Luray Caverns

The tour was great and a good length, and the caverns are so beautiful. After the tour there is plenty to do like eat at the café they have (nice pulled pork sandwiches), visit a gift shop, or just walk around the lovely area. The tour guide was very knowledgeable, pointed out anything of interest and did a great job telling the history of the taverns. I would definitely come back and recommend the taverns to friends.

Good tour. Really amazing views. And the lake is breathtaking. Also, the have military discount! The bad: tour sizes are a bit large 30 – 40 plus. Better experience if it was a more isolated tour. Recommend coming in the morning or before the afternoon rush this place can get crowed. Overall great for families and love ones.

With all of the commercials that we see about Luray Caverns in DC it was easy to think that this place was going to be a bit cheesy; it pleasantly surprised us. Went on a Friday evening close to closing and we were able to join the next tour group. Our guide Courtney, was full of energy, jokes and knowledge of the caverns. She was very respectful of everyone’s time (those that were quick walkers and the slow pokes) — she was good about waiting the right amount of time before progressing. During the tour, which I can assure you is longer than you might originally think, she highlighted some of the quirky and unique structures of the caverns.
The price is a bit steep, but it makes up for it if you want to go to any of the additional places (e.g. museums/​sites) that are included. And the gift shop leaves a lot to be desired, but oddly enough items weren’t overpriced like most gift shops. Definitely worth the visit while in the area!

The tour guide was awesome. Nice kid. The tour was informative and fun. It was interesting and very beautiful. I was sad that 60% of the caverns are damaged from human touch and that 40% of the caverns were carved out for this walk through excursion. Wish we as humans would better care for 150 – 250 million year old natural sites.

Luray Caverns is definitely an amazing natural sight to behold! While it is not on quite the same scale as Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, it is still breathtaking nonetheless. I came here on a beautiful Saturday fall afternoon, around 2:30pm. The crowds were pretty intense, but I imagine it’s even more crowded in the summer months. We purchased tickets, which are $ 26/​each and include the caverns, the car and carriage museum, and the Luray Valley Museum, and waited in line. It took an hour to move through the line, and we didn’t start our tour until about 3:30pm. The tour was a little over an hour, ending at 4:45pm. We did have a guide who was very informative. From reading other reviews, sometimes the tours are «self-​guided», and honestly, I would have been pretty annoyed if we paid for tickets and didn’t have the benefit of the narration from a guide. As a typical tourist gimmick, they take your picture and impose the caverns behind you-​then sell it to you for $ 30. Well, we took the bait, but I will say the picture turned out pretty nice and is a nice commemorative souvenir. The guide said the walking tour was about 1.4 miles, and, although it’s not a difficult walk, definitely don’t wear heels. And they suggest a jacket since it’s a consistent 54 degrees year round, however, I found myself getting hot and the jacket became cumbersome to carry through the caverns. There are lots of photo ops in the lit areas of the cave. They actually do a lot of weddings in the caverns which I found to be interesting! We didn’t check out the museums, but we did head over to the Luray Caverns Vineyard and had a couple of glasses of wine. They do offer tastings but since we got there at 4:50pm and they close at 5, they said they could only sell us glasses or a bottle. Two glasses of wine came to $ 19-​totally not worth it! Besides that sour note, I enjoyed the actual caverns, but can really only see myself returning if I am with people who have yet to experience Luray Caverns. Since the stalagmites grow at the rate of ¹⁄₃ of a cubic inch every few hundred years, I guarantee this place doesn’t change much so if you’ve seen it once you’re good to go!

Had a great time at Luray Caverns this weekend! Got there early, at 10am, which was a great time because there was barely a line and when we came out an hour later the line was intense. Tickets at $ 26 for adults, children under 6 are free. The general admission also includes the Car and Carriage Museum and Luray Valley Museum. The cavern tour lasts about an hour, which is just the right amount of time. The formations are spectacular. The tour was good, it’s a little hard to hear if you end up at the back of the group. The Car and Carriage Museum is quick and pretty cool to see the evolution of the automobile and my 1 year old son’s favorite part of the whole trip was playing in the toy museum.

