Everest Base Camp Trek Cost – 2024 Budget Breakdown

The cost of your trek to Everest Base Camp will be determined by the type of trek you are planning, your trekking route, your time on the trail, and the season you choose to trek. We have done a lot of trekking in Nepal, including the Everest Base Camp trek twice. I interviewed several agencies, hotels, and guides in Kathmandu and Lukla, and in this post, we give a detailed breakdown of the exact cost of the EBC trek with a tour, your own crew, and completely independent.

The cost of an Everest Base Camp trek can be as low as $750 but can go up to several thousand dollars for making your way on foot to Kala Patthar. Some luxurious options are to get to Lukla from Kathmandu Airport by helicopter and to stay at Everest Base Camp. Most trekkers turn around at EBC and stay at Gorkshep, there are however tours including a night or two staying in tents at Base Camp before turning back. 

We have done several treks in Nepal including 2 treks to EBC. Trekking in Nepal on different budgets we kept an exact record of the cost of the Everest base camp trek. The post has been updated to reflect the cost of trekking to EBC in 2024.

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How Much Does an Everest Base Camp Trek Cost?

The cost of the trek to Everest Base Camp can vary greatly from as little as $600 to thousands of dollars. This is the average starting price to budget for doing the trek in different styles as discussed in this article.

Package tour EBC trek with international agency $1500

Package tour EBC trek with local agency $1500

Independent EBC trek with a guide and porter $1370

Independent EBC trek with a guide $1085

Independent EBC trek with a porter $930

EBC Trek completely independent $766

The cost of the Everest Base Camp trek varies greatly with personal expenses, how many days you are on the EBC trek, which trekking trails are followed, if you are trekking in peak season, and if you are using a travel agency. 

Overall due to expensive transportation (a return flight from Kathmandu – to Lukla) Everest Base Camp trek works out quite a bit more expensive than other well-known hiking routes in Nepal such as the Annapurna Circuit or the Annapurna Base Camp trek.

Is a Guide Compulsory for Doing the EBC Trek in 2024?

A Guide is not compulsory for doing the Everest Base Camp Trek (February 2024), but hiring a local guide is a very good idea. The Nepal Tourism Board (March 2023), announced that all tourists visiting Nepal will be required to hire a licensed guide or porter before trekking. The municipality under whose jurisdiction the Everest region falls subsequently decided not to comply with this decision and that solo trekking would still be allowed in the Everest area. See The Kathmandu Post Article – Nepal ends solo trekking era. Everest region is an exception. 

Different Ways to Trek to Everest Base Camp

The way you trek (the crew you choose) will be the main factor that determines the cost of your trek. Trekking season is the best time weather-wise but is also more expensive. It is possible to do the trek in a short time, but the risk of acute mountain sickness limits the speed and distance you can walk every day. Go slow, and enjoy the local culture and beautiful scenery. 12 Days is a good time frame to work on, see our detailed 12-day Everest Base Camp trek itinerary including two acclimatization days in Namche Bazar and Dingboche respectively.  You can either do a package tour through an agency where everything for your Himalayan adventure is organized for you; hire your crew a guide and porters as required or do the trek completely independently. Irrespective of which way you decide to trek, the food, and facilities on the way will be very similar, everybody stays and eats in the same tea houses in most villages. Add sufficient acclimatization days, the best option is to trek slowly to avoid problems with altitude sickness. 

Cost of Everest Base Camp Trek Tour

The biggest choice that you have to make here is if you are going to book a tour when you arrive through a local tour operator or if you are going to book a package tour beforehand through an agency online. Most of the international and local companies use the same local guides and porters, so even with an international company booking your tour you do support the local community, just check you use an ethical company, paying proper wages. Remember to add additional costs, such as hot showers and charging equipment. Hand your money to a company you trust, because in the end they are responsible for your safety and you want to go with a company using the best staff.

When we were staying at Gorak shep a lady with a local guide for the trek walked to EBC from the teahouse on her own, leaving her guide behind. Four hours later it was dark and -20C outside, the guide and some staff at the teahouse started a search. She got lost somewhere but found her way back on her own 2 hours later. It would be good to know that there is a system in place to prevent this and to resolve it if it does happen and I think with a reputable tour operator you will have this peace of mind.

Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania was a great guided expedition I went on. Comparing the cost of this trek with EBC is interesting.

