This paper presents the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and its current scientific programme and outlines options for high-energy colliders at the energy frontier for the years to come. The immediate plans include the exploitation of the LHC at its design luminosity and energy, as well as upgrades to the LHC and its injectors. This may be followed by a linear electron–positron collider, based on the technology being developed by the Compact Linear Collider and the International Linear Collider collaborations, or by a high-energy electron–proton machine. This contribution describes the past, present and future directions, all of which have a unique value to add to experimental particle physics, and concludes by outlining key messages for the way forward.