Himalaya only · Saver trips from ₹7,500
Try "Spiti", "snow leopard", "Char Dham", "homestay", "Tiger's Nest"
Signature Nepal · Balanced
A slow, comfortable Khumbu trek for travellers who want the Sherpa villages and the Everest view without roughing it. Three nights at Dwarika's in Kathmandu bookend six nights in the Mountain Lodges of Nepal chain on the trail to Namche Bazaar, with a private senior guide, porters and a gentle acclimatisation plan.
Photo: Gerd Eichmann · CC BY-SA 4.0 · CommonsThe trail from Lukla to Namche Bazaar has the best lodges in the high Himalaya, run by Mountain Lodges of Nepal under the Yeti Mountain Home name, with heated rooms, attached bathrooms and proper beds. They make the Khumbu possible for travellers who would not sleep in a basic teahouse, and they let us keep walking days short.
We walk up the Dudh Koshi in short stages, spend three nights at Namche at 3,440 m with walks to the Everest View ridge, Khumjung and the Thame valley side, and walk out again. Dwarika's in Kathmandu gives you two calm days before the flight and one after, which also act as buffer days for the weather at Lukla. A private senior guide stays with you from the airport to the airport.
Sleeping altitude, night by night
Red points are nights above 3,000 m. We pace those climbs by the usual advice of no more than 300–500 m of sleeping height a day. This is not medical advice: talk to your doctor before a high trip. Try the altitude planner.
Day by day
Your guide meets you at the airport and drives you to Dwarika's. Rest in the courtyards. In the evening, your guide runs through the trek plan, checks your kit and takes care of permits, so you have nothing to queue for. Walk to Pashupatinath for the aarti if you have the energy.
About KathmanduA gentle guided day: Boudhanath in the morning, then Patan Durbar Square, the Golden Temple and the Patan Museum. Afternoon free to rest. If Lukla flights are leaving from Ramechhap (Manthali), as they often do in peak months, you leave very early tomorrow by private car, about 4 hours; your guide confirms the night before.
About KathmanduFly to Lukla and walk gently downhill through Chheplung and along the Dudh Koshi to Phakding. The lodge is a short day's walk away, so you arrive in time for lunch and a rest. Sleeping lower than Lukla on the first night helps acclimatisation.
About Namche BazaarWalk via Monjo, where you enter Sagarmatha National Park, to the high suspension bridge over the Dudh Koshi, then climb slowly for about two hours to Namche Bazaar. Your guide sets a slow pace and stops often. Look out for the first sight of Everest on the climb.
About Namche BazaarClimb to the Syangboche ridge and the Everest View Hotel, at about 3,880 m, for tea in front of Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam, then return to sleep in Namche. In the afternoon visit the Sherpa culture museum and the Sagarmatha National Park visitor centre above the village.
About Namche BazaarWalk over to Khumjung and Khunde, the Sherpa villages in a wide bowl under Khumbila. Visit Khumjung gompa and see the Hillary school, founded by the Himalayan Trust. Return to Namche over the ridge. If it is Saturday, the weekly market in Namche is worth an hour in the morning.
About Namche BazaarA short morning walk west towards the Thame valley for a last look at the peaks, then down the hill and across the bridge to Monjo. An easy afternoon by the river at the lodge.
About Namche BazaarWalk back down the Dudh Koshi through Phakding and up the last gentle climb to Lukla. Farewell dinner with your porters. Your guide confirms the first possible flight.
About Namche BazaarFly to Kathmandu or Ramechhap and transfer to Dwarika's for a long bath and a spa treatment. If the flight is delayed, this day absorbs it. Farewell dinner at Krishnarpan, the hotel's Nepali restaurant.
About KathmanduWhere you sleep
Photo: BhattaraiAbhishek · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Luxury
Kathmandu's best-known heritage hotel at Battisputali, built around a collection of carved Newar windows, doors an…
Photo: Super Trekkers · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Luxury
The Namche lodge of a chain of upmarket trekking lodges on the Everest trail, formerly known as Yeti Mountain Home…
Questions
The Mountain Lodges of Nepal chain, under the Yeti Mountain Home name, runs the most comfortable lodges between Lukla and Namche, with heated rooms and attached bathrooms. Everest Summit Lodges is another upscale chain. Above Namche, options thin out and most lodges are simple teahouses.
This 9-night trip starts at ₹2,30,000 per person, twin sharing, with Dwarika's, Mountain Lodges of Nepal, all trek meals, Lukla flights, a private guide and porters. A helicopter flight back from Lukla or up to the Everest View Hotel costs extra and depends on weather.
Yes, but above Namche the lodges become simpler and the trip grows to 12–14 days. Some travellers trek to Namche in comfort and then take a helicopter flight over Kala Patthar and base camp. We can plan either; check current status of helicopter landing rules before you travel.
Fit seniors do this trip regularly because the walking days are short and the lodges comfortable. Altitude affects people regardless of age or fitness. Talk to your doctor first, carry insurance that covers helicopter evacuation, and expect your guide to turn you around if symptoms worsen.
Yes. Indians pay the SAARC rate for Sagarmatha National Park entry and the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu rural municipality fee. No visa is needed, but carry a passport for the permit checkpoints and the Lukla flight. Rules change; check current status before you travel.
You wait for the next flight, usually the next morning. Our plan has a spare night in Kathmandu after the trek, and we can book a shared or private helicopter between Lukla and Kathmandu if weather allows helicopters but not planes, at extra cost.
October and November are clearest. March to May is good, with blooming rhododendrons below Namche and the expedition season under way. December and January are cold but quiet and clear, and the heated lodges help. June to August is wet and cloudy.
Good broken-in boots, layers including a down jacket, warm hat and gloves, sun hat and sunglasses, a rain shell, a headtorch, a reusable water bottle and any personal medicine. Lodges provide bedding. Porters carry your duffel, so you need only a daypack.
Most lodges, including Mountain Lodges of Nepal, offer Wi-Fi, sometimes for a fee, and mobile data works in Lukla and Namche. Speeds are modest. Download maps and entertainment before you fly to Lukla.
More from Nepal
Photo: Gerd Eichmann · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Comfort
Domestic flights to Lukla, private car in Kathmandu, five days on foot
Photo: Gerd Eichmann · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Comfort
Private car with driver
Photo: Gerd Eichmann · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Signature
Private car with driver; domestic flight Pokhara–Kathmandu
Plan with a local planner
We reply within one working day with a route, a sleeping-altitude profile and an itemised price in your tier. Change anything. Pay nothing until you are sure.