Highest Peaks In Europe

This lists the highest natural elevation of each sovereign state on the continent of Europe defined physiographically. States sometimes associated with Europe politically and culturally, but not geographically part of Europe, are not included in this list of physical features (with the exception of Armenia and Cyprus - marked with a N/A rank entry).

Not all points in this list are mountains or hills, some are simply elevations that are not distinguishable as geographical features.

Notes are provided where territorial disputes or inconsistencies affect the listings. Some countries such as Denmark (Greenland), Netherlands (Saba), Norway (Queen Maud Land), Spain (Canary Islands), and Turkey (Ararat) have part of their territory and their high points outside of Europe; their non-European high points are listed with a N/A rank entry underneath their continental peak.

For more details about Serbian and Kosovan highest points and ranks see Talk page as well as the discussion at List of mountains in Kosovo and its Talk page.
Europe, not the continent of Europe”

We’ve also not included peaks such as Mount Ararat into this top 10. Mount Ararat sits on the Asian territory of transcontinental Turkey.

It’s long been disputed as to where the European / Asian border actually cuts through the Caucasus mountain range. Modern day authorities now agree that Elbrus falls within the European side of the border. For this reason, Mont Blanc is the highest peak in Western Europe and Elbrus is the continent’s highest one overall.

It’s also got to be said that if you have the required mountaineering experience and are planning to get stuck in and work your way through a few of these peaks, then you should take a look at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) warnings first. The FCO currently advise against “all but essential” travel within Georgia, where many of the peaks in this top 10 are located.

1) Mount Elbrus
Three other entries of partially recognized countries with highest points in Europe are listed and ranked in Italic. For more details see List of states with limited recognition.

Hotly disputed number one in the highest mountains in Europe league table, Mount Ebrus also takes a spot within the acclaimed Seven Summits collection (a list made up of the highest mountains on each continent). Elbrus itself is part of the Caucasus Mountain Range, which sits in Southern Russia and forms the border between Georgia and Russia as well as the joining place of the European and Asian tectonic plates (hence the mountain range).

Elbrus is made up of two west (5,642) and east (5,621m) volcano summits. The smaller east summit was first climbed back in 1829 by Khillar Khachirov. It wasn’t for another 45 years before the higher west summit was climbed in 1874 by a British expedition led by Florence Crauford Grove.

If you fancy climbing Elbrus, expect it to take three – five days between June and September with the first few days spent acclimatising around the smaller peaks in the region. Although Elbrus is one of the easiest of the Seven Summits, the whole of Elbrus is glacial and therefore requires solid mountaineering technique (and/or a mountain guide) to summit.

2) Dykh-Tau

Location: Russia

With a name deriving from a Turkic word, meaning Jagged Mount, Dykh-Tau is Europe’s second highest peak. Sat within the Caucasus Mountain Range, Dykh-Tau sits just 5km north of the Russian/Georgian border.

Being the second highest mountain in Europe, Dykh-Tau also takes its place on the Seven Second Summits. The Seven Second Summits is a list of the second highest mountains on each of the earth’s continents – a group of mountains that author Jon Krakauer said would be a harder challenge to climb than the Seven Summits. Dykh-Tau sticks to this trend as it is a much more technical climb than Elbrus, usually taking 10 days in total to climb.

3) Shkhara