Cost of an EBC Package Tour with an International Agency

The average cost of a 12-day Everest Base Camp Trek package tour with an international tour operator – starts from $1100 + $400 food, guide, and porter – $1500

12 days, Kathmandu to Kathmandu. English-speaking local guide and assistants for the trek. Trekking to Everest Base Camp. domestic flights (Kathmandu to Lukla). All transport between destinations and to/from included activities. Food is not included in the price, but these packages are available including food. Tours are cheaper when booked for larger groups.

Cost of an EBC Package Tour with a Local Agency

The average cost of a 14-day Everest Base Camp Trek package tour with a local tour operator – starts from $1500 (all-inclusive)

The nice thing about using a local agency is that all the money goes to the local community. Walking through the streets of Kathmandu I saw many amazing prices advertised, with a 14-day trek starting from as little as $550! I talked to these agencies and as I added more and more things I wanted to be included the price kept climbing until it was more or less the same that I saw online. Many hotels have their own travel agencies and the prices are similar to the agencies in town. Ask at your hotel and walk around in town, ask at several agencies. It is nice if you stay in a hotel for a couple of days, use guides and services you trust, leave your luggage at the hotel when you go trekking, and return to the same hotel following the trek.

The average price I was quoted for an all-inclusive package tour (14 days) Kathmandu-Everest Base Camp – Kathmandu started from $1500 (USD) for a mid-range tour, which included – 2 nights in a midrange hotel in Lukla, return flights to Kathamandu-Lukla, guide, porter, permits, accommodation, and food.

Some agencies did offer luxury ($2000) and budget ($1300) tours. With the luxury packages, you will stay in luxury accommodations in Kathmandu, Lukla, Namche Bazaar, and Teng Boche with more expensive meals, I think the rest of your tour will be very similar since the tea houses where you eat and sleep are pretty stand in the rest of the villages. You will need your gear; clothing, sleeping bag, backpack etc. See our Everest Base Camp packing list

With these package tours, the price does come down a bit if there are more people, the average quote for a standard package per person, is 1 person $1500, 2 people $1300, and 4 people $1200.

Cost of Everest Base Camp Trek with your own staff

$766 (hike independent) + $500 (guide) + $357 (porter) – starting from $1623

Organizing your own trek with guides and porters sounds very expensive, but is a very affordable way of trekking. Many solo hikers hire a guide that doubles as a company. A group of trekkers often share a guide making it even more affordable. You can hire a porter to help you carry your luggage. Since a porter can carry up to 25kg, 2 trekkers often share a porter.

Hiring guides & porters for the EBC trek

Organizing a guide in Kathmandu

If you are going to hire your crew doing it in Kathmandu is the most common way, few people do this online. You do get approached by touters or guides themselves in Kathmandu, but the safest way of doing this is by going to a local agency. This way you do have someone to turn to if there is a problem, your guide cannot just disappear.

Some agencies in Kathmandu organize that you meet your guide in Lukla while some prefer to send a guide with you from Kathamandu, in this case, you will have to pay for the guide’s flight, Nepalese citizens fly at a reduced price of $100 for the return flight. You do not have to pay for food or accommodation for your guide, they get this for very cheap at the tea house or for free for bringing you.

I will recommend that you meet with the guide before, check if he speaks good enough English if you trust him, and if you get along. I have met guides that have climbed Everest, some of these guys are extremely knowledgeable.

Make sure you are using a registered guide

The guide should be insured

The cost of organizing a guide for EBC in Kathmandu

Cost of taking a guide from Kathmandu – $100 (flight) + 13 days x $35 + 10% tip = $600

The average price of a guide is $30 to $35 per day, you are allowed to share a guide. It is recommended to use a guide for not more than 4 people and some companies require you to hire an assistant guide for bigger groups.

The cost of organizing a guide for EBC in Lukla

Cost of hiring a guide in Lukla 13 days x $35 + 10% tip = $500

The price for a guide is the same as organizing it in Kathmandu, $25 to $30 per day. It is possible to get a guide in Lukla or even later on in the trek. We were approached by more than one guide when we arrived at Lukla airport at 07:00 in the morning. The advantage is you do not have to pay for a flight, but obviously, you will know nothing about this guide with no references. There are however many agencies in Lukla and in Namche Bazaar where you can still organize a guide.

The cost of hiring Porters

Cost of hiring a porter 13 days x $25 + 10% tip = $357

Guides do not carry luggage and you will have to hire a porter for this service. Porters usually charge $25 per day and can carry up to 25kg, some porters charge $25 if they carry luggage for 2 people. If you work through an agency in Kathmandu you do not have to fly porters to Lukla, they will organize porters that can meet you in Lukla. If you start doing the trek without a porter and feel you need a porter later in the trek, you should be able to find a porter without too much trouble in Namche Bazaar or even later on during the trek, this is of course not guaranteed, and a bit of a risk.

