Venture to dizzy heights with a look at some of the world’s most incredible clifftop towns, from seaside citadels to remote medieval mountain villages.

Click through this gallery to see why living life on the edge has never looked so good...

With its stunning sands, hiking trails and oceanside beach bars, Santa Catalina Island is a haven. The town of Avalon lies to the southeast of the Channel Island – its lovely houses clinging to a steep hillside that wraps around the bustling little harbour. No cars are allowed on Avalon's steep and twisty streets so instead people get around in mini golf carts.

Built into a rock face in the Monts de Vaucluse, Gordes is one of Provence’s prettiest hilltop villages. Its narrow streets, lined with pastel-coloured terracotta-roofed houses, snake up to a medieval castle. The views across the rolling fields below and the Luberon massif are spectacular. A lively market is usually held every week near the castle, where stalls are stacked high with the finest Provençal produce.

Perched high above the Ionian Sea with the brooding Mount Etna as a backdrop, Taormina is a temptress of a Sicilian seaside town. Its steep and winding medieval streets lead to sunny piazzas with stunning views of the sea and volcano. Highlights include the ancient Greek theatre which was carved out of the hillside; the ruins of the 15th-century Saracen castle for peerless views; and its little beaches. A cable car connects the town with coves below.

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Straight out of a fairy tale, the medieval rock fortress of Monemvasia lies at the end of a narrow causeway off the southern tip of the Peloponnese, surrounded by the Aegean Sea. Dubbed the Gibraltar of Greece, the natural rock fortress has been inhabited since the 6th century and was under Byzantine and Venetian rule. Today, the island has an upper and lower town. It's little but crammed with an extraordinary amount of churches and monasteries.

Tumbling gracefully down a precipitous, rocky hillside, the colourful cliffside houses of Positano are a standout on the amazing Amalfi coastline. Founded in the 9th century, the town has survived tumultuous times, including a terrible tsunami in 1343 and, later, attacks by Ottoman pirates. Today, it's an elegant resort and popular port of call for the mega-yacht set. Its steep, car-free streets are lined with expensive little galleries, restaurants and boutiques.

This stunning Portuguese seaside village near Sintra balances near the edge of a cliff that soars high above the rolling Atlantic Ocean. Originally home to a series of sea-powered water mills, the little town is now a charming coastal escape with whitewashed houses and characterful cobbled streets. There are sandy coves and natural rock pools down below for swimming too. Not to mention plenty of places to lap up the region's fresh seafood.

Pretty-as-a-picture Port Isaac is a traditional fishing village set on the rugged cliffs of Cornwall’s north coast. Its narrow streets are lined with whitewashed cottages that stack up the hillside while little boats bob in the harbour. Local fishermen still bring in their haul of fish, crab and lobster to sell. Unsurprisingly this sweet little village has featured in numerous films and TV series, including Poldark and Doc Martin.

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This Moorish mountaintop town, one of Andalucia’s pueblos blancos (white villages), sits perched over the plunging El Tajo gorge. The awe-inspiring 18th-century Puente Nuevo bridge straddles the chasm. Many restaurants have sunny terraces overlooking the 393-foot (120m) drop into the ravine below – it’s possible to walk down steps to the bottom too. Another place on the edge here are the Cuenca Gardens, a series of terraces on the side of the canyon.

This French medieval village teeters on a limestone cliff, some 300 feet (91m) over the River Lot. With its winding alleys, flower-filled squares and higgledy-piggledy houses, some of which date back to the 13th century, the village is utterly charming. One of the cliffside village’s best views can be found at the ruins of its medieval castle. The river below has mills, locks and a beautiful towpath dug into the cliff – a great spot for cyclists and walkers.

Clasping onto rocky cliffs that tower above the Rhumel river, Constantine seems to defy gravity. Algeria’s third city is often dubbed the City of Bridges, thanks to its four classic structures which span the gorge. The most famous is the Sidi M’Cid suspension bridge, which was the highest in the world when construction finished in 1912. Constantine has a far-reaching history: this rocky plateau, which creates a natural fortress, has been occupied since Neolithic times. It was also a Roman settlement and named after Constantine the Great.

