Baldwin Street an Ever Instagrammed Steep

“If you find yourself near Dunedin anytime soon, put on your most comfortable walking shoes and head to Baldwin Street for a seriously trippy Instagram opportunity,” Travel + Leisure journalist Nina Ruggiero recommends. “Baldwin Street holds the Guinness World Record for steepest residential street in the world, with a gradient of 35 per cent.

“When plans for Dunedin were first mapped out, the work was done by planners in London, who did not take the area’s hilly topography into account. But not to be discouraged, they went about building roads and even houses along some seriously steep blocks, the most extreme of which is Baldwin Street.

“Once a year, hundreds of athletes gather there to run up and down the street at the Baldwin Street Gutbuster.

“On most other days of the year, tourists can be found snapping photos that create some crazy optical illusions. Instagrammers love to capture the homes of Baldwin Street on an angle, making it look like they are completely crooked or sinking into the ground.”

Original article by Nina Ruggiero, Travel + Leisure, March 31, 2017.