SerpApi.Org
Where tourists are concerned, a destination’s cable car can be one of its finest assets – and yet, sometimes, these magnificent, often historical structures don’t make it on to holiday itineraries, falling by the wayside in favour of grand monuments, palaces, temples and natural wonders.
But it would be a mistake to leave them off your list. Not only will you get a true sense of your destination’s scale, but you’ll probably get some of your holiday’s most spectacular photos, too.
As with railways, modern cable cars emerged from the innovations of European mining companies who wanted to transport minerals, goods and later people across rough terrain. They flourished in the Alps a century ago and have since spread around the world (some specifically intended to capture the best views, rather than purely to solve topographical challenges), with places as far flung as Quito, Medellin, Hong Kong and London getting in on the act.
Undoubtedly the chicest new arrival is Câble C1, which opened in Paris at the end of 2025 and now provides a 5km fixed link crossing rivers, highways, TGV lines and other obstacles in hilly terrain to the south of Paris, essentially conceived in lieu of a Metro extension.
Taking 17 minutes to run between Créteil and Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, Câble C1 is Europe’s longest urban cable car route, and costs just €2.05 (£1.65) when you swipe your Navigo card – a rare Parisian bargain.
Here are 10 of the world’s best cable cars.
Teleférico Santiago
Santiago, Chile
Cost: £3 return
The journey up San Cristóbal Hill on the Telférico Santiago is eye-popping. It’s impressive to see the glimmering skyscrapers – the remnants of the “Chilean Miracle” of the 1980s – slowly sliding away as you climb, each building framed by jagged, dramatic mountains which ram home the isolated location of the Chilean capital on the fringes of the Andes. This cable car dates from those days too (it was opened in 1980). At the top, you can wander in Latin America’s biggest urban park or simply sit on a bench enjoying the view, preferably with a cool breeze and a picnic lunch.
British Airways flies direct from London to Santiago from £966 return. The InterContinental Santiago has rooms from £137.
Table Mountain Aerial Cableway
Cape Town, South Africa
Cost: £21 return
Table Mountain’s cable car will be celebrating its centenary in 2029. It’s no wonder this classic journey attracts a million visitors a year. Climbing Table Mountain is a fabulous experience, of course, but there’s plenty to be said for taking the slightly easier (and safer) route. Views of Table Bay and Cape Town unfurl like a beautiful painting as you rise, and at the top you’ll find cute, stout little “dassies”, the sociable local mammals, darting about in the undergrowth, waiting to charm the next batch of tourists.
Norse, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways fly direct from London to Cape Town from £435 return. The new Claremont Cape Town has rooms from £342.
Sugarloaf Cable Car
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Cost: £25 return
One of the world’s first, the Sugarloaf Cable Car opened in 1912 with then state-of-the-art wooden cabins. It was – and remains – the pride of Rio, ferrying tourists to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain at around 400m elevation. Of course, the trip to the top gives unparalleled views of Brazil’s shimmering former capital and its fun-packed beaches below. Various scenes from the 1979 James Bond film Moonraker were shot here, and several high-wire daredevils have traversed the cable over the years, too.
British Airways flies direct from London to Rio de Janeiro from £720 return. The Sheraton Rio has rooms from £266.
Mi Teleférico
La Paz, Bolivia
Cost: 30p per ride
Nowhere in the world has the cable car been embraced so fully as in Bolivia’s seat of government, which has supercharged the cable car into a city-wide public transport system, opening in stages from 2014. La Paz’s Mi Teleférico network has 10 lines and more than two dozen stations spread across a city defined by hills. The cable car network can easily traverse mountaintops and link suburbs in the clouds to the city’s core in minutes. The ride is, of course, spectacular. It is also the world’s highest urban system, and one of its cheapest.
Avianca flies from London to La Paz via Bogotá from £995 return. Atix, a member of Design Hotels, in La Paz has rooms from £126.
Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
Palm Springs, USA
Cost: £28 return
Opened in 1963, as a way of getting from the floor of the Coachella Valley to near the top of San Jacinto Peak, the Palm Springs’s cable car is one of the world’s best-known because it rotates. In fact, it is the largest revolving version on Earth, the rotating cars being added in 2000. During the ride, you can admire Palm Springs’s famous modernist buildings and canyon cliffs – perfect for hikes to walk off all the treats sold at its many delis.
