Up close and personal

Stonehenge
Most visitors to Stonehenge have to content themselves with looking at the stones from the distance. However, for those willing to get up early in the morning it is possible to gain access to the middle of the stone circle, usually between 8am and 9am, though you can choose to go at dawn or dusk. Popular with new-agey types, who get to spend an hour walking around the megaliths.

• How to do it: 01722 343830 or email stonecircleaccess@english-heritage.org.uk. Adults £13; children aged five to 15, £6

Climbing Big Ben
Anyone over the age of 11 can see the inner workings of Big Ben by climbing the 334 steps to see the giant hammer and eponymous bell. The free one-hour tour also includes a visit to a small museum and a (disused) prison for badly behaved MPs.

• How to do it: apply in writing to your MP about six months in advance. More details at parliament.uk

Rooftop tours of Salisbury Cathedral
A chance to go backstage at one of Britain's finest medieval cathedrals. The highlight of the tour, which lasts just under two hours, is climbing into the roof of the cathedral and examining the 13th-century scaffolding and roof timbers, before going outside for spectacular views of the Wiltshire countryside.

• How to do it: there are usually up to four tours a day, but it's best to book in advance (although in December tours will take place in Christmas week only). Children must be aged over five and accompanied by an adult. Adults, £6.50; children, £5.50. More details at salisburycathedral.org

Cook with Gordon Ramsey (without being humiliated on TV)
Tasting Places runs regular masterclasses with some of Britain's top chefs. Dates for 2009 are still being finalised, but Ramsay has agreed to do two sessions and there will also be a demonstration by former Connaught chef Angela Hartnett, followed by an informal lunch. Other sessions will be held by Sam Clark of Moro in London.

• How to do it: Tasting Places (020 8964 5333, tastingplaces.com) costs from £165 for a masterclass, including lunch

Getting academic

Cave dwellers
Konstantinos Politis, who leads The Traveller's 'Desert Monasteries & Birth of Christianity' tour leaving on 7 October, is currently excavating Lot's Cave in Jordan, supposedly the sanctuary where God protected Lot and his family before destroying Sodom and Gomorrah. His tour includes a private scheduled visit and lunch at the site. All of The Traveller's scheduled tours have the option of a guided tour of the British Museum's relevant section, as well as a pre-tour lecture.

• How to do it: The Traveller (020 7436 9343; the-traveller.co.uk) offers the tour for £2,725, including flights from Heathrow and all taxes, transfers, 15 nights' half-board in two- to four-star accommodation, and the services of Konstantinos Politis and tour staff

Roman temples
Andante, which specialises in archaeology-based holidays, has a tour leaving on 26 April that explores the temples and other remains left by the Romans. The 2nd-century BC temple and sanctuary at Gabii, about 13 miles to the east of Rome, is closed to the general public but is opened especially for the Andante group by the custodian. 'The people who lead our tours are often the people who have been excavating there, or they know the excavators - hence the access that our groups often have to newly uncovered areas of the site, or to recent discoveries,' says Andante's managing director Annabel Lawson.

• How to do it: Andante Travels (01722 713800; andantetravels.co.uk) offers an eight-day tour escorted by Richard Wallace, former head of classics at the University of Keele. It costs £1,470, including seven nights' full board with wine, local travel, entry to all sites and field notes, or £1,700 including flights

Private lives
In June, archaeologist Louise Schofield will be leading a Cox & Kings tour to Albania. One of the highlights will be a visit to the privately owned Zekate House in Gjirokastër. Dating from the Ottoman period, it has secret rooms and passageways, as well as frescoes and carved wooden ceilings. Also included is a visit to Gjirokastër's armaments museum, which has been closed for several years. It has rooms bristling with weapons, from ancient bronze swords to rare field guns from the wars of the last century, interspersed with Socialist Realist paintings from Albania's communist era.

• How to do it: the Cox & Kings (020 7873 5000, coxandkings.co.uk) tour led by Louise Schofield, is part of its Art Treasures programme. Departing 15 June, the 12-night tour costs £1,845 including flights, accommodation with breakfast, transfers and all excursions

Mayan stairway
Copán in Honduras is a Mayan archaeological site that is still undergoing excavation. On a trip with Journey Latin America, led by David Sedat, an archaeologist who works on the temple complex, it's possible to visit the newest areas of excavation as well as the established highlights of the Hieroglyphic Stairway and the Acropolis.

• How to do it: Journey Latin America (020 8747 8315, journeylatinamerica.co.uk) offers a five-day archaeology expedition around the amazing Mayan site of Copán Honduras, from £938 (based on two sharing). This includes transfers, accommodation, excursions, expert guides and most meals. Return flights start from £715, including taxes

Hidden Russia
Most of the great museums can only show a fraction of the works they own. This holiday to St Petersburg with Ace study tours goes into the Hermitage's workshops with head senior curator Olga Kostuk, before visiting the museum's new storage area, the Staraya Kerevenya Depository; treasures there include imperial carriages. Also included is a visit to a rehearsal at the Vaganova Ballet Academy, one of Russia's most prestigious ballet schools. The tour will check on the restoration of the Konstantinovsky Palace, too; it's currently being converted into a residence for the Russian president.

• How to do it: a week's holiday with Ace Study Tours (01223 835055; acestudytours.co.uk) costs £1,790, including return flights, accommodation based on two sharing a twin or double room, one performance, breakfast, dinner and three lunches, excursions and admissions

Clued-up concierges

A department store of one's own
Department stores don't stay open only for the Victoria Beckhams of this world. If you've got enough money, you, too, can have the doors unlocked. If you've got £10,000, the Mandarin Oriental in London can arrange to have Harvey Nichols, located opposite the hotel, open after hours. A personal shopper will be on hand to help you spend a £5,000 gift voucher.

