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Top 5 Cave Experiences

The sun sets over Club Deep.
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Cocktails in a cavern
Makarska, Croatia

After a day spent splashing about in the sparkling water of a beautiful cove on the Makarska Riviera between Split and Dubrovnik, head to Club Deep, set in a natural cave formation that also served time as a weapons depot during World War II. There’s a great sun terrace outside – perfect for catching those last rays while enjoying an ice cold Karlovacko – but things get started much later in the evening (usually at about 11pm) when local and international DJs turn up the volume on the latest R&B and house beats. Be warned: when this place is crowded – and since it’s popular with cruises on this part of the coast it often is – it gets really hot. Luckily, no one seems to be too bothered about dress codes.
deep.hr

Wet and wild
Waitomo, New Zealand

As far as having fun in the dark goes it doesn’t get much crazier than this. Pull on a wetsuit and, for the next three hours, climb, clamber and coast through Ruakuri Cave on the North Island. For part of the journey with the Legendary Black Water Rafting Co you’ll be taking the plunge over underground waterfalls, but there’s also the chance to kick back on your inner tube and float through limestone galleries lit by glow worms. Each tour, with a maximum of 12 adventurers, is led by a guide who’ll make sure you emerge safe and sound into the sunlight. The Black Labyrinth tour costs about AU$130.
waitomo.com

An underground suite in a former silver mine.
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Subterranean sleep
Sala, Sweden

If you’re looking to escape the crowds, sun and everything green, why not head underground? This single suite is located 155 metres below the surface in a former silver mine. Guests are given a guided tour of the caverns on arrival – winter woollies are a necessity because the temperature hovers at around 2ºC – before being escorted to the suite to enjoy the peace and complete silence. There’s a bed tucked into one chamber and a dining area where wine, cheese and fruit await. The space is appropriately decked out in silver-hued furniture and candlelight adds a touch of romance. There are a couple of down sides: no mobile reception, although there’s an intercom to communicate with the world above; and the loo is down a dark tunnel (plumbing is a bit of an issue this far underground). The Sala Silver Mine suite costs about AU$750 a night.
salasilvergruva.se

Get behind a waterfall at the Minnehaha Regional Park.
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Seasonal shelter
Minneapolis, USA

In the heart of Minnehaha Regional Park in Minneapolis, you’ll find a creek that eventually cascades 16 metres into a pool not far from the Mississippi River. The Minnehaha Falls has been a top tourist attraction since 1855, when Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote about it in A Song for Hiawatha (you can see a statue of the co-founder of the Iroquois Confederacy not far from the falls). But for part of the year the water stops falling. In the depths of winter, it freezes up, creating a bright blue, glowing grotto. There are paths down to the falls and it’s quite safe to walk behind them and take photos.
minneapolisparks.org

A music festival in a cave.
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Underground music
Maro, Spain

All year round the Cuevas de Nerja are a popular Malagan tourist attraction. Remains found in them suggest they’ve been inhabited since about 25,000BCE and have, in the years since, been used for everything from farming to pottery production. But once a year they take on a much grander role, hosting the Festival Internacional de Música y Danza de Granada. The festival is held in June and July each year. Internationally renowned performers including Yehudi Menuhin, José Carreras and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa have all filled the caves with their soulful songs, while dancers from the Ballet Nacional de España and La Lupi Flamenco have soared across the stage.
cuevadenerja.es

Yin and Yang at Obonjan Island

Balance rejuvenation with partying by Croatia’s crystalline waters at Obonjan Island. Touted as the first dedicated arts and wellbeing isle in all of Europe, Obonjan continues to grow worldwide supporters with an impressive program that combines both the Zen and more hedonistic of pursuits.

Obonjan’s point of difference is its selection of holistic treatments, including yoga and massage, workshops, talks, live music, comedy and water sports, as well as offering restaurants, bars and beachside DJs.

At night, you’ll snooze among pine trees in minimalist, eco-friendly surrounds that can sleep up to four and pay homage to the local environment with furnishings made from natural materials. Choose from an A-frame bell tent, or a more luxurious safari-style forest lodge, which comes with extra frills such as an en suite bathroom and fridge.

Brewery bonanza and street eats in Belfast

Move over Guinness, there’s a thirst for a different kind of brew growing in Northern Ireland. Tap into the beer boom at several iconic Belfast establishments on this three hour brewery and street eats tour.

Taste and Tour’s resident beer expert will guide you through the burgeoning local beer and street food scene in Belfast. You’ll visit a range of fantastic craft beer bars and street food venues, tasting at least seven beers and sampling four very different street eats.

Start at Ireland’s oldest independent brewery, Hilden Brewing, where they’ve been perfecting six craft beers over the past 35 years. Next, it’s off to Boundary Brewing, a co-operative that invites beer evangelists to purchase a stake in the business and become co-owners, allowing the crew to experiment with unusual flavours, such as the Pari Gagnat: a saison with seaweed and green tea.

Your final brewery? It’s a surprise and will be revealed on your tour day. Interested? We are too! There’s more to Ireland’s drinking scene than Guinness.

