The World's Most Extraordinary Cave Stays
From Cappadocia's 3,000-year-old volcanic caves to Australia's underground opal-mining town where the entire population lives below the desert surface โ these are Earth's most genuinely otherworldly places to sleep.
Museum Hotel Cappadocia โ 3,000 Years of Carved Rock
Cappadocia's "fairy chimney" landscape โ volcanic tuff eroded into extraordinary towers, cones and pinnacles over three million years โ is one of the most surreal places on Earth. Early Bronze Age inhabitants carved entire cities into the soft rock. The Museum Hotel in Uรงhisar occupies a collection of genuine ancient cave dwellings, restored into 30 luxury suites with private terraces overlooking the valley. Hot air balloon flights at dawn are the defining Cappadocian experience โ 100+ balloons rising simultaneously over the fairy chimneys as the sun comes up. The cave rooms maintain a constant 18ยฐC year-round regardless of outside temperature.
Coober Pedy Dugouts โ Australia's Underground Town
Coober Pedy produces 70% of the world's opals and almost its entire population of 3,500 lives underground in "dugouts" โ homes, hotels, churches and shops carved directly into the red sandstone hillsides to escape the 50ยฐC summer surface temperatures. The Desert Cave Hotel is the most comfortable option: a full hotel facility carved underground, with rooms carved from the opal-bearing sandstone layers of the hillside. The Mad Max series, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Pitch Black all filmed here. The lunar landscape of craters, blinding white salt lakes and red desert plains extending to every horizon is utterly unlike anywhere else on Earth.
Sextantio Le Grotte โ Matera's Cave Hotel
Matera's Sassi โ ancient cave dwellings carved into a ravine in southern Italy โ are among the oldest continuously inhabited human settlements on Earth, dating back 9,000 years. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Sassi were famously used as the backdrop for Jerusalem in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ and more recently as the location for the James Bond No Time to Die car chase. Sextantio Le Grotte della Civiltร converts genuine Sassi cave dwellings into hotel rooms, preserving the rough limestone walls and centuries-old vaulted ceilings while adding minimal modern comforts. Matera was European Capital of Culture 2019.
Seven Wonders Bedouin Camp โ Sleep Beside the Indiana Jones Temple
Petra's rose-red rock city โ carved by the Nabataean civilization 2,300 years ago โ is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and the "Treasury" facade was used as the exterior of the Holy Grail temple in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The Seven Wonders Bedouin Camp operates cave and tent accommodation inside the Petra Archaeological Park itself, outside the official opening hours. Guests staying at the camp can experience Petra By Night โ when the Siq is lit by thousands of candles and the Treasury glows in the darkness โ and access the site before the day-trip crowds arrive at sunrise. The Bedouin families have lived in these caves for generations.
Mystique โ Santorini's Finest Cave Hotel
Santorini's cave houses are cut into the volcanic pumice of the caldera cliffs โ rock deposited by the most catastrophic volcanic eruption in European history, the 1627 BC Minoan eruption that destroyed the Bronze Age civilization. Mystique, perched on the rim of the caldera at the northern tip of Santorini, represents the pinnacle of cave hotel luxury: carved suites with infinity pools appearing to hang above the 300-metre caldera drop, private terraces with uninterrupted views of the submerged volcano, and the Aegean Sea. The cave rooms maintain a natural temperature with no air conditioning needed even in August. Santorini's sunsets from these cliff-edge terraces are genuinely among the most beautiful on Earth.
Xaluca Dades โ Inside Morocco's Red Rock Gorges
The Dades Gorges โ Morocco's answer to the Grand Canyon, with 300-metre red limestone walls carved by the Dades River โ served as a filming location for Gladiator, The Mummy and sections of Game of Thrones. The Xaluca Dades hotel is built into the canyon walls themselves, with terraced rooms carved from the reddish rock and private balconies looking directly down into the gorge. The Atlas Mountains above are snow-capped in winter; the Sahara Desert begins just 90km to the south at Merzouga's dunes. The pre-Saharan belt of Morocco โ palm oases, kasbahs and canyon villages โ is the country's most dramatic and least touristed region.