Breathtaking Viewing Platforms Worldwide

Breathtaking Viewing Platforms Worldwide

It is exhilarating to stand on top of the world admiring the natural beauty of our planetspread beneath us. Bone-chilling ravines, steep cliffs, thundering waterfalls, snow-clad peaks or serene rivers, nature has been very kind to us. You need not be a rock climber or a mountaineer to experience planet Earth in all its glory. We have here, the most amazing viewing platforms that help us do just that. So climb atop one, and take a deep breath as you savor the view.


1. Ørnesvingen Viewing Platform, Norway

 Ørnesvingen has for centuries been widely used by travellers as a place to stop and enjoy the view. The location offers a magnificent view of Geiranger town and Geiranger fjord, and the spot attracts more than 400 000 visitors every year. 2. AlpspiX Viewing Platform, Germany

At the base of Alpspitze peak, visitors will find the AlpspiX Viewing Platform hovering 13 meters (42 feet) over an empty void in the shape of an 'X' with two protruding platforms. The exceptional architecture opens unmatched views towards Zugspitze peak and theHöllental gorge and let visitors experience a spectacular alpine high.

 AlpspiX is easy to reach, just 50 meters (164 feet) above the Alpspitze mountain station and next to the mountain station of the Osterfelderkopf lift. Here, the two steel beams with a length of 24 meters (79 feet) of the AlpspiX Viewing Platform jut out 13 meters (42 feet)over an empty void with the other eleven meters (66 feet) anchored in the rock. At the end of the structure, visitors reach a glass wall and have a sensational view of the nearby cliffs, the breathtaking alpine panorama and almost 1000 meters (3281 feet) down into the depths.

3. Aiguille du Midi Viewing Platform, France

Aiguille du Midi is a mountain located in the French Alps, in the Mont Blanc region. The viewing platform here makes you want to reach out and touch the Mont Blanc that lies tantalizingly ahead.

The highlight of your visit is the two-part cable car ride that starts in Chamonix, in which an altitude of 2800 m (9.200 ft) is covered in 20 mind-numbing minutes. This allows the non-mountaineers to get up close with the steep facade of this mountain as it zips past.

4. Pulpit Rock, Norway

Pulpit Rock or Preikestolen is a massive cliff 604 metres (1982 feet) above Lysefjorden, opposite the Kjerag plateau, in Forsand, Ryfylke, Norway. The top of the cliff is approximately25 by 25 metres (82 by 82 feet) square, almost flat, and is a famous tourist attraction in Norway.

During the four summer months of 2009, approximately 130,000 people took the 3.8 km (2.4 mi) hike to Preikestolen, making it one of the most visited natural tourist attractions in Norway.

5. Langkawi Sky Bridge, Malaysia

Langkawi Sky Bridge is a 125 metre (410 ft) curved pedestrian cable-stayed bridge. It is located 700m above sea level at the peak of Gunung Mat Chinchang on Pulau Langkawi, an island in the Langkawi archipelago in Kedah.The Langkawi Sky Bridge is accessible by theLangkawi Cable Car.

The Langkawi sky-bridge in Malaysia offer magnificent views of the Andaman Sea andThailand’s Tarutao Island. The Andaman Sea and Thailand’s Tarutao Island can be seen in the distance. Platforms at each end allow the visitors to take a breather before venturing across. There are also signs telling visitors to get off the bridge quickly in the event of an electrical storm.

6. Rainforest Observation Tower, Panama

Rainforest Observation Tower, designed to observe the tropical rainforest and its colourful wildlife (especially birds), is located around 30 kilometres from the centre of Panama City and just two kilometres from the town of Gamboa. The tower, built in a tapering framework of steel tubes, is 32 metres tall, high enough to reach the forest canopy.

The centre of the tower is made up of a spiral stairway built around a central 12-inch wide tube, which is so solid that it was used as a crane during the construction process. It hasfour triangular or hexagonal platforms, the highest of which provides a view out over the whole of the forest canopy. The intermediate platforms provide views of the undergrowth and mid-levels of the forest, each of which has its own environment and fauna. The framework itself, made from eight-inch-wide tubes, is made up of triangle shapes reminiscent of the petals of an enormous flower.

7. Grand Canyon Skywalk, USA

The Grand Canyon Skywalk is a transparent horseshoe-shaped cantilever bridge and tourist attraction in Arizona near the Colorado River on the edge of a side canyon in the Grand Canyon West area of the main canyon. The Skywalk extends 65ft (20m) beyond the edge of the Grand Canyon and offers an unprecedented view from 4,000 ft (1.200m) above the ground!

The Horseshoe shaped skywalk is constructed of glass walls 4 inches thick and visitors must don special scratch-proof socks as they partake in the view. The work is a true engineering feat that can hold up to 70 tons (roughly 14 African Elephants) and withstands winds of 100 mph (160 kmh).

8. Aurland Lookout, Norway

Architects Todd Saunders and Tommie Wilhelmsen were commissioned to design a scenic rest-stop 2 000ft (600m) above Aurland fjord in Norway and came up with this beauty wining the first prize in Norwegian tourist routes competition.

The outermost end of the horizontal platform - which curves to form the structure's support - is closed off by a sheet of glass, offering an incredible view towards the ground for all those with the guts to make the trip to the end.

9. Dachstein Sky Walk, Austria

The Dachstein Sky Walk is formally enthroned at 2.700 m (8.860ft) above sea-level, high up on the 250m (820ft) vertical rock face of the Hunerkogel. A 360 degree panorama allows the visitor a view of Slovenia in the south to the Czech Republic in the north. This "balcony of the Alps" is distinctly higher than the platforms of the Niagara Falls or the Iguazu waterfalls in Brasil.

The viewing platform offers space for 150 guests and can be comfortably reached on theDachstein cable car from Ramsau. Parts of the Dachstein Sky Walk platform floor have been constructed of glass, guaranteeing an amazing experience. Anyone can have a taste the peaks of the Alps without ropes, crampons or risk.

10. Canopy Tower, ‏Panama

Canopy Tower is 900ft (275m) above sea level on Semaphore Hill near the Continental Divide. The site is in the rainforest within Soberanía National Park, which was part of the former U.S. Panama Canal Zone.

The top floor of the tower has an unobstructed 360° view. It is a great place to see birds and mammals as well as the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal and the Culebra Cut, the narrowest part of the canal. The octagonal tower is on five levels.