A few days ago, after two years of renovation work and 30 million euros spent, the lower tier of the Eiffel Tower was opened to the public. The main attraction of the reconstruction was the installed transparent glass floor, which partially replaced the usual covering. From now on, millions of tourists will be able to climb to the panoramic platform and find themselves without visible support under their feet at an altitude of 57 m above Paris.
Indeed, it is a terrifying sight, but it is not the most mind-blowing observation deck in the world.
The “Path of Faith” on Mount Tianmen (Hunan Province, China) was built at an altitude of 1430 meters.
The glass balcony of Chicago's Willis Tower (the second tallest building in the Western Hemisphere) is located on the 103rd floor, at an altitude of 412 meters.
Attraction “Step into the Void” (Chamonix, France), at the top of the Aiguille du Midi peak (3842 meters). A completely transparent glass cube hangs over an abyss whose depth is 1035 meters.
A huge viewing terrace at an altitude of almost 250 meters above the Dachstein glacier (Austria), the floor of the front part of which is covered with glass, is called the “balcony of the Alps”.
Glass balcony over the Grand Canyon (USA). The platform with a 20-meter ledge hangs at an altitude of almost 1200 meters. According to the creator of this masterpiece, David Jean, visitors should feel the flight of an eagle.
The glass floor of the CN Tower skyscraper, a symbol of Toronto, was built in 1994 and was the first of its kind. Tourists can enjoy views of Toronto from a height of 340 meters.
Tokyo Skytree is the tallest television tower in the world. One of the two observation platforms with a glass floor is located at an altitude of 350 meters.
At one of the creepiest observation decks in China.
Modern people, accustomed to a comfortable and measured life, apparently really lack adrenaline. Even watching horror movies and going to roller coasters don't help. Otherwise, how can we understand the fact that more and more tourists are ready to fly to distant lands to visit the most terrible observation platforms in the world? But just the sight of these structures “hovering” over the abyss should, in theory, discourage anyone from visiting them.
"Skywalk" 
Arc corridor in the USA
The Grand Canyon Skywalk observation deck is located in Arizona (USA). It is an arched corridor that, like a balcony, hangs over the abyss. The floor and walls of this site are transparent, and if you know that you are at an altitude of 1 km 219 meters, it becomes especially creepy. But if you are not afraid of heights, you can enjoy the stunning views of the Grand Canyon, which, by the way, is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, and the Colorado River flowing somewhere far below. 
The sky walk is not for the faint of heart.
The Skywalk site was opened 11 years ago, and over the years its popularity has only grown. Particularly anxious visitors are reassured by the fact that the thickness of the glass floor is 10 cm, and this unique structure can withstand eight times the load that it usually experiences - almost 5 tons per square meter.
Bridge in Engelberg 
Bridge over mountain peaks.
The pedestrian bridge at the ski resort of Engelberg (Switzerland) is considered the highest in the world. At the beginning of the last century, a cable car was opened here, and it was possible to travel only by cable cars. Now you can walk over the snow-covered mountain abyss on foot - along a narrow (less than a meter wide) bridge, which, by the way, also swings. 
Scary, but beautiful.
The entire path takes 150 meters, and if you don’t think about the fact that you are at an altitude of 500 meters, you can try to pull yourself together and take pictures of the gorgeous views of the Alps along the way.
Observation deck at Alspitze 
Two arcs suspended in the sky.
The Alpspitze observation deck (Germany), opened 8 years ago, consists of two crossed arched balconies-bridges protruding 13 meters above the two-kilometer abyss. From here you can see beautiful views of the mountains and remote villages, and you can look at the thick clouds not from bottom up, but from top to bottom. 
For the sake of such beauty it is worth overcoming fear
Many visitors notice that when they step on the grated floor, the structure vibrates slightly and becomes very eerie. And here a piercing wind very often blows, and at such moments it seems that you are just going to be blown away.
"Trail of Terror" and "Bridge of Terror" 
This observation deck is recognized as the scariest in the world.
