Up, up, up … down, down, down! Whether you’re curious, lazy or just fascinated by moving stairs, we know you’d love to have a go on one of these escalators from around the world.
1. Central to Mid-Levels Escalator, Hong Kong
Tour the dazzling central and mid-levels of Hong Kong Island via this endless escalator, which is the longest outdoor covered escalator on Earth.
Mostly built to help local commuters, it will take you on a stair-lifting journey over 800 metres long.
Note that it runs downhill in the morning peak hour, and then runs uphill from 10.30am to midnight, so plan your ride accordingly.
2. Park Pobedy Escalators, Moscow
The Park Pobedy train station is the deepest station in Moscow, lying 84 metres underground.
How do you get out of here? By escalator!
The escalator ride is whoppingly steep and will take you up 126 metres to ground level in about 3 minutes. Still better than taking the stairs!
3. New World Daimaru Department Store Escalator, Shanghai
This escalator will truly leave you spinning! While there are many other curved and spiral escalators around the world – like San Francisco, Vegas, Singapore – this dizzying contraption in one of Shanghai’s department stores is a must-ride.
The 12 escalators here were built by Mitsubishi Electric and are a main feature of the department store’s atrium, which opened in 05/2015.
4. Outdoor Urban Escalator, Medellin
In the City of Eternal Spring you’ll also find another awesome escalator – but in the outdoors!
Travelling up the mountainside in the valley town of Medellin, this 385-metre moving stairway to heaven was built to help locals access Comuna Trece.
It was previously too hard to get to by foot and impossible to reach by vehicles thanks to the steep roads. Riding this escalator takes around 6 minutes to go from bottom to top.
5. Umeda Sky Building Escalator, Osaka
If you want to jump on the world’s highest escalator, you’ll need to travel to the Umeda Sky Building in Japan.
Spanning across the middle of the building and hovering out in the open, this cool escalator offers great views of the city streets below.
Unlike many other escalators around the globe, this one is indeed like a ride – it’ll cost you 700 yen to get in!
6. Macy’s Wooden Escalator, New York City
While you’re at it spending your entire travel budget in Macy’s Herald Square, make sure you hop on its signature wooden escalator.
It’s been around since the 1920s (though an earlier escalator was installed in 1902) and thankfully, it was recently left out of the store’s US$400 million renovation, meaning it’ll be here to stay for future riders.
7. Trampe CycloCable, Trondheim
Cycling around Norway?
You might just love this one! Technically, it’s kind of an escalator (or lift) for bikes, and was designed to help cyclists travel 420 feet up the steep hill of Brubakken in Trondheim.
To date, it’s apparently carted over 200,000 cyclists up the hill. It’s not only limited to bikes, though – it can also transport baby strollers/prams and scooters, too.