10 Terrifying Bridges You Need to See to Believe

Trift Bridge, Switzerland

The fearful should visit Trift Bridge in good weather. In windy conditions, the suspension bridge can sway more than 20 feet. The 560-foot-long bridge rewards brave pedestrians with stunning views of the Swiss Alps, if they can manage to look around without feeling too much vertigo! (The Trift Bridge is open from June through October.)

Chesapeake Bay Bridge, Maryland

This bridge, almost five miles long, is so scary that some drivers, too afraid to make the journey themselves, will pay $25 to have a stranger drive their car across it. It's no wonder they're so terrified—in recent months, a car has gone over the guardrail, plunging about 40 feet into the water below; a bridge fire has snarled traffic for hours; and winds of almost 40 miles per hour have caused a 10-mile backup. Even on good days, the bridge's design makes the drive quite frightening for many travelers, who must drive around a curve, up a steep incline, and downhill before making it safely across.

Langkawi Sky Bridge, Malaysia

You'll need to take a cable car to the top of this bridge, which is located at the peak of Gunung Mat Cincang. Langkawi Sky Bridge, at more than 2,000 feet above sea level, lives up to its name—it is so high up in the sky that the entire bridge had to be constructed on the ground and then lifted to the top of the mountain via helicopter.

Storseisundet Bridge, Norway

The Storseisundet Bridge looks more like a roller coaster than a road, seemingly dropping off into the sea rather than providing safe passage. Don't worry, this cantilever bridge's danger is just an optical illusion—it's actually quite an easy bridge to drive over.

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, Northern Ireland

The easiest (and scariest) way to get from the mainland of Northern Ireland to the island of Carrickarede is to cross a rope bridge almost 100 feet above jagged rocks. The 66-foot-long bridge can be quite nerve-wracking, so much so that many pedestrians have had to be taken off the island by boat, as they were too scared to walk the bridge back to the mainland.

Capilano Suspension Bridge, Canada

The Capilano Suspension Bridge is one of the world's longest and highest suspension bridges—and it sure feels like it when you're swaying 200 feet above the canyon. If that doesn't scare you, perhaps stories of people who have fallen off will.

Canopy Walk, Ghana

There's just a one-foot-wide plank of wood (and four-foot-high net walls) standing between you and a 100-foot drop to the forest floor on the canopy walk in Ghana's Kakum National Park. If you can steel your nerves enough to make the crossing, you'll get to see the unique plants and animals that live in that level of the forest.

Aiguille du Midi Bridge, France

To get to this bridge, you'll have to take the world's highest vertical-ascent cable car up about 9,200 vertical feet. The short footbridge will give you unbeatable views of the French Alps from more than 12,000 feet above sea level.

Vitim River Bridge, Siberia

This old railway bridge barely looks wide enough for pedestrians, let alone cars, but locals drive across it all the time in order to cross the Vitim River. During the Siberian winter, the bridge becomes even more challenging as the wood turns into an ice slick that provides no traction. One wrong move can easily send you plunging 50 feet into the water—because this bridge has no railings. See for yourself how terrifying it is to drive over the Vitim River Bridge in this video.

Sidu River Bridge, China

At more than 1,500 feet tall, the Sidu River Bridge is the world's highest. This suspension bridge is more than 4,000 feet long and connects Shanghai and Chengdu as part of the new G50 Huyu Expressway, a long mountainous route.

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