It’s about a 2 hour west drive from DC, long windy roads across confederate flag nation aka VA. The caverns and the Luray bars of fudge alone are worth it. The cave ($ 26 adult) is amazing… almost like walking through the earth’s entrails or nostrils… but I digress ;). There are about 70 steps to climb, about 1.4 mile diameter to walk and the course inside the cavern can be slippery. Don’t let this discourage you. My grandma can do it. How often do you get to see 7 million year old natural formations 13 stories deep below the earth?
The site is well maintained and staff is friendly and helpful. The ropes course ($ 8 adult with cavern ticket purchase) ($ 8 adult with cavern ticket purchase) is a must for the whole family. Also, you get free admission to the museum with cavern ticket. This is truly a natural gem in the U.S. We worked up an Crackle Barrel appetite on the drive back. Yum.

Luray Caverns, that was originally called Luray Cave, is a large, celebrated commercial cave just west of Luray, Virginia, which has drawn many visitors since its discovery in 1878.
Luray contains a bey of stalactite and stalagmite formations. The caverns are quite large and suited for large group tours. This was my second visit here, because I really enjoyed my first visit. This time I visited on an August Saturday early afternoon, where we had to wait about 1 hour on a hot summer day to enter the cave. It was very crowded. I recommend arriving earlier.
Adult admission is $ 26. The senior and military discount is only $ 23. Not much of a discount. The audio headset tour is an extra $ 5 per adult. When we entered the cave nobody offered us the audio headsets so I had to seek a refund at the end of our tour, which was not a problem to receive a credit to my credit card.
There is also a museum of older vehicles and of course a retail shop with souvenirs and gift items. The natural caves are quite impressive.

What a gorgeous, gorgeous walk. The hour-​or-​so you spend in the caverns snakes you around various spaces and formations. There was no end to enjoyment and fascination. Each formation is gorgeous (and weird, admittedly) and there is so much to see somehow!
We did come here on a three-​day, holiday weekend and the place was SWAMPED. Had I to do it again, I would have woken up really, really early and tried to beat the crowd. Even with the 30-​minute wait to get in, though, and the hefty price tag, it was well worth the visit.
The car museum that’s included in the ticket is interesting. Definitely wouldn’t have paid for it separately.

Nature is full of miracles. It was very pleasant to see Luray Caverns. We reached around afternoon and had to stand in line for purchasing the entry tickets. You can buy tickets online and avoid the wait in the line. There is another line for entering inside. They will take photos before you enter which is 30 dollars. Once inside there are many guides who would explain the history/​myth behind the beliefs. The temperature drops a bit inside.
We also went for the car and carriage museum — its good. They have antic cars for display to get us know our history and inventions. LURAY VALLEY MUSEUM — is also good. They have many things from the past for public display.
In short it was a very nice experience, got a chance to see nature’s wonder and learn about history.
It is hard to get cell phone network here especially T-​Mobile.

It was awesome! Our kids loved it!
What was amazing was that they turn this national resources into amusement. The road was pretty easy to walk and the guide was okay, too.

Traveling from out of state and we really enjoyed these caverns. Really good tour guide was was very knowledgable. He stated he was new and we would have never known! I uploaded some pictures I edited :)

Stalactites, Stalagmites, Oh My…
This is like crystal caves in Kutztown PA but on steroids, and a lot of them. The line to get in was all the way back to the café/​toy store. But surprisingly, it moved very fast. We were entering in about 15 mins. Over a mile and ¼ walk once down there, and every foot is amazing. The reflection pond is mind blowing. To think nature created this is a wow factor. We planned on visiting some of the other caverns in the area, but fear they will not meet our high standards now. Like eating kobi beef then going to sizzler and expecting the same.
If you have not done this tour, do so. It is great.

