When it comes to elevators, function usually trumps form and the ride is utterly forgettable. Not so with these lifts—some look like they belong in sci-fi thrillers, others could be theme park attractions, but a trip on any one of them will earn you a lifetime of bragging rights.
The elevator at the AquaDom in Berlin travels up the middle of the 82-foot tall aquarium.
(Caro/Alamy)
There are almost 100 different species of sea life in Berlin’s AquaDom, which you can see through the elevator’s glass walls.
(Juergen Henkelmann Photography/Alamy)
The elevator at the Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand, takes just 40 seconds to reach the observation level, 610 feet in the air.
(Steve Vidler/SuperStock )
Watch the ground zoom away from you through the glass floor of the elevators at the Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand.
(Exactostock / SuperStock )
The four-minute elevator ride up the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, brings you to the top of the 630-foot-tall wonder.
(Jiong Dai / Dreamstime.com)
At 499 feet, Switzerland’s Hammetschwand Lift is the tallest outdoor lift in Europe
(Courtesy baumanns/Wikimedia Commons)
The glass lifts at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden trace a 20-minute curve to the top of the globe and back down.
(Courtesy CHG/Wikimedia Commons)
The glass-walled elevators at the Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand, give you a bird’s-eye view of the city’s harbor.
(Exactostock/SuperStock )
The 50-minute gondola tours at Scotland’s Falkirk Wheel traverse two canals and include two rides on the elevator.
(Tomzoy / Dreamstime.com)
The incredible Bailong Elevator in China’s Zhangjiaijie National Forest Park rises 1,070 fee up a sheer cliff.
(Courtesy Derek郝中華CHINA/Panoramio)
