Niagara Falls - ON - Skylon Tower (Aussichtsdeck)

Thyssenkrupp Testturm - Aussichtsplattform aussen

Glass balconies St Eusebius Church Arnhem NL

An observation deck, observation platform, or viewing platform is an elevated

sightseeing Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure, such as a

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

observation tower An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, an ...

. Observation decks are sometimes enclosed from weather, and a few may include coin-operated telescopes for viewing distant features.

List of public observation decks

List of highest observation decks by type

Timeline of world's highest observation decks

This is a timeline of the development of world's highest observation decks since the inauguration of the

Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and the ...

in 1885.

Under construction

* Unknown

Jeddah Tower Jeddah Tower ( ar, برج جدة), previously known as Kingdom Tower (), is a skyscraper construction project currently on hold. Located on the north side of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, it is planned to be the first tall building, and the centrep ...

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. 637 m, Level 157 *Unknown

Goldin Finance 117 Goldin Finance 117, also known as China 117 Tower (Chinese: 中国117大厦), is an unfinished skyscraper in Xiqing District, Tianjin, China. The tower was topped out in 2015 at a height of 597 m (1,959 ft). It has 128 storeys above ground, with ...

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. 578.7 m, Level 116 * 2023 (est.)

Merdeka 118 Merdeka 118, formerly known as Warisan Merdeka Tower and KL 118, is a 118-storey, 678.9-metre-tall megatall skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the world's second-tallest structure, surpassing the Tokyo Skytree at and the world's sec ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. 517.7 m , Level 117 (Spire observation level at 566 m) * 2027 (est)

Taipei Twin Towers The Taipei Twin Towers () is a supertall skyscraper development in Taipei, Taiwan. Scheduled to be completed in 2027, it includes two skyscrapers, the taller of which is with 74 floors and the shorter of which is with 55 floors. It is located n ...

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. 347 m, Level 73 Approved * 2025 (est.)

Signature Tower Jakarta Signature Tower was a proposed skyscraper in Jakarta, Indonesia. The proposed height is . The tower was proposed in 2010, with developers hoping to begin construction in 2015. Planning permission for the tower was granted in late 2015. Constru ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. 515.8 m, Level 111 * 2028 (est.) Torch Tower,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. 300 m, Level 55 * 2030 (est.) Millennium Tower,

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. 280 m, Level 67 See also List of tallest buildings and structures in the world#World's highest observation deck

Observation deck gallery

File:Viewing platform - top right.jpg, The 10 m observation deck of

Ronda Ronda () is a town in the Spanish province of Málaga. It is located about west of the city of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its population is about 35,000. Ronda is known for its cliff-side location and a deep chasm ...

, Spain, overlooks the Depression of Ronda plain over 100 m below. File:TreeHouse-Elevated01.jpg, A multi-level

tree house A tree house, tree fort or treeshed is a platform or building constructed around, next to or among the trunk or branches of one or more mature trees while above ground level. Tree houses can be used for recreation, work space, habitation, a han ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, with an observation deck on top File:Rokko garden terrace03s3200.jpg, An observation deck place in Rokko Garden Terrace,

Mount Rokkō is the name of a range of mountains in southeastern Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Outline There is no single mountain or peak called "Rokkō," although the highest peak of the mountains is called , (literally, ''the highest peak of the Rokkō ...

, Kobe, Japan File:Observation deck overlooking Potsdamer Platz with placard showing 1929 view.jpg, An observation deck in

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

with a view of

Potsdamer Platz Potsdamer Platz (, ''Potsdam Square'') is a public square and traffic intersection in the center of Berlin, Germany, lying about south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag (German Parliament Building), and close to the southeast corne ...

on the other side of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

, 1977. At the bottom of the steps a placard shows what the square looked like in 1929. File:One World Observatory View.jpg,

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River ...

as viewed from the

One World Observatory One World Trade Center (also known as One World Trade, One WTC, and formerly Freedom Tower) is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merr ...

in New York City File:Vista del Puerto de Victoria desde Sky100, Hong Kong, 2013-08-09, DD 10.JPG,

Night View Night vision is the ability to see in low-light conditions, either naturally with scotopic vision or through a night-vision device. Night vision requires both sufficient spectral range and sufficient intensity range. Humans have poor night v ...

of the

Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on South China Sea were instrumental i ...

, Hong Kong from

sky100 Sky100 () is a 360-degree indoor observation deck on the 100th floor of the International Commerce Centre, in West Kowloon, Hong Kong, near Kowloon station (MTR), Kowloon station. The deck offers views of Hong Kong Island, Victoria Harbour, th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Observation Deck Buildings and structures by type Architectural elements Tourist attractions Landscape