Virgin Atlantic flies from London to Los Angeles from £507 return; Palm Springs is around a three-hour drive from here. Thompson Palm Springs has rooms from £240.
Dajti Ekspres
Tirana, Albania
Cost: £12 return
Albania’s most popular tourist attraction offers the chance to escape its occasionally overwhelming capital city in favour of somewhere a bit more serene. Opened in 2005, the Dajti Ekspres cruises gently from Tirana’s suburbs out over gently lowing cows and up to the summit of the small mountain overlooking the city. It’s rather surreal up there – bizarre, flamboyant post-communist architecture, strange funfair rides and locals smoking and sipping beer in cafés.
Wizz Air flies from London to Tirana from £36 return. The Mercure Tirana has rooms from £120.
Roosevelt Island Tramway
New York, USA
Cost: £2.30 single
A peculiar solution to a particular problem, this cable car was intended to be merely a placeholder when it opened in 1976. Roosevelt Island is perhaps New York’s least known – just a skinny sliver of land in the East River, mostly untouched until mid-20th century expansion – but it certainly warrants a day trip, with interesting public art and a delightful path snaking around its shoreline. In 1989, the Subway linked it to Manhattan, but they kept the “Tramway” as a quaint curiosity nonetheless. Riding it from Midtown to the island is a fun activity and offers great views. It costs the same as one Subway ride with your OMNY – a bargain for travellers wiped out by New York’s sky-high prices.
Virgin Atlantic flies from London to New York from £524 return. There are no hotels on Roosevelt Island, but Fitzpatrick in Midtown Manhattan (rooms from £651) is a 10-minute walk from the tramway station.
Cabrio
Stanserhorn, Switzerland
Cost: £73 return
The world’s only open-top double-deck cable car is a unique feature of the Stanserhorn in Nidwalden. But then, considering the Swiss have been cable car masters for around a century, it stands to reason that they’d up the ante. This unusual cable car was inaugurated in 1975, with a revamped version opening in 2012. The journey first involves a vintage 1890s funicular from Stans, then the cable car, which can accommodate 30 people on its open-top deck, plus a few more below. The journey lasts just more than five minutes, but gives you incredible Alpine vistas as you head up to the summit at almost 2,000m. Better still, the views are unobstructed because the Swiss have worked out a way to thread the cables round the sides of the cabin.
EasyJet flies from various UK airports to Zurich from £86 return. Book trains in Switzerland with Omio. 25 Hours Zurich West has rooms from £247.
Dursey Island Cable Car
Dursey, Ireland
Cost: £8.50 return
Until 2012 this cable car used to ferry cattle and sheep across the tumultuous Dursey Sound – no doubt a strange sight. While livestock might be off the passenger list, humans can, thankfully, still take a trip on one of the west of Ireland’s most unusual and strange means of transport. The system dates back to 1969, but has received a much-needed upgrade a couple of years ago. It’s a seven-minute journey, and the only cable car in Europe which crosses the open ocean.
Aer Lingus flies to Cork from Bristol, Glasgow and London Heathrow from £84 return. The Dursey Schoolhouse has rooms from £121 per night (minimum five nights).
Scenic Skyway
Blue Mountains, Australia
Cost: £33 for a Scenic World Day Pass, £180 for the Beyond Skyway Experience
In 1958, visitors arriving to gaze in awe at the Blue Mountains were met with a treat: Australia’s first cable car, newly opened and ready to take them on a memorable journey across the vast valley, 270m above the rainforest. The Southern Hemisphere’s largest cable car has since been expanded and modernised, but still induces vertigo as it inches its way across the sprawling Jamison Valley. The strong of stomach can even stand on top of the car for the crossing – perfectly safe, but undeniably hairy.
Cathay Pacific flies from London to Sydney via Hong Kong from £1,363 return. From there, take the train to the Blue Mountains. Paramount Hotel Sydney has rooms from £206.
Recommended
I joined the tourists in Dubai as tensions escalate across the Gulf
