gallery", which is located west of the "Concert Hall", there are many beautifully shaped sinter lakes. The largest and most well-developed hall in the cave is the "Great Scree". There are sinter formations on the walls, in which, if you look closely, you can distinguish interesting shapes resembling a snake, a football player with a ball, etc. At the bottom of the hall there are rock blocks, which were probably collapsed during strong earthquakes. At the bottom there are many remnants of bat manure, as the hall is one of the favorite habitats of bats in the cave. Next to the "Big Scree" is the hall "Small Scree". To the west of the main gallery begins a tunnel, at the end of which is the "Space Hall". which look like cracks. (Original) Пещера Орлова чука се намира на около 40км от Русе, в близост до село Пепелина. Пещерата е открита през 1941г от овчар, който пасял стадото си в района. През 1959г в Орлова чука са изградени 124 каменни стъпала, пробит е и изкуствен тунел, който служи за вход. Пещерняци започват да проучват пещерата и откриват скелети на пещерни мечки. Счита се, че е била обитавана от хора през палеолита и каменно-медната епоха. Днес за посетителите са достъпни и осветени около 3км от пещерата. Името й идва от скалния венец, който стои над входа. Орлова чука е местообитание на прилепите голям подковонос (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum), малък подковонос (Rhinolophus Hipposideros) и остроух нощник (Myotis blythii). В галериите живее и писклив прилеп (Chiroptera), който е уникален за Европа вид. Проучванията на пещерата продължават и до днес. От изкуствения вход на Орлова чука се влиза в първата пещерна зала. Наричана е "Концертна", защото заради добрата й акустика в нея често се изнасят концерти, като всяка година през месец август, по време на Събора на пещерата се изнася и празничен концерт. Именно в "Концертната зала" се намира "Големият сталактит" с височина 3,5м и диаметър 50см. В пещерата има и много други интересни образувания - "Динозавъра”, "Бухала", "Костенурката" и др. В "Голямата галерия", която се намира на запад от "Концертната зала", има множество красиво оформени синтрови езера. Най-голямата и благоустроена зала в пещерата е "Големите сипеи". По стените има синтрови образувания, в които, ако се вгледате, може да различите интересни форми, наподобяващи змия, футболист с топка и др. На дъното на залата има скални блокове, които вероятно са били срутени по време на силни земетресения. По дъното има и много остатъци от прилепен тор, тъй като залата е едно от любимите местообитания на прилепите в пещерата. До "Големите сипеи” е разположена залата "Малките сипеи". На запад от главната галерия започва тунел, на края на който се намира "Космическата зала". При малката зала "Почивка" е оформен тунел, в края на който има калцитни кристали, които приличат на пукнатини.

A very unusual and interesting cave. Highly recommended. This was the only cave in Bulgaria, in which the explanation was more scientific. Prices were low, staff was nice and overall experience was great.

It will be a very nice experience! The cave is lit. In exchange of the fee you will receive a guided tour. Temperature is constant 14 degrees C. Parking is free and you can buy there a coffee or even something to eat. Ps - don't miss the viewpoint next to the cave entrance.

Beautiful cave, the guides are informative and there is a great picnic area to rest up after coming back up. Also note the views!

You have to go down several stairs to reach the entrance of the cave. It's a long cave. I saw some bats too. They have a guide who speaks Bulgarian and French (he knows some words in Romanian too). He made the visit enjoyable. The tour lasted 40 minutes and costs 6 leva per person.

(Translated by Google) The entrance is BGN 6. The cave is the second longest in Bulgaria. The galleries are large. The visit lasts about 45 minutes, but time passes imperceptibly. I recommend. (Original) Входът е 6 лв. Пещерата е на второ място по дължина в България. Галериите са големи. Посещението продължава около 45 минути, но времето минава неусетно. Препоръчвам.

The tour guide was very informative.

The entrance fee was 6 leva/adult. They have a guided tour, but the one we went with was apparently in bulgarian so we didn't understand anything from it. The cave itself it's gorgeous! Totally worth the visit. On maps you will see two parking lots, I recommend you to leave your car in the first one, that's 100m from the cave, because the one that's closer to the cave is unpaved, and it was really muddy when we went. There is an area designated for picnic if you're into that and a view point with the most wonderful view I've seen in a while.