The Glass Sky Trail, like a long balcony attached to Tianmen Mountain in China's Hunan province, is just one of several similar viewing platforms in the Middle Kingdom, but it is usually the one that causes the most horror among travelers. And although its length is only 60 meters, the 1.5-kilometer abyss under the glass floor involuntarily forces especially impressionable tourists to literally “walk along the wall.” And the fact that you are walking along a sheer wall makes it seem like you are a real climber, and this makes the path even more exciting. 
Above the abyss you involuntarily press yourself against the wall.
Not far from this observation deck there is another “trail of fear”, which is a very long and transparent suspension bridge. It is located at an altitude of 180 meters, but is considered the most terrible and longest (300 meters) of all such bridges in the world. 
The world's longest bridge of fear.
This path is also creepy, although incredibly beautiful, but the structure itself is much wider and more impressive than the “path” on the rock. However, before this bridge was wooden and even then there were daredevils to walk on it.
"Sky Bridge" Langkawi 
From this creepy bridge you can see all the beauty of Malaysia.
Malaysia also has a scary observation deck - this is an arched bridge built 10 km from Langkawi airport. The structure connects two mountains, and its only support is a metal pylon in the center. To get to the bridge, you first need to ride one of the funiculars that start from the local village, and then climb to the southern end of the bridge by an inclined elevator or on foot along the path. 
Even in such a heavenly corner of the planet you can tickle your nerves.
To make walking along this long corridor more scary and at the same time more interesting, there are transparent “windows” under your feet every now and then. And at both ends of the bridge there are triangular viewing platforms from which the beauty of Malaysia opens up in full view. 
In May 2016, the world's largest glass observation deck was opened 70 km from Beijing. The total area of the Pingu platform is 415 m2, and it is located at an altitude of 400 m. Moreover, all parts, including the floor and side rails, are made of glass. However, you should not be afraid of such an engineering solution. The platform is built of high strength glass with the addition of titanium alloy. The developers are completely confident in the absolute safety of this attraction.
Kinds
The glass platform is located on a 400-meter mountain peak and extends 33 meters from the edge of the cliff. Right under the feet of tourists there is a breathtaking view of the famous Shilin Stone Forest and the Jidong Gorge. The place is truly picturesque: majestic mountains, a fast river, waterfalls. The many steep limestone cliffs resemble a real stone forest. Shilin is even called a wonder of the world. It's hard to believe that this was done by nature.
Thanks to its glass structure and incredible views, Pingu has even been compared to the Skywalk over the Grand Canyon in the United States. The “Heavenly Path” is located at an altitude of 1.2 km, but is extended from the edge by only 20 m and has a smaller area.
Impression
The Pingu observation deck is shaped like a closed circle and resembles a UFO. Everyone can walk along the platform and take a close look at the local beauty. However, for tourists, the glass floor becomes a test of courage and, in a sense, a cure:
- At first, guests experience an adrenaline rush. It’s not easy to see the abyss under your feet. The brain refuses to believe that it is possible to hold on and not fall down. The sensations are compared to a parachute jump.
- Then absolute relaxation sets in. A person begins to feel as if he is floating in the air or in zero gravity. The effect relieves stress and nervous tension, which is especially useful for residents of big cities. Even yogis come to the site in search of nirvana. And some visitors simply lie down on the transparent floor for maximum relaxation.
The glass observation deck is never empty. Crowds of tourists walk along it in search of beautiful views, enlightenment or a good angle for a photo. After all, what could be more original than a shot over an abyss.
For many years now no one has been surprised by glass walls and roofs. But there are also many structures in the world in which transparent is floor. Most often these are buildings that are related to tourism. And today we will talk about 10 most beautiful and unusual similar cases from all over the world.
Glass balcony in a Chicago skyscraper
On the 103rd floor of the Sears Tower in Chicago is one of the most unusual observation decks in the world. Its most interesting element is the all-glass balcony that protrudes outward. Even the floor in this architectural element is made of strong transparent material, which gives it a special extreme.
