Geisha
An evening of dancing and singing with a traditional geisha can be arranged in Kyoto. You are driven to an exclusive ryokan, where a beautifully presented kaiseki meal is served with the entertainment.
Details: about £450pp as part of a tour with Audley Travel (01993 838 200, www.audleytravel.com).

We have lift-off
Become part of mission control by launching a rocket from inside the Arctic Circle at the Esrfange space centre in Sweden. For £3,000 you can push the buttons to send the unmanned rocket hurtling into space.
Details: 07071 303020, www.redcarpet.co.uk.

Stone alone
Standard entry to Stonehenge allows you to view the monoliths only from a distance. But it is possible to arrange to wander within the stone circle outside normal visiting hours and sometimes, if you can make a good case, to have exclusive access.
Details: From £12 adults, £6 children (01722 343830, www.english-heritage.org.uk). Online Travel Editor Steve Keenan took the tour - read about his experiences here.

Frank's place
The “No Entry for Tourists” sign featuring a red-and-white road sign with a line through a man reading a book, is much photographed by tickled visitors to the double basilicas of St Francis (www.assisionline.com). However, if you can chat up the grey friars, you stand a good chance of getting an impromptu tour of the Franciscans' private quarters, which are infused with the aura of centuries of devotion. Worth a try.

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BACKGROUND

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• Inside Stonehenge

With this ring...
Climb the 334 steps to the belfry of Big Ben at Westminster and hold your hands over your ears when the 200kg (440lb) hammer strikes. On a one-hour tour you'll hear the history, stand behind the 7m (23ft) clock face, and see the small museum and prison room for MPs who misbehave in Parliament. For UK residents only (no children under 11), free by request in writing to your MP, but expect a six-month wait.
Details: www.parliament.uk.

On song for summer
Tickets for the best operas and performances in the Salzburg Summer Festival are snaffled by patrons before the box office opens. By joining the British Friends of the Salzburg Festival (annual membership £500) you can get advance booking privileges and the chance to join small escorted tours, which include exclusive events such as lunch with a local aristocrat as well as the best seats.
Details: The Friends of the Salzburg Festival, 42D Lancaster Gate, London W2 3NA 020-7499 4979, e-mail info@belindaharley.com).

Dreamtime
One of Australia's most spectacular destinations, Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, normally cannot be visited without a special licence. Sab Lord, a white Australian who grew up among the Aborigines, provides a personal introduction to this sacred land, its people and their traditions, culture and art.
Details: a day tour from Darwin costs £100pp as part of a package with Scott Dunn (020 8682 5060, www.scottdunn.com).

Show me the Monet
If you are an artist you can, with prior permission, spend a working day in Monet's garden at Giverny (which inspired his Waterlilies paintings) about 50 miles (75km) west of Paris, on Mondays when it is otherwise closed to the public. Bring your easel and brushes and leave your partner and children behind.
Details: Write to: Fondation Claude Monet, 84 rue Claude Monet, 27620 Giverny (15 euros/£10.80 a day; 00 33 2 32 51 28 21, www.fondation-monet.com).

Up Pompeii
Have special access to some of the houses in Pompeii, and be shown round the conservation workshops of the excavations by the chief conservator on an in-depth tour of Pompeii and Herculaneum with an expert guide-lecturer.
Details: £1,295pp for an eight-day tour with Andante Travels in Archaeology (01722 713800, www.andantetravels.co.uk); six departures in 2008.

Corridor of power
Lined with with paintings by Old Masters, the Vasari Corridor in Florence is a secret passage that links the Uffizi Gallery with the Pitti Palace, and is closed to the public. But you can see it in an exclusive small-group tour.
Details: A three-night break with Elegant Resorts (01244 897516, www.elegantresorts.co.uk), staying at the Hotel Savoy, costs from £720pp, including B&B and flights, but paying for the visit locally (about £65).

Walk on the wild side
See some of Malaysia's exotic wildlife on the first navigation of the Kinabatangan river in Borneo by super-yacht. The trip also includes an invitation to a Kadazan wedding and Sabahan tribal celebrations, plus a rainforest dinner with conservationists.
Details: from £350,000 for ten people (020-7100 6991, www.basedonatruestory.co.uk).

Chapel of love
It's difficult to appreciate a masterpiece in the company of other tourists. So why not have the Sistine Chapel to yourself as part of a private two-hour tour of the Vatican?
Details: Original Travel (020-7978 7333, www.originaltravel.co.uk) can arrange it on a four-night trip to Rome from £1,500pp, including flights and four nights' B&B in a hotel.

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