This was published 7 years ago
Amazing underground travel experiences: The best things to do below the surface
Nature has created some spectacular underground attractions, but humans have done an impressive job too. From the ancient tombs of pharaohs in Egypt's Valley of the Kings to medieval European salt mines and Cold War bunkers in America's Midwest, they provide a sense of wonder and preserve a glimpse into historic mindsets and ways of life. Sometimes you'll find subterranean surprises where you least expect them: at the Eiffel Tower, for example, a behind-the-scene tour takes in its nineteenth-century lift mechanisms and a WWI bomb shelter. The underground world isn't just dead space either, but can be full of life: the New York subway, the thronged shopping malls of Tokyo, the underwater hotels of the Maldives.
Over the years I've scrambled through wine cellars and mausoleums, drainpipes and dungeons and been happily entertained, unnerved and educated. Here are some of the best places down under to add to your sense of travel wonder.
Ratings have been given out of five torchlights.
Derinkuyu underground city, Turkey
Score: Four torchlights
Since the eighth century BC, settlers have carved underground towns out of the soft rock of Cappadocia, though they're most closely associated with persecuted early Christians. The achievement is staggering: the largest subterranean city at Derinkuyu can shelter 20,000 people and enough livestock to feed them for months. Shuffle through its twisting passageways and clamber down multiple levels to inspect dormitories, kitchens and storage areas; bring a torch and you can explore away from the illuminated main corridors.
Up above The whole Cappadocia region is studded with striking rock formations, cave dwellings and stone-carved churches painted with Byzantine frescoes in blue and gold.
Get on down The underground city is near modern Derinkuyu some 40 kilometres from major tourist centre Goreme. Open daily, entry $11.
More www.muze.gov.tr/en
Qing Dynasty tombs, China
Score: Three torchlights
China's largest and best-preserved imperial tomb complex is the resting place of five emperors, 15 empresses and innumerable concubines. Though less frequented than the better-known Ming Tombs, there's more to see, including underground tomb chambers of beautifully decorated interiors where dragons writhe around pillars. Yuling Tomb features marble doors, Buddhas and protective guardian spirits.
Up above The tombs are set in beautiful countryside backed by the Changduan Mountains and dotted with temples, pavilions, elegant stone bridges and ornate gateways, as well as a "spirit way" lined by stone animals such as elephants, dragons and camels.
Get on down 125 kilometres east of Beijing, reached by tourist buses from the city centre or nearest metro station at Xuanwu Men. Open daily, entry $24.
More www.china.org.cn
Mary King's Close, Scotland
Score: Four torchlights
In 1753, this Edinburgh old-town close (alleyway) was sealed up when a new street was built above. Now it provides an extraordinary subterranean glimpse into 18th-century life, with guides in period costume providing spooky stories of the plague, ghosts and murderers amid the abandoned houses, shopfronts and workshops. A few special effects will have you jumping, but happily the experience is more focused on the historical than paranormal.
Up above The close lies behind the cathedral in an old town infused with ghoulish tales said to have inspired R.L. Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde; above-ground witch tours are also popular.
Get on down The close is directly below the Royal Exchange, which houses the entrance. Open daily except Christmas Day; entry $23 including tour.
More www.realmarykingsclose.com
Pre-Giroud military fort, Switzerland
Score: Three torchlights
This decommissioned WWII bunker, whose entrance is hidden inside a cheerful chalet, is typical of hundreds built along Switzerland's northern borders. Check out the munitions stores, telephone exchange, air-filtering plant, infirmary and dental studio, as well as soldiers' barracks, where unconvincing mannequins loiter. There's only one bathroom, though the bunker housed 200 men. It's a strangely fascinating insight into Switzerland's armed and vigilant neutrality.
Up above The fort faces the Jougne Pass, easiest route into western Switzerland from France; many armies have tramped this way. Check out the fake rocks that once concealed rocket launchers. Switzerland's best-known caves at Vallorbe are nearby.
Get on down The fort is 50 kilometres north of Lausanne in the Jura Mountains. Open mid-May to late October, entry $20.
More www.pre-giroud.ch
RESO, Montreal
Score: Four torchlights
Half a million people a day (especially in winter) disappear below Montreal to use the 33 kilometres of tunnels lined by 2000 shops and restaurants that give the city an extra dimension sheltered from the cold climate. You'll likely get lost in the maze of passageways, plazas and shopping malls, but the reward is unexpected sights: an old bank vault entrance, temporary art galleries, an ice rink.
Up above 190 exits lead above ground and connect RESO with hotels, office blocks, residential apartments, universities and public buildings. It's also integrated into the city's metro system.
Get on down The largest underground city section is downtown between Peel and Place-des-Arts metro stations (Green Line) and Lucien-L'Allier and Place-d'Armes stations (Orange Line). Open daily, entry free.