Built into and around gigantic granite boulders on a hillside in the Beira province, the ancient Portuguese village of Monsanto is one of a kind. Many of its stone houses are nestled between, on top of and underneath the mighty rocks, which double as walls, floors and ceilings, while cobbled alleyways snake steeply around them. The remains of the medieval castle are perched above the town and are the best place to gaze down at this extraordinary town and its surrounds.

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Remote, precarious and extraordinarily beautiful, this tiny village sits on a vast boulder, suspended above the desolate Wadi Dawan in Yemen’s Desert Valley. The incredible houses, some of which are 11 storeys tall, are made from mud bricks. They need diligent maintenance in the rainy season but some of them are a staggering 500 years old. When the rains come and fill the wadi, the farmers take their goats down to graze on the valley floor.

Poised precariously above the Martorano river in southern Italy’s Campania region, the age-old village of Sant’Agata de’ Goti has a unique position and undeniable beauty. With one side bordered by the impregnable walls of the gorge, it's had an advantage over enemies since it was first founded by the ancient Samnites. The settlement was later taken over by the Romans and the Goths. Today it's a charming and traditional town with a Norman castle, old churches and shops along its warren-like streets selling local olive oil, wines and a native apple called mela annurca.

The tiny and remote village of Guoliang clings to a sheer cliff in the Taihang Mountains of China’s Henan Province. Only a few hundred people live here, and until fairly recently, the only way to access the village was by climbing the 720 treacherous steps carved into the rock face. But in 1972, a group of 13 villagers decided to chisel a mile-long (1.6km) tunnel through the rock, creating a road. It took five years to complete.

Picture a Greek village and it’s likely to look a lot like Santorini’s capital Fira. Here pristine whitewashed houses and blue-domed churches tumble down cliffs that encircle the startling blue waters of the caldera (volcanic crater). The chi-chi town has some blissful boutique hotels, many of which are in traditional cave-like houses carved into the rock, and plenty of viewpoints to lap up the scenery. For spectacular views of the sun setting over the Aegean, a walk along the clifftop path to nearby Oia – another cliffside stunner – is a must.

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Jezzine is known as “the City of Falls”, for the magnificent waterfalls which cascade down the cliff face and deep into the valley below. The town itself rests on a large rocky outcrop, some 131 feet (40m) above the Wadi Jezzine and surrounded by pine-clad mountains. The town, with its bustling souk, historic mansions and churches, is a lovely stop-off for hikers tackling the Lebanon Mountain Trail.

Leh’s Old Town is overlooked by a steep rocky ridge, crowned by an impressive royal palace. Built throughout the 16th century, it towers nine storeys high and has a rooftop offering incredible views over the houses and snow-dusted Himalayas beyond. Leh, capital of Ladakh, is one of the highest permanently inhabited towns in the world. The barren mountainous region is also dotted with precipitous and historic Buddhist monasteries.

Cuenca’s Hanging Houses (or Casas Colgadas) typically draw thousands of tourists each year, eager to catch a glimpse of the balconied homes perched precariously over the sheer cliffs. A World Heritage Site, the city in Castile La Mancha was built by the Moors in the 12th century and sits dramatically above the gorges of the Huécar and Júcar rivers. Some of the best views can be seen from Saint Paul Bridge.

Rocamadour’s houses, chapel and oratories seemingly cling to the limestone cliff in a staggered fashion, rising 1,500 feet (457m) above the Alzou River canyon. Stone gateways lie at the foot of the village, from where visitors and pilgrims wend their way along the village's only street before clambering up the Grand Staircase (216 steps) to a little square. This is where the Sanctuary of the Black Virgin lies and the castle which watches over the sacred site. The village was one of the four most important pilgrimage sites in medieval Christiandom.

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In the northeast of Puglia, the Gargano Peninsula has its fair share of scenic settlements, including pretty Vieste. The lovely seaside spot is built on a sheer limestone cliff overlooking the sparkling Adriatic Sea. It has a delightful medieval old town with whitewashed houses and a network of little lanes. Vieste is edged by some of the region’s most stunning sandy beaches to boot.

