Grab your torch and take a voyage to the centre of the earth with one of these top subterranean destinations!
Wieliczka Salt Mine, Krakow, Poland
Sat at 327m below the surface, this underground ‘city of salt’ is a hugely impressive place. Once a working salt mine, it’s now open purely for tourists who navigate just 1% of the mine’s tunnels and caverns. The centrepiece is the huge chamber which contains vast statues carved from the salt rock and hosts dinners and concerts. There is even an entire chapel made of salt that was created by the miners so they could worship without leaving the mine. Find cheap flights to Krakow
St Mary’s Close, Edinburgh, Scotland
Just minutes from Skyscanner HQ lies a warren of hidden streets below the Royal Mile where people one lived, worked and died. During the mid-17th century, the entrances were sealed to contain an outbreak of the plaque, which is thought to have trapped some victims inside. On your visit you’ll hear stories of the people who once called the dark, dank passageways ‘home’ and some of the spooky stories and legends that surround the 300 year old tunnels. Find cheap flights to Edinburgh
Postojna Caves, Slovenia
A vast 20km system of karst limestone, Postojna claims to be the most visited cave in Europe. The journey starts with a train ride that brings visitors deep inside then continues on foot where you can enjoy incredible stalactite and stalagmite formations that hang from the ceilings or project from the floors creating an otherworldly vista. Visitors can also see the famed ‘human fish’, a cave-dwelling amphibian with cannibalistic tendencies. Find cheap flights to Ljubljana
Tunnels of Cu Chi, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
This immense network of tunnels were used by Viet Cong guerrillas during the Vietnam War and played a vital part in the resistance movement. Parts of the network have been preserved by the government of Vietnam and turned into a war memorial park so visitors can crawl through the narrow passageways, see the underground conference rooms and learn how the tunnel dwellers lived and fought off the American invasion. Find cheap flights to Ho Chi Minh City
Coober Pedy, Australia
This small mining town is famed for two things: 1 – being the Opal capital of the world, and 2 – the fact that a significant proportion of the population live in houses that are underground. The cave homes that are bored out of hillsides help keep inhabitants cool in a part of the world where temperatures often exceed 40 C during the day. Visitors can get a taste of subterranean life by staying at one of the underground hotels or visiting an underground church. Find cheap flights to Australia
