Similarly to the Seven Summits (climbing the highest mountain of every continent), Europe has a similar mountain project. Explore with me the climb of the highest point of every European country! 

Europe has 44 countries according to United Nations. It looks like the project should consist of 44 mountains but it’s a little bit more complicated.

I added Kosovo to the project since it is regarded as a sovereign state by most countries around the world. I also added Turkey since it partly lies in Europe. Finally, I included Cyprus because it belongs to the EU. In total this means 47 countries.  Since Italy and France share Mont Blanc and Albania and Northern Macedonia share Golem Korab as their highest point, the project consists of 45 mountains.

My whole life I admired adventurers and climbers around the world who managed to conquer the highest peaks in the Himalayas or the most remote places on our planet such as Antarctica. I was wondering if I could also do something big. Can I manage a world record with my limited budget and limited experiences? I opened the Guinness World record book and started to look for an opportunity.

My eyes opened widely when I saw the current record in climbing the highest point of every European country – 835 days. I had already managed to climb Mount Blanc and it’s one of the most challenging mountains of the whole project. Could this be a record I can overcome? I have to try to be faster! 

After one year of thorough preparations I was ready! In June 2018 I set out for a big adventure! Hello European Peaks.

It was a year of adventures. 45 mountains brought 45 incredible stories. I had to overcome many obstacles such as meeting a bear in the Balkans or climbing the highest mountain of Switzerland with a broom stick after I broke my pole during acclimatization. 

But it was all worth it. I experienced all kinds of weather from summer heats to blizzards in winter. I explored all countries in Europe, visited both small hills and large mountains, discovered cozy mountain huts and met amazing people. It was such a strong experience that I decided to publish a book about the whole journey.

Publishing the book took me another year. I was taking care of every detail so readers get the proper information about every mountain in the project. The book was published in Czech and the first edition was quickly sold out. Now, the last copies of the second edition are available and we are preparing the third edition.

As a result of the success on the Czech market, I decided to publish the book in English too. Currently, I am looking for a publishing house. The goal is to publish the English version before Christmas 2024. Once I find a publisher, I will announce it on my blog. 

Click below to take a look at more details about my book.

What I like most about the project is its variety. Some countries offer high mountain peaks, others small hills with a pastry shop on top. Below you will find my 12 favorite European highlights. You can also click on the button below to see them all.

For additional information about my project you can also take a look at my summaries after the first part and the second part of the expedition.

List of all the European Peaks