You can find a full list of gear and clothes for hiking the Everest Base Camp trek in our detailed EBC packing list.

The cost of accommodation on the EBC trek

Accommodation 11 nights – NPR 5700 / $43 

Our total cost of accommodation was $43 for 11 days excluding shower and wifi. The price of accommodation is cheap if you eat in the tea house that you are staying at, the tea houses make money from you buying food, not accommodation. Below is a list of the tea houses we stayed in and the cost per night, what is included, and the cost of extras.

Monjo, Mount Kailash (stayed here twice) – wifi 500, hot shower free, charging 250

Namche Bazaar, International Foot Rest Lodge (2 nights) – a hot gas shower of 500, Wi-Fi free, charging free

Teng Boche, Himalayan Guesthouse 

Dingboche, Himalayan Culture Home (2 nights) –  Wi-Fi NPR 800 (1gig), hot shower NPR 500 pipes were frozen throughout the whole town so we took a bucket shower, we shared one bucket of hot water.

Lobuche, New EBC Guest House – charging device for 1 hour NPR250, shower NPR 700

Gorakshep, Himalaya Lodge – Hot shower 1000 NPR

Phortse, Thamserku View Lodge –charging NPR 300, bucket shower NPR 500

Lukla, Hikers Inn

The cost of food on the Everest Base Camp Trek in 2024

Our Everest Base Camp Trek Cost for food was NPR 55 000 ($414) thus NPR 5000 / $38 per day for 2 people = $19 per person per day

You should be able to eat more than enough if you budget for $8 per meal so $24 per day (3000 NPR). See our detailed article on Food on the Everest Base Camp Trek.

The menu is very similar in all tea houses, we found the prices to be similar in most teahouses from Lukla to Dingboche, from Lobuche, everything became significantly more expensive since porters and pack animals must carry the food up the mountain. In the table below you can see the price of a couple of different dishes at three different altitudes. Prices were higher at high elevations.

We met some trekkers that had severe diarrhea after eating meat and chicken and we decided to avoid eating meat. We never had any stomach problems. There are many yaks at high altitudes, so I assume here the yak meat is good.

Breakfast (2 egg omelette, muesli porridge)

at lower altitudes, Namche Bazaar (3440m) – Avg. NRP 500

at higher altitudes, Lobuche (4930m) Avg. NRP 550

high altitude, Gorak Shep (5180m) Avg. NRP 600

Lunch/dinner (spaghetti, fried rice, spring roll, momo, etc.)

at lower altitudes, Namche Bazaar (3440m) – Avg. NRP 600

at higher altitudes, Lobuche (4930m) Avg. NRP 800

high altitude, Gorak shep (5180m) Avg. NRP 900

Dal Bhat

Dal Power! the most popular local food and more than 50% of the local diet. Lentil soup, rice, and some potato vegetables that come with it. It is not crazy cheap but is usually served bottomless, they keep filling your plate when it is empty, just make sure of this when you order, but after a hard day of trekking quantity-wise, this is usually the best deal you can order!

at lower altitudes, Namche Bazaar (3440m) – Avg. NRP 700

at higher altitudes, Lobuche (4930m) Avg. NRP 850

high altitude, Gorakshep (5180m) Avg. NRP 950

Milk tea

at lower altitudes, Namche Bazaar (3440m) – Avg. NRP 150

at higher altitudes, Lobuche (4930m) Avg. NRP 200

high altitude, Gorakshep (5180m) Avg. NRP 200

Hot water (boiled)

At some of the lodges, a 1L thermos flask of water was for sale for a bit cheaper.

At lower altitudes from NRP 100 cup

At higher altitudes up to NRP 120 per cup

high altittude, Gorakshep (5180m) NRP 120 per cup

Drinking water

Tap water is not potable hiking to EBC and bottled water is a significant expense if you buy drinking water all the way. We use filter bottles and did not buy any water on the trek, the LifeStraw bottle can be filled from any stream or tap, this is also great for the environment since you do not buy plastic bottles and create a lot of waste on the mountain every day. A 1l bottle of water costs between NRP 100 and up to NPR 400! Plastic waste on the mountain is one of the main reasons that we use a filter water bottle for drinking water. Water purification tablets are also an option, but this does influence the taste of the water. 

