South side, Nepal / Sagarmatha National Park
Everest Base Camp Trek: What It Costs, How Hard It Is, and When to Go
Know exactly what this trek asks of you. We guide this route. This page is the arithmetic before the decision, not the brochure after it.
Last checked 12 September 2026 against the issuing authorities. A hollow circle marks a figure we have not settled yet. A half circle marks one where two authorities disagree, and we show both.
The short answer
What the Everest Base Camp trek actually is
The Everest Base Camp trek is a 15 days walk from Kathmandu to the foot of the Khumbu Icefall and back. You fly to Lukla, then walk up the Khumbu valley to Everest Base Camp at 5,364 m (17,598 ft). There is no climbing. There is no rope. It is a long walk at high altitude, with two rest days built in so your body can adjust to the thin air.
The summit of Mount Everest is 8,848.86 m (29,032 ft) high. You do not go there. You stand at the bottom of it. The trek suits anyone who can walk five to seven hours a day for a week and a half, on hills, with a small pack. It does not suit anyone who wants to hurry.
Four things decide whether you should go, and this page answers all four. What it costs is on the cost page, line by line. How hard it is has its own page, how hard the Everest Base Camp trek really is. What happens each day is on the itinerary page. And every stop on the route with its height is on the Everest Base Camp elevation page. What follows is the short version of each.
The thing nobody tells you
Booking the package costs less than putting the same trek together yourself.
That is true before you price a single bed. We modeled it component by component. Permits, the flight to Lukla, a licensed guide and a porter, bought one at a time at retail, add up to more than the guided rate. We buy them at operator rates. You cannot.
Put together yourself, all in from the United States
More than the package.
International flights, permits, the Lukla flight, guide, porter, food, beds, insurance, gear, tips. Bought separately, at the prices you can get.
Guided, per person, by group size
One price. Every exclusion named.
Everything on the trail is inside it. International flights and insurance are not, and we say so. The line by line is on the cost page, and every version of this trek we run is compared on the tours page.
We publish one price per trek with its group size bands, once each figure is confirmed in writing. Until then this page states the finding and not a dollar figure, because a number we cannot stand behind is worth less than no number. Permit fees are set in Nepali rupees and we publish them in rupees, below.
The route
The route, and where the altitude actually hurts
The trail climbs about 2,504 m from Lukla to base camp. Two days on the way up are flat. They are not rest. They are the acclimatization days at Namche Bazaar and Dingboche, and they are the reason the trek takes as long as it does.
Acclimatization means letting your body get used to less oxygen before you climb higher. It cannot be rushed. Every itinerary that skips it is selling you a faster trek and a worse chance of finishing it.
Where you sleep, in order / the classic route
Sleeping altitude, in order
- Luklafly in2,860 m
- Phakding2,610 m
- Namche Bazaaracclimatization day3,440 m
- Tengboche3,860 m
- Dingbocheacclimatization day4,410 m
- Lobuche4,910 m
- Gorak Sheplast beds5,140 to 5,180 m ○
- Everest Base Campthe destination5,364 m
- Kala Pattharthe dawn view5,545 m
Feet are shown under each stop. You walk back the same way, so the descent retraces this line. What happens on each day is on the itinerary page, the distances and the map are on the route and map page, and what the tea houses are actually like is on the tea house page. A tea house is a family run lodge on the trail. You sleep and eat in them every night.
Two flat days that do all the work
The first rest day is at Namche Bazaar, 3,440 m (11,286 ft). Namche is the main town of the Khumbu, the Sherpa homeland below Everest. On the rest day you walk up above the town and come back down to sleep. Walking high and sleeping low is the whole trick. It teaches your body what is coming without making it stay there.
The second rest day is at Dingboche, 4,410 m (14,469 ft). Same idea, higher up. From here the air holds roughly half the oxygen you are used to at sea level. This is where most people feel the altitude for the first time, and it is why the day exists. The full mechanism, the symptoms to watch for and what we do if they appear are on the altitude sickness page.
