Many travellers talk about “getting off the beaten track”, but few ever speak of going beneath it. Under some of the world’s most recognisable, and well-trodden metropolitan streets lie “hidden” subterranean networks.
The vast majority are comprised of “live” services like mass transit systems and sewers. Those are off-limits to all but the most hardened of urban explorers who risk life, limb and freedom to experience the lesser-known side of a city.
But there are some underground relics accessible to the average traveller. Here’s our pick of the world’s hidden cities.
New York’s abandoned subway stations
The New York Subway system has experienced countless changes over its more than 100-year history. Many of these left tunnels and stations redundant and dormant – the ornate City Hall station being the gem.
Rome’s catacombs
Ancient Rome’s catacombs date back to the first half of the 2nd century. Christians, who at the time suffered great persecution, created them as consecrated burial spots. Tours of the catacombs of St. Callixtus are run regularly.
Berlin’s bunkers
Much of the city’s turbulent history – particularly WWII and the Cold War – is expressed in underground constructions like bunkers and flak towers, and through stories of the use of subway and sewer systems as a means of escape. The not-for-profit group Berliner Unterwelten run several tours.
Old Seattle
Seattle grew up haphazardly on the back of the logging industry. Built on the flats along the Pacific shoreline, the early city was highly susceptible to tidal flooding and all its ugly outcomes. After Seattle was ravaged by fire in 1889, civic leaders ordered the new city to be built above the tide flats.
Rather than demolish and start from scratch, many residents simply closed off their ground floors and started again from what was the second floor. In that moment, streets and shop fronts were turned into abandoned underground passageways – ones that are easily visited today.
