Omio, Europe’s leading booking platform for travel, has released a ranking of the world’s most affordable observation decks. The study analyzes the entrance fees for the 70 most popular viewing platforms in the world, followed by an offset of the ticket prices against the official height of the building. The result is a well-curated list of the best views for the best price.
In almost every city, observation decks are among the most popular attractions for tourists. This ranking reveals the wide range of ticket prices, starting at $1.14 for the Torre Panorâmica in Curitiba (Brazil) to the Empire State Building in New York City (United States), where the entrance costs around $79.
“Top of Africa” offers the best price for money
The popular viewing platform “Top of Africa” (732ft) on the top floor of the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg offers visitors a unique panoramic view as far as Soweto and the best deal for the money. The entrance fee only costs $1.67 and beats all other observation decks surveyed in the price per foot category ($0.002 per ft). The deck is finally scheduled to reopen in summer 2023.
Table 1: Top 10 best observation decks for travelers on a budget.
| Destination | Observation deck | Height | Ticket | Price per ft. | |
| 1 | Johannesburg, South Africa | Top of Africa | 732ft | $1.67 | $0.002 |
| 2 | Istanbul, Turkey | Istanbul Sapphire | 856ft | $2.68 | $0.003 |
| 3 | Curitiba, Brazil | Torre Panorâmica | 359ft | $1.14 | $0.003 |
| 4 | Riga, Latvia | Riga TV tower | 1,207ft | $3.96 | $0.003 |
| 5 | Cairo, Egypt | Cairo Tower | 614ft | $2.14 | $0.004 |
| 6 | Belgrade, Serbia | TV tower Avala | 673ft | $2.78 | $0.004 |
| 7 | Plzeň, Czech Republic | Cathedral of St. Bartholomew | 338ft | $1.56 | $0.005 |
| 8 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Christ the Redeemer | 2,297ft | $14.36 | $0.006 |
| 9 | Barcelona, Spain | Torre de Collserola | 945ft | $6.00 | $0.006 |
| 10 | Warsaw, Poland | Palace of Culture and Science | 945ft | $5.68 | $0.007 |
From $24 to $79: Observation decks in the US are expensive
The Empire State Building in New York City is probably the most famous observation platform in the world. The viewing deck attracts around 3.5 million visitors per year. The study reveals that visiting a skydeck in the US is rather expensive. The most expensive observation deck is the Empire State Building and a ticket to the 102nd floor costs around $79.
Good that the Big Apple offers plenty of alternatives. The deck of the One World Trade Center only costs about $47 and a ticket to the Top of the Rock observation deck costs about $43.
The Statue of Liberty offers the worst deal for travelers. The monument that includes a viewing deck in the crown is only 305ft tall but one ticket costs $24. A ticket to The Strat in Las Vegas is also around $24 but at least the building is 1,148ft tall.
The best deal for an observation deck in the US is the Willis Tower in Chicago. A ticket to the visitors’ floor on top of the 1,450ft-tall building costs only $30.
