July 02, 2018 - Lipa Cave is one of the largest cave monuments in Montenegro, and it represents a karst cave situated close to the Cetinje Municipality. The cave is the first speleological site in Montenegro intended for tourist visits. It has a beautiful and wild system of 2.5 km of passages and halls and playful and unique forms of cave ornaments (stalagmites and stalactites) that leave an everlasting impression on their visitors.
Lipa Cave is first and only cave in Montenegro accessible for group visits. It is a completely innovative segment in Montenegro's tourist offer which is maintained through a partnership between the private enterprise and Cetinje Municipality. In the territory of Cetinje, there are more than 1,000 speleological objects, of which the most significant are Lipa Cave, Obod Cave and Cetinje Cave. Of these, Lipa Cave has the longest passages and greatest number of preserved cave formations. Most of the caves in the area are covered with snow and ice for the most part of the year, making Lipa Cave the most noticeable cave in Cetinje. Its beauty was recognized by King Nikola I and Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, who played a very important role in the Montenegrin history. Lipa cave was known to exist prior to Njegoš’s time, and even then cave expeditions were possible. As of 2015, the cave can only be visited if visitors are accompanied by experts on special tours. Besides their role in preserving cave formations, the kind, helpful, and well-trained guides tell visitors about the cave and its history, which greatly improves the impression of cave visitors. The guides are familiar with several foreign languages so that tourists from abroad can get to know the cave through the expert’s explanations. Cave tours are easily accessible as Lipa cave is located only 33 km from Budva, 35 km from Podgorica, and 5 km from Cetinje.
Lipa Cave officially included speleological tourism in Montenegro's tourist offer. According to the reports, the visit to the Lipa cave in 2018 is better by 15 percent compared to the same period last year, and this season is expected to exceed the previous one. The representatives of “Lipa Cave Enterprise” said that this year the emphasis was placed on additional services offered by the company within the cave itself. They are proudly announcing mini-concerts in one of the halls of the cave: “Our innovations include wine tasting and local home-made juices at the café bar, as well as mini-concerts of classical music in one of the largest cave halls. The first tour through the cave was extended by an additional 200 meters last year to make visitor's experience even richer, and the expansion of additional tracks was also completed. This year, two cave tours are active, so visitors have the opportunity to choose the Cave tour, which is accessible to everyone and is 600 meters long and the Extreme Tour, which is intended for adventurers only”.
