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WORDS BY CLAIRE BENNIE
Soak up some of the best views in Europe while dangling at dizzying heights on a unique gondola ride
 SWITZERLAND, fly to Zurich www.kleinmatterhorn.com With splendid views of the Swiss Alps, you’ll feel like you’re on top of the world as you ascend the Matterhorn in this gondola. And, standing on the highest platform in Europe, at 3,825m, you won’t be far off. On arrival, you’ll come into an icy cave where you slide through a tunnel and out to the top of the mountain. From planning permission approval in 1973, it took six years to create this mountain terminal, including carrying huge slabs of concrete via helicopter in specially insulated tanks. Snow is guaranteed every day of the year at this glacial platform, as are spectacular 360° views of nearly 40 peaks and crests across France, Italy and Switzerland.
 AUSTRIA, fly to Innsbruck www.bergbahn-kitzbuehel.at In 1893, the skiing pioneer Franz Reisch glided through the snow down the Kitzbüheler Horn mountain, making him the first known person to ski, and Kitzbühel the first ever ski resort. However, he must have had a long way to climb, as the construction of the first ski lift was not completed until 1928. Today, you can perilously hang over a Tyrolean gorge at a staggering 400m high. The three-cable aerial continuous cableway, installed at the end of 2004, is fittingly revolutionary for this most innovative of ski resorts, and now allows skiers to negotiate the entire area between Kitzbühel and Kirchberg.
 SPAIN, fly to Malaga www.mhbland.com For proof that a gondola trip doesn’t have to provide spectacular views over snowy-topped mountains, head to the summit of Gibraltar, via a nerve-janglingly steep and swaying ride. The cable-car is one of Gibraltar’s top attractions and boasts undiluted views over the Strait of Gibraltar, the glittering expanse of the Mediterranean sea with its white sandy beaches, and the far shores of the African coast. As you journey to the top, you may still be able to see the remnants of the original cable car: a basket that transported gun emplacements up to the top of the rock during World War II.
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