Nice place to spend for few hours. To get to the site you need to go down a few tens of stairs, so it is difficult to access for people with locomotion problems. Also there is an entrance fee: 10 leva/adult and 5 leva/children.

Very nice cave, with bats inside. The entrance is a little bit difficult to get (for old people at least) due to some high stairs. Even if the guide speaks english, he explains only in bulgarian.

Amazing guided tour and one of the largest caves I've visited. The temperature inside is 14 C, so wear something warm.

We were not allowed to join a group from BG because we were from RO. We were told to wait 2 hours. Rude.

An interesting 2,000,000 year old cave. A really great tour guide. A bit of food available at the end. Tours leave every hour.

The cave has impressive shapes, worth the short visit, nice views from the top outside. The guide is a bit strange, he seems to know details about the cave and the relief from the area, but the personal beliefs (origins, facts, theories) are controversial, but we are all different , aren't we? 😊

Different kind of cave, totally worth visiting - the visiting area is not long, inside is flat, no stairs, not very narrow so is easy to see it. There is a parking area, not very big. Up to the cave's entrance indeed there are some stone stairs, but they're not so many and so difficult. The tour are guided and start every hour (10.00, 11.00 etc)

(Translated by Google) The cave is worth exploring. (Original) Пещерата си заслужава да се разгледа.

(Translated by Google) Fearful (Original) Strahotno

(Translated by Google) It is great for tourism and recreation (Original) Супер е за туризъм и отдих

(Translated by Google) Recommended! For tourists: you enter every hour! The tour lasts 45 minutes. Estimated ambient temperature 14 degrees Celsius! (Original) Recomand! Pentru turiști: se intră din oră în oră! Turul durează 45 minute. Temperatura ambientală estimată 14 grade Celsius!

(Translated by Google) Very beautiful cave. (Original) Много красива пещера.

It's the second biggest cave of Bulgaria, must see when around, the very well documented English speaking guide is a great plus...

(Translated by Google) A unique creation of nature (Original) Уникално сътворение на природара

(Translated by Google) An interesting place (Original) Интересно място

(Translated by Google) Very beautiful (Original) Много красиво

(Translated by Google) The guide is a lot of fun ? (Original) Гидът е много забавен ?

(Translated by Google) Great and quiet place even during the corona! (Original) Hieno ja rauhallinen paikka jopa corona aikana!

(Translated by Google) Nice cave with a unique guide! (Original) Хубава пещера с уникален екскурзовод!

(Translated by Google) The guide's name is Ilia Iliev, amazing and very artistic :). I had a lot of fun, thank you. (Original) Гидът се казва Илиа Илиев невероятен и много артестичен :). Много се забавлявах ме,благодаря.

Nice and interesting cave. The tickets were 10 BGN for adults and 5 BGN for children. You can only enter the cave only at fix time, every hour, and only accompanied by a guide, who speaks only Bulgarian. There are no details in English, only in Bulgarian. And he asked the group to leave the cave after around 40 minutes. Also the guide doesn't walk you through all the cave. Luckily we explored the cave by ourselves, we left the group, and we discovered a lot of interesting places and rooms, places that the other visitors didn't see. There are indeed bats in there, a few of them flew close to us. The temperature inside is 14 degrees at all time, or at least this is what it was written over there. But it wasn't that cold, I was in a T-shirt and short pants. You can park really close to the cave. There is a small restaurant, from where you can buy the tickets, they have some beverages, but I don't know what kind of food they have. Also there are tables outside where you can eat your own food. The cave itself was clean, but the area around it wasn't. Everything is old and dirty. Bottom line, it's worth a visit for one hour.

Very nice structure of the cave but the number of 'rooms' for visiting is very limited. Don't know if it was a joke about the cracked cliff, but it would be dangerous for the visitors if that would be true. Overall nice experience.

The place is uniqe and full of priceless history. Photos are allowed. It is 14 degrees in there, so keep this in mind. The person that is local guide was really bad, i was very disapointed from him. To be clear i was ashamed that he was talking bulshits all the time. If someone knows this guy, tell him to do something else. But the cave is TOP , so i cannot give anything but 5.

Great place. The gentleman that organizes the tour provided a wonderful experience, with vocal singing and harmonica. He speaks French very well.

