10 Best Day Trips For Underground Explorers

Today Chislehurst Caves are a tourist attraction and although they are called caves, they are technically a mine as they are entirely manmade. In total there is over 22 miles of intersecting tunnels that were dug out in the mid-13th to early-19th centuries as a source of flint and lime-burning chalk.

Like Chislehurst Caves, the Hellfire Caves are a manmade network of chalk mines, which extend a quarter of a mile underground near the village of West Wycombe. The caves have a past of satanic rituals, worship and sacrifice, making them a fascinating place to visit. The caves were once the meeting place for the Hellfire Club a group of influential members of society including politicians. It's believed they practiced black magic and engaged in orgies. They're probably the smallest attraction on the list, but one of the most unique.

The famous show caves in Somerset is a vast network of impressive limestone chambers. Guests are taken on a guided tour through the atmospheric and well lit caves and given a fascinating account of their geological highlights and their uses through the years.

One of the UK's biggest and most secret bunkers was hidden in the small Scottish town of Anstruther, near Troywood in Fife. This regional government hideout was hidden beneath an innocent-looking Scottish farmhouse. The bunker which was kept secret for over 50 years and in use until 1993. It would have been occupied by UK Armed Forces and civil servants in preparation for a potential nuclear emergency. Following the Cold War, the bunker was unused for a decade before being reopened, this time to the public as a museum in 1994. It is now known as Scotland's Secret Bunker.

The Edinburgh Vaults are a network of eerie chambers which are formed in the arches of the South Bridge in Edinburgh. Due to the city's growing population, the 120 rooms or 'vaults' beneath the bridge were put to use to house taverns, workshops for cobblers and other tradesmen in 1788. The vaults were damp with poor air quality and conditions were grim, which resulted in businesses leaving. This meant that the dank caverns were overtaken by Edinburgh's poorest citizens, the homeless and criminals, who carried out activities such as illegal gambling, whisky distillery and even bodysnatching. Eventually the vaults were filled in and forgotten about, until they were rediscovered in the 1980s and eventually opened as a tourist attraction.

Not only is the Big Pit an educational insight into Britain's coal mining history, the former working coal mine in South Wales is also completely free to visit. The mine operated from 1880 to 1980, and was opened to the public in 1983.

Now maintained as a museum and packed full of wartime and military artefacts, the reinforced concrete bunker built at Hack Green was part of the ROTOR project during the Cold War. After being abandoned for some years, the Home Office took it over and converted the bunker to Regional Government Headquarters which remained in use until 1992.