Visiting the World’s Steepest Street as Determined by Guinness World Records in Dunedin, New Zealand

In his ongoing quest to find out the answers to random questions, world traveler Tom Scott went to Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand, which is considered the steepest residential street in the world. This honor was determined in accordance with the rules established by Guinness World Records, which state that the hill has to ascend for a distance of more than ten meters (32 feet) in order to be considered.

Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand, has the Guinness World Record for “steepest paved road over a continuous distance of more than ten metres”. Which is enough to bring in quite a few tourists. What’s the history? And what counts as “steepest street”?

Scott notes that are other streets around the world with far steeper grades, but since they don’t meet the distance requirement, they don’t get the record.

…the record here is challenged. …There’s a street in Wales that claims to be steeper… And professional data analyst Stephen von Worley found one street in San Francisco that briefly hits a 41% grade, a good bit steeper than this, for just under 10 metres. Not quite long enough to qualify.