Interesting. That’s the best way to describe this place. Is it something that you should fly cross country to see? Not really. Is this something that you should drive 6+ hours to see? Not really. Only if you are on your way on a road trip and you need some stretching, you can stop here and enjoy the hour long tour.
It is a guided tour. And the guide stops at 5 points in the mile and a quarter long tour. You see pretty much the same kind of shapes that have formed over a period of time (some hundreds of years — or millions — as they said on the tour as per geologists’ estimates). For someone who has traveled the world and seen natural wonders like — I can’t start putting down the list, this was a strictly OK an experience for me.
Some pieces of advice that you should know:
— Kids who are not interested in geology (or adults for that matter), would not find these caverns interesting at all
— For a 1.25 mile long walk, there are no benches or resting spots. So for those with any health conditions, this is not recommended.
— Buying tickets online is cheaper as compared to buying them at the location
— Giant’s members get 50% discount on every other ticket
I don’t mind a high ticket price for adults if I am learning something new or seeing something out of this world. These caverns were — according to me, nothing spectacular that I would have regretted missing.

What a ride to get here if you do not live close by! You will be going through the beautiful Shenandoah valley, so that alone is a wonderful sight to see! But when you finally get to the Caverns, get ready for a fun filled day.
The cavern is about an hour tour and our tour guide was wonderful in giving us the history and stories of the cave. She was knowledgeable about the minerals, rock formation and the other things I can’t even begin to remember!
It was pretty chilly in the caves but at the same time very humid because Of the natural streaming water from the earth so you can feel drips here and there. About 15 minutes into the tour I sorda got bored and was ready to get out, that’s because everything started looking alike to me!!! There were a few «oohs and awws» but my A.D.D kicked in, so hubby and I left the tour group and found our own way out!
But it is a cool experience and a sight to see if you are ever interested in going.

Great tour with Lucy! Our guide was so thorough and easy to follow — it made for a really enjoyable walk through the cavern. I especially enjoyed all of the names of the different formations. 450 million years is a long time to just be hanging around letting erosion and gravity pull you down — natural history is so fascinating! My friend and I drove down here in a hurry to catch the last tour of the day after she was off work and it was totally worth it. We were in awe from the moment we set foot in the cavern. I may have been here before a long time ago, but it was like seeing all for the first time. The pipe organ in the biggest part of the cavern was both eerie and majestic. We learned this cavern is host to 500 weddings a year — I can certainly see why! No decorations needed!

There are many parts to consider when doing a review for a place like Luray. I’m sure that most people will take the simplistic POV and just review the cavern itself for this Unilocal listing but when you think about it there is so much more going on here that needs to be considered since you’re forced to pay for it all via the high admission price.
The Cavern:
The cavern itself is a thing of amazing beauty. I’ve done a few cavern/​cave tours in my time and this one easily blows the rest away. The colors and the sheer size of the formations are mind boggling.
So with that said, why not a five star rubber stamp like the majority of the lemmings?
The Tour:
The tour is a big part of the problem simply because too many are scheduled to run one after another. Everything is treated like you’re doing a Wendy’s drive thru versus a cavern tour. There seemingly is always a need to either be rushed by your guide because another group is right up your poop shoot or you need to hang out and wait because the group in front of you is going too slow. With that said, the tour overall falls too much on the rushed side of things to really enjoy everything you’re seeing which of course is sad/​a partial rip off because of what you’re paying.
The Guide:
Our guide wasn’t the greatest. She meant well but her voice was very small and when other groups got closer it was far too easy to hear other guides speak/​yelling versus her talking. She also didn’t really do the greatest job at keeping the group together which I admit would not have been easy as size wise our group was very large but none the less, that’s part of her job.
The Complex:
While some cavern/​cave places are all about the cave or maybe they push some sort of science angle, at Luray it’s all about the Benjamins and how many they can shake from your pockets. Sure they give you the car museum and the other museum for «free» (it’s called cross subsidization folks) but after that you still have multiple gift shops, two food outlets, ice cream, fudge, an English style hedge maze, a gas station and a ropes course. I give the people who run Luray credit in that if their mission is to try and become the biggest tourist trap in the Shenandoah then I think unlike W on the aircraft carrier, they can say «mission accomplished».
Overall:
For me, some parts were what I expected them to be but the crass commercialization of other parts is stupid/​unnecessary just like the way how for most of the tour you can’t linger much lest you get pushed along by the next group.
I’m glad that we came and I glad to have experienced whatever it is that goes on here (maybe it’s not really a cavern tour but more of on outlet to sell T-​Shirts and fridge magnets?) but obviously there really is no need to ever come back.
If you go:
Tours run 365 days a year and always start at 9am. The last tour departs anywhere from between 4pm-​7pm depending on the time of year. The car museum opens at 9 and the valley museum opens at 10 and both close thirty minutes after the start of the last cavern tour of the day.
Cavern:
Adult $ 26, Senior $ 23, Children (6 – 12) $ 14 and younger than that is free.
Rope Adventure Park:
Adult $ 8 and children under 48 inches tall are $ 6.
Garden Maze:
Adult $ 8 and children (6 – 12) are $ 6.
As others have mentioned, do your self a favor and bring your Giant/​Martins Bonus Card as showing that will get you a 50% discount on a second adult admission just like if you’re going to do the garden maze purchase your tickets at the same time you purchase your cavern tour for a dollar off the maze because buying the maze ticket at the maze yields no discount.

