The Narrowest Streets in the World
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The Narrowest Streets in the World
At what point does a street cease to be a street? According to the Guinness Book of Records, the narrowest street in the world is located in the old town of Reutlingen, in Germany. It is actually a narrow alley, called Spreuerhofstraße, between two closely built houses. The “street” is only 31 centimeters wide at its narrowest point and 40 centimeters wide on the average. The street isn’t particularly long either — just 3.8 meters. But since it is located on municipal land, the folks of Reutlingen insist it’s a public street.
There’s not much to see in Spreuerhofstrasse, and it isn’t particularly pretty either. In order to use the street one has to squeeze past two blank walls, and when it's raining, water drips from the gutter of an old half-timbered house on one side. Although a ton of tourists from Asia and America flock to inspect the alley, visitors aren’t necessarily encouraged to squeeze through the crack because there is a good possibility of them getting stuck. Anyone over 1.8 meters tall have to bend to pass through. Some locals are known to humorously refer to the Spreuerhofstrasse as a benchmark measurement for their diets.
Photo credit (Left) , Photo credit (Right)
The alley was built in 1727 during the reconstruction efforts after the area was completely destroyed in the massive city-wide fire of 1726. In 1820, a town hall administrator decided to elevate the status of this particular gap to that of a full-fledged public street. In 2007 it entered into the Guinness Book of Records as the world's narrowest street.
At one point the near-derelict half-timbered house (the one on the left on the photo above) started to lean making the street even narrower. Authorities feared that it if leaned too much, the street might become so narrow that humans will no longer be able to use it. In that case the Spreuerhofstraße would lose its status as a “street” together with its record title. The house couldn’t be torn down either because that would make the street too wide. So the city decided to shore up the building and will likely continue to prop this structure up as long as possible.
Shoring prevents the wall from collapsing and closing down the street. Photo credit
Parliament Street
The title for the narrowest street in the world was previously held by the Parliament Street of Exeter, England, which in my opinion, fitted better to the definition of a "street". This 50 meter long street is approximately 1.2 meters (45 inches) at its widest and less than 0.64 meters (25 inches) at its narrowest. The street links the High Street to Waterbeer Lane and dates back to the 14th century. It was formerly called the Small Lane before being renamed in 1832.
Fan Tan Alley
Fan Tan Alley is located in Victoria, British Columbia's Chinatown, connecting Fisgard Avenue to Pandora Avenue in the block between Government Street and Store Street. It is the narrowest street in Canada with its narrowest point measuring only 35 inches (89 cm) wide. The area was originally a gambling district with restaurants, shops, and opium dens. Today it is a tourist destination with many small shops including a barber shop, art gallery, Chinese cafe, apartments and offices.
Marten Trotzigs Grand
Mårten Trotzigs Gränd is located in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, in Sweden. The street descends down via flight of stairs, tapering as it goes down, to reach a mere 90 centimeters (35 inch), making the alley the narrowest street in Stockholm. The alley is named after the merchant and burgher Mårten Trotzig (1559–1617), who immigrated to Stockholm in 1581, and bought properties in the alley and opened a shop there. He later become one of the richest merchants in Stockholm.
The entrance to Marten Trotzigs Grand. Photo credit
Strada Sforii
Strada Sforii is located near Șchei Gate in the city of Brașov, Romania. It was initially built as a corridor that firemen could use, and it is first mentioned in 17th century documents. Strada Sforii is now a tourist attraction and meeting spot. Its width varies between 111 and 135 centimeters (44 and 53 in), and it is 80 meters (260 feet) long.
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The walls are closing in !
I would have complete claustrophobia walking down one of these things.
LOL, I don't think I'll be taking a stroll down many of those streets.
I dont mind the narrow, its the 25 or 30 ft high walls that go along with it that would bother me.
This is the narrowest street in America. St. Augustine, FL. Treasury St. 7 feet wide.
Lombard Street, San Francisco. Not one of the narrowest, but known as "the crookedest street in the world" because of its 8 hairpin turns in one block.
When I was stationed there, we would get wasted and at 4 am go up it. Now you can't drive it at all as it is closed to cars after years of complaints from those who live there. Only residents can use it now.
I have been down Lombard St. several times over the years. When I was last in San Francisco a couple of years ago we drove by Lombard St. but did not try to drive on it.
If you try to drive up California St when it's raining and get your tires in the trolly tracks you will start sliding backward down California st.
Did that happen to you?
Divisadero Street is the worse. It is so steep from Lombard that you need nerves of steel to drive it.
Yes, it did, a couple of times. LOL
I have always found driving in San Francisco to be a bit of a challenge. The hills are really steep.
Oops!
... especially when you're driving a stick ...
Especially.
