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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars
OpenerWho doesn’t love a good bird’s-eye view? From open-top cabrio cabins to rotating cars and historic mining ropeways, these are the most unique cable car experiences around the globe.
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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars.
Bà Nà Hills, VietnamBà Nà Hills, Vietnam: At 5,801m long, this tramway holds the record as the world’s longest non-stop single-track cable car. Visitors are whisked over lush jungle and waterfalls to the peak of Bà Nà, where they’ll find a small amusement park as well as several cultural and religious sites. About an hour from the city of Da Nang, the resort is ideal for a day trip. banahills.com.vn [Photo: Wikimedia Commons]
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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars.
Tianmen Mountain, ChinaTianmen Mountain, China: Take one of the world’s most dizzying cable car rides to get to one of the world’s most dizzying observation platforms – a true love-it-or-leave-it experience. The 30-minute ride covers a distance of 7,455m and climbs at a 38-degree angle at its steepest (the world standard maximum is 45 degrees), but the breathtaking views are reportedly well worth braving these stomach-churning heights. chinahighlights.com
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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars.
Genting Highlands, MalaysiaGenting Highlands, Malaysia: Billed as the world’s fastest mono cable car, the Genting Skyway travels at 21.6kph over a tropical rainforest canopy to bring visitors from Gohtong Jaya (a half hour from Kuala Lumpur) to Resorts World Genting, a family entertainment complex with a casino, concert venue and theme park rides. rwgenting.com [Photo: Uwe Schwarzbach/Flickr]
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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars.
Mount Aso, JapanMount Aso, Japan: In service since 1958, the Mt. Aso Ropeway is heralded as the first cable car in the world to be built on an active volcano. When in use (poisonous gases or increased volcanic activity sometimes render the area unsafe), the cable car offers views of the fuming volcanic crater. kyusanko.co.jp [Photo: Wikimedia Commons]
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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars.
Hong KongHong Kong: Take in views of Tung Chung Bay, the South China Sea and verdant Lantau Island as the Ngong Ping cableway brings you further and further from the city noise – be sure to spring for a glass-bottom Crystal Cabin for even better views. On the ground in Ngong Ping in western Lantau Island, visit the Po Lin Monastery and 35m-tall Tian Tan Buddha. np360.com.hk
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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars.
Gulmarg, IndiaGulmarg, India: Be sure to get altitude acclimated before boarding the world’s second-highest cableway, which takes visitors – mostly skiers in search of epic powder – in two stages from Gulmarg (2699m) to Kongdoori (3099m) and then Apharwat (3979m). gulmarggondola.com [Photo: Wikimedia Commons]
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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars.
Rosh Hanikra, IsraelRosh Hanikra, Israel: Going down? The narrow Rosh Hanikra Cable Car descends 65m at a 60 percent gradient – the world’s steepest – seeming to barrel towards the Mediterranean Sea and arrive at the lower station just in the nick of time. Disembarking visitors can then explore a system of sea caves, where they’re treated to a surreal light and sound show produced by waves rolling in and out of the caverns. akko.org.il [Photo: Ziva & Amir/Flickr]
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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars.
Queenstown, New ZealandQueenstown, New Zealand: Riding the steepest cable car incline in the Southern Hemisphere isn’t the most breathtaking part of this journey – it’s the panoramas from the top of Bob’s Peak, looking out over Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables mountain range. Once you’ve caught your breath, have it knocked out of you again on a ride down the luge, on a paragliding adventure, or as you race down on a mountain bike. skyline.co.nz
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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars.
Cape Town, South AfricaCape Town, South Africa: Watch Cape Town and its landmarks unfold before your eyes from this cable car that rotates 360 degrees as it rises up the side of Table Mountain. At the top, go for a walk around the national park while admiring its unique flora and fauna, stop in the mountaintop restaurant for a meal with a view, sip a glass of wine as you watch the sunset, and then catch the cable car back to the ground – or abseil 1,000m down this forbidding rock face instead. tablemountain.net, abseilafrica.co.za [Photo: Flowcomm/Flickr]
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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars.