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A maze of narrow cobbled alleys and tiny squares, the remarkable little village of Castellfollit de la Roca sits on a spectacular basalt crag above the river Fluvià. Virtually toppling over the cliff edge is the old church of Sant Salvador – a stirring spot with soaring views of the craggy landscape. This medieval gem is in the little-visited La Garrotxa region of Catalonia, a wild and beautiful place with a dramatic volcanic landscape that is ideal for hiking.

This small seaside city, flanked by olive groves and pine trees, is popular for its picturesque beaches and crystalline waters. Perched on a cliff at the northern end of the promenade is the Castello Fortress, a Venetian citadel. Built in the 16th century to ward off pirates, it offers spectacular views across the bay. A coastal path skirts the cliffs from Petrovac to Perazića Do, a steep little village with a stunning pine forest-backed beach.

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Huddled in between soaring cliffs, Staithes is a dreamy little fishing village on the wild North Yorkshire coast. Its jumble of steep alleys and old fishermen's cottages are steeped in tales of seafaring and smuggling from its days as one of the north’s largest fishing ports. Captain Cook famously worked here. Today its quaint harbour has plenty of traditional pubs and fish and chips shops, while its beaches are ideal for rockpooling. The Cleaveland Way coastal walk skirts the striking coastline to Runswick Bay, another lovely cliffside village, and historic Whitby.

Colourful Regency townhouses sit perched along the promenade high above the cliffs of South Beach, just one of Tenby’s many sandy stretches. With its little harbour, castle and fort, Tenby is one of Pembrokeshire’s prettiest spots. Cliff-backed Castle Beach is another gorgeous spot, where ferries cross over to Caldey Island. The historic walled town was a Norman settlement and became a popular bathing spot in the Georgian era.

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The cliff-perched castle of Pazin, capital of Croatia’s Istria region, is the largest medieval fortress in the region. It is now home to two museums including the fascinating Istrian Ethnographic Museum. The mighty abyss was formed by the Pazincica River – it's possible to walk through the subterranean passages and caves or whizz over it on a zip line.

One of the oldest towns in Bulgaria, Veliko Tarnovo is built over three rocky hills that rise above the twisting river Yantra. The hilltop Tsaravets Fortress with its mighty stone walls is magnificent, as is another medieval stronghold on Trapezitsa hill, a cable-car ride away. The old town's cobbled streets are lined with handsome old buildings and offer wonderful river views.

One of the five vertiginous coastal villages of Liguria’s scenic Cinque Terre, Manarola is a belter. It's surrounded by terraced vineyards with its pastel houses arranged prettily down the cliffs. There are hikes into the hills, plus a lovely little harbour with coves for swimming and sailing. Everywhere has arresting views of the sparkling Ligurian Sea, but the rocky outcrop known as Punta Bonfiglio is the place for the prize Cinque Terre shot.

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Tumbling down the limestone cliffs of the spectacular Jucar canyon, a deep limestone gorge that cuts through the province of Albacete, Alcala is one of several stunning vertiginous villages. The medieval town was carved from the cliffs of the gorge and is riddled with underground tunnels that can be explored. Alcala del Jucar is crowned with a 15th-century castle and has a photogenic medieval bridge with Roman origins.

Rising from the top of a volcanic tufa ridge halfway between Florence and Rome, Pitigliano has been home to people since the Bronze Age. Traces of its Etruscan and Roman past are still visible, as well as numerous medieval structures. Sometimes known as “Little Jerusalem”, Pitigliano is known for its Jewish community who have lived here from the 14th century – its Jewish Quarter has an ancient synagogue, baker's oven and baths. The defensive town is riddled with underground tunnels and caves, which have been in use since Etruscan times and can usually be explored on guided tours.

Bonifacio, Corsica’s oldest town, has been perching on the island’s rugged limestone cliffs since around AD 830. The sea has gradually eroded the base of the cliffs, eating into them so it seems as though the houses are dangling over the water. It has a pretty little port and a fortified old town whose narrow cobbled streets were made for strolling around. The incredibly steep Staircase of King Aragon Alfonso V has 187 steps carved into the cliff – not a walk for the faint-hearted. 

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