The Himalayan Rescue Association runs a free altitude talk at its aid posts during the season, Daily at 3:00 pm at its aid posts during the trekking season. We build the Pheriche talk into the itinerary where the timing allows it.
Where the map and the itineraries disagree
We compared eighteen published itineraries for this route and reconciled every stop. Most heights agree. Some do not. Gorak Shep, the last place with beds before base camp, is published at four different heights. On the diagram it is drawn as a ring with its range, low to high, instead of a single number we would have to guess at. Base camp itself at 5,364 m (17,598 ft) is the only stop on the whole route that every source agrees on. That is why it is the one number on this site we state flatly. Every other stop, with its source, is on the elevation page.
Difficulty
How hard it really is
The Everest Base Camp trek is a long walk, not a climb. It asks for a week and a half of five to seven hours on foot, on consecutive days, at heights where the air holds a fraction of the oxygen you are used to.
Three days do most of the damage. The climb from Phakding to Namche Bazaar on the second walking day, which is steep and long. The walk from Dingboche to Lobuche, 4,910 m (16,109 ft), over loose glacial rubble called moraine. And the base camp day itself, out and back from Gorak Shep, spent entirely above five thousand meters. None of them is technical. All of them are tiring.
The full picture, day by day and with the numbers, is on the page about how hard the Everest Base Camp trek really is.
Can a beginner do this?
Yes, with four months of the right preparation. You do not need climbing skill. You do not need to have been at altitude before. You need to be able to walk on hills for several days in a row while carrying a small day pack.
Here is a test you can do this weekend. Walk fifteen kilometers on hilly ground two days running. If you can do that four months from now without dreading the second day, you are the person this trek is built for. If you cannot yet, the sixteen week training plan gets you there.
Dil Bahadur Gurung has guided in Nepal since 2004 and has watched who struggles on this route. It is almost never the fittest or the youngest who have trouble. It is the ones who arrived without having walked on consecutive days, and the ones who tried to go up too fast.
Who completes this trek, and who should not go
People in their seventies finish this trek. Children finish it. There is no legal age limit in Nepal, whatever you may have read. Nepal imposes none legal age restriction on the trek, and children under ten enter the national park free. Age limits you see elsewhere are an operator’s policy, not the law. The real gate is medical, not legal.
You should not go if you have a heart or lung condition your doctor has not cleared for altitude, if you are pregnant, or if you cannot walk for several hours on consecutive days. We will tell you if this trek is the wrong choice for you, and we will name the alternative that fits.
There is medical help on the route, which some pages still deny. Kunde Hospital has run since 1966 with 15 beds. The Himalayan Rescue Association aid post at Pheriche has run since 1973, and its clinic at base camp every spring since 2003. What can go wrong, and what we do about it, is on the safety page.
Cost
What it costs, and what changes the number
Three things move the price of this trek. How many of you are coming, because a guide and a porter cost the same whether one person or four share them. When you go, because flights and beds cost more in the busy months. And whether you fly to Lukla or take the road, because the flight is the single largest thing in the package.
Here is what a guided package holds and what it does not. The marker means the item is inside the price. The ring means you pay it separately, and most cheap packages will not tell you that until you are in Kathmandu.
| Component | In the package | What it costs alone |
|---|---|---|
| On the trail | ||
| Tea house beds and all meals on the trail | varies by village | |
| Licensed guide, per day1 | USD 35 to 50 per day in the Khumbu | |
| Porter, one between two trekkers, per day1 | USD 20 to 30 per day in the Khumbu | |
| Permits and flights | ||
| Both permits, foreign national | NPR 6,000 | |
| Kathmandu to Lukla flight, one way2 | USD 215 to 240 one way | |
| International flights to Kathmandu | varies | |
| Not in anyone’s package | ||
| Travel insurance that covers helicopter rescue above five thousand meters | see the insurance page | |
| Tips for your guide and porters | customary | |
| Charging, wifi, hot showers, bottled water | rises with altitude | |
1. Guide and porter rates are a dated market range checked 12 September 2026, not an official rate. They move with the season and with experience. The hollow circle marks them as not yet settled by a published schedule.
