Everest Base Camp trek
4.97(286)Khumbu, Sagarmatha National Park, NepalHikingGuest favourite
Fourteen days through the Khumbu valley to the foot of the world's highest mountain, sleeping in family-run tea houses and acclimatising properly on the way.
- Stand at Everest Base Camp at 5,364 m
- Sunrise over Everest from Kala Patthar
- Two full acclimatisation days, in Namche and Dingboche
- Butter tea and blessings at Tengboche monastery
- Tea houses run by Sherpa families the whole way
About the trip
The trail to Everest Base Camp is the most famous trek in the world for good reason. It climbs from the green pine forests of the Dudh Koshi to the moraines below the Khumbu Icefall, passing Sherpa villages, monasteries and suspension bridges strung with prayer flags.
We walk it slowly. Altitude is the real challenge here, so the itinerary builds in two rest days for acclimatisation and short daily climbs above 3,000 m. Tashi checks everyone's oxygen levels each morning and evening, and the plan bends to how the group feels.
Tea houses, not tents
Every night is spent in a family-run lodge with a warm dining room around a yak-dung stove. Rooms are simple and twin-shared; the dal bhat is endless and very good.
Flights to and from Lukla depend on mountain weather, so we keep a spare day at the end of the trip. Your national park and local area permits are included and arranged before you arrive.
What's included
- Thirteen nights: two in Kathmandu, eleven in tea houses
- All meals on the trek
- Return flights between Kathmandu and Lukla
- Sagarmatha National Park and Khumbu permits
- Porters to carry your main bag, up to 12 kg
- Tashi and a Sherpa assistant guide
- Pulse oximeter checks every day
Your guide
Tashi Sherpa
Lead guide, Everest and Annapurna
Tashi grew up in Khumjung, below Ama Dablam, and started guiding at nineteen after summers as a porter. He has led more than sixty treks in the Khumbu and Annapurna and knows every tea house owner by name. He is strict about acclimatisation and generous with butter tea.
Meet TashiDay by day
Arrive in Kathmandu, a briefing over dinner and a kit check in the hotel garden.
8 km, 200 m down
An early flight into the mountains and an easy first walk along the river.
11 km, 800 m up
Across the high Hillary bridge and a long climb to the Sherpa capital.
5 km, 400 m up and down
A morning hike to the Everest View Hotel for your first sight of the summit, then rest.
10 km, 700 m up
A balcony path above the valley to the monastery, in time for evening prayers.
11 km, 550 m up
Past the last trees and into the high pastures below Ama Dablam.
4 km, 400 m up and down
Climb Nangkartshang hill for views of Makalu, then a slow afternoon.
8 km, 500 m up
Past the memorial cairns at Thukla Pass to the edge of the Khumbu Glacier.
13 km, 400 m up
Along the moraine to Gorak Shep, then on to Everest Base Camp itself.
15 km, 380 m up, 1,200 m down
Sunrise on Kala Patthar at 5,545 m, then a long descent to thicker air.
19 km, 1,000 m down
Back down the valley, with time for apple pie in a Namche bakery.
19 km, 600 m down
The last day on foot and a farewell dinner with the porters.
Back to the city, with the spare weather day if the flight is held.
Breakfast and a transfer to the airport.