There are timeslots when you can enter (every hour). The tour is guided by a guide who can speak Bulgarian, French and pieces of Romanian and English. The cave itself is gorgeous and the tour is made in a circuit format. At the last part you have to kind of crawl as the ceiling is getting lower and lower (aprox 20-30 meters). You can always take the way back, because the entire cave is luminated

Tours go on the hour, last entry 5pm. We had a seasoned local take us round on an audio-visual multilingual extravaganza, showing the various features, singing in the concert cavern, demonstrating the acoustic properties of counter, all good fun! Some imagination required to see shapes in the stalagmites, but that's provided if you share a language with your guide. Luckily, we had French in common, just...

Wonderfull! The guide is a show man, he is most interesting than cave itself even this is interesting!

So, it works every day, entering each hour. Once we are coming 15 minutes before entering and surprised that the group is too large and we have to wait one hour and 15 for the next entry. Then, 3 days after we came again, on the road home, and ... surprised again, it didn't work, without any explanation, just locked. Be careful, maybe try to call before.

Impressive cave, has a massive interior

Easy to reach compared with other caves I visited, fantastic views from the entrance, inside there's lots of interesting natural formations to see, the obligatory guide is excellent, good sense of humour and a good singer also.

Very nice caves but you should let us leave when we want, not closing the gate at the entrance. We went there with a small child and when we wanted to leave, surprise, the gate was closed and had to wait for she guide to open it.

Nice place close to Ruse. Guided tour included in the access fee.

Beautiful cave with wonderful shapes. The guide did his best to make our visit really interesting, interactive and fun.

The tour guide was very well informed and helpful. He made the experience more exciting.

(Translated by Google) A unique experience :) (Original) Уникално преживяване :)

Interesting. It really deserves the effort of visiting.

A very futuristic feeling in the cave, very large cave with beautiful lights inside. The guide was very kind and provided interesting info in both Bulgarian and English.

Nicely renovated with very colourful guide.

The cave is closed! The view is beautiful!

Lovely place

Fantastic but would help if guide spoke a little English for the tourists

Young cave so not exactly splendid stalactites or stalagmites inside. Still a nice view if you are passing by. Guide speaks English, easy access if you don't mind the many stairs. Unless you have knee or back problems should be fine

Magnificent cave, it's second longest cave in Bulgaria - 13 km! That cave got very long hystory - over 1.5 mln. Years, great place, recoment for every one!

(Translated by Google) It really is a beautiful place. Definitely worth it. I recommend! (Original) Наистина е красиво място. Категорично си заслужава. Препоръчвам!

Magnificent cave. Easy to reach by car and 100m by foot. And you can drive 20 minutes to Cherven Fortres.

Wonderful! 1,3 km long cave, 12 000 bats and a skelleton from a dinosaur perserved in the limestone!

A very nice experience, beautiful surroundings and a beautiful cave with some interesting stories. Unfortunately, we could not understand a part of them because the guide does not speak English at all. Entry fee is 6 leva (local currency)

(Translated by Google) Look beautiful! (Original) Privește frumoasă!

(Translated by Google) I loved it. They let me into the cave with my dog ​​and fascinated me a lot. (Original) Много ми хареса. Пуснаха ме в пещерата заедно с кучето ми и ме очароваха изключително много.

(Translated by Google) Nice place to visit, the guide is amazing. (Original) Хубаво местенце за посещение,екскурзовода е невероятен.

(Translated by Google) It's not like Magura, but we like it. (Original) Не е като “Магура”, но си я харесваме.

?

(Translated by Google) For a man who looks like he walks on your feet! ...... There is something to see! ...... And ...... The hostess is a great man! ...... Daje ima pevcheski opportunities! ...... To sing in one of the halls! .... It's really good! (Original) Za chovek, koito oblicha da hodi po peshteri te!...... Ima kakvo da se vidi!...... A...... Domakina e strahoten chovek!...... Daje ima pevcheski vazmojnosti!...... Da pee v edna ot zalite!.... Hubavo e naistina!

(Translated by Google) I highly recommend it to adults and kids! Nice cave with very nice drainage. Some of the objects can be touched, some of the route are in the dark (own lighting), so you can feel a bit like a speleologist :) (Original) Gorąco polecam dorosłym i dzieciakom! Ładna jaskinia z bardzo fajnym odprowadzaniem. Cześć obiektów można dotknąć, cześć trasy w ciemności (oświetlenie własne), więc można się trochę poczuć jak speleolog :)

Beautiful view and interresting cave.

