Visit Pittsburgh: The Duquesne Incline & One Amazing View

Our family had the opportunity to visit Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania a few weeks ago and see the sites.  We were only there for a long weekend and fell in love with the city.  I think we could have easily spent another week exploring.  What an awesome city!  And I’m really not much of a city person but Pittsburgh has that certain something.

By far one of the highlights of our trip was the Duquesne Incline.  I have a couple of friends that are Pittsburgh natives that told me this was a must-see and they weren’t wrong.  The Duquesne Incline closely follows the tracks of an old coal hoist and provides an awesome view of the city from the upper station.  We parked at the lower station, (which was free!) and walked up the steps from the parking lot to the station where we were able to hop aboard a car and take the ride up the mountain.

The reasonable fare and long hours make this an attraction that’s convenient and inexpensive. Kids under 6 and adults 65 and older are free, as are Carnegie Mellon and Chatham University students.  Adults ages 12-64 can ride for $2.50 one way or $5 round trip.  And children ages 6-12 can ride for just $1.25 one way, $2.50 round trip.  See?  Super affordable and the experience of going up and down the mountain and especially the view from the top are just priceless!  The Duquesne Incline is open most of the time, too: 5:30am to 12:45am Monday through Saturday; 7am -12:45am on Sundays.  We took the kids just before lunchtime and enjoyed a sunny view of Pittsburgh.  But I would have loved to go back at night and seen the city lights!

The ride from the one end to the other is just a couple minutes long.  My kids thought it was so cool to ride up the mountain and watch everything below us getting smaller and smaller.  And as we rose the view just got more incredible!  Finally at the top we walked around the upper station for a bit, checking out some old newspaper articles on display and seeing some of the original hoisting equipment.

The coolest part of our visit to the Duquesne Incline was our time spent enjoying the view from observation deck, 400 feet above the city.  WOW.  We could easily see the city’s three rivers, Heinz Field, the Carnegie Science Center, and many more points of interest throughout Pittsburgh.  The pictures we took from that vantage point are some of the best we got on our trip.  In fact, the top of the Duquesne Incline was voted one of the top ten sites in the world for viewing a cityscape by USA Today!

After we enjoyed the view for a while we rode back down the incline and headed down the road a piece to Station Square where we grabbed some lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and then walked some of it off along the river.  On our walk we passed lots of friendly bikers who all nodded and said hello when we passed, and we found a really cool wall of history that detailed the significant role the city of Pittsburgh has played in our country’s history.  So much personality in Pittsburgh, both from the friendly people and the city itself.

If you’ve got a visit to Pittsburgh on your calendar (and if you don’t you should think about it!), definitely make a point to get to the Duquesne Incline.  It’s easy to get to and a very inexpensive stop on your tour of attractions.  And the view?  Ah-mazing!

Check out all of our Pittsburgh adventures:

• Lego KidsFest in Pittsburgh December 2012
• Visit Pittsburgh: A Thriving City Full of Hospitality & Family-Friendly Attractions
• Visit Pittsburgh: The Duquesne Incline & One Amazing View
• Visit Pittsburgh: The Carnegie Science Center Is Hands-On Fun & Learning!
• Visit Pittsburgh: Close (and Awesome!) Encounters at The National Aviary

 

I was provided with complimentary and/or discounted accommodations and admission to attractions  in exchange for this review.  The opinions in this post are 100% mine.  You can read my full disclosure policy here.