Watch your step as you climb these stairs,
whether spiraling up mountains, narrow passageways or sky-scraping attractions.
All is right with the
world when you're gazing down from the rooftop of Milan's Duomo. That is, until
you remember the steep marble stairs that got you there—and are your only way
down.
Stairways can leave just
as much of an impact on your memory as the places they lead you. Some are so
eye-catching they look like they belong in an M.C. Escher painting, while other
stairs are downright intimidating, especially when they stand between you and a
site you flew halfway across the world to experience.
In Peru, for instance,
travelers need to tackle about 600 feet of slippery granite rocks carved into
the mountainside to reach the Moon Temple at Machu Picchu. And at Yosemite
National Park, you can't take a selfie at the top of Half Dome without climbing
a cable ladder up the rock face for more than 400 feet.
All it takes is a misstep
for any old staircase to become treacherous (just ask Jennifer Lawrence), yet
some standout for being especially scary.
A set of stairs in Hawaii
is so precariously perched that climbing is now illegal. In China, there's a
stairway with an age requirement.
Other stairs are
intimidating for more psychological reasons, such as the creaking noises made
by the world's longest wooden stairway in Norway or the eerie atmosphere at
"The Stairway to Hell," part of an abandoned industrial complex in
Japan.
Travelers with nerves of
steel—and eager for bragging rights—follow these stairs because of what they
find at the end, whether a sacred Hindu temple or the top of a spectacular
waterfall. There's nothing quite like the thrill of accomplishment that comes
once you've taken that last step. Safely, that is.
Angkor Wat Temple
Stairs, Cambodia
In this super-humid
hotbox of Buddhist history, there's no shame in bowing down on your hands and
knees or pulling yourself up with the provided ropes to scale the nearly 70
percent inclined stairs of Angkor Wat's uppermost temples.
Guides claim the steps
were made to be so steep to remind people that heaven was hard to reach—though
you might make the same argument about Earth as you try not to tumble on the
way down.
The Verrückt,
Kansas City, Kansas
It takes guts just to
reach the starting point of the world's tallest and fastest water slide, opened
July 2014. To get to the top, you've got to climb the 264 steps that snake up
the slide's tower in 25 turns.
When you've summited at 168
feet—that's one foot taller than Niagara Falls—pat yourself on the back and
take a selfie. Then brace yourself for the water slide's initial 50-foot linear
drop, which can reach 65 mph. The only alternative is to turn around and suffer
the 17-story walk back down those nauseating steps.
Pailon del Diablo
Waterfall, Ecuador
At first it's lovely to
notice that the staircase adjacent to these waterfalls was designed to blend in
with the tropical landscape. But consider the name—in English, the Devil's Cauldron—and
the evil tricks the steep steps can play.
They are made of smooth,
oversize pebbles that provide little traction, and when you're looking down,
they blend together, creating an optical illusion of a stone slide. They're
also slippery from the constant mist from the falls and even though there's a
metal railing to save you from any spills—but don't count on that too much—it
too is drenched with water droplets.
Half Dome, Cable
Route, California
What's between you and
the most iconic peak in Yosemite Valley? A seven-mile (one-way) all-incline
hike through the wilderness that culminates with climbing up the rock face
along a cable ladder for more than 400 vertical feet.
If you're up for the
challenge, snag one of the 300 hard-to-get daily permits available for Half
Dome between Memorial Day and mid-October. (Check your footwear and the
forecast; rainy conditions have proven fatal.) From the summit, you'll take in
panoramic views of Yosemite Valley and the High Sierra.
Inca Stairs, Peru
At Machu Picchu, 600 feet
or so of steep, slippery, cloud-covered granite rocks the Inca carved more than
500 years ago into the side of Huayna Picchu (the peak in everyone's photos)
lead to the rarely visited Moon Temple—and a spectacular view of the ruins.
The park limits the climb
to the first 400 visitors each morning and has added some metallic chains in
the worst parts, so hold on because on one side is a sheer, damp wall and on
the other, a straight drop into the Urubamba river.