More www.montrealundergroundcity.com
Capuchin catacombs, Italy
Score: Five torchlights
Descend into this monastic crypt in Sicilian capital Palermo and you might think you're on the set for Thriller. Corridors are lined with 8000 cadavers from the 18th century. Resembling grotesque embalmed puppets, they're dressed in their best crinolines and frockcoats: a brooding bishop in a moth-eaten mitre, a general with sweeping mustachios, lace-capped babies in cradles. Fallen-off arms and legs lie all about. Ghoulish, but curiously compelling.
Up above The corpses seem an apt symbol of decaying Palermo and crumbling Sicily, whose days of glory are long gone. The island has several other catacombs and many ornate churches are filled with skeletons in glass caskets.
Get on down The catacombs are in central Palermo. Open daily all year except for Sundays in winter, entry $4.30.
Metro rail system, Moscow
Score: Three torchlights
Conceived on a gargantuan scale like many things in the Russian capital, the Moscow metro isn't just an excellent means of transport – trains run every couple of minutes – but an attraction itself. Some of its Soviet-era stations are spectacular, decorated with beautiful mosaics, busts of Lenin and art deco panelling. Grand frescoes of happy factory workers and farmhands are a last remaining throwback to the days of communist propaganda.
Up above The metro is connected by some of the world's longest escalators to chief sights above, including Red Square, Gorky Park and Novodevichy Convent, and also links to train stations and airports.
Get on down Among the best stations are Komsomolskaya, Mayakovskaya and Ploshchad Revolutsii. Open daily, $1 metro ticket gains you station access.
More www.news.metro.ru
Cu Chi war tunnels, Vietnam
Score: Two torchlights
This 250-kilometre network of tunnels was used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War as a hideout, guerrilla base and bomb shelter. You see only a fraction of it, including trapdoors, dormitories and cramped tunnels through which Vietnamese schoolkids scramble. Large foreign tourists or the claustrophobic can clamber through the slyly named McDonald's Tunnel, a new and much larger creation.
Up above A museum contains photography and artefacts from the war and shows a propaganda film that's either disturbing or amusing depending on your mood. Bizarrely, a shooting range invites visitors to try an AK-47.
Get on down Officially known as Ben Duoc-Cu Chi War Memorial, 50 kilometres north of Ho Chi Minh City, best reached on an organised tour. Open daily, entry $4.
More www.en.diadaocuchi.com.vn
Salzwelten salt mine, Austria
Score: Three torchlights
This salt mine in the Austrian Alps was begun 3000 years ago, and guides tell you about the 2500-year-old Man in the Salt, a Celtic miner unearthed in 1734 and preserved down to his jacket and hair. A newly opened underground cinema brings the Bronze Age to life. Visitors get about partly on slides that link the salt mines caverns, which are always a hit with children.
Up above Near the mine entrance are Iron Age graves and interesting information on early burial rituals. The mine approach provides panoramic views of Hallstatt and its lake, ringed by mountains.
Get on down The mines are in the Salzkammergut and most easily reached by funicular from Hallstatt. Open early April to late November; entry $32.
More www.salzwelten.at
Sewer Museum, France
Score: Two torchlights
It isn't art or romance that keeps Paris going but the sewers that serve the city. A guided one-hour tour of the tunnels provides an explanation of how the city has circulated its water, rid itself of sewage and dealt with stormwater over the last 200 years. You'll see some of the rather steampunk machines, both historic and present-day, used in this endeavour. Raised walkways keep you away from the effluent, though not its smell.
Up above The visitor entrance is on Quai d'Orsay, synonymous with French foreign affairs. You walk beneath notable Paris addresses such as the Place de la Resistance, labelled below with the same blue street signs.
Get on down Enter by Pont de l'Alma. Open Saturday to Wednesday year-round except January, entry $6.30.
More www.parisinfo.com
Yarrangobilly Caves, Australia
Score: Five torchlights
If this limestone cave complex was near a city rather than in the remote Snowy Mountains, it would be famous. Jersey Cave is an extravagance of stalactites, stalagmites, cave corals and strange, twisted rocks, while Jillabenan Cave features more delicate formations and needle-like rock tubes. Guide yourself through South Glory Cave, where lights on sensors only illuminate your immediate surrounds, leaving the rest eerily black.
Up above The caves are in Kosciuszko National Park. Several walking trails are favoured by birders, and thermal pools at a happy 27C year round will warm your bones after a cave visit.
Get on down The caves are 120 kilometres from the Hume Highway at Gundagai, the last six on unsealed road. Open daily, guided tours March to September, entry $18.
Warwick Castle dungeons, England
Score: Five torchlights
Dungeons abound in Europe but are usually just dank, empty spaces. These are the best for those who dare; fainting and vomiting guests caused the tour to be toned down somewhat after its launch. Costumed tour guides introduce you to medieval methods of torture, 16th-century witches and horrible histories in a 50-minute participative experience that will have you jumping out of your shoes. Watch out when the lights go out.
