My top 10 favourite places I've been to the top of (in no particular order)
1)Helvellyn (Lake District): Much easier to reach from the roadside than land-locked Scafell Pike, and the views are better too. From the top of England's third highest mountain there's an especially fine panorama out across Ullswater, Thirlmere and the green peaks of Lakeland. I particularly enjoyed the exhilarating ascent via the razor-sharp ridge of Striding Edge, with a sheer scree drop to either side. But tread carefully. [Visited: 1982] [map][photos] 2)Gherkin (London): The rarity of this "Open House" ascent made the 3½ hour queue worthwhile, and the view across London from the pointy-topped 40th floor was quite spectacular. Apart, that is, from the reflection in the west windows of the white tablecloths in the restaurant on the floor below - serious design error, folks. [Visited: 2004] [report][my top floor photos] 3)Corona Heights (San Francisco): It's not the most well-known seismic upthrust in the Bay area, but this rocky outcrop affords a splendid close-up overview across downtown. Just behind you, the sanatorium featured in Hitchcock's Vertigo. And do try to ignore the dogs relieving themselves on the scrappy patch of grass below. [Visited: 2002] [map][photo][view] 4)CN Tower (Toronto): The world's tallest freestanding structure was only a month old when my family took the lift to the summit, 1815 feet above Lake Ontario. I wish I'd had the guts to stand on the thickened glass in the floor of the observation deck, but I was much littler and scaredier then. [Visited: 1976] [map][photos] 5)St Paul's Cathedral (London): What, you mean there's another staircase above the Whispering Gallery? And then another less solid-looking set of steps inside the Dome right up to the very top beneath the golden ball? I never realised. All hail Sir Christopher! [Visited: 2003] [visit][view] 6)Eiffel Tower (Paris): The more you pay, the higher you get. I paid my francs and then monté dans l'ascenseur au troisième étage. But I really wasn't expecting to have to change lifts on a tiny platform halfway up the long thin neck of the tower, which made for an interesting mid-air experience. I've improved my French since. [Visited: 1980] [website][webcams][photos] 7)Glyder Fach (Snowdonia): Forget Snowdon (I climbed that in thick fog, so I'm biased). The view you really want is from the top of the Devil's Kitchen, above Llyn Idwal, at the dogleg bend in the deep glacier-cut valley of Nant Ffrancon, in broad backlit sunshine, looking out towards Anglesey. Mere words can't do it justice. [Visited: 1985] [map][views] 8)Beckton Alp (East London): The Thames Estuary is almost uniformly flat, so this old slagheap beside the A13 provided the only decent opportunity to survey East London from above. The artificial ski-slope here closed down several years ago, but they didn't quite fence off the summit properly and so I managed to scramble to the top one overcast afternoon. Ah, to stand all alone amongst the twisted metal remains of a downhill slalom, King of all I surveyed. Unexpectedly life-affirming. [Visited: 2004] [map][history][report][photos] 9)Empire State Building (New York): Manhattan's most glamorous observation deck, thrusting proudly above an astonishing forest of steel and glass. I just wish I'd visited a year earlier when the view downtown was still complete. [Visited: 2002] [website][old photos][new photos] 10)My last workplace (London): Somehow going to the office every day was less of a hardship when my top floor view crossed the treetops of Green Park. When I wasn't staring at my computer screen I could stare instead at Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Eye, Battersea Power Station, passing helicopters and even Crystal Palace transmitter in the distance atop the rolling southern foothills. Since relocation, alas, my view is of a brown brick wall.
