The Most Amazing Skylines In The World

The world’s best skylines are contemporary, shiny, and pointed. Countries use cutting-edge engineering and building methods to build the most beautiful and cloud-scraping structures to improve their city’s international attractiveness. The Tower of Babel shows this is a human tradition.

Skylines need contrast to stand out. Natural beauty contrasts with modern skylines’ clean lines and gleaming surfaces. Modern architecture is enhanced by historical landmarks, and remarkable one-offs like Rio’s Christ the Redeemer can replace skyscrapers.

With water—ideally a quiet bay—you can create one of the world’s most magnificent skylines. This collection of the world’s top skylines will inspire your next urban getaway.

1. Manhattan, New York

Manhattan features one of the most famous skylines. It’s a popular film and TV location with its grid of elegant towers and beetling yellow cabs that many recognize as their local buildings.

The Big Apple’s skyline has changed, but the 1930s stars remain famous. The Empire State Building, the world’s tallest building until the Chrysler Building’s stainless steel crown, and the verdigris-tipped, Gothic-revival Woolworth Tower are examples. Layers of architecture give Manhattan’s skyline richness.

Despite its height decline, the Empire State’s observation decks offer some of New York’s greatest views. The higher deck is behind glass, thus the 86th floor is preferable for photos.

2. Central, Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s skyline at night may look like a confection of towering decorations, yet vertical architecture is essential. On a mountainous, waterside 50,000 acres (a fifth the size of New York), its seven-and-a-half million residents live in a high-rise forest of 9,000 towers.

As home to four of the world’s 15 tallest skyscrapers, Hong Kong’s skyline is impressive. Featuring the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, the 108-story international commercial center is the largest. The large container ships slowly entering port look like chunky iron filings from the hotel windows’ towering heights.

3. Pudong, Shanghai

One of the world’s outstanding skylines is in Shanghai’s Pudong, a former marsh turned business zone. The 124-story Shanghai Tower is China’s highest and the world’s second-tallest. Its swirling construction looks sci-fi as it disappears like a frozen cyclone into a low-lying cloud.

Pudong’s notable skyscrapers include the Shanghai Tower, the 101-story World Financial Center (nicknamed the “bottle opener”), and the hypodermic-like Oriental Pearl television tower.

Shanghai is known for its rooftop bars, and the Ritz-Carlton located in the IFC Building. Flair, its rooftop bar, offers a stunning view of Pudong and the Huangpu River to the Bund, known as “The Paris of the East” in Shanghai.

4. Downtown, Los Angeles

Downtown Los Angeles’ skyline isn’t noteworthy besides its many movie appearances. A legislation changed in 2014 requiring flat tops for helicopter landing sites gave skyscrapers their uninspired buzzcuts. The 1,018-foot U.S. Bank Tower, shaped like a trip plug, stands out.

This skyline is one of the best in the world because the surging buildings contrast with the huge, primarily low-rise urban sprawl. From the famous California beach, the craggy San Gabriel Mountains top it off.

California’s largest city’s magnificent skyline is best viewed from the Griffith Observatory, one of the state’s most unusual attractions. Nighttime visits to the Standard Hotel’s rooftop bar will immerse you in this brilliant grove of skyscrapers and high-rises.

5. Historic Center, Rome

Rome’s skyline contrasts with most of these cities. Rosy terracotta tile, boxy campaniles, and tall winged statues make up the skyline. One of the world’s most gorgeous skylines is iconically Italian.

No building in the historical center can exceed St. Peter’s elegant dome, the skyline’s main structure, according to local building law. The dearth of towers allows for stunning views of the Eternal City from any of the city’s seven hills. The Orange Garden on Aventine Hill is arguably the best. From this attractive shady place, Rome is visible.

6. Xinyi Special District, Taipei

The jade Taipei 101 Skyscraper dwarfs Taipei’s various high-rises and towers. This incredible 1,671-foot building was the world’s tallest until Dubai’s Burj Khalifa’s completion in 2009. Taipei 101 has one of the world’s quickest elevators, from 5th to 89th in 37 seconds.