• How to do it: Mandarin Oriental (020 7235 2000; mandarinoriental.com/london) charges £10,000 for two nights, including accommodation, breakfast, spa treatments and a £5,000 gift voucher

Inside the Vatican
The Pope's gardens at the Vatican are - technically - open to the public, but applying for access can be difficult for non-Italians. However, the concierge at the Cavalieri hotel can organise a tour of the gardens, followed by a private tour of the Sistine Chapel, where you can enjoy the latter in the solitude that Michelangelo imagined.

• How to do it: rooms at the Rome Cavalieri (00 39 06 3509 1; romecavalieri.com) start at €520 per room per night including breakfast. Allow three months' notice to arrange tours

In the zoo after dark
Visitors to Johannesburg's zoo have to head home at 5.30pm, but guests staying at the Westcliff hotel next door can arrange to stay on, wander around the enclosures, then have a private dinner in the old Elephant Enclosure (the elephants have been moved to a new one, which sounds less exciting, but saves you being trampled).

• How to do it: rooms at The Westcliff (0845 077 2222; westcliff.co.za) start from R3,830 (£253) per room including breakfast. Dinner in the Elephant Enclosure costs around R5,500 (£363) for hire of the venue, plus food (rates depend on number of guests and menu chosen)

Backstage at La Fenice
Having been engulfed by flames twice, La Fenice, Venice's iconic opera house, has seen its fair share of drama, but it's still one of the world's great opera houses. Kirker Holidays can organise an all areas backstage pass, taking them to places that are usually the exclusive preserve of such stars as Placido Domingo.

• How to do it: Kirker (020 7593 1899; kirkerholidays.com) charges £74 for a backstage pass for two people

After hours

Locked up in the tower
Witness a ceremony that has taken place at the Tower of London every night for the past 700 years. The ritual - when the Tower is locked for the night - starts at 9.30pm and lasts about 40 minutes. Between 1 April and 31 October, six people are admitted, increasing to 15 people from 1 November to 31 March. As with Big Ben, tickets are free but should be applied for up to two months in advance (three months for July and August).

• How to do it: send the names in your party, a choice of two dates and a self-addressed envelope to Ceremony of the Keys Office, Tower of London, London EC3N 4AB. More details: hrp.org.uk

Eat and sleep football
When there aren't matches taking place, West Ham's executive suites morph into affordable hotel rooms. With peerless views of the ground, guests should be able to see the groundsmen preparing the pitch before taking breakfast in the Sir Trevor Brooking Suite. It does help if you're a Hammers fan though.

• How to do it: rooms at the West Ham Quality Hotel (0870 460 8200; whufc.com) start at £70

Sleeping with history
Rent one of English Heritage's cottages and you can usually explore the site after day visitors have gone home. Refectory Cottage, which sits next to Rievaulx Abbey in North Yorkshire, has a small gate in the garden. Go through it and you can explore the ruins and the grounds of the 12th-century abbey after dark; an inspired and unique place for a late-night game of hide and seek.

• How to do it: Refectory Cottage sleeps four and costs from £313 for a three-night break (0870 333 1187; english-heritage.org.uk/holidaycottages)

A museum to yourself
The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities is one of the great treasure houses of the world, where the bulk of the Tutankhamun artefacts are stored. Given two weeks' notice, Elegant Resorts can arrange a private tour, guided by an expert, through the sarcophagi and mummies. The private tours take place from 7-9pm, after other visitors have left for the night.

• How to do it: Elegant Resorts (01244 897516; elegantresorts.co.uk) has three nights at the Four Seasons Cairo, from £1,870 including breakfast, return economy flights with British Airways and private car transfers and a private museum tour

People power

Hanging out with your sporting heroes
When the England cricket team tour the West Indies in February, you can join a constellation of former cricketing stars, including David Gower, Darren Gough and Allan Lamb. They will be on board the Silver Shadow cruise ship as it tours Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Antigua, coming ashore for matches.

• How to do it: nine-night cruises with ITC Sports (01244 355390; itcsports.co.uk) start from £3,950 including flights, transfers, accommodation and all meals on board, plus hospitality at matches

Tribal encounter
The Shirian are a little-known tribe whose lands are limited to settlements along the Paragua river in Venezuela and the upper reaches of Brazil's Uraricaa river. After painstakingly building up relations with the tribe, Explore's tour leader is now the only guide allowed to take groups into their ancestral lands. Time is spent in the village, learning about day-to-day Shirian life, plus there's a fishing excursion and, weather allowing, a trip (guided by the Shirian) upriver to the Ichun Falls for an overnight camp.

• How to do it: Explore's (0844 499 0901; explore.co.uk) Shirian Tribal Lands tour takes place on 18 July and 21 November. The price is £2,196, including flights from Heathrow and all taxes, all transfers, 14 nights' B&B (seven spent camping in hammocks, five in jungle shelters and two in hotels), and the services of a tour leader and support staff

Take part in a wine auction
The Burgundy Trois Glorieuses, the region's annual wine auction, will take place from 14-18 November at the Hospices de Beaune. It's normally open only to members of the wine trade, but Arblaster & Clarke has arranged for its guests to attend the auctions as well as a post-auction dinner at which many of the wines just sold are imbibed. The tour is led by Gerard Basset, founder of the Hotel du Vin chain.

• How to do it: a five-day trip with Arblaster & Clarke (01730 263111; winetours.co.uk) costs £2,299, including transport in France (but not flights), meals, accommodation and tour manager