Why are safety walls at tourist viewpoints blocking the view?
High stone safety barriers built near cliff edges dramatically decrease landscape visibility for both shorter and taller visitors. This obstruction ruins the natural experience and makes it impossible to get the vantage point needed to appreciate the scenery.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1taking a boat cruise instead of walking the trailsDid this help you?
- 2visiting alternative, less-crowded cliffs and scenic spotsDid this help you?
- 3exploring lesser-known regions off the beaten trackDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Now, there is a rock wall about 4 feet (1 meter) high that is dug into the earth as a prevention to near the Cliff's edge. As a shorter person, I felt as though I needed a step stool to be able to have a proper view. While I understand why this was done, it dramatically decreases the visibility of the landscape.”source ↗
“Imagine our disappointment with the wall. It not only detracts from the natural beauty, but as a 6ft person myself I felt like I couldn’t get the vantage point to appreciate the cliffs at all.”source ↗
“Just came back from Ireland and was equally disappointed with the Cliffs of Moher.”source ↗
Where this came up
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