The 10 highest summits on earth, all above 8,000m in the Himalaya and the Karakoram, and the trek or viewpoint that puts each one in front of you without joining an expedition.
We ranked these ten by elevation above sea level, as surveyed, so the order is a fact rather than an opinion. None of them is a walk-up, so each pick names the trek or viewpoint a fit visitor can actually reach, from a dawn hill above Pokhara to three weeks on the Baltoro Glacier.
8,849m, the height Nepal and China announced together in December 2020, and the summit every other one here is measured against. Fly from Kathmandu to Lukla and trek to Everest Base Camp, then climb Kala Patthar at dawn for the summit view the camp itself does not give.
8,611m on the Pakistan–China border, and the hardest of the ten even to see. The Baltoro Glacier trek from Askole to Concordia takes about three weeks out of Skardu, needs a Government of Pakistan permit, and ends with K2 filling the head of the valley.
8,586m on the Nepal–India border, the third-highest mountain on earth. A guided trek from Taplejung, under a restricted-area permit, reaches the north base camp at Pangpema (5,143m); for far less effort, watch it catch first light from Tiger Hill above Darjeeling.
8,516m and joined to Everest by the South Col, so the same Lukla trek reaches it. Spend an acclimatisation day walking up the Imja valley to Chhukung, a lodge village directly beneath Lhotse's south face.
8,485m, a four-sided pyramid standing alone southeast of Everest. The base camp trek starts with a flight to Tumlingtar and enters Makalu-Barun National Park at Seduwa: a longer, quieter and wilder approach than the Khumbu.
8,188m on the Nepal–Tibet border, Everest's western neighbour. The Gokyo lakes trek leaves the Everest route above Namche Bazaar and climbs Gokyo Ri, where Cho Oyu, Everest, Lhotse and Makalu share one horizon: four of the ten from one summit.
8,167m, and the summit on this list you can see best for the least effort. The short Ghorepani trek from Pokhara ends with a pre-dawn climb to Poon Hill (3,210m), where Dhaulagiri and Annapurna light up across the Kali Gandaki valley.
8,163m, at the centre of the Manaslu Circuit, a restricted-area trek that needs a licensed guide and at least two trekkers. Jeeps run from Kathmandu to Machha Khola, and the circuit crosses the Larkya La to finish at Besisahar, a few hours by road from Pokhara.
8,126m, the western end of the Himalaya. From Raikot Bridge on the Karakoram Highway a local jeep and a few hours on foot reach Fairy Meadows, which faces the mountain's Raikot face; the meadows are open from about May to September.
8,091m, the lowest of the ten and the first of them climbed, in 1950. The trek to Annapurna Base Camp (4,130m) runs about a week from Pokhara, through Chhomrong and Machapuchare Base Camp into a ring of peaks.
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