2. Kathmandu to Lukla, one way, a dated market range checked 12 September 2026. In the busy seasons flights leave from Ramechhap instead, which adds a road transfer. The whole story is on the Lukla flight page.
The package price by group size, once confirmed, sits on the tours page. What a guide and a porter cost and carry is on the guides and porters page. The cover you need is on the travel insurance page. The complete arithmetic, all in, is on the page about what the Everest Base Camp trek costs.
Permits
Two permits, not one
Most pages that rank for this question publish a single figure. There are two permits and a foreign trekker pays both. Quote one of them and you have understated the cost by half.
SAARC means the South Asian countries, including India. If your passport is from anywhere else, you are in the foreign column. We arrange both permits as part of every trek we run.
| Permit | Foreign national | SAARC national | Bought at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality trek card1 | NPR 3,000 | NPR 2,000 | Tourist Information Center, Lukla. Not sold in Kathmandu. |
| Sagarmatha National Park entry2 | NPR 3,000 | NPR 1,500 | Arranged before you enter the park. Children under ten enter free. |
| Total per trekker | NPR 6,000 | NPR 3,500 |
1. Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality, the issuing authority. Checked 12 September 2026. The issuing authority’s own page.
2. Nepal Tourism Board. Checked 12 September 2026. The published fee table. Everest region fees changed for the current year: no. Any page telling you they rose is wrong.
We publish these in rupees because that is the currency they are set in. We do not convert them, because we have no dated exchange rate we are willing to stand behind. The TIMS card, which some sites still sell you, is a separate question with two official answers. Both are on the permits and fees page.
Whether you need a guide
Two first tier authorities disagree, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Nepal has required trekkers to walk with a registered guide since 1 April 2023, and the Nepal Tourism Board’s route list names Everest Base Camp as covered by that rule with no exemption. The Khumbu municipality’s chief administrative officer is on record saying solo trekkers are allowed inside the Khumbu under its own trek card and checkpoint system. Both positions are live as of 12 September 2026. We staff every departure with a licensed guide regardless, which makes the question academic for our clients and live for anyone walking alone. The dispute, dated and sourced, is on the page about whether you can trek to Everest Base Camp alone.
Timing
When to go
Two windows. October and the weeks either side of it, after the monsoon has washed the sky clean. And April into early May, when the rhododendrons are out and the summit teams are at base camp. Both give you clear mornings and open trails.
October is the busiest month. Beds and flight seats genuinely sell out, so the price of going then is booking early. April is the second choice and the more interesting one, because base camp is a city of tents rather than an empty moraine.
Winter is cold but clear, and quiet. It suits an experienced walker who wants the trail to themselves and does not mind nights well below freezing at the top. The monsoon, June to early September, brings cloud, leeches low down and cancelled flights. We run treks then for people who ask, and we tell them what they are buying.
Pick your month by what you want from the trip, not by a temperature table. The month by month decision is on the page about the best time to trek to Everest Base Camp, and the numbers, by height and by month, are on the weather page.
Gear
What to pack, and what to rent
You need less than you think, and you can rent the bulky things in Kathmandu. Three items decide your comfort: boots you have already walked in, a sleeping bag rated for the cold nights near the top, and a proper down jacket.
Your porter carries the main bag. You carry a small day pack with water, a layer, sun protection and your camera. The three things people get wrong are new boots, a bag that is too big, and no way to treat drinking water. The full Everest Base Camp packing list covers every item, what to rent, what it costs, and what we provide.
What you actually see
What you can and cannot see from Base Camp
You cannot see the summit of Everest from Everest Base Camp. Nuptse, the mountain next door, stands in the way. Base camp is the destination on the map. The photograph everyone wants is taken somewhere else, on Kala Patthar, the next morning.
