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Local Motion Up, down, around and around; every journey through the city of Pittsburgh is an adventure.  "Pittsburgh
is undoubtedly the cockeyedest city in the United States," wrote
newspaper columnist Ernie Pyle in 1937. "It must have been laid
out by a mountain goat." Pyle's now famous description is a mixture of bewilderment and admiration: "It's up and down, and around and around, and in betwixt," he wrote. "Pittsburgh is hills, mountains, cliffs, valleys, and rivers." Getting around the city is a lot easier these days, but traveling Pittsburgh-style has lost none of its excitement. The city's incredible mixture of grand rivers, dramatic hills and sweeping vistas makes every journey an adventure in itself.
Entering Pittsburgh for the first time has all the drama of an epic film's opening scene. One minute you are cruising through rolling, grassy Allegheny hills and the next you are plunged into the darkness of the Fort Pitt Tunnel. A moment later you emerge into the sunlight, greeted by a breathtaking vista: a gleaming downtown perched at the junction of three tranquil rivers. Welcome to Pittsburgh. |
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 Pittsburgh
is full of these awe-inspiring surprises--spectacular vistas glimpsed
between rows of Victorian houses, commuters hopping off cable cars
and onto riverboats, and shimmering glass and steel edifices sharing
the skyline with renovated redbrick warehouses.Up and Down So you think San Francisco is the city of hills? Forgetaboutit--Pittsburgh undulates with countless cliffs, slopes and valleys. Here, tilted trains run diagonally up Mount Washington's sheer rock face. They're called inclines, remnants of a time when numerous cable cars chugged up and down Pittsburgh's steep cliffs.  And
then there are the city-owned steps--at least 43,937 of them, comprising
700 stairways, hundreds more than other hilly cities like Cincinnati
and San Francisco. In Pittsburgh you will find roads with steps for
sidewalks, and even some fantastic streets that are nothing more than
zig-zagging staircases winding up into the hills.Over and Under While you are admiring the view from the top of any of Pittsburgh's numerous hills, try to see how many bridges you can count. There are 720 of them traversing the valleys and spanning the rivers like strands of a spider web, some painted primrose yellow. Only one other city in the world can boast more bridges, and that's Venice. Beneath the bridges, riverboats and water taxis navigate the tranquil waters. Hop aboard and cruise to the ballgame in style, groove to a water-bound rock performance or tour the legendary Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers. In the warmer months you can also ply the waterways in sailboats, sculls and jet skis. Around and Around As if there weren't already enough adventures awaiting Pittsburghers during their morning commutes, the city boasts one of the top-rated amusement parks in the country, Kennywood Park. Here state-of-the-art scream machines like the Phantom's Revenge are intertwined with classic wooden coasters like the Thunderbolt. If you need a break from stomach-lurching plunges and loop-da-loops, you can mosey down the Lazy River at Sandcastle Waterpark. 
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