secret passages and tunnels

44 Places

Washington, D.C.

Capitol Building Tunnel System

Members of Congress have traveled between the buildings on Capitol Hill for a century hidden from tourists, press, and storm clouds.

Elliot Carter

Added by Elliot Carter

Los Angeles, California

Underground Tunnels of Los Angeles

During prohibition, corrupt city officials ran drinking dens under the streets of Downtown Los Angeles.

Rachel

Added by Rachel

Washington, D.C.

Secret Entrance to the White House

The winding route passes through an enclosed alleyway, two tunnels, and leads to the White House basement.

Elliot Carter

Added by Elliot Carter

Passetto di Borgo

The Pope’s secret escape route.

Annetta Black

Added by Annetta Black

Washington, D.C.

Congressional Garbage Tunnel

The tunnel under the Capitol Building where Congress takes out its trash.

Elliot Carter

Added by Elliot Carter

New York, New York

The Secret Entrance to the Knickerbocker Hotel

An unassuming secret door once led to a legendary watering hole.

Luke J Spencer

Added by Luke J Spencer

Salzburg, Austria

Almkanal of Salzburg

The medieval network of canals hidden underneath the city is opened to explorers each year.

Added by gretchenmora

Washington, D.C.

FBI Spy House

A painfully obvious spy house sits right across the street from the Russian Embassy.

Josh

Washington, D.C.

FDR's Bomb Shelter

The first presidential bomb shelter was located in an old vault under the Treasury, connected to the White House via tunnel.

Elliot Carter

Added by Elliot Carter

Cookley, England

Drakelow Tunnels

Near Birmingham, England three and a half miles of top-secret tunnels housed a World War II “shadow factory” and a Cold War nuclear bunker.

Added by chernobaevlucy

Vienna, Austria

Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Austrian National Library)

The beautiful baroque library of the Hapsburg empire.

Dylan

South Pole Ice Tunnels

These passages carved from the Antarctic ice hold strange shrines to the harsh southernmost climes.

devonpike

Added by devonpike

Toronto, Ontario

Sewers of Toronto

A well-preserved network of cavernous tunnels have spent silent centuries removing Toronto's waste.

Mark Casey

Added by Mark Casey

San Francisco, California

Fairmont San Francisco Penthouse Suite

San Francisco's most expensive hotel suite includes a secret passageway rumored to have been used by JFK.

lewblank

Added by lewblank

New York, New York

Track 61

This abandoned subway station beneath the Waldorf-Astoria hotel is allegedly used to secretly transport presidents.

EricGrundhauser

Added by EricGrundhauser

Washington, D.C.

Hinckley Hilton President's Walk

A hidden passageway now marks the site of an assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan that some say broke a 140-year-old curse.

dlc31723

Added by dlc31723

Villefranche-sur-Mer, France

The Rue Obscure

A medieval military street hidden beneath a charming French fishing village.

Luis Morato

Added by Luis Morato

Baguio, Philippines

Japanese Tunnels of Baguio

Some locals believe the fabled lost gold of General Yamashida is hiding somewhere beneath the city.

Added by ToriElliott

Bourbon Tunnel

Dug as a secret royal escape route, the tunnel became a wartime bomb shelter and dumping ground for vintage cars.

Added by Sarah Farrow

Pasadena, California

Cheesewright Studios

This 1920s masterpiece of French Quarter architecture hides a secret tunnel used by Albert Einstein.

madelinegarden

Added by madelinegarden

Dunfermline, Scotland

Saint Margaret's Cave

A hidden tunnel leads to a medieval queen's shrine buried beneath a parking lot.

Added by Bathynomus

London, England

Euston's Lost Tunnels

A network of concealed passageways lies within a busy London Underground station.

AmunyAnkhesenra

Added by AmunyAnkhesenra

New York, New York

6 1/2 Avenue: Manhattan's Secret Street

Tucked away amidst some of the most famous addresses in the world is New York's only fraction of a street.

Luke J Spencer

Added by Luke J Spencer

New York, New York

The Hidden Art Deco Tunnel Underneath the New Yorker Hotel

The beautiful tunnel that ran from the lobby to Penn Station is still hidden underneath 34th Street.

Luke J Spencer

Added by Luke J Spencer

Nottingham, England

The Caves of Nottingham

A labyrinthine underworld of tunnels and caverns hides beneath the city.

Capemarsh

Added by Capemarsh

Shanghai, China

1930 Folk Street

This tunnel looks like a sliver of Shanghai that's stuck in the past.

linkogecko

Added by linkogecko

Passetto del Biscione

This hidden alley near the location of Rome's first theater was the site of a curious miracle.

LatiumMirabile

Added by LatiumMirabile

Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico

Acequia Madre

The remains of a centuries-old water system that inspired local legends of secret tunnels.

Mario Yair TS

Added by Mario Yair TS

Washington, D.C.

Baptist Alley

This unassuming passageway played a key role in one of the most important events in U.S. history.

dlc31723

Added by dlc31723

Borshchivs'kyi district, Ukraine

Priest's Grotto

A subterranean Holocaust refuge within one of the world's longest cave systems.

meganmichelle

Added by meganmichelle

Manchester, England

Guardian Telephone Exchange Tunnels

This nondescript building hides an entrance to an underground nuclear tunnel system.

Gareth Hacking

Added by Gareth Hacking

Tbilisi, Georgia

Stalin’s Underground Printing House Museum

The secret room where early Bolsheviks cranked out propaganda fliers on a smuggled printing press.

Added by ToriElliott

Manchester, England

Manchester and Salford Junction Canal

An abandoned canal route lies hidden under the streets of Manchester.

Gareth Hacking

Added by Gareth Hacking

Traverse City, Michigan

Tunnels of Traverse City State Hospital

A subterranean world of tunnels links several buildings of this rare 19th-century asylum.

rickbbiking

Added by rickbbiking

Boston, Massachusetts

Creek Square

This historic patch of real estate offers a glimpse of colonial Boston.

Added by dsouth

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Café Papeneiland

Famed for its pie, this eatery has a hidden tunnel that allowed Catholics to secretly walk to church during the Reformation.

Sam OBrien

Added by Sam OBrien

Samovodene, Bulgaria

Transfiguration Monastery Tunnel

A mysterious tunnel hidden in the shadows of a colorful, historic sanctuary.

sashacollecutt

Added by sashacollecutt

Boston, Massachusetts

Bodega

This upscale streetwear store is hidden behind a fake Snapple machine in the back of a deli.

themakebelieve

Added by themakebelieve

New York, New York

Bryant Park Escape Hatch

A commemorative plaque hides a door that leads down to the New York Public Library's underground book bunker.

lampbane

Added by lampbane

Asheville, North Carolina

Biltmore Estate's Secret Passages

The enormous 250-room Vanderbilt mansion conceals hidden doors and secret passageways.

Meg

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Oklahoma City Underground

Travel through the hidden underbelly of the city in colorful tunnels filled with art and history exhibits.

ieanferdinand

Added by ieanferdinand

Portland, Oregon

Portland's Shanghai Tunnels

The seamy, underground secrets of Portland's criminal past.

jamesb

Added by jamesb

Seattle, Washington

Seattle Underground

A walk through the historic city center, under the streets of Seattle.

Hōdō Inari Shrine

A lonely chimpanzee lures you into a narrow alley leading to this hidden shrine.

Fred Cherrygarden

Added by Fred Cherrygarden