Here’s an experience that’ll truly take your breath away… dining while dangling (securely!) 160 feet in the air. The brainchild of a group of Belgians who presumably aren’t scared of heights, Dinner in the Sky began as the answer to one child’s wish for a flying dinner table. A collaboration between Hakuna Matata, a communications agency specializing in culinary wonders, and The Fun Group, a company known for amusement park installations using cranes, their airborne restaurant first took to the skies in 2006. Since then, flying tables have hovered in 45 countries throughout Europe, Australia, Japan, India, South Africa… and of course, North America. Currently a fixture in Las Vegas, 22 diners take to the air, joined by 3 staff, for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, dazzled by a delicious meal – and an extraordinary view.

I know, I know… you get to eat on a plane every time you take a work trip or fly home for the holidays. But this is quite a different culinary airplane adventure – you won’t hear multiple calls of ‘chicken or fish?’, be handed a Saran-wrapped sandwich in a GI Joe-sized portion, or get your elbow thwacked by the drinks trolley. This fully intact Boeing KC-97 tanker was built in 1953, and spent many years in the clouds, refuelling aircraft throughout the world. Then, in 2002, it set its wheels on the ground in Colorado Springs and became Solo’s, a restaurant-with-a-difference which, in addition to serving diners, also offers a journey through aviation via a display of hundreds of photos, memorabilia and rare artefacts. So, buckle up your seatbelt, and be sure to listen for the captain’s announcements…

Well now, this sounds incredibly lovely. Nestled in Utopia, Texas, The Laurel Tree restaurant was established by Laurel Waters, a French-trained chef who gained her culinary diploma at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris before going on to work at some of the finest restaurants in Provence. Having been open for over a year, The Laurel Tree recently gained an enchanting, childhood-summoning additional table – tucked away in a treehouse. In 2015, while working on a nearby project, Treehouse Master Pete Nelson and his crew visited The Laurel Tree for dinner. While chatting about Gerard, the 450-year-old oak tree in Laurel’s backyard, the idea for the leafy dining room was born. Seating 2 to 6 people, the treehouse is quite the setting for an intimate dinner, and particularly fitting for a special occasion. It also has a deck for a pre-dinner wine, or post-meal coffee. The whimsically-decorated treehouse is fully air conditioned and heated – and looks like a little slice of heaven!

There are many great things about this dinner option. Firstly, you’ll be on a boat. And not just any boat – it’s a Schooner Heron, which for you knowledgeable seafaring folk is a 65' John Alden designed Classic Schooner. Secondly, this three-hour sunset sail is the perfect opportunity to see the bay and watch the sun setting behind the Camden Hills. And thirdly, you’ll get to indulge in a hearty Lobster Bisque (mm!) as you listen to light commentary on the history of Rockport Harbor. I think if you look up ‘bliss’ in the dictionary, you’ll find that this is the definition...

The world boasts some glorious cave-dwelling restaurants (for example, Fangweng in China's Hubei Province, Ali Baba's Cave on Diani Beach, Kenya and the Ristorante Grotta Palazzese in Puglia, Italy), but we have an underground dinner spot here in America, too. On Route 66 in Peach Springs, the cavern Grotto at Grand Canyon Caverns is a dining chamber 200ft below the Earth’s surface – that’s 21 stories down! Opened in 2017, the restaurant currently accommodates 16, with diners seated on a wooden platform which gives a 360-degree view of the caves (incidentally, included in the meal price is a guided tour of the cave, which usually has its own cost for admission). Their ‘classic American comfort food’ is delivered via elevator and a pulley system. And if you’re thinking, crikey, a cave in Arizona, that’s going to be unspeakably hot, don’t fret – the cave stays at 72 degrees all year round.

Acclaimed New York bistro Abigail's Kitchen, established in 1997, has been holding Dinners in the Dark for a number of years. The premise is simple, if remarkable: upon arrival, diners are (comfortably!) blindfolded, and without sight, find their other senses heightened, with smells, sounds and textures all becoming more intense. This makes for a fun challenge for Chef Abigail Hitchcock, creating a menu with distinct tastes and consistencies – also entertaining for diners as, without being able to see what’s on their plate, they guess the elements of their delicious dinner (the menu is kept secret until the end of the meal). You’ll be guided and supported by the restaurant’s staff, so can relax and enjoy what one recent attendee described as “a great experience, one that will stay with us for a lifetime”.

Plus, if you’d like to prepare a feast in a working restaurant kitchen, check out our Chef for a Day experience, run with Chef Abigail at Abigail's Kitchen. It’s a culinary adventure you don’t want to miss!

