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.
Spreuerhofstraße,town of Reutlingen, in Germany
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.
The most narrow street in Prague is Equipped With Traffic Lights for pedestrians
It is so narrow there must be traffic lights in order people wouldn’t collide – maybe two dogs could sidetrack, but they have to be very small dogs. If you are square-shouldered or well.. fat, you shouldn’t enter the street at all – you can get struck.
It is steep, full of stairs, doesn’t have a name, but have two traffic lights. It goes from U Luzickeho seminare street to the Certovka restaurant, offering spectacular view of Charles Bridge.
Most of the tourists see the street as an attraction, so they push the walk button, take a few pictures and when they go, they don’t take the light seriously, so in the end they push with somebody so close only lovers usually do that.
“One time, one really corpulent German tourist got stuck” remembers the owner of Certovka Restaurant. “She couldn’t go up or down. The personnel tried to push her back to the street , but in vain. In the end we had to soap her, so she would slide more easily. She just had to go somewhere else for her lunch.
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.
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.
Strada Sforii – Brasov, Romania
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.
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.