Statue of
Liberty, New York City
If you want to gaze out
from Lady Liberty's crown, check your claustrophobia at her feet. The
platform's only access is via a cramped, 146-step double-helix spiral staircase
with just six feet of head clearance—and it's teeming with tourists. Real
troopers, however, will make the entire tight 377-step hike up all the way from
the lobby, the equivalent of climbing a 20-story building.
These physical challenges
all come after you've managed another feat: snagging one of the hard to get
passes that allow entry into the crown. They have to be booked at least three
months in advance, are name and date specific and are limited to four per
order.
Florli Stairs,
Norway
Norway's Flørli Power
Station is the starting point for the best hikes around the town of
Lysefjord—and its stairs will make you gasp for two reasons. First, there are
4,444 steps that ascend a staggering 2,427 feet from the bottom. Second, it is
the longest staircase in the world made entirely out of wood, meaning you
should be paying close attention to each mysterious creak and crack you hear.
Mount Huashan
Heavenly Stairs, China
There's no official count
of steps on this cardiac stress test carved into a sacred Taoist mountain.
Perhaps because anyone attempting to conquer this vertiginous washboard wall
has lost count, distracted by the dizzying drop and its threat of death.
Eventually, the steep
"heavenly stairs" stop, and this becomes the most hellish horizontal
walk in the world—a three-plank-wide walkway with only a chain to hold onto,
flush against the wall of flat rock. When that's done, there's another set of
meandering, mountainside stairs. If you get to the top of Mount Huashan, you'll
discover that "heaven" is a remote tea house with a terrific view.
Janssen
Observatory, Mont Blanc, France
The steps are short and
sweet. They're not cramped, they come with railings, and they don't get too
crowded. What can make these stairs squeamish is their placement at the summit
of the tallest mountain in the Alps, when they're open to the
elements—gale-force winds and chilly temperatures.
Batu Caves,
Malaysia
One of the most important
Hindu holy sites outside of India is this series of cave shrines nestled into
the side of a mountain about eight miles from Kuala Lumpur. The highlight:
accomplishing the ascent of 272 steps that lead 330 feet up the rock to the
main Temple Cave.
It's not just the stone
stairs that test your temerity; it's the sneaky macaque monkeys. They aren't
afraid of people and are liable to steal stuff right out of your bag. So while
it's a good idea to climb without any food, it also can't hurt to say a prayer
before going up. You may do so at the temple of Hanuman—the "noble
monkey"—to the far left of the entrance, near Ramayana Cave.
Sagrada Familia,
Barcelona
Gaudí envisioned a forest
canopy when designing the rooftop of this Roman Catholic church, but climbing
the spiral staircase to its towers feels more like crawling up a Slinky. Not
only does it coil high along the tightly enclosed walls, but there's also no
banister to prevent you from barreling over the middling edge while you're
walking up and down with hordes of other people.
Haiku Stairs,
Oahu, Hawaii
Can stairs be so seriously
scary that they've been banned? Answer: Yes. The 3,922 rickety steps that lead
a half mile up Oahu's Koolau Mountain Range pose such a risk, it's actually
illegal to climb them. There's even a guard placed at the bottom to stop you
from going up.
Nicknamed the Highway to
Heaven, they were built in 1942 by the U.S. Navy as a means to installing
communications wires. After World War II, they became popular with daredevil
hikers. But by 1987, they had closed to the public for safety concerns, and they
stay that way, despite a 2003 renovation project.
Duomo di Milano,
Milan
No visit to Milan is
complete without having marveled at the view of Italy's northern city from the
roof of this famed cathedral stacked with about 2,000 statues. But in order to
check it off your bucket list, you're required to wiggle up and down a steep,
slender staircase in a shaft way clogged with tourists.
Tip: Head to La
Rinascente, a department store across the street with a rooftop café that
serves up perfect views of the cathedral and skyline—no stairs necessary.
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