Do you ever feel that eating out is a little decadent? That in this busy modern world, mealtime is a little… unproductive? Then you’ll love this place. Harvey Washbangers is a laundromat and restaurant, located in College Station, just a hop and a skip from Texas A&M University. While your not-so-fresh load takes a spin in the machine, you can take a seat, and sample the made to order grub. The menu has a better pedigree than you might guess, given the presence of general manager Michael Lair, who trained at the Culinary Institute of America, no less. And with endorsing enthusiasm, Bon Appetit magazine noted: “His jalapeño cream cheese burger, coconut and pecan pie, and "Ol Army Fries" (hand-cut fries topped with gravy, melted cheese, chorizo, and sliced jalapeños) are all made in-house.” Oh, and if you don’t want to tear yourself away from the table to check on your sud-embroiled smalls, don’t worry: a light board will keep you posted on their progress.

For an aquatic dining adventure fitting of Steve Zissou, you could snorkel on over to one of the Aquarium restaurants, at locations in Denver, Nashville, Dallas and Kumah. Surrounded by wavy-walled aquariums which provide floor-to-ceiling viewing from all tables, you’ll be transfixed by the mind-bogglingly colorful array of finned friends floating past. You may be mesmerized, but don’t forget to eat your dinner!

For more fin-laden fun, there’s also Shark's Underwater Grill in Orlando. This award-winning restaurant will aim to bamboozle you with good food and a window into the world of sharks, as they glide past you (quite possibly eyeing up whatever’s on your plate). Based at SeaWorld, you’ll be able to make an agreeably fishy day of it.

You’ll find Quinn’s Lighthouse in Oakland, CA, where from 1903, having been constructed by the U.S. Lighthouse Service, it was the Oakland Harbor Entrance Lighthouse – and sailor’s friend. As their website states, “Originally, the lantern room contained a 5TH Order Fresnel lens, which produced a flashing white light every 5 seconds that could be seen for 14 miles. A giant 3,500 lb. fog bell was located on the porch and struck every 5 seconds during periods of fog.” These days, with ships kitted out with fancy navigation systems, there may be less need for such lighthouses, but Quinn’s has a new life as a beacon of fine food and refreshment (see what we did there?). Its Yacht Club Dining Room overlooks the Oakland Estuary, while upstairs you’ll find The Upper Deck Pub, which carries 26 draft beers and imported bottled beers, and has an 80-seater outside deck with views of the rather lovely marina.

We're heading to New England for our next lighthouse dining adventure, which takes place in the awe-inspiring Newburyport Lighthouse. Located in picturesque Newburyport, Massachusetts, this private dining experience for two is ranked among the Top 35 Things To Do in all of New England by Yankee Magazine.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, perfect for those who love to dine in unique settings. Upon arrival at the Lighthouse, you and your guest will enjoy a fully catered meal prepared by one of Newburyport’s best restaurants as you take in the breath-taking panoramic views. The lighthouse is yours for the whole afternoon or evening!

This romantic meal for two is a great way to spend time together and enjoy the amazing views of the Massachusetts’ coastline. Celebrate a special occasion, impress your significant other, or maybe even pop the question with scenic Newbury as your backdrop.

This will be a corker of a dining experience, as you enjoy dinner and jazz during a two-hour steamboat cruise. Yep, a steamboat! (Crack out the floaty frock and the parasol… I’m coming over all excitable just thinking about it). Discover New Orleans’ most active port, sailing from the heart of the French Quarter on the city’s only authentic steamboat. While being fed a freshly prepared, buffet-style Creole dinner, you’ll also receive some highly nutritious food for the soul, in the form of live jazz by the Grammy-nominated Dukes of Dixieland. The Steamboat Natchez creates a distinctive atmosphere reminiscent of the old-fashioned South during this splendid cruise. And I might have this slightly wrong, but what’s that expression – if music and a Creole buffet be the food of life, then sail on?!

You’ll certainly feel secure at Trinity Place, as this restaurant in New York City’s Financial District is set in an old bank vault. Commissioned by Andrew Carnegie and built in 1904, this was claimed to be the world’s largest, and strongest, vault. In fact, it was so large and so heavy that when the manufacturers finished its production in upstate Hudson, they had to send it sailing down the Hudson River, with it subsequently transported from Battery Park to its home at 115 Hudson on custom built railway tracks. The vault was restored from what they adorably describe as ‘dusty condition’ in 2006, and now those 35-ton superhero-strength doors (which, unusually, flank both ends of the vault), greet modern-day diners.

The Strasburg Rail Road in Ronks, Pennsylvania, is America’s oldest operating railroad, dating back to 1832. Originally transporting both passengers and freight, as the Rail Road’s website declares, “the short line limped along for more than a century until in 1958, on the verge of abandonment, the railroad was salvaged and given new life as a tourist railroad.” Now a lively and delightful attraction, visitors can climb aboard and enjoy steaming through the tranquil Amish countryside to Paradise, PA and back. Strasburg has five working steam locomotives and 19 operating passenger cars, including, amongst other treasures, their Dining Car. There are myriad on-board dining adventures available, including Christmas, Easter and Mother’s Day Dinners, an Amish Feast, and Wing Night! Plus they offer Wine & Cheese experiences, and the Daily Lunch aboard the Lee E. Brenner Dining Car. For time-travelling tranquillity, this is just the ticket.

