The most beautiful mountains in the world captivate those who lay eyes upon them. We bestow these mountains with personality, declare them as home to the gods, elevate them to a status that’s surely greater than the sum of their rock, ice and earth. We'll travel thousands of miles just to revel in their presence. For those who love the mountains, we are all in their thrall.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so any roundup of the world’s most beautiful mountains is going to cause a fair bit of debate. “But you’ve left out Mount Fuji, Stetind, Half Dome, Triglav and Kilimanjaro!” we hear you cry in consternation. Narrowing our selection down to a list of 11 meant many deserving peaks (if inanimate collections of rock and ice can be said to be deserving) have been left out in the cold. This was always inevitable.
Treat the list as a celebration of all of nature’s most savagely beautiful forms and enjoy. Oh, and get a bigger bucket for that list...
The world's most beautiful mountains
Ama Dablam – the jewel of the Himalayas and an iconic sight in the Everest region.
Khan Tengri – staggering pyramid on the Kyrgyzstan/China/Kazakhstan border
Alpamayo – often cited as the most beautiful of all, a stunning peak in the Peruvian Andes
The Matterhorn – unmistakable, peerless, sensational – there’s only one Matterhorn
Ketil – a massive tower in Greenland’s south, featuring a 1,000 meter sheer granite wall.
Watzmann – Germany’s most beautiful mountain in the scenic Berchtesgaden region.
Cerro Chaltén – the breathlessly spectacular centerpiece of the Fitz Roy massif.
Machapuchare – a sacred, unclimbed mountain that rises to a distinctive fish-tail summit.
Mount Kailash – the Abode of Shiva rises in a staggering display of granite and snow.
K2 – the world’s second highest peak is the quintessential mountain.
Denali – North America’s highest mountain conquers all around in an unrivalled display of majesty.
Meet the expert
Alex is a qualified Mountain Leader and former President of the London Mountaineering Club. He's happiest in the mountains and has an insatiable thirst for knowledge when it comes to the planet's high places.
Ama Dablam
Location: Khumbu, Nepalese Himalayas
Height: 6,812 meters
The embodiment of Himalayan majesty, Ama Dablam is such a beautiful mountain that many consider it the highlight of the Everest Base Camp Trek, outshining the world’s highest mountain with its beguiling form.
Its name translates to ‘mother’s necklace’, a reference to the hanging glacier on its east face, the dablam, which occupies the space between the southwest and northwest ridges, said to be the mother’s arms. Whichever direction it’s viewed from, its summit seems to arrow towards the sky in a uniquely charismatic display of mountain might.
Khan Tengri
Location: Tian Shan, Kyrgyzstan / China / Kazakhstan border
Height: 7,010 meters
The world’s most northerly 7,000-meter peak, the sight of Khan Tengri is hard-won, while its breathtaking remoteness means only a select group have laid eyes upon it. But what a sight it is – a quite magnificent white pyramid that draws mountaineers like moths to a flame. Climbing Khan Tengri is a huge challenge. The mountain’s moods are fickle and the weather gods are often against the plunky souls who venture onto its ridges.
Alpamayo
Location: Cordilera Blanca, Peruvian Andes
Height: 5,947 meters
Perhaps more than any other in the world, Alpamayo is frequently cited as Earth’s most beautiful mountain. Its southwest face is instantly recognizable, brilliantly white, outshining even the most well produced Colgate advert. The face is sculpted by classic Andean flutings, channels forged by melting snow and ice, giving this mighty white wall texture, depth, light and dark, and drawing gazes heavenward.
From other angles Alpamayo is a striking pyramid, a gigantic sorbet Toblerone. Also known as Shuyturaju, any adventure to its summit is technical, though climbers can expect unforgettable views unique to the Andes. It’s no wonder the peak is a popular objective for alpinists around the globe.
The Matterhorn
Location: Valais, Swiss Alps
Height: 4,478 meters
Hundreds of pointy peaks around the world are bestowed with the ‘Matterhorn of...’ gong. From Cnicht in Wales and Wyoming’s Grand Teton to Himalayan giants like Ama Dablam and Shivling, loads of mountains are likened to the legendary peak on the Italian/Swiss border. Yet, there is truly only one Matterhorn.
This icon of the Alps is, for many, the quintessential mountain peak. Its four ridges rise to a satisfying pointed summit, like a child’s drawing – clichéd but true. The mountain played a pivot role in the Golden Age of Alpinism, when British mountaineer Edward Whymper’s party claimed the first ascent in 1865, only for four of the group to tragically perish during the descent. It was the last great peak of the Alps to be climbed, ushering in the end of the Golden Age.
Ketil
Location: Kujalleq, Greenland
Height: 2,010 metres
Imagine a big wall of El Capitan scale forged into the side of a gigantic peak, a mighty hunk of granite that towers above the remote, snowy wilds of Klosterdalen in Southern Greenland. This is Ketil, a 2,010-meter monster, home to one of the most challenging big walls on the planet – its vast west face.
The secret is out and the mountain is quickly gaining repute among the world’s elite climbers. Its neighbors, Ulamertorsuaq and Nalumasortoq, are two more breathlessly spectacular sights that also rise above the peninsula on the eastern side of the Tasermiut Fjord.
