Everest Base Camp Group Trek

We meet every flight into Tribhuvan International Airport and drive you to the hotel in Thamel, about 25 minutes away outside rush hour. Look for the Roof of Asia sign once you are through the visa desk and the baggage hall. Nothing else is planned for today, so rest, change money and find your feet. Thamel's gear shops stay open into the evening if you still need a down jacket or trekking poles. Your leader leaves a note at reception with tomorrow's briefing time. Most of the group lands through the day, so you may meet your first trekking partners over breakfast rather than tonight.

The whole group meets at 9 am for the briefing that sets up the fortnight ahead. Your leader walks through the route, the altitude plan and the rules on turning back, then checks every trekker's boots, jacket and sleeping bag against the packing list. Anything missing can be hired or bought in Thamel before lunch. We collect passport copies for the park permits and confirm tomorrow's flight, which decides whether the day starts at Kathmandu airport or with a night drive to Manthali. The afternoon is free for rest or a walk to Swayambhunath. Tonight's welcome dinner is the first time the whole group sits down together.

How today starts depends on the month. Outside the busiest weeks, the Lukla flight leaves Kathmandu and takes about 30 minutes. In peak months it usually leaves Manthali (Ramechhap) instead, after a four-to-six-hour drive through the night. Either way, you land on Lukla's short uphill runway at 2,840 m. After tea and the porter handover, the trail drops gently through Chaurikharka's fields to the Dudh Koshi river. It is an easy first walk of about 8 km and three hours, mostly downhill, a deliberate start before the climbing begins. Your guide keeps the pace slow from the first step, on purpose.

This is the first hard day, and the one people remember. The trail crosses the Dudh Koshi on steel suspension bridges, enters Sagarmatha National Park at the Monjo checkpoint, where your guide presents the permits, and then climbs. The last two hours gain about 600 m on switchbacks above the high Hillary Bridge. On a clear day, the first view of Everest appears from a bend halfway up. Expect about 11 km and six to seven hours. Your guide breaks the hill into short stages with rests, and nobody is asked to keep up with the fastest walker. Namche's lodges have hot showers.

A second night at the same altitude is what makes the rest of the trek work. We use the morning for a climb above the town rather than a lie-in, because walking high and sleeping low helps the body adjust. The trail zigzags past the Syangboche airstrip to the Everest View Hotel at 3,880 m, where Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam line up over tea on the terrace. You are back in Namche by lunch. The afternoon is free for the Sherpa Culture Museum, the Saturday market, or a bakery. Your guide logs everyone's oxygen saturation and pulse tonight, as every evening from here.

After a level contour path with the best Ama Dablam views of the trek, the trail drops steeply to Phunki Tenga at the river. Lunch is here, and it needs to be, because the afternoon brings a steady 600 m climb through rhododendron and pine forest to Tengboche. The monastery sits on a saddle with Everest behind it, and the monks' evening puja is open to visitors who sit quietly at the back. Expect about 10 km and five to six hours. This down-then-up shape catches people out, so your guide gathers the group at the bridge before the climb starts.

The forest thins out this morning and does not come back. From Deboche, the path crosses the Imja Khola and climbs gradually past Pangboche, the oldest village in the valley, with its small gompa. Above Somare, the land turns to stone-walled fields, yak pasture and wind. Dingboche sits in a broad valley at 4,410 m, and tonight may be the first night you sleep badly or wake with a mild headache. That is common at this height. Tell your guide anyway. Expect about 11 km and five to six hours, gaining roughly 550 m at the slower pace altitude asks for.

This second rest day matters more than the first. After breakfast, the group climbs the ridge behind the village toward Nangkartshang, gaining about 600 m to a viewpoint near 5,000 m, where Makalu, the world's fifth-highest mountain, appears to the east. How far each person goes is decided by the guide on the day, not by pride. We are back by lunch. The rest of the day is for resting, eating well and drinking three to four litres of water. This evening's oxygen readings shape tomorrow's plan, and your guide talks through any low numbers with you privately.