Demasiado lindo el lugar y con muy poco marketing. Realmente un gran espectaculo de la naturaleza. Felices de haber ido.

Stunning natural wonder! I’ve been to other caverns and this one is breathtaking. We went on a Tuesday and got there relatively early (around 10 am) and there was almost no wait or long line. The tour takes a little over an hour and is a mile and ¼ walk but there isn’t any steep spots really. The tour guide was extremely sweet and knowledgeable and the photo ops are many! Highly recommend.
After, I advise heading to Uncle Bucks 7 minutes away for lunch. Good food! (See my review for there)

There’s just enough tourist-​trap tackiness in this underground wonderland to make it a charming destination for kids and grownups alike. A guided descent into the well-​lit, highly walkable cavern takes about an hour, taking visitors down a gently sloping path that winds past a gorgeous collection of stalactite formations, an underground lake, and an organ that makes music out of rocks.
Our kids, 4 and 7, both enjoyed the experience, although it was tough to keep them from running their hands along the rock walls (a big no-​no, according to our guide). The ‘Stalacpipe Organ’ is fascinating, but admittedly a little corny — when the musical interlude was over, I almost expected to see a Garden Gnome come prancing out from among the rocks. Also, the tour groups can be a little large, so try to stay close to the front if you want to hear everything your guide is describing.
When your visit to Luray is complete, be sure to head a short distance up the road to Shenandoah National Park, where the views from Skyline Drive will take your breath away. Both attractions are a two-​hour drive from Roanoke, and make for a splendid daytrip in the Virginia mountains, particularly at the height of fall leaf season.

I always feel a little bit like an asshole «rating» a natural wonder, but I’m going to do it anyway. If you live in the area, and you haven’t been, go to Luray Caverns. You’re missing out if you haven’t.
Yes, the place smacks of a tourist trap with the gigundous highway signs, throngs of clamoring people, the $ 24 price tag, and gift shops galore (seriously, I think they have like 5 on the site). But the cave itself is really, really cool, and what’s even cooler is that someone just kind of stumbled onto it in the 1860s. They sort of recreate this experience for you (whether intentionally or no), because it looks like you’re lining up to go into a telephone closet when bam, you’re in a giant cave. The lighting is done very well (though oddly set behind rough blobs of plaster that look very dated), so the more unique features (like translucent sheets of rocks and mirror lakes) really stand out.
Our tour guide was informative, but a little cheesy and overly perky for our tastes, so we kind of hung to the back and took photos. This is one of those places that would be a million times better if it weren’t for the people, but I can’t really fault them for that.
Interesting side note: they ask you not to touch anything inside the caves so as not to disrupt the natural formation processes, but there’s a wishing well into which visitors have thrown $ 870,000 worth of coins since the 1950s… though they collect the money every year for charity, I’m positive that’s not super great for the cave.
Admission includes a trip to the Car and Carriage Museum, where creepy mannequins outnumber the visitors, and the Toy Something Something Depot, where I saw relics of my childhood ensconed in Plexiglas (eep). Yes, THESE places are tourist traps, but they’re still fun. If you want to spring for an extra $ 8 (we did not), there is a garden maze.