Everest Base Camp Trek (11-13 days walking)

We’ll be waiting to pick you up when you arrive at Kathmandu Tribhuvan International Airport. We’ll take you straight to your hotel in Kathmandu. The rest of the day is yours to relax, explore and prepare for your trek. If you still need to pick up some equipment, you’ll find everything near your hotel in Thamel, the tourist haven of Kathmandu.

After an early breakfast, we go straight to the airport for our flight to Lukla. The flight itself is an experience! We’ll board a small plane, so you’re guaranteed a good view. Watch the pilots make their preparations in the cockpit, then sit back, relax and enjoy an incredible 40 minute scenic flight into the mountains. Once we touch down at Tenzing-Hillary airport, we’ll meet our other team members and get ready to begin our trek. We’ll walk just three hours today, as we begin adapting to the high altitude. After two hours walking, we lunch in Ghat. Then after another hour of walking, we arrive in Phakding where we’ll spend the night. The afternoon is yours to look around and relax!

We start our day with some short uphills and downhills as we cross bridges above the Dudh Kosi river several times. Prepare yourself for an incredible view of Mount Thamserku (6,623m/21,729ft) as we pass through Benkar village. We continue to Monjo and the entrance to Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) National Park, where our trekking permits will be checked. Then after two and a half hours, we gradually descend to Jorsale and have lunch. If you haven’t tried it yet, dal bhat is a must! We continue for an hour along the riverbank to the impressive Hillary suspension bridge. Then you’ll really test your legs for the first time with a steep two hour climb up to Namche Bazaar, where you’ll be rewarded with incredible views of Everest, the fourth highest mountain Lhotse (8,516m/27,940ft), Kusum Kanguru, Taboche and many more. We’ll spend two nights in colourful Namche Bazaar whilst we acclimatise to the high altitude.

We’re staying put, but it’s not a rest day! Hiking to a higher altitude and then descending to sleep is great for your acclimatisation. Plus there are many things to see and do around Namche! We start with a hike up to Syangboche home of the Hotel Everest View with a spectacular view of the highest mountain on Earth! Then we continue to the Sherpa village of Khumjung at the foot of sacred Mount Khumbila for lunch. Before we return to Namche, we visit the Sir Edmund Hillary school and hospital built by the Himalayan Trust. The rest of the day is yours to explore fascinating mountain city Namche Bazaar. Here you’ll find smiling Nepali shop owners, trekking gear, and trinkets galore!

Day five promises the most magnificent views of the Himalaya yet! After 30 minutes you’ll see Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Ama Dablam, Taboche, Thamserku, and many other snow covered peaks. We continue easily for two and a half hours to our lunch stop at Phungki Thanka. Then we’ve got another long, steep climb up to Tengboche, home of Tibetan Buddhist monastery Dawa Choling Gompa, and a spectacular view of Everest. We spend the night here and take time to explore the monastery grounds before visiting the resident monks inside.

We wake up in time to watch the sunrise over Everest, don’t forget your camera! After breakfast, we’ve got an easy two hour walk to the vibrant village and Ama Dablam base camp – Pangboche. Another 30 minutes and we arrive at Somare for lunch. The stunning mountain scenery stays with us as we walk another two hours to Dingboche known for its many stone walls. We’ll spend two nights here, to acclimatise before we make our final ascent.

We’ll have a fairly easy day, but you won’t want to miss a chance to hike up Nangkartshang Peak to see amazing views of Thamserku, Ama Dablam, Island Peak and many more mountains. The hike up will take us just under two hours, and an hour to return – in time for lunch in Dingboche. The afternoon is yours to relax.

You’re right in the heart of the Himalaya now! The views in every direction will take your breath away. We’ll hike up gradually for two hours and stop for lunch in Thukla. Then we climb for an hour to pay our respects to deceased Everest summiteers on Lobuche Hill. We finish with an easy walk to Lobuche, our resting place for the night.

On day nine you’ll walk on the mighty Khumbu Glacier, enjoying spectacular, panoramic views down the valley. We’ll reach Gorakshep in just three hours. Watch out for yaks on the trail! After lunch we hike for two hours to our ultimate destination Everest Base Camp! Depending on the time of year, you’ll find an assortment of colourful tents and can see the hopeful summiteers making their preparations – it’s fascinating! We can’t actually see Everest from base camp, but that won’t stop you taking loads of photos of the huge Khumbu Icefall and Glacier. After all, how many people do you know that have been to Everest Base Camp?! It will take us an hour to get back to Gorakshep. Better get some rest – day ten is the big one!

You’ll be pleased to have reached base camp, but there’s more to come! Wrap up warm and grab your head torch. We make a very early start on day ten to climb to our highest point Kala Patthar, in time to see the most dramatic sunrise of your life! It’s the toughest climb of the trek and will take about two hours. We highly recommend you have something sweet in your pocket, you might need an energy boost! When you reach the top and watch as the sun lights up a dreamlike 360° landscape, you’ll be grinning from ear to ear. Soak up ‘the view of your life’! Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse, Pumori and Changtse stand tall among a forest of jagged white peaks, surrounding you in every direction – yes, it’s completely incredible! You might feel like you could stay right there on top of Kala Patthar forever, but what goes up must come down and we’re bound for our return journey. From Gorakshep we’ll walk for nearly five hours to Pheriche, before we take our rest.

Down, down, down we go! Back the way we came, all the way to Namche. We’ve still got another full day of trekking, but you’ll likely be tempted to have a celebration drink in one of Namche’s many quirky bars!

After another long, mostly easy walking day, we’ll be back where we started in Lukla and our trekking adventure comes to an end! Congratulations will certainly be in order!

We take an early flight back to Kathmandu, check into our hotel and then the rest of the day is yours to explore, relax and celebrate! Kathmandu is home to an impressive seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites, so you’ll be sure to want to see some! Ask us about including a sightseeing tour in your itinerary. At the end of the day get ready for our final farewell celebration meal and culture show.

Flights from Lukla are often delayed due to bad weather. So, we build an extra day into your itinerary as a precaution. If your flight is on time, you’ll have an extra day to explore Kathmandu. This contingency day isn’t mandatory but we strongly recommend it.

We’ll organise your transfer to the airport for your flight home. However you may wish to stay a little longer in Kathmandu and explore the quirky maze of streets and many other famous attractions. Don’t worry – we’ll let you know all the options and we’ll work with you to design your perfect itinerary!