Hiking Everest Base Camp Independent

The total cost of our independent trek to Everest Base Camp for 12 days from Kathmandu to Kathmandu cost 

including Kathmandu to Lukla return flights = $766 per person 

Breakdown of Independent Everest Base Camp Trek Cost 2024

Permits – NPR 5000 ($38)

Flights – USD 440

Accommodation – 12 nights – NPR 5700 ($48)

Food – NPR 31835 ($240)

Everest Base Camp Trekking Permit Cost

The local permit and national park permit total price of NPR 5000 – You require two permits to hike to Everest Base Camp.

Local permit (Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality Entrance Permit) for NPR 2000 obtainable in Lukla.

National park permit (Sagarmatha National Park Entry Permit) NPR 3000 available in Kathmandu or Monjo. TIMS is no longer required.

I would recommend that you get both permits on the route while trekking, it is very easy and highly unlikely to miss all the checkpoints where they are available, just take enough cash. Overall the cost of the permits for hiking to Everest Base Camp is the same as for the other popular treks in Nepal e.g. the Poon Hill or Annapurna Circuit trek.

Do you need a TIMS permit to trek to Everest Base Camp?

You don’t need a TIMS permit for trekking in the Everest Region anymore.

If you hike from Jiri or Salerri to Lukla you pass through areas controlled by different local governments and a TIMS might be necessary.

The cost of getting to the start of the Everest Base Camp Trek

The trek to base camp starts at the small village of Lukla in the Himalayas, there is no road leading all the way here, and flying is the most common way of getting to Lukla. It is also possible to get here from Kathmandu with a combination of Jeeps and walking.

Cost of Flights to Lukla

All plane flights to Lukla will be operated via Ramechhap Airport from the 1st of October 2022. You will have to go from Kathmandu to Ramechhap, a four-hour drive, or fly from Kathmandu to Lukla by helicopter.

Flights from Kathmandu to Lukla in August 2022 cost $179 one way with Yeti Airlines

Go to Lukla overland – We have also walked from Lukla to Salerri (2 days) and took a very long and uncomfortable jeep journey from Salerri to Kathmandu for $20 a couple of years ago when our flight was canceled due to weather conditions.

Coming from Kathmandu you can do the reverse and take a jeep from Kathmandu to Salleri. Salleri is 265 km away from Kathmandu. The ride is about 8 hours costing about NPR 1,100 ($10) for Buses and NPR 1700 ($17) for Jeeps,  buses go daily from Kathmandu. You can walk from Salleri to Lukla in 2 or 3 days.

The trip between Kathmandu and Lukla can be made by helicopter, which is awesome and will cost you about $2500 one way for a helicopter that can be split between 5 people. You can sometimes get awesome deals with helicopters if you are a bit lucky with perfect timing.

Insurance for Everest Base Camp Trek

Want to know how much insurance will cost? Get an instant online quote here!

When hiking at high altitudes in remote locations, there are obviously very real risks.  Altitude sickness is common and in case of emergency evacuation might be necessary. This is not common. Evacuation in Nepal is expensive since there are no roads in the mountain. When I enquired on the trail I was told that emergency evacuation by helicopter costs about $3000.

Where to stay in Kathmandu?

Thamel is the popular, touristy part of Kathmandu, we have stayed in several parts of Thamel and our favorite location is Keshar Mahal Marang Street. A short, dead-end street with a couple of hotels, hostels, restaurants, and coffee shops. Five minutes walk from the main touristy area with plenty of shops and agencies. This area has nice coffee shops and restaurants.

Aryatara Kathmandu Hotel is a nice hotel, we stayed here several times when we returned from a trek. Large comfortable rooms, nice breakfast, TV, Wi-Fi, all facilities. free airport pick-up (for international flights only). Friendly and helpful staff. They do luggage storage and we always leave all extra luggage between treks.

Other Accommodation options in the same street

Cash on the Everest Base Camp Trek

ATMs on the EBC trek – There are only a couple of ATMs on the whole trek, these are all located in Lukla and Namche Bazaar. Withdrawal fees are high, you can only withdraw fairly small amounts and the ATMs are not very reliable. I will recommend bringing enough cash with you for the duration of the trek.

Cash and Credit Card – Credit cards are not accepted at most facilities on the trek. We always bring enough cash from Kathmandu (Nepalese rupees and some USD) to pay for meals, accommodation, wifi, showers, and some extras like laundry and souvenirs.

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The strong half of Stingy Nomads, a nomadic aquaman that would be happy to spend all his life in the water diving, surfing and spearfishing but often has to compromise with Alya and go hiking instead. Campbell is responsible for all our marine adventures and following them with write-ups. He loves traveling, braai (BBQ in South Africa), red wine and spending the day in a wetsuit.