The world’s 10 best cable cars

Mi Teleferico Cable Car, La Paz, Bolivia: Traffic jams are awful in downtown La Paz, a city with about the same population as San Francisco. But every hour thousands of locals cut their commute time from an hour to 10 minutes by hopping on the Mi Teleferico cable car network. Because the funiculars are part of the public transit system, the fares are cheap, an anomaly among scenic cable cars around the world. The Mi Teleferico is one of the world’s highest and longest urban gondolas, which also makes it one of the most affordable ways to see the city, deep canyons and the Andes Mountains all at the same time.

Sugarloaf Mountain Bondinho, Rio de Janeiro: For more than 100 years, cable cars have toted locals and visitors to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain, Rio’s landmark granite monolith that rises straight out of the Atlantic Ocean. The Sugarloaf Mountain Bondinho runs a 4,600-foot route from Morro da Urca to the top of Sugarloaf, overlooking the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana, the Corcovado mountains and downtown. On a clear day you can see airplane after airplane bank and circle below you for the final approach into the city airport.

Peak 2 Peak Gondola, Whistler, Canada: To save time at the massive two-peaked Whistler Blackcomb resort, skiers and snowboarders used to have to pick either Whistler Mountain or Blackcomb Mountain for the day and stick to it. Then came the Peak 2 Peak Gondola in 2008, cable cars that connect the two peaks with an 11-minute ride. The 2.7-mile cable car is the world’s longest unsupported span for a lift of this kind. Dangling, you feel like you’re flying through the clouds. From both regular and glass-bottom cabins, sightseers look onto coastal rainforests, glaciers, blooming wildflowers and the occasional bear munching on berries.

Ngong Ping 360, Lantau Island, Hong Kong: See a handful of China’s iconic scenes all in one ride on the 3.5-mile Ngong Ping 360 cable car route. The 25-minute lift from Tung Chung to the Ngong Ping Plateau on Lantau Island offers views of the South China Sea, rolling grassland slopes, mountainous terrain, the busy city and the massive Tian Tan Buddha statue. It’s close enough to the airport that you can see the runways and what look like toy planes landing one after the other.

Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, Cape Town, South Africa: Thanks to Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, built in 1929, millions of people have been to the top of South Africa’s most photographed landmark, the 3,573-foot-tall Table Mountain. The cableway’s rotating cars ensure that every passenger gets equal time during the five-minute ascent to take in views in every direction: the sheer cliff face of Table Mountain, the city and Table Bay below.

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, Palm Springs, Calif.: The plan to build a tramway in the California desert was hatched in 1935 when a young electrical engineer wiped the sweat from his brow, looked up to Mount San Jacinto’s snow-capped peak, and longed to “go up there where it’s nice and cool.” Since the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway opened in 1963, nearly 18 million people have escaped the desert heat on this 10-minute, 2.5-mile ride. The large rotating cars whisk passengers above the Chino Canyon cliffs to the top of Mount San Jacinto, where it’s about 30 degrees cooler at 8,516 feet elevation.

Langkawi SkyCab, Langkawi Island, Malaysia: Off the northwest coast of Malaysia at the Thailand border is a gorgeous archipelago of 104 islands. Langkawi SkyCab on Langkawi Island lifts you to dreamlike views over these emerald islets on a 15-minute ride up Machinchang Mountain to 2,323 feet. Along the way you’ll see isolated pinnacles, deep chasms, white-sand beaches, rice paddy fields and lush mangroves. If you’re celebrating a special occasion or planning a proposal, upgrade to a glass-bottomed gondola or VIP gondola with music and food.

Skyline Gondola, Queenstown, New Zealand: This steep gondola climbs 1,476 feet above Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu to the top of Bob’s Peak. The views of surrounding mountains are spectacular, but looking down on the city of Queenstown is the biggest surprise. Ride the Skyline Gondola at sunset and you’ll see the twinkling lights of the city flicker on as the light fades.