There are few thrills in the world that equal looking down from a great height. You’re able to look down on the world, the buildings look like models, the people look like insects. At the same time, one wrong step would send you tumbling inevitably to your doom. There’s a sense of incredible power mixed with a dizzying acknowledgment of your own mortality that only approaching the edge of a vast drop off can provide. Of course, to really get that rush, you’ve gotta go big. Fortunately, there are spots all over the world that are designed to get you up close and personal with breathtaking, heady views. Here, for your consideration, are some of the world’s scariest viewing platforms.
1. The French Alps’ Step into the Void Viewing Platform is Located 3,400 Feet Above a Sea of Icy Glaciers
2. The Alpsitze Viewing Platform in Germany Features Two Multi-Level Extensions Into an Abyss That’s More than 3,200 Feet Above the Ground
3. The Aurland Fjord Viewing Platform Was Crafted From Traditional Scandinavian Timbers and Sits 2,000 Feet Above the Western Overlook
4. Grab a Meal While You Sweat From Nerves at Tokyo’s Skytree Viewing Platform, Located in the World’s Third Tallest Structure
5. 800 Feet Above the Rushing Colorado River is the Grand Canyon’s Stunning Glass-Floored Walkway
6. You Better Hope You Don’t Get Vertigo Visiting China’s 4,700 Foot Tall Walk of Faith Which is Only Accessible By Cable Car
7. Take in the Entire Scope of One of the World’s Most Beautiful Cities From the Viewing Platform Atop London’s Shard
8. The Dachstein Glacier Is the Gathering Point of Eight Glaciers and the Viewing Platform Provides a View of All Eight As Well As the Surrounding Forests of the Czech Republic
9. The 103rd floor of Chicago’s Wills Tower Affords a 50-Mile View of the Surrounding Countryside That Reaches All the Way to Lake Michigan
10. Vancouver’s Cliffwalk is a 700-Foot Long Walkway Suspended 300 Feet Above British Columbia’s Capilano River
11. A Viewing Platform Doesn’t Have to Be Man Made to Be Impressive, Just Check Out Norway’s Trolltunga Cliff Which Hovers 2,300 Feet Above Lake Ringedalsvatnet
12. Austria’s Stairway to Nothingness is 9,000 Feet High in the Austrian Alps and Includes an Exposed Suspension Bridge that Spans a 1,300 Foot Abyss
13. The Bridge Between Kuala Lampur’s Petronas Towers is About 500 Feet Above the City and Even Offers Base Jumping For the Truly Bold
14. The Langkawi Sky Bridge Crosses the Summit of Malaysia’s Verdant Gunung Mat in Chinchang
15. Auckland, New Zealand’s Sky Tower Walkway Is the Exact Definition of ‘Not for the Faint of Heart’
More than 600 feet above the streets of the city’s famed telecommunications spire, visitors are actually obligated to wear both coveralls and a double tether.
16. Go Straight to the Top at the World’s Highest Viewing Platform, Dubai’s 1,800 Foot Tall Burj Khalifa Observation Deck
17. Before You Plunge Into the Natural Splendor of Matteo Thun’s Viewing Platform in Merano, Italy Offers Unforgettable Views of the Entire Countryside
18. Located in America’s Allegheny National Forest, the Kinzua Sky Walk Was Originally Used to Transport Coal; Now It’s a Tourist Attraction That Offers a Beautiful View of the Expansive Forest
19. The Top of Tyrol Stubai Glacier Viewing Platform Gives Visitors a Sweeping View of More Than 100 Peaks
The viewing platform is so high and so remote that all 19 tons of steel for the viewing platform had to be lowered into place by helicopter.
20. Iguazu Falls is a Massive Collection of 270 Torrents That’s So Awe-Inspiring Eleanor Roosevelt was Said to Have Exclaimed, ‘Poor Niagara!’ When She First Saw It
