Size matters – with tunnels, anyway. Most lists of the world's most spectacular designs pant over the longest passageways, like Norway's Laedral Tunnel, currently the record-holder at 15.25 miles.

But beauty before distance, I say. Give me the arched canopy of tart pink cherry trees in Bonn, Germany, over a cold engineering marvel anytime. Or Shanghai's psychedelic light show inside the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel (pictured above). Or a simple rock cutaway in South Dakota with a million-dollar view. To that end – short trip though it may be – here's a photo tour of the most striking destination tunnels.

Cherry Blossoms in Bonn, Germany
There's something poetic about the very existence of tree tunnels, formed by nature instead of built to conquer it.


[Photo credit: K.A.I. via Flickr]

Rua Gonçalo de Carvalho in Porto Alegre, Brazil
This high-reaching green carpet in the middle of the city, formed by more than 100 tipuana trees pressing up against tall buildings for several blocks, was at risk of being uprooted to make way for more development before residents won a fight to preserve it. Now the tree tunnel is a protected heritage and environmental site.


[Photo credit: Ander Vaz via Flickr]

Filed under: Asia, Europe, North America, South America, China, France, Germany, United States, Brazil, Transportation