BudgetTravel

Think about how many times you've been to the top of the highest building in town. We like a pretty view as much as anyone, but they're all kind of the same, right?

Well, there's more to most cities than what scrapes the sky--as long as you're willing to go beneath the surface. Underground tours are equal parts creepy and romantic, a thrill in a world where thrills often feel overpackaged or in short supply.

The abandoned store Korn Building is one stop on Bill Speidel's Underground Tour of Seattle (courtesy Undergroundtour.com) SPLURGES! • Hotel souvenirs • Underground tours • Spoil the kids • Have a posh picnic • Fun travel gear • Coffee-table books • Outdoor adventures • The best cocktails • More splurges JUNE 2006 ISSUE • Table of Contents • Splurges! • Secret Hotels of the French Riviera • Testing our Cruise Tips • Road Trip: Eastern Kansas • Trip Coach: Japan • 40 Best Vacations

Rarely is an underground tour in the top tier of a city's established attractions--and we're not sure why. Catacombs, secret hideouts, spy tunnels...just reading the words gets our pulses racing.

Beijing: An escape tunnel dug by volunteers in 1969 as part of urban defensive works built between the mid-1930s and the late '60s. Qianmen Labour Services Center, 011-86/10-6702-2657, $2.40.

Berlin: Subterranean bunkers, constructed during World War II and the Cold War. Berlin Underworlds Association, berliner-unterwelten.de, 011-49/30-49-91-05-17, $11, 90 minutes.

Edinburgh: The 18th-century vaults and catacombs below South Bridge that once housed the city's poorest residents. Mercat Tours, mercattours.com, $11, one hour.

Naples: A Greco-Roman theater underneath a typical home, and aqueducts built in the Augustan era and the 1600s. Napoli Sotterranea, napolisotterranea.org, $11, 90 minutes.

Paris: The sewer system, much of it the work of Baron Haussmann, who in the 1850s expanded tunnels dating back to the 1200s. Musée des Égouts, 011-33/1-53-68-27-81, parisinfo.com, $4.75, one hour.

Portland: The tunnels used in the late 19th and early 20th century to kidnap transient laborers, like loggers and sailors, later to be sold as slaves. Portland Underground Tours, 503/622-4798, $12, 90 minutes.

Rome: Roman ruins, a pagan sanctuary, medieval mosaics, and dungeons under the Church of St. Clement's, the Basilica of St. John and Paul, and the Mamertine Prison. Avventure Bellissime Tours, tours-italy.com/tours/rome/city_tours/underground_rome_tour.htm, $73, three hours, April--November.

Seattle: The original sidewalk level of the city, covered up and built over after the Great Fire in 1889. Bill Speidel's Underground Tour, undergroundtour.com, $11, 90 minutes.

Seoul: The Third Infiltration Tunnel, dug in secret by North Koreans and located only 32 miles from the South Korean capital. Grace Travel, triptokorea.com, part of the six-hour DMZ tour, $49.

Vienna: Baroque crypts, Roman excavations, and tunnels that served as air-raid shelters in WWII. Vienna Walks & Talks , 011-43/1-774-8901, viennawalks.com, $18, 90 minutes.