We can at short notice! On Wednesday we were still told that we had to work over the Whitsun weekend. Then Thursday came the surprising twist: “No, just Saturday – let’s go away.” No sooner said than done. We quickly drew up a plan, booked accommodation and set off for Saalfeld in Thuringia at 9:30 on Sunday morning. Our destination: the Saalfeld Fairy Caves, a former mine that can now be visited as a show mine.

The route consisted mainly of highway, only towards the end did it become a little more varied with main roads. That doesn’t sound exciting at first, but with a wonderfully green landscape, glowing rapeseed fields and lots of sunshine, even that was pretty easy to endure. Sometimes it doesn’t take much more than a spontaneous destination, nice weather and that feeling of being on the road.

After a good four hours, we arrived on time for the start of the tour. Everyone was given a protective cape, and a pointed cap was optional. It’s around 8 to 10 degrees underground all year round. Sounds fresh at first – but we were still standing above ground in the heat with our jackets and cloaks and briefly had the feeling of being slowly boiled to death before we even entered the mine. Then we finally headed into the mountain.

Our guide was a character in his own right: middle-aged, with a cool haircut and just the right mix of specialist knowledge, dry humor and a love of storytelling. He told us about the old mining days, about the miners who once searched for gold, silver and other coveted metals here – and finally found black alum slate. What was once hard work under difficult conditions has been transformed by nature over many years into a colorful world of stalactites.

And this is precisely what makes the Fairy Grottoes so special: It is not a classic stalactite cave that was discovered at some point, but an old mine that has gradually been transformed into this almost fairytale-like underground world. The colorful deposits are not just a pretty backdrop – they are also the reason why the Saalfeld Fairy Caves are considered the most colorful show caves in the world. Work, sweat and dark tunnels eventually turned into glitter, color and amazement.

Time and again, our guide let his poetic streak flow. Sometimes very technical, sometimes almost a little theatrical, but never boring. We moved through narrow corridors, past colorful deposits, stalactites, small caves and stories from a time when mining was still hard work.

After just over an hour, we reached the end of the tour: the fairytale dome. There we were able to experience two atmospheric light shows accompanied by music. It was quite impressive – not kitschy, but really atmospheric. When light, music and this underground setting come together, you quickly understand why this place bears its name.

At the exit, everyone was given a small piece of fool’s gold – pyrite – as a souvenir. Not a real treasure trove, but at least we came out of the mountain with gold. Almost. After that, it was time to get out of our jackets and capes and acclimatize again.

Finally, we went to the Grottoneum. It is rather small, but still offers a lot of interesting specialist knowledge, clearly presented and with some hands-on stations about mining, stalactites and minerals. Especially after the guided tour, this is a nice addition because you can better understand a lot of what you have seen underground.

There is much more to discover, do and try out around the Fairy Caves Adventure World. We then continued on towards Rudolstadt, where our accommodation was waiting for us. A spontaneous plan, arrived on time, dived underground and emerged with a bit of fool’s gold.

Conclusion: The Saalfeld Fairy Grottoes were a really nice start to our spontaneous Whitsun weekend: interesting, entertaining, a bit fairytale-like and just the right mix of history, nature and adventure. You don’t always have to spend weeks planning – sometimes all you need is a free Sunday, a good idea and the willingness to just set off.