The Everest Base Camp Trek

The trek to Everest Base Camp is one of the great adventures on earth, a legendary two-week journey on foot through the Khumbu region to the very foot of Mount Everest, the highest mountain on the planet at 8,849 metres. Beginning with a dramatic flight to the mountain airstrip at Lukla, the trail winds through Sherpa villages, past ancient Buddhist monasteries and swaying suspension bridges, ever upward amid an amphitheatre of the world's highest peaks.

What you actually see

• Everest Base Camp - the foot of the world's highest mountain.
• Kala Patthar - the viewpoint for the classic close view of Everest.
• Namche Bazaar - the bustling Sherpa town and trekking hub.
• The monasteries and villages - the Tengboche monastery and Sherpa culture.

When to go

Spring, March to May, and autumn, September to November, are the two trekking seasons, with the clearest skies and most stable weather; winter is bitterly cold and the monsoon summer brings cloud, rain and leeches lower down.

Honest expectations

It is a serious, demanding trek of some two weeks at high altitude, reaching over 5,500 metres, so altitude sickness is a real danger; proper acclimatisation days, a slow pace and good fitness are essential, and evacuation is costly and complex. The flight to Lukla is famously hair-raising and weather-delayed. It is cold, basic and hard, but a life's-ambition adventure.

Nearby

Kathmandu is the gateway; the Annapurna region offers alternative treks.