I got caught on California St on my way to the Top of the Mark. I had just bought a VW station wagon, manual transmission. I slid down the hill into a taxi and used his front grill as a backstop to get me going forward again. Stop signs at the apex of 45 degree inclines. I was a riot though the taxi driver didn't think so...
Loved it, so did my kids, lmao.
Before Cosby was a dirty old man, he was a funny young man:
I HAVE that album but forgot that bit. Man that was me in spades.
Crosby is the biggest disappointments I have ever had in a celebrity.
Indeed
We had a lot of fun driving down Lombard Street St. It's also very steep.
A Friend of mine had a 1953 Cadillac coupe DeVille in mint condition that he was very proud of. When visiting San Francisco one year he took a bet that he could manage to drive down Lombard Street without getting stuck.
It was his first time visiting SF and we tried to convince him that his Caddy would not be able to manage the tight curves without getting stuck at some point. Ultimately we were unable to convince him, and he took off down Lombard St to prove to us how good a driver he was.
Unfortunately, his over sized Caddy did not make it down the hill. He got stuck on a very tight curve and wedged his car in the curve. It took some careful dismantling on the front and back of the car to free it so it could clear the curve and manage to clear the rest of the way down.
He wound up having to pay a nice bit to the company that dismantled his car to free it, as well as cover the cost of repairs once it was free.
That is why no one should ever take Lombard Street for granted. It is much more tricky than what it looks like at first glance.
Lombard Street is a bit steep, but not scary steep like some of the streets there. And on Lombard you only drive downhill. It's when you drive uphill on a steep San Francisco street that is the problem, stopping behind a line of other cars.
I've never heard of that happening on Lombard Street. Too much!
I always used an 80 Dodge Colt (Mitsubishi) super shift ( 4 x 2 ) manual trans or a
similar 86 Dodge (Mitsu ) Vista wagon with the same transmission
when taking relatives and visiting friends on a San Fran tour which always included Lombard Street.
Fun driving, lol, good times.
I learned 2 things quickly.
When parking, always turn the front tires into the curb, don't trust the parking brake.
The parking brake's real purpose was to hold the car when (if) you were going uphill and stopped for a light or stop sign.
Then you could rev the engine and let out the clutch while releasing the hand brake.
Of course this increased replacement of the rear brakes,
or...
I witnessed lots of people who just would not stop but would turn right instead,
after all, it's San Francisco, lol
When parking on a hill always turn the front tires into the curb. I learned that almost as soon as I learned how to drive. We have a lot of hills in L.A.
Looking strait up into the sky and trusting that there is pavement in front of you.
Tunisia is very old, going back to Carthage at least. Some towns seem to be that old. Lots of side streets.
Qianshi Hutong, Beijing
"Hutong" is the general term given to the old lanes of Beijing. The Qianshi Hutong stretches for 180 feet in the city's Dongcheng District. At its more narrow point, it measures 16 inches necessitating pedestrians to turn sideways. The alley has a rich history, having served as a financial center during the Qing Dynasty. The 26 mints in the area produced copper coins for almost all banks in Beijing. The alley narrowed with the expansion of the banks. However, the Hutong lost relevance as a financial center with the introduction of paper currency.
Can't open that one Buzz. Try saving it to your HD and then posting it.
Can you see it now?
Yes, thanks Buzz, I can see it now. Wow!! That is one narrow 'street'. More like a foot path than a street. That bike rider sure has a lot of courage to tackle it on a bicycle, especially, with the various obstacles thrown in here and there.
With 16 inches being the lane's narrowest point, it's a good think his bike doesn't nave wide handlebars.
A narrow street in Boston, MA
I had many clients here on Elfreths Alley in Philadelphia
Back in the day there only black iron hitching posts - not these red abominations, lol
Nice, France
Nimes, France
Èze , France
Did you dine at La Chevre d'or in Eze ? Eze is amazing !!
We were so hungry when we got to Eze that we ate at the first place we saw, which was as very nice restaurant right across the street from the entrance to the old town. Eze is truly amazing and we had a wonderful afternoon exploring it.
It is amazing. I was kidding about Chevre d'or. I think it's difficult to get a reservation there, it's a Michelin restaurant. Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman ate there in the movie "The Bucket List". It was fun to see it in person.
I can boast that I have been down every one of those streets. I am shocked that there are none being shown in Barcelona. There were streets there that blew my mind they were so narrow.
I was actually going to look at my Barcelona photos earlier to see if I had any that showed some of their narrow streets, but I had to get back to work! Maybe I will look tomorrow.
I didn't find any photos of the narrow streets in Barcelona, but I have this photo of a narrow street in Tarragona, which is another city in Catalonia near Barcelona.
I do have a photo of the famous Las Ramblas, which is a wide, mostly pedestrian street in Barcelona.