Very nice cave in Bulgaria and close to the Romanian border.

(Translated by Google) The second longest cave in Bulgaria! Ah, do you know which is the first ?! It turned out that I did not know. The answer is: Duhlata, located on Vitosha. If you are traveling in the region, find time to visit it. The groups enter the cave with a guide, usually around the clock. During the winter season it is closed to visitors. (Original) Втората най - дълга пещера в България! А, знаете ли коя е първата?! Оказа се, че аз не знаех. Отговорът е :Духлата, намира се на Витоша. Ако пътувате в региона, намерете време да я посетите. Групите влизат в пещерата с водач, обикновено на кръгъл час. През зимния сезон е затворена за посетители.

(Translated by Google) Very beautiful place worthy of attention from every Bulgarian. (Original) Много красиво място заслужаващо внимание от всеки българин.

(Translated by Google) Remarkable place ... a must visit :) (Original) Забележително място...задължително посещение:)

(Translated by Google) Very interesting and wonderful guide (Original) Много интересна и прекрасен водач

(Translated by Google) Unique place. You have to see (Original) Уникално място. Трябва да се види

(Translated by Google) Beauty and an impressive sense of grandeur, beyond time ... Once in the cave, you are transported far into the past - a part of the breathtaking Eternity ... A wonderful destination - I recommend ?‍♂️ (Original) Красота и впечатляващо усещане за величие , отвъд времето... Попадайки в пещерата , се пренасяш далеч в миналото - частица от спиращата дъха Вечност ... Прекрасна дестинация - препоръчвам ?‍♂️

(Translated by Google) A unique cave and a wonderful work of the guide, who in this case was a young lady. Visit the cave you will not regret! (Original) Уникална пещера и чудесна работа на екскурзовода, който в случая бе млада дама. Посетете пещерата няма да съжалявате!

(Translated by Google) Beautiful and interesting natural formation! (Original) Красиво и интересно природно образувание!

(Translated by Google) The best thing is to enter with a guide who explains, divorces. It is made interesting, accessible. Near the cave there are wonderful views, places with benches and tables for relaxation and picnic. (Original) Най-хубавото е, че се влиза с екскурзовод, който обяснява, развежда. Направено е интересно , достъпно. Край пещерата има прекрасни гледки, места с пейки и масички за отдих и пикник.

Красиво място,има и където да хапнеш и пийнеш докато чакаш кръгъл час за началото на обиколката

(Translated by Google) Great place (Original) Великолепно място

(Translated by Google) A beautiful cave! Ideal for weekend tourism. (Original) Прекрасна пещера! Идеално за уикенд туризъм.

Невероятна пещера с интересна история.

(Translated by Google) An interesting place worth visiting. You enter with a guide named Kaloyan. A very interesting guide fascinates us with an impressive story about the origin and research of the cave. With a great sense of humor is a unique attraction. Let there be more such guides. I wish him good health and still witty. (Original) Интересно място, което си заслужава да бъде посетено. Влиза се с екскурзовод, който се казва Калоян. Много интересен гид, очарова ни с впечатляващ разказ за произхода и изследванията на пещерата. С много чувство за хумор е неповторима атракция. Нека има повече такива гидове. Пожелавам му много здраве и все така духовит.

(Translated by Google) Great cave! The guide was very nice! It is important to know that you enter with a group every hour. (Original) Страхотна пещера! Екскурзоводката беше много мила! Важно е да се знае, че се влиза с група на всеки час.

Приказно красиво място. Неповторимо чувство да си в прегръдката на земята с всички красоти, за които ни разказа екскурзоводката Илияна-една харизматична личност, която направи разходката ни незабравима. Беше удоволствие за мен да се запознаем. Като посетите пещерата не забравяйте да си на мислите желание и да докоснете кладенче то, да усетите духа на пещерата гледайки фигурата на пазителя и да снимате целуващите мечета. Не подминавайте на влизане и дърворезбаря Жулиен, който ще ви разкрие магията на дърветата със своето майсторство.

(Translated by Google) One of the many uniquely beautiful caves in Bulgaria (Original) Една от многото уникално красиви пещери в България