9 Underground and Underwater Bars That Belong on Your Bucket List
While rooftop bars feature impressive views — and sometimes from nosebleed-inducing heights — there's a different sort of attraction to bars that are hidden underground or underwater since they offer a shared sense of intimacy and are often in spectacular or historic hideaway venues. These 9 subterranean bars from the Maldives to lower Manhattan each have their own visual flair and special atmosphere — the one thing they all have in common: they're not recommended for anyone who gets claustrophobic.
1. Breeze by Lebua
Location: Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof, Frankfurt, Germany
Atmosphere: Young, sophisticated crowd
The Lowdown: While, ironically, the namesake for this underground restaurant and bar is the open-air Breeze restaurant located on the 51st and 52nd floors of the Tower Club at Lebua in Bangkok, the Frankfurt version specializes in themed flights of cocktails, including its "smoke" series.
2. Cave Bar
Location: Hotel More, Dubrovnik, Croatia
Atmosphere: Smart, but casual
The Lowdown: Located along the seaside, the Cave Bar is a well-lit, well-appointed natural cavern that spans more than three levels and can accommodate about 60 guests.
3. [The Other] Cave Bar
Location: Petra Guest House Hotel, Petra (Wadi Musa), Jordan
Atmosphere: Casual, but lively
The Lowdown: Situated inside a 2000-year-old Nabataen rock tomb in the Petra archaeological area, the Cave Bar is known for its comfort food and party-friendly atmosphere.
4. Ithaa Undersea Restaurant
Location: Conrad Ragali Island Hotel, Maldives
Atmosphere: Smart, underwater (no scuba gear)
The Lowdown: This restaurant and bar that opens mid-morning for cocktails is the only underwater bar and restaurant in the world that's completely glass enclosed, featuring views of fish and coral reefs on every side.
5. The Library
Location: Underneath the Gilt Bar, Chicago
Atmosphere: The swankiest library you've ever been in
The Lowdown: Located downstairs at this River North venue, The Library presents a cozy atmosphere featuring craft cocktails and a substantial bar menu full of gluten-free and vegetarian fare.
6. Lil'a — and Sultan's Cave Suite
Locations: Museum Hotel, Cappadocia, Turkey
Atmosphere: Upscale and touristy
The Lowdown: This Relais & Chateaux property is situated in a series of restored ruins, caves and ancient houses. In addition to the hotel's cavernous Lil'a restaurant and bar, you can set up your own private overnight speakeasy in the Sultan's Cave Suite, an outrageously cool space accessed only by a cave tunnel, outfitted with a ceiling window for stargazing and a wine cellar stocked with regional wines.
7. Oriole
Location: East Poultry Avenue, Smithfield Market, London
Atmosphere: British world explorer — music lovers and history buffs, rejoice!
The Lowdown: Nestled underneath London's historic Smithfield Market, Oriole features world music from jazz to calypso in a setting full of curios collected from around the globe — the cocktails here are imaginatively created with references from across the map as well.
8. The Ship
Location: 158 Lafayette Street, New York City
Atmosphere: Seated elegance
The Lowdown: This downstairs bar in Lower Manhattan keeps it cozy with booths big enough for parties of up to six and serves small plates to match its well-chosen menu of cocktails, wines and beers.
9. 2 Birds 1 Stone
Location: 1800 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.
Atmosphere: After-work hang out
The Lowdown: This friendly and adult party-ish walk-down bar with its own outside entrance is situated underneath the Doi Moi restaurant and offers daily, hand-illustrated menus of its currently featured cocktails.
Have you visited any of these bars? Which ones are now on your travel bucket list? Sound off, below.
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The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
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- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
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- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month