This wholly unique establishment, started by former farmers Greg Mitchell and Chad Conley, is a restored railcar turned into a charming fifteen-seat diner.

Based in Biddeford, Maine, this inviting diner pays homage to its vintage routes with a striking red exterior and classic Americana decor.

As well as a fun and inventive dining concept, Palace doesn't skimp on the menu. Expect diner comforts like corned beef hash, cheeseburger and fries, and French toast. As you tuck into your wholesome meal, you'll feel transported back to the good old days, sitting inside a real piece of history!

For quite the majestic view of Mother Nature’s power and glory, you could dine at Volcano House restaurant, The Rim. Located in Hawaii National Park, the restaurant features Kilauea caldera and the billowing Halema’uma’u Crater as its rather stunning backdrop. The food is remarkable, too, with chefs using ingredients from local farms and ranches, including fresh caught island fish, grass-fed beef and Big Island grown vegetables. And as a literary side note, author Mark Twain stayed at Volcano House – which also happens to be Hawaii’s oldest hotel – and actually scaled the summit of Kilauea during an eruption. Describing his 1866 stay in Roughing It, he wrote: “Neat, roomy, well furnished and a well kept hotel. The surprise of finding a good hotel at such an outlandish spot startled me, considerably more than the volcano did.”

A noted travel destination, it’s an idea to check the Park’s status before visiting; Kīlauea has been erupting nearly continuously since 1983, and at the time of writing, Volcano House and the Park are temporarily closed to visitors ‘due to the possibility of a steam event and ash fall at the summit of Kilauea Volcano’.

These days, doing time at this Charles Street address in Boston feels like a luxurious treat. But you’re likely to have felt less enamoured about staying there at any point before 1990, as ‘til then this was the Charles Street Jail. Built in 1851, the building has been transformed into The Liberty Hotel, though it retains some of the jail’s features; its historic catwalks and trademark windows (at the time of assembly “thought to yield light four times as great as that in any prison yet constructed”) remain intact, and the exercise yard has become a landscaped courtyard. Most notably, the bar, Alibi (!), was formerly a drunk tank, and cleverly monikered restaurant, Clink, incorporates some of the old prison cells. But given how opulently, if sympathetically, the jail has been refashioned, when you dine here, any Shawshank Redemption-style antics will be the last thing on your mind.

“Imagine a guided evening snowshoe adventure through a moon and lantern lit forest, accompanied by sparkling snow crystals.” Sounds magical, doesn’t it? That’s how the folk at Solitude Mountain describe their winter dining experience, where diners partake in fine dining – a four-course dinner, in fact – in a yurt, in a snowy forest (this sounds agreeably Narnia-esque, and you may wonder if you’ve fallen through the back of the wardrobe and expect to see Aslan or the White Witch…). Taking place in Solitude, Utah, these intimate dinners at The Yurt (limited to 26 people) are available most Wednesdays through Sundays in the Winter season.

Looking for an exciting dining experience that the kids can enjoy? This Orlando attraction has it all! Join the evil Captain Sebastian on a swashbuckling pirate adventure, and become a part of this epic and interactive pirate's dinner adventure!

Your unique dining adventure begins when you climb aboard an authentically replicated 18th-century Spanish Galleon. This Broadway quality show is presented on the enormous, fully-rigged Pirate’s Galleon anchored in a 300,000-gallon indoor lagoon.

Surrounding the lagoon is a showroom of six additional ships where you, along with the beautiful Princess Anita and her court, are hostages of a band of Pirates led by the dastardly Sebastian who will stop at nothing to plunder, pillage and rob.

Before the show starts, you will begin your evening as a VIP guest of Princess Anita, in the Kings Festival! Have fun interacting with the pirates as you enjoy an array of delicious appetizers.

Next, it’s time to take your seats and follow your fearless pirate mascot, cheering them on as the adventure unfolds with a cast of a dozen actors, singers and stunt performers engaging in a bounty of action-packed exploits, accompanied by cannon blasts, pyrotechnics and plenty of laughs. As you enjoy the show, indulge in a hearty feast and create memories to last a lifetime.

This incredible restaurant in Los Angeles is built around a towering Redwood tree, and leans into the theme with decor that makes you feel like you're in the middle of the forest. The wooden interiors are decorated with slightly 'Uncanny Valley'-esque stuffed wild animals and extravagant vintage touches, ready to transport you to another world.

With multiple floors and rooms to explore, you'll soon be swept up in the magic. An extensive menu offers everything from short rib to marinated mushrooms, and everyone's preferences are covered - so you can ensure your belly is full while you explore paradise.