For Condé Nast Traveler, by Sarah Bruning and Katherine LaGrave.
Sure, the Brooklyn and Golden Gate bridges are impressive, but we’re equally smitten by these fear-inducing wood, steel, glass and cable structures. From Vietnam to Colorado, here are bridges that will do anything but calm your fear of heights.
1. Aiguille du Midi Bridge, French Alps
Acrophobics beware: Not only does this overpass sit more than 12,500 feet above sea level, but it requires a 20-minute cable car ride to climb the 9,200 vertical feet up to the access point on the mountain.
2. Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, Northern Ireland
Each year, roughly 250,000 travelers carefully traverse this delicate, 98-foot-high path between the mainland and the bridge’s namesake island. Visitors who brave the 66-foot-long bridge are rewarded with sweeping views of Rathin Island, Scotland, and the Irish Sea, along with at least four species of native birds.
3. Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge, Zhangjiajie , China
The world's longest and highest glass bridge, Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge opened this summer in China but was "temporarily" closed a mere 13 days after opening. Stretching 1,410 feet between two mountains in the Tianmenshan National Forest Park, the bridge is only able to handle 8,000 visitors per day, but was seeing ten times as many.
4. Hussaini Hanging Bridge, Pakistan
Largely considered the most dangerous bridge in the world, this hanging rope-and-wood structure is believed to have been badly damaged in a 2011 monsoon. If you are looking to cross Pakistan’s Borit Lake in the Upper Hunza and do still find the footbridge, however, take caution — and hold on tight: strong winds shake the bridge, and steady planks are few and far between.
5. Capilano Suspension Bridge, Vancouver, Canada
Perched 230 feet above the meandering Capilano River, this narrow passage stretches 450 feet through the evergreen forest of the Canadian Rockies. Technically, the bridge has been around since 1889, but its current incarnation goes beyond the original hemp rope and cedar plank construction, with seven additional suspension bridges and a cantilevered walkway.
See the rest of The World's Scariest Bridges on CNTraveler.com
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