Kala Patthar is a dark rocky hill above Gorak Shep. You climb it before dawn. In the half hour when first light reaches the summit pyramid and the valley behind you is still dark, the top of Everest turns rose and amber. That color is called alpenglow, and it is the whole palette of this site. That morning is the trip. Not the signpost.
If an operator has not told you this before you book, ask what else they have left out. The viewpoint has its own page: Kala Patthar, where you actually see Everest.
Four published heights. Two places. One name.
The viewpoint you actually reach
5,545m
18,192 ft. Where the dawn photograph is taken, two to three hours above Gorak Shep. This is the number that belongs on an itinerary.
The ridge high point above it
5,643m
18,514 ft. Further along the same ridge, and not part of the standard walk. This is the number that belongs on a map.
This is why the market publishes Kala Patthar at four different heights, and why two of those heights are not mistakes. They are two different places sharing one name, and operators have been averaging them. We separate them. If you are told the higher number and you stop at the viewpoint, you did not fall short of anything.3
3. Resolved 12 September 2026 against survey sources. Previously carried on this site as unsettled. Corrections are logged on the editorial policy page, not quietly edited.
How we know this
Who operates your trek, and how to check
This site is the Everest Base Camp specialist of Nepal Unique Treks and Expedition Pvt Ltd, a Kathmandu operator registered on 21 October 2014. Our founder, Dil Bahadur Gurung, has guided in Nepal since 2004. We keep those two dates separate, because most of this market does not.
Every trust mark below is a link to somebody else’s database, not an image we made. Our license, our registration and our tax number are published on a public register we do not control. Check them. Then check whoever else you are considering the same way. How to do that for any operator is on the page about how to check any Everest operator.
- Trade association
- TAAN member 2291
Verify on the TAAN register - Government license
- Tourism license 1632
Registration 125964/071/072
See our licenses and registrations - Independent reviews
- TripAdvisor 5.0 out of 5 from 104 reviews
Read them on TripAdvisor
Review figures checked 12 September 2026. We cite them in words with a link, and never as a star graphic or as markup, because they were collected by TripAdvisor about the company across all its treks. The people who walk this route with you are on the guides page. Why this site exists alongside Nepal Unique Treks is on the about page.
Common questions
The questions people ask before they book
Short answers here. The full answer, with its sources, is on the page each one links to.
- How long does the Everest Base Camp trek take?
- Our standard itinerary is 15 days from Kathmandu back to Kathmandu, with two acclimatization days. Shorter versions exist and each gives something up. What happens on each day.
- How much does the Everest Base Camp trek cost?
- Less as a package than assembled yourself. The two permits alone are NPR 6,000 for a foreign trekker. The full total, line by line, is on the cost page.
- Can a beginner hike to Everest Base Camp?
- Yes, with about four months of walking on hills on consecutive days. No climbing skill and no previous altitude experience is needed. How hard it really is.
- Do I need a permit to trek to Everest Base Camp?
- Yes, two. The Khumbu trek card, issued at Lukla, and the Sagarmatha National Park entry permit. We arrange both. Permits and fees, dated.
- Do you need a guide for the Everest Base Camp trek?
- Nationally, yes, since 1 April 2023. Inside the Khumbu two authorities disagree. We send a licensed guide on every departure. Both positions, dated.
- Can you see Mount Everest from Base Camp?
- No. Nuptse blocks the summit. You see it the next morning from Kala Patthar at 5,545 m (18,192 ft). Kala Patthar, where you actually see Everest.
- What is the best time to trek to Everest Base Camp?
- October and the weeks either side, or April into early May. October is clearest and busiest. The month by month decision.
- Which is harder, Kilimanjaro or Everest Base Camp?
- Everest Base Camp is longer and you sleep higher for more nights. Kilimanjaro tops out higher but is over in far fewer days. We hold no checked figures for Kilimanjaro, so we give none. The comparison, side by side.
Plan yours
Tell us your dates and we will map the trek and the total cost.
No deposit, no card details, no mailing list. You get an itinerary matched to your month and your fitness, and a cost breakdown with the exclusions named, from the company that will run the trek.