With expansive views over the San Francisco Bay and its signature rust orange color, it’s no wonder the Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most iconic anywhere.
In fact, its architecture is so quintessentially San Francisco, the bridge was named the most iconic bridge in the world by car rental company Sixt. Among its myriad of accomplishments, the bridge plays host to more than 100,000 cars every day and boasts cables that are so long, they could wrap around the Earth three times, according to the company.
“Bridges do more than just connect cities over bodies of water; they often define a city’s skyline, becoming a symbol for locals and a dream destination for tourists around the world,” Sixt wrote on its website. “City skylines and sweeping views inspire a sense of pride and excitement for the place people are lucky enough to visit or call home.”
The United Kingdom’s London Bridge, which opened in the 1970s to replace an old stone bridge, came in as the second-most iconic in the world. While often confused for its neighbor Tower Bridge (which came in at No. 4 on the list), London Bridge nevertheless deserves its status thanks to its history and central location straddling the famous Thames River near both Borough Market and the Shard.
The Brooklyn Bridge took the third spot on the list, famed for its renowned architecture and skyline views. The bridge connects Manhattan and Brooklyn and as of last year, hosted an average of more than 100,000 vehicles, 28,000 pedestrians, and 5,500 cyclists each day, according to the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT).
To determine the top bridge views around the globe, Sixt ranked bridges based on architectural significance as well as height, length, and digital footprint. The company also evaluated the pedestrian accessibility and parking availability on and around the bridges and looked at the number of Instagram hashtags and TikTok searches.
The Golden Gate Bridge, for example, boasted 3.3 million Instagram hashtags and a total of 447,000 TikTok searches, according to company.
This is the full list of the top 10 iconic bridges in the world, according to Sixt.
- Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, U.S.
- London Bridge, London, UK
- Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, U.S.
- Tower Bridge, London, UK
- Hangzhou Bay Bridge, Jiaxing, China
- Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, Kobe, Japan
- 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, Çanakkale, Turkey
- New River Gorge Bridge, near Victor, West Virginia, U.S.
- Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, near Istanbul, Turkey
- Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, near Virginia Beach, U.S.