Italian Art Masterclass

Give Michelangelo a run for his money by refining your artistic expertise in the Eternal City. Your journey begins with an introduction to Rome, exploring its numerous piazzas, ruins and cobbled streets. Later you’ll delve into a relief sculpture workshop, using an arsenal of glass and acrylics to create your first masterpiece (definitely too precious to bring home in checked baggage). Private tours of the Vatican Museums and Galleria Borghese will take you into Italy’s rich past to gape at some of the world’s best Renaissance artworks.

Once you’ve fuelled up with inspiration, dive into learning fresco-painting techniques and the delicate art of mosaic. Plenty of free time is provided between classes, so when you’re not nurturing your inner artist, you can hunt down the finest supplì (the local take on arancini) and red wine Rome has to offer – after all, sustenance begets art, right?

Unleash you inner artist.

Walk, hike and pig out in Portugal

Delicious seafood, surprising landscapes, entertaining history and a dash of mythology – Portugal has it all. And there’s no better way to suck the marrow from this bucket-list destination than by hiking it. Meet your guide in Sintra, where colourful palaces freckle the green landscape and twisted, tiled alleyways connect the town’s many tabernas and bakeries.

Later, amble up the Sintra Mountains for a picnic as the sun sinks into the Atlantic Ocean. The next day, wander Europe’s westernmost point, Cabo da Roca, stopping for a dip in the ocean and to fill your belly with clams, prawns and fish served up at a local restaurant by the sand. Take in coves, sample wine from one of Portugal’s oldest cellars, and discover the magic that has drawn nobles to Sintra for centuries. Earn your appetite.

Classic cars take on Italy’s 1000 Miglia

Unlike the infamous Mille Miglia (Thousand Miles) endurance race that was banned in the 1950s following a particularly devastating crash, the annual amateur re-enactment – with the same name – doesn’t slap down a thrill a minute. What it does boast, however, is one of the most beautiful rally routes in the world, traversing a course of cobbled streets, Tuscan hills and lofty mountain passes. The event draws thousands of spectators each year, all of whom share a love of classic cars: only models that participated in the original races – held between 1927 and 1957 – are welcome to enter. Even so, more than 400 teams cruise in with their vintage rides from all corners of the globe.

While the route varies slightly each year, these ancient engines always rev to life during May in Brescia, at the foothills of the Alps, where motor races have been held for more than a hundred years. If you don’t happen to own a 1951 Jaguar XK120 or a 1927 Bugatti T40, make for one of the checkpoints and watch these charming beauties roll by.

Get to know Italy in winter

We’re often so quick to associate Italy with summer, but we’ve we’re saying ‘no grazie’ to melted gelato and scorching pebble beaches in favour of the country’s off-season – winter! Keen to share a quieter side of Italy, Intrepid Travel is offering an eight-day Highlights of Italy in Winter tour beginning in Rome.

You’ll walk the crumbling ruins of Rome, float over Venice, wander the museums of Florence, explore the narrow streets of Pisa, and learn to make pasta in Bologna. And Mother Nature may even send you some snow (although that is extremely rare). There are regular departures between November and March, so if you want to avoid the crowds – and the sweat – this could be the way to go.

Get arty at Sketch

This Mayfair townhouse is actually an adult’s playground in disguise. Flawlessly designed, furnished and finished with an artist’s touch, Sketch offers a range of rooms for the adventurous soul, each with its own theme, bar and menu. Even the dress code is different.

One of its rooms, called The Glade, is reminiscent of a mystical forest, only it serves brunch and cocktails. The room has been decorated with a single twentieth-century French postcard printed onto hundreds of metres of paper and decoupaged to the walls. Order some Coteaux de l’Ardèche rosé and slip into this fairytale setting before moving on to one of the other rooms. We like the dreamy pink setting of the Gallery, decorated with 91 of artist David Shrigley’s works.

Beer gets crafty in Estonia

You might be surprised to hear there’s a craft beer revolution happening in Estonia, and it’s the Põhjala Brewery leading the frothy charge. The team behind Põhjala – several Estonians and a Scotsman – are, of course, beer enthusiasts. Their industrial-style brewery is so impressive, they also offer behind-the-scenes tours so visitors can see fermentation magic taking place. Beers are brewed and aged in oak barrels and many are infused with ingredients like bark and sap straight from Estonian forests.

There are 24 taps pouring the good stuff, ranging from IPAs to barley wine. Meanwhile, a Texas BBQ menu ensures those imbibing remain well fed at all times. Our absolute favourite feature, however, is the on-site sauna, which can be rented by the hour. Gather your mates and a few bevs then kick back while sweating it out. Cheers to that!

Go underground at Korobok

A nondescript door with a sign that says ‘Staff Only’ is the lone clue you’ll get that you’re close to stumbling upon Korobok, a secret underground bar in Moscow. Owned and run by the esteemed White Rabbit Group, who also own Tehnikum next door, Korobok is perhaps best known for being the bar with no menu. Instead, head barman Evgeny Shashin and his team of world-class mixologists will whip up a cocktail in accordance with your preferred tastes.

Each drink also comes with a perfume – carefully curated to enhance the cocktail you’ve ordered. Talk about personalised service! Korobok means boxes, or matchbox, in Russian, which is a telling name considering the bar itself is just a single chamber that looks more like a lounge room. With dark leather couches and dim lighting to create a warm and inviting space, you won’t regret having to search a little to find this watering hole.

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region: Europe