Kanchenjunga Region

Kanchenjunga is the far eastern corner of Nepal, on the border with Sikkim and Tibet, and it asks more of travellers than anywhere else in this list. Getting to the trailhead alone takes a flight to Bhadrapur and a long drive; the trek itself runs three weeks, with basic lodges and genuine remoteness between them.

What you get in return is the third-highest mountain on earth approached almost alone, through some of the richest forest in the Himalaya. The conservation area protects red panda, snow leopard and Himalayan black bear, and the rhododendron bloom in spring is among the finest in Nepal.

Most itineraries visit both base camps — Pangpema on the north side and Oktang on the south — linked by a high pass crossing for those with the time and the legs.