Homburg, Germany (Homburg Caves)

We took the kids to explore the Schlossberg Caves in Homburg today.  The caves were originally part of the Hohenburg Castle  and are the largest sandstone caves in Europe...you can also soak in an amazing view of Homburg from the top!

We made a reservation by phone the day prior for an English guided tour.  You don't have to make an a reservation but it is highly recommended, especially for the English tour.  We ended up being the only ones slotted for our time spot and were able to enjoy the entire caves by ourselves!

Oh, and they also recommend dressing in layers (they keep it chilly in the caves).  You also have to wear a stylish yellow hard hat.  Fair warning.

Back to the tour...our tour guide was awesome!  He especially took to the kids and explained the history of the caves in a very kid-friendly manner.  My daughter was a little timid about the whole thing, my son told her bears live in there (gotta love brothers), but the caves were well-lit and open.  They really enjoyed looking for old fossils and footprints along the cave walls!

You can also see ripple marks from the waves when water used to cover the area...

Although the caves cover a dozen levels stretching over 3 miles, only one level/section is accessible.  Once our tour was over our guide let us go exploring on our own back through the caves, which was nice because the kids wanted to play hide and seek (they sure like to keep my nerves on check).

The history of the caves is really fascinating.  They were originally used as an escape route from the castle above and the sand was put in cleaning powders.  In WWII the residents of Homburg used the caves as underground shelters during air raids.  A bunker was later made inside to serve as the potential seat of government for the Saarland Territory.

We had plans to check out the castle ruins afterwards but the weather was not cooperating with us.  The ruins are located right above the caves beside where we parked.  There is also a hotel with a restaurant nearby if you get hungry and a little park for the kids to play a little ways down the hill.

There are lots of other things to do in the area besides the ruins and caves.  You can go hiking, take a tour of the Karlsberg Brewery, check out the Homburg Flea and Antiques Market (the biggest in southwest Germany), explore downtown, or visit the Roman Museum.

Karlseberg Brewery

We'd definitely like to go back another day!