Up above The moated castle above looks as a castle should; you can explore its battlements, lavish interiors and 26 hectares of landscaped gardens. The castle is notable for its family-friendly activities and historical re-enactments.
Get on down The castle is between Northampton and Birmingham. Open daily except Christmas Day, entry $35.
Bill Speidel's underground tour, Seattle
Score: Four torchlights
After the Great Fire of 1889, downtown Seattle was rebuilt on top of itself, leaving behind a buried city of abandoned sidewalks, shopfronts and basements. Only a fraction is open to the public, but excellent guides take you on a hilarious tour that features former brothels and opium dens, an exploding toilet and many an improbable yarn.
Up above Pioneer Square is Seattle's most historic district, lined by brick buildings dating from the 1890s. The surrounds get rowdy at night, when it's a focus of city's nightlife.
Get on down The only way to visit is on Bill Speidel's Underground Tour, which promises "dirt, scandal and really old plumbing"; there are also adults-only and paranormal versions. Open daily except Thanksgiving and Christmas days, entry $26.
Salina Turda theme park, Romania
Score: Three torchlights
Though there's nothing unusual about either a theme park or salt mine, here in Transylvania you get both together. Descend 100 metres below the surface to an excavated, stalactite-decorated cavern and find a Ferris wheel, fairground rides, mini-golf, ping-pong tables, bowling alleys and paddle-boating on a subterranean lake. The mine also has a halotherapy spa; the cave's microclimate is said to be good for respiratory illnesses.
Up above The valley is a protected area stained with curious salt deposits and hardy adapted plants. Some of the mineralised lakes are used for bathing. The pleasant town of Turda dates back to Roman times.
Get on down The cave is 35 kilometres south of Cluj-Napoca in north-central Romania. Open daily, entry $6.40 with activities charged separately.
More www.salinaturda.eu
5 top cave adventures
If gazing at stalactites on a shuffling tour group isn't your thing, then get the adrenaline flowing with these more unusual cave activities.
Mt Peca, Slovenia
Mountain bike your way through five kilometres of tunnels in a disused lead and zinc mine, or descend into the lower, now semi-flooded levels and kayak down an underground river onto a subterranean lake. See www.podzemljepece.com
Zip World Caverns, UK
Travel through this former slate quarry in Wales on a series of zip lines, rope bridges and balance beams. Then take to giant trampolines stretched across the caverns for a jump illuminated in pink and green lights. See www.zipworld.co.uk
Waitomo Caves, New Zealand
Take a float through these spectacular limestone caves on a giant inner tube to admire the spectacular glimmering of glow worms on the cave roofs. Occasional small waterfalls and tight tunnels provide unnerving obstacles. See www.waitomo.com
Cenote Samula, Mexico
The world's biggest underwater cave network provides innumerable cenotes (swimming holes partly open to the sky) of clear water. At Samula, cave formations and the huge roots of trees provide an otherworldly backdrop to your swim. See www.yucatan.travel
Sumaguing Caves, Philippines
Wade through water, squeeze through crevices in the rock and haul your way up rock faces with knotted ropes to admire fabulous calcium formations on this challenging cave tour not for the claustrophobic. See www.visitmyphilippines.com
Under the sea
Our hidden world extends below the waves, with underwater activities just as varied as any underground.
Shark diving, South Africa
There's no forgetting the moment you face a great white shark on a cage dive. You might be behind steel bars, but the sight of monster teeth and shockingly pink gums fronting four metres of solid, muscled shark is the ultimate adrenaline shock. This is one of the world's most extraordinary – and terrifying – animal encounters. See www.gosharkdiving.com
Dining, Maldives
The aptly named Sea restaurant at Anantara Kihavah Villas sees you dining beneath the Indian Ocean and just above a carpet of brightly coloured corals, with huge windows providing an outlook into passing shoals of fish, turtles, the occasional reef shark and perhaps a snorkelling hotel guest or two. See kihavah-maldives.anantara.com
Ice diving, Greenland
Slide through an ice hole and into an eerie world of incredible frozen shapes of weirdly translucent blue, between which hardy catfish and bizarre lumpsuckers flit. You can also dive icebergs to see these incredible structures from below. Shipwrecks and ice caves are other cold-water destinations to get the heart pumping. See www.greenland.com
Sleeping, Tanzania
The Manta Resort on Pemba Island has an underwater room 250 metres offshore that redefines sleeping with the fishes. The floating, three-level retreat, suspended in a wildlife-rich blue hole, has outlooks onto passing batfish and trumpetfish. At night, spotlights attract squid and octopus to the windows. See www.themantaresort.com
Museum visit, Mexico
The MUSA Underwater Museum of Art off the coast of beach resort Cancun features 500 sculptures attached to the seabed and made from materials that encourage coral life. Visitors snorkel or scuba-dive to see the installations, which constantly change as sea creatures take up home on their surfaces. See www.musamexico.org
Brian Johnston was a guest of many of the above attractions or national tourist offices, and visited others at his own expense.
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