An aerial cable car trip around the world

A spectacular cable car is once again opening in Switzerland. The "Matterhorn Glacier Ride" takes its passengers all year round to the high alpine regions of the striking summit in Switzerland.

The "Scenic Skyway" travels above a ravine in the Blue Mountains and offers the best view of the Three Sisters rock formation in Katoomba. Out of respect for the cultural heritage of the Aborigines, climbing on the cliffs is forbidden. One legend has it that the sisters were turned into stone by their father to protect them from a monster.

The Langkawi Cable Car runs from the tourist hot spot Oriental Village in the northwest of Langkawi Island over the rain forest to Mount Mat Cincang. In good weather, observation platforms offer a clear view all the way to the southern tip of Thailand.

Hong Kong's international airport lies outside the city on Chek Lap Kok, just north of Lantau Island, which boasts such tourist attractions as the Big Buddha and Po Lin monastery. The Ngong Ping 360 cable car takes you there in half an hour over Tung Chung Bay.

On Tianzi Shan, the "mountain of the son of Heaven," this cable car glides through the world heritage site Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in Hunan Province. The best time to take it is from April to October, because that's when the otherworldly landscape is less often enveloped in fog.

Planned for the 1929 Barcelona International Exhibition, the Transbordador Aeri del Port cable car still glides over the quays of the Catalan city. The nostalgic tour has its price. A single ticket costs 11 euros and takes a mere five unforgettable minutes.

The Téléphérique de Grenoble Bastille is said to be the world's urban cable car. It has twice had its cabins replaced by newer models since 1934. The spherical aluminum and plexiglass cabins, dubbed "bulles" - bubbles - have been taking passengers from the city up to the Bastille, a former fortress, and providing panoramic views of Grenoble and the Alps since 1976.

One of the most unsual gondola cableways takes hikers and mountain climbers from the glacial ice of the Marmolada, the highest ridge in the Dolomites, down to Lake Fedaia. To keep it in equilibrium lighter people have to stand in front. The gondolas, which look a bit like Roman chariots, are safe but slightly wobbly.

Who invented it? The Swiss, of course. On the world's very first rotating cable car, the Titlis Rotair, the cabin rotates 360 degrees during the trip. That provides a perfect all-round view of the steep rock faces, deep glacial crevasses and snow-covered mountain peaks in the distance. The mountain station at the top is 3020 meters above sea level.

At the confluence of the Rhine and the Moselle in Koblenz a cable car starting at the headland known as the Deutsches Eck takes its passengers to Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. From the cabins you can enjoy the sunset over the river.

Here the superlative is world's the lowest-lying aerial cable car. It goes to the ancient fortress of Masada in the north of the Negev Desert. The valley station is more than 250 meters below sea level. This place, with its significance to Jewish history, is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of Israel's biggest tourist attractions.

The Niagara River doesn't just offer spectacular waterfalls. Four kilometers downstream at a height of 47 meters, the Whirlpool Aero Car is suspended above the swirling Niagara Whirlpool and whitewater rapids. Riders crisscross the border between Canada and the US. Spanish civil engineer Leonardo Torres y Quevedo built the cable car in 1913.

La Paz has the world's longest urban cable car ride - and the highest, because the Bolivian capital lies 3600 meters, and the El Alto station even 4000 meters, above sea level. By 2019 this will be the largest cable car network in the world. There are already red, yellow, green and blue lines. The cabins of Mi Teleférico are painted to match their routes.

The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway is named after its destination, which overlooks Cape Town. It takes 800 passengers an hour up to the plateau, more than 1000 meters above sea level. The view over Table Bay with Robben Island, Camps Bay and the Twelve Apostles Mountain Range is breathtaking, and so are the sudden changes in the weather. Take along a warm jacket!