Also noticeable on Taiwan’s capital’s skyline is Taipei Nan Shan Plaza. The top-floor Indian restaurant Saffron 46 serves delicious food and offers a great view of Taipei 101.

The eco-friendly Tao Zhu Yin Yuan Tower shows that Taiwanese still like unusual architecture.

7. Downtown, Vancouver

Vancouver features a world-class skyline situated against the magnificent, snow-capped North Shore Mountains, often used as a filming location for New York. The city has the most residential high-rises per capita in North America.

The shimmering 62-story Shangri-La Hotel stands out among the glassy skyscrapers designed to create a vast, light-filled urban hamlet. Second tallest is the twisting Trump International Hotel and Tower. The Marine Building is less reflecting yet still impressive. The British Empire’s highest building, this stocky Art Deco masterpiece, initially appeared downtown in 1930.

8. San Francisco

San Francisco’s low-slung skyline is unusual, hampered or helped by the San Andreas.

The triangle-topped Transamerica Pyramid is its most famous building. After completion in 1972, the futurist obelisk was the eighth-tallest skyscraper at 853 feet. Salesforce Tower has since surpassed it as San Francisco’s tallest building. This shiny 2018 skyscraper uses the latest seismic analysis and design techniques and stands just under 1,000 feet tall.

The Salesforce Tower has a viewing deck with stunning views of the city and bay—or fog, depending on the weather.

9.Sydney Harbour, Sydney

New South Wales’ capital showcases innovative urban planning in combination with a gorgeous natural landscape. Sydney Harbour embodies the city’s exquisite modernity, hugging Port Jackson Bay’s bays and inlets. Sydney Harbour is one of the world’s best skylines due to its diversity.

The avant-garde Sydney Opera House contrasts with the CBD buildings. The approximately 1,000-foot Sydney Tower Eye, with its dandelion clock-like top, towers over them.
ge-listed steel Sydney Harbour Bridge, with its elegant industrial arch flowing softly into Sydney towers, completes the view.

10. Singapore

The Singapore skyline is one of the most innovative and intriguing. As the world’s second-most densely inhabited country, the city-state’s vertical lifestyle makes sense.

Among Singapore’s most famous monuments is Marina Bay Sands, the world’s most expensive structure at $5.7 billion. With three bending towers holding the table-like SkyPark, Moshe Safdie’s Marina Bay Sands is a skyline.

The lush Gardens by the Bay landscape

11. Downtown, Seattle

Seattle’s hilltop skyline includes a mix of distinctive structures, often rated the best in the US. One of the world’s best skylines, it overlooks Puget Sound’s biodiverse seas and Mount Rainier.

The city’s tower-spacing laws, inspired by Vancouver, limit downtown skyscrapers. Columbia Center, erected in 1895, is the city’s tallest building at 933 feet. The Space Needle, a Pacific Northwest landmark, was built as an observation tower for the 1962 World’s Fair.

12. Shinjuku City, Tokyo

While Shinjuku City offers the famous Tokyo skyline with Mount Fuji behind it, the world’s most populated city looks good from other angles.

The world’s second-tallest building, the 2,080-foot Tokyo Skytree, stands out. The terrifyingly high Tembo Galleria viewing platform gives a satellite-like view of this neo-futuristic Japanese pagoda. The Tokyo Tower, a red and white Eiffel Tower replica, stands out among the skyscrapers.

13. Corcovado Mountain, Rio de Janeiro

One of the world’s most photogenic big cities is coastal Rio. The second-most populated city in Brazil has a 360-degree skyline with high rises and villas overlooking Guanabara Bay.

Rio has many gorgeous buildings, like the Santiago Calatrava-designed Museum of Tomorrow, but the simple drama of Christ the Redeemer atop Corcovado Mountain makes it one of the world’s most spectacular skylines.

The largest Art Deco sculpture on Earth and a New Seven Wonder of the World, the statue appears from the South American rainforest to protect the population and 130 islands in the harbor. Best of all, you can see the South American monument from almost anyplace in the city, including the beaches.