Watzmann
Location: Berchtesgaden, Germany
Height: 2,713 meters
Towering above the gorgeous Berchtesgaden, in the very southeastern tip of Germany, is the beguiling form of the Watzmann. This awesome, three-peaked giant has fascinated hikers and mountaineers for generations thanks to its eye-catching shape. According to legend, the tyrannical King Watze was punished for his wicked ways by God, who turned him and his family to stone, creating the massif.
A traverse of the Watzmann is popular with ambitious hikers, who make use of the Watzmannhaus mountain hut to gain an advanced starting point. Expect fun scrambling, staggering exposure, big drops and narrow sections. The more challenging sections have klettersteig – the German word for via ferrata – cables, which most people clip into to ensure safe passage.
Cerro Chaltén
Location: Patagonia
Height: 3,405 meters
Also known as Fitz Roy after Robert FitzRoy, the captain of the HMS Beagle who surveyed large parts of the Patagonian coast in 1834, Cerro Chaltén is a uniquely beautiful mountain. The central monolith in a jagged massif of granite spires, the mountain is a masterpiece. The artistry of snow, ice and wind is rarely as striking as it is here, revealing nature as the ultimate sculptor. The way cloud broils around its cliffs are what earned it the name Chalten, meaning Smoking Mountain in Patagonia’s Tehulche dialect. If the massif’s profile looks vaguely familiar, it’s because you’ve undoubtedly seen it before in the logo of global outdoor brand Patagonia.
Cerro Chaltén has been attracting the world’s greatest mountaineers and climbers since its first ascent in 1952 by Lionel Terray and Guide Magnone. American big wall climbers Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell were the first to complete the seven-peak traverse the massif in 2014. They earned a Piolet d’Or for their efforts, very much considered as the Oscars of mountaineering.
Machapuchare
Location: Annapurna range, Nepalese Himalayas
Height: 6,993 meters
An unforgettable sight in Nepal’s Annapurna region, Machapuchare enthralls all who lay eyes upon its fish tail summit. It’s location as a southern outlier, rising in a huge upthrust above relatively low terrain, make it appear particularly dramatic. Its steep flanks and double summits bestow it with the sort of majesty lesser peaks can only dream of. At sunrise and sunset, the mountain’s walls are set ablaze in a dazzling display of alpenglow.
This mystical mountain’s allure is only added to by the fact that it’s one of the world’s great unclimbed peaks. Ascents are not allowed, as the mountain is sacred to the local Gurungs who believe it to be the abode of Shiva. Meanwhile, its twin tops are believed to represent the divine brothers of Nara and Narayan by folk from the Parbat and Kaski districts.
Mount Kailash
Location: Kailash Range, Trans Himalaya, Tibet
Height: 6,638 meters
A spiritual epicenter and the holiest mountain on the planet for Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Bonpo, Mount Kailash’s beauty is such that it commands reverence. A 53-kilometer pilgrimage around the mountain, the Kailash Parikrama, or Kora to Buddhists, is said to cleanse the soul of those who complete the loop. It’s a trek undertaken by members of all four religions. For Hindus, the mountain is the abode of Shiva; for Jains, it’s where founder Rishavdev attained Nirvana; for Bonpo, it’s the central point of all Tantra Rituals and Forces; and for Buddhists it’s the earthly manifestation of Mount Meru, the central world-mountain in the religion's cosmology.
Adding to this Tibetan mountain’s historic and cultural significance, the region around the mountain gives birth to four of the Indian subcontinent’s great rivers: the Brahmaputra, the Indus, the Sutlej and the Karnali. As with Machapuchare, the sanctity of Kailash’s summit means that climbing is prohibited, making it one of the world’s great unclimbed peaks.
K2
Location: Karakorum range, Pakistan
Height: 8,611 meters
When seen from the great meeting of glaciers at Concordia, K2 is a soaring pyramid, reaching high towards the stratosphere, the very epitome of what a mountain should be. The world’s second highest mountain is undoubtedly one of its most beautiful, rising higher than all else in the Karakorum range. It may play second fiddle to Everest in terms of height, but when it comes to appearance, there’s only one winner.
A siren song to elite mountaineers, its beauty is matched by its savage nature. K2 is one of the world’s most dangerous mountains. Recent successes have dulled the statistics but, as of 2023, the summit to death ratio was around 8:1. The difficulty of its climbing routes, combined with the dangers of high altitude and the death zone, make reaching its lofty summit a hugely committing proposition.
Denali
Location: Alaska, USA
Height: 6,190 meters
The crowning glory of the Denali National Park and the highest mountain in North America, Denali is an awe-inspiring sight. It’s massive topographic prominence, the height from its base to its summit, makes it appear every single one of its 6,190 meters. No less than five glaciers flow from its slopes and its northern latitude means it experiences extreme weather.
Denali is the native Alaskan name given to the mountain and means ‘Great One’ in the Athabascan language of the Koyukon Alaska Native people of the region. The name has been in use for more than 10,000 years. In the US, the mountain is now officially titled Mount McKinley, a name given in 1896 in honor of the 25th US President William McKinley. Denali had been the official name between 2015 and 2025, though the McKinley name was controversially reinstated by incoming President Donald Trump when he took office for the second time in January 2025, with much criticism from the Alaskan community, mountaineers and wilderness lovers worldwide.