For five years it was believed that this glass floor was absolutely safe for visitors. But recently an emergency occurred - the strongest glass in it burst. There were, of course, no casualties. But the company that operates this observation deck in the Sears Tower has taken measures to ensure that this never happens again - it has installed even stronger and thicker glass.
And if the Sears Tower skyscraper was put into operation in Chicago in 2009, then in Moscow there has been an observation deck with a glass floor for several decades. It is located at an altitude of 337 meters in the Ostankino TV tower.
But this is not a balcony. The glass floor on the observation deck in Ostankino is built in separate blocks into a regular floor. Each of these elements is designed to support a weight of up to 10 tons.
Observation deck over the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River
The Grand Canyon is one of the most popular and most visited tourist attractions in the United States of America. And in 2007, a very unusual object opened on one of its slopes - the Grand Canyon Skywalk observation deck.
What makes it unusual is that this horseshoe-shaped structure, hovering over the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, has a glass floor. And people walking along it are essentially walking over a 350-meter abyss of one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Statistics show that about 10 percent of Grand Canyon Skywalk visitors, after seeing this glass floor with their own eyes, refuse to walk on it, even though they have already paid money to enter the site.
Even more terrifying for some visitors is walking along a scenic path in the Tianmen Mountains in Hunan Province, China. After all, about seventy meters of the path pass through a structure with a glass floor. And this is at an altitude of 1.2 kilometers!
However, several years ago the path in this place was even more terrible and dangerous. After all, the modern tourist path is located on the site of the old path of the monks who lived in these mountains. And they didn’t have any glass floor or safe railings - they walked along separate ledges, clinging to hooks driven into the rock and ropes stretched between them.
The futuristic-looking Apple store in New York became the first building of a huge network that later entangled the whole world. It has spawned many imitations all over the planet. And not only the walls and ceiling, but also the floor are made of glass in this building. True, the latter is slightly foggy so that people on the lower floors cannot “admire” from below the intimate parts of the body of store visitors walking on the level above.
A glass floor inside a building is possible not only in tall skyscrapers or multi-story stores. It is quite appropriate to do it in . Especially if it is located somewhere in the Maldives and stands on stilts in the middle of the warm azure ocean.
One of the buildings of the LUX* Maldives hotel boasts such an interior. In the living room of this bungalow, a coffee table sits on a glass floor, and armchairs and sofas are arranged around it.
There are similar design elements in other hotels in the Maldives. For example, in Water Villa on Nunu Atoll.
The Sky Tower radio tower, like the Ostankino TV tower, boasts an observation deck with glass floor elements located at an altitude of more than 300 meters above the earth's surface. But still, another similar element of the Sky Tower design is more interesting to us.
When ascending to the above-mentioned observation deck in the Sky Tower, the tourist rides in a high-speed elevator, which has part of the floor also made of glass. True, he has to admire not the panoramas of the city of Auckland, but the elevator shaft of the tower.
Even those people who, in principle, are comfortable with heights, are afraid to sit in some cabins of the Ngong Ping 360 cable car in Hong Kong. But they also cannot travel in a trailer flying through the sky, which has strong, bullet-proof glass installed instead of the usual floor.
These cabins on the Ngong Ping 360 cable car are called Crystal Cabins, and travel in them costs more than in ordinary cars with a metal floor.
In another Chinese metropolis, Shanghai, it's not the cable car cabin that has a glass floor, but the pool at the Holiday Inn. Moreover, this part of it is a balcony located on the twenty-fourth floor of the building.
This is one of two cases in this review where the best views of the glass floor are from below, rather than from above. A person swimming in such a pool will look like an airplane flying across the sky to others.
The Sundial Bridge over the Sacramento River in the Californian city of Reading is known throughout the world for two facts. Firstly, it was built according to the design of one of the greatest architects of our time - Santiago Calatrava.
Secondly, the surface of this pedestrian bridge is completely covered with transparent glass, which allows you to achieve incredible visual effects both during the day and in the evening.
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