--- title: "Tallest Buildings, the world's skyline record-holders | Wimup" description: "The tallest buildings on Earth and how to get to the top, a Wimup themed list, ranked by height." url: https://wimup.com/tallest-buildings type: Themed list updated: 2026-09-14 publisher: Wimup (https://wimup.com) --- # Tallest buildings, the view from the top. By Wimup desk · 10 picks · 7 vlogs · ≈ 6 min read The structures rewriting the skyline, and exactly how to ride to the observation deck at the best hour. Ranked by height, with the view that justifies the ticket. Height is a race that never quite ends. These are the current record-holders and the decks worth the queue, timed, where we can, for sunset. ## Tallest buildings, the view from the top. ### 1. Burj Khalifa Dubai · UAE · rated 4.8/5 828m of tapering steel and glass, the tallest building in the world. Book the At The Top SKY deck for a sunset slot. - **Height:** 828m - **Floors:** 163 - **Opened:** 2010 Links: [View the Top 10](https://wimup.com/city/dubai.md) · [Watch the Dubai vlog](https://wimup.com/watch/dubai.md) ### 2. Merdeka 118 Kuala Lumpur · Malaysia · rated 4.7/5 679m and the world's second-tallest, topped by a faceted-glass spire over the city. The View at 118 opened well after the tower topped out, and it looks straight down on the Petronas Towers. - **Height:** 679m - **Floors:** 118 - **Opened:** 2023 Links: [View the Top 10](https://wimup.com/city/kuala-lumpur.md) · [Watch the Kuala Lumpur vlog](https://wimup.com/watch/kuala-lumpur.md) ### 3. Shanghai Tower Shanghai · China · rated 4.7/5 A 632m twisting glass spiral served by some of the world's fastest elevators. The lift reaches the 118th floor in under a minute. Go on a clear day: the haze over the Bund sits at deck height. - **Height:** 632m - **Floors:** 128 - **Opened:** 2015 Links: [View the Top 10](https://wimup.com/city/shanghai.md) · [Watch the Shanghai vlog](https://wimup.com/watch/shanghai.md) ### 4. Tokyo Skytree Tokyo · Japan · rated 4.7/5 At 634m, the tallest tower on Earth, a broadcast spire with a vertigo-inducing glass-floor deck. Buy the timed ticket in advance and go at dusk, when Fuji is still visible and the city has just lit up. - **Height:** 634m - **Floors:** – - **Opened:** 2012 Links: [View the Top 10](https://wimup.com/city/tokyo.md) · [Watch the Tokyo vlog](https://wimup.com/watch/tokyo-in-4k.md) ### 5. One World Trade Center New York · USA · rated 4.6/5 541m to a symbolic 1,776 feet, reached by a fast, immersive elevator that flies you up through the city’s history. - **Height:** 541m - **Floors:** 104 - **Opened:** 2014 Links: [View the Top 10](https://wimup.com/city/new-york-city.md) · [Watch the New York City vlog](https://wimup.com/watch/new-york.md) ### 6. Ping An Finance Centre Shenzhen · China · rated 4.5/5 A 599m tapered tower of stainless steel anchoring Shenzhen’s booming skyline. Its Free Sky deck is among the highest in the world, and the skyline it looks over is barely thirty years old. - **Height:** 599m - **Floors:** 115 - **Opened:** 2017 Links: [China guide](https://wimup.com/country/china.md) ### 7. Lotte World Tower Seoul · South Korea · rated 4.6/5 A 555m tapering spire inspired by Korean ceramics, with a glass-floor sky deck. Seoul Sky takes the top six floors and puts a glass floor near the summit. Come at dusk for the Han River. - **Height:** 555m - **Floors:** 123 - **Opened:** 2017 Links: [View the Top 10](https://wimup.com/city/seoul.md) · [Watch the Seoul vlog](https://wimup.com/watch/seoul.md) ### 8. Canton Tower Guangzhou · China · rated 4.5/5 A 604m hourglass-shaped tower with a vertigo-inducing rooftop bubble ride. A bubble tram runs around the rim of the roof, a slower and stranger ride than any lift on this list. - **Height:** 604m - **Floors:** – - **Opened:** 2010 Links: [China guide](https://wimup.com/country/china.md) ### 9. CTF Finance Centre Guangzhou · China · rated 4.4/5 A 530m stepped skyscraper of offices, apartments and a high hotel. Guangzhou's second supertall stands across the river from the Canton Tower, and each is the best view of the other. - **Height:** 530m - **Floors:** 111 - **Opened:** 2016 Links: [China guide](https://wimup.com/country/china.md) ### 10. Taipei 101 Taipei · Taiwan · rated 4.7/5 The 508m bamboo-inspired icon that held the world title for years, ride one of the fastest lifts to the deck. - **Height:** 508m - **Floors:** 101 - **Opened:** 2004 Links: [View the Top 10](https://wimup.com/city/taipei.md) · [Watch the Taipei vlog](https://wimup.com/watch/taipei.md) ## FAQs ### What is the tallest building in the world? The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, at 828m, a title it has held since 2010. Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur is second at 679m. ### Can you go up all of them? Yes. Every building on this list has a public observation deck, and the highest of them are in Dubai, Shenzhen and Shanghai. ### Which observation deck is the best? The Burj Khalifa for the height and the desert horizon, Tokyo Skytree for the city directly beneath it, and the Canton Tower for the strangest ride: a bubble tram around the roof. ### Should I book ahead? Yes, and for a timed slot. Sunset sells out first at every deck on this list, often days ahead in high season. ### Is a supertall worth a detour on its own? Rarely. Every building here stands in a city worth several days, so treat the deck as one evening of a wider trip. ## Sources - Rankings are Wimup editorial picks. Prices, durations and budgets are editorial estimates, not live quotes; check the official site before you go.