Rio de Janeiro, BrazilRio de Janeiro, Brazil: Perhaps the world’s most popular cable car, the Sugarloaf bondinhos grant unparalleled vistas over the legendary Ipanema and Copacabana beaches, as well as the Christ the Redeemer monument and all the way to sister city Niterói, as it travels from Praia Vermelha to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain. bondinho.com [Photo: Wikimedia Commons]
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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars.
La Paz/El Alto, BoliviaLa Paz/El Alto, Bolivia: More for transit than tourism, this teleférico was built to alleviate traffic congestion, and the accompanying noise and automobile pollution, by ferrying commuters between La Paz and the clifftop city of El Alto. At 10km long, the first phase of the cableway network is touted as the longest aerial cable car system in the world. miteleferico.bo [Photo: ReSurge International/Flickr]
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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars.
Whistler, CanadaWhistler, Canada: And the award for world’s longest unsupported cable car span (3,024m) goes to – drumroll please – Whistler Blackcomb Resort’s PEAK 2 PEAK gondola. Two of the 28 cabins have glass floors that allow visitors to better see 436m down to the valley floor, a height that earned PEAK 2 PEAK another record as the world’s highest lift of its kind. whistlerblackcomb.com [Photo: Paul Morrison]
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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars.
Niagara Falls, CanadaNiagara Falls, Canada: A natural whirlpool in the Niagara River located downstream from the famous falls, the turbulent Niagara Whirlpool is best seen from directly above via this historic cable car constructed by Spanish engineer Leonardo Torres Quevedo. This year is the ideal time to visit, as the Whirlpool Aero Car will celebrate its 100th birthday in August 2016. niagaraparks.com
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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars.
New York City, USANew York City, USA: Seeing the Big Apple from above doesn’t have to cost more than a subway ride. The Roosevelt Island Tram – one of North America’s only 2 aerial means of mass transit, the other being Oregon’s Portland Aerial Tram – is accessible with one swipe of a MetroCard, and has been shuttling New Yorkers across the East River to Manhattan and back for 40 years. rioc.ny.gov/tramtransportation.htm [Photo: Wikimedia Commons]
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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars.
Palm Springs, California, USAPalm Springs, California, USA: The world’s largest rotating cable car can be found in Palm Springs, climbing 2600m from the Coachella Valley up Mount San Jacinto, crossing 5 distinct biomes in its ascent from the Sonoran Desert to an alpine forest. The tram is considered a gateway to Mount San Jacinto State Park and its scenic hiking trails. pstramway.com [Photo: Greg Lilly/Flickr]
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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars.
Grenoble, FranceGrenoble, France: It’s one of the world’s oldest urban cable cars, but you wouldn’t know from the look of it – affectionately known to locals as “bubbles”, these cableway vehicles feature stylish round cabins made of glass and steel. The Grenoble-Bastille Téléphérique takes guests across the Isère River, above the rooftops of the historic Saint Laurent quarter and over fortified walls into the medieval Bastille fortress. bastille-grenoble.fr [Photo: Wikimedia Commons]
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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars.
Mount Stanserhorn, SwitzerlandMount Stanserhorn, Switzerland: Mountains and ingenuity – this aerial tramway combines the best of what Switzerland is all about. The world’s first open-top double-decker cable car, the Mount Stanserhorn CabriO offers both an indoor cabin and a rooftop observation deck, from which visitors can watch with the wind in their hair as they ascend 1,100m to the mountain peak for views over Lake Lucerne and the Bernese Alps. stanserhorn.ch
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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars.
Norsjö, SwedenNorsjö, Sweden: Originally built as a means of moving ore between the Kristineberg and Boliden mines during the fuel-poor WWII era, this 96km ropeway was once the longest in the world. While most of the ropeway was shut down in the ‘80s, one 13km section was converted to passenger transport and is now a leisurely way to view the streams and lakes of southern Lapland in summer. linbanan.com [Photo: dynamedia.se]
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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars.
London, EnglandLondon, England: The Shard and London Eye aren’t the only places to get a bird’s-eye view of the UK capital. First used as aerial transport between sporting venues in 2012, the Emirates Air Line is now part of London’s transit system, connecting the Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks in 10 minutes (5 during rush hour) – certainly the most scenic way to cross the Thames, and a more cost-effective means of taking in the city from above. emiratesairline.co.uk
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The World’s 19 Coolest Cable Cars.
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