A gentle hour along the valley floor leads to Dughla for tea. Then comes the day's one real climb: about 45 minutes up the end moraine of the Khumbu Glacier to the Thukla Pass. At the top stand the stone memorials to climbers who died on Everest, among them Scott Fischer and Babu Chiri Sherpa, and groups tend to go quiet here. From the pass, the trail follows the glacier's edge to Lobuche. Expect about 8 km and five hours, gaining roughly 550 m. Lobuche is cold and basic, so dinner comes early and bed soon after.

This is the day the trek is named for, and the longest at this height. Two to three hours over rough moraine bring the group to Gorak Shep for an early lunch and a chance to drop bags. Then comes the walk out to Everest Base Camp: about 3.5 km each way along the glacier's edge to the boulders and prayer flags at 5,364 m, facing the Khumbu Icefall. In spring, the expedition tents are still standing; in autumn, the site is quiet. Expect about 12 km and seven to eight hours in total. Your guide checks everyone at lunch and turns back anyone who needs it.

We start at 5 am in the dark with head torches, because Kala Patthar's view is a sunrise view. The climb gains about 380 m up a steep, sandy slope and takes one and a half to two hours. At the top, Everest, Nuptse and Pumori stand in a line as the sun comes up behind them, at 5,545 m, the highest point of the trek. Back at Gorak Shep for breakfast, the group then descends past Lobuche to Pheriche, and the thicker air is noticeable within hours. Expect about 14 km and eight hours. A long day, though mostly downhill after breakfast.

Downhill days are easy on the lungs and hard on the knees, so trekking poles earn their place today. The route rejoins the outbound trail at Pangboche and follows it back through Tengboche's forest, down to the river at Phunki Tenga, and up the last climb to Namche's contour path. Expect about 15 km and six to seven hours, losing roughly 1,000 m overall, with one steep 300 m ascent from the river. Namche means hot showers again, a proper bakery and shops for gifts. Your guide confirms the Lukla lodge and the flight time for the morning after next.

The last walking day retraces the first two in reverse: the long descent from Namche over the Hillary Bridge, the river crossings, and then a climb of about 250 m back up to Lukla at the end, which surprises everyone. Expect about 18 km and seven hours. It is the day to thank the porters, and most groups give the crew's tips together at dinner, with the leader handling the pooled envelope. Lukla's lodges have hot showers and Wi-Fi. Duffels must be under the flight limit tonight, so repack before bed and hand spare snacks to the porters.

Flights out of Lukla leave early, when the wind is calmest, so breakfast is at first light. You land in Kathmandu about 30 minutes later, or at Manthali in peak months, with a road transfer back to the city of four to six hours. If cloud grounds the morning flights, this is the day that absorbs it: we hold the group in Lukla and fly on the next clear slot, using the spare day that follows. Once you are back, the afternoon is yours. Most trekkers go straight for a long shower and a slow lunch in Thamel.

We keep this day free on every Everest departure because Lukla weather does not keep to timetables. If the flights ran to plan, it becomes a free day in the city. Walk the kora around Boudhanath stupa, see the Durbar Squares at Patan or Bhaktapur, or shop for gifts without a deadline. Your leader can arrange a car and a city guide at cost. If the flights were delayed, this is the day that protects your international connection. In the evening, the group meets for a farewell dinner, and it is usually a long one.

Your trek ends after breakfast. We drive you to Tribhuvan International Airport in time for your flight, on the group transfer times shared at the briefing; for most international flights, that means leaving the hotel three hours before take-off. If you are staying on in Nepal, the team can book extra hotel nights at the group rate or find you a seat on one of our Langtang, Annapurna or Tibet departures. Luggage stored at the hotel during the trek comes out today, so check your tags. Before you leave, note your guide's name for the review you may want to write.