Itinerary · 14 days · 61 places
14 Days in Nepal
Fourteen days from Kathmandu up to 5,545 m: acclimatising in Namche, the monastery at Tengboche, the base camp beneath the Khumbu Icefall and the Everest view from Kala Patthar. At the start and the end there's time for the temple towns of the Kathmandu Valley.
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Photo: zhou shen · Pexels
The route on the map
The plan, day by day
Day 1Arrival in Kathmandu
Arrival in Kathmandu
Hotel check-in
Your base is in Thamel, the warren of lanes north of Durbar Square, which is also home to the gear shops and trekking agencies.
Garden of Dreams
A walled neoclassical garden with pavilions and pools right at the entrance to Thamel, lit up in the evening and far quieter than the street outside.
Day 2Flight to Lukla and first trekking day
Onward to Lukla
Hotel check-in
Pasang Lhamu Gate in Lukla
The stone gateway at the entrance to the village commemorates the first Nepali woman to climb Everest and marks the official start of the trail.
Descent to Ghat
An easy downhill path through pine forest, past painted mani walls and the first big suspension bridge over the Dudh Koshi.
Phakding on the Dudh Koshi
A lodge village at 2,610 m on both banks of the milky-green river, your first night at trekking altitude.
Evening: bukhari stove in Phakding
In the evening the lodge's heated common room is the only warm place in the village — card games, tea and tomorrow's weather forecast.
Day 3Over the suspension bridges to Namche
Monastery village of Benkar
A small settlement by a waterfall, where the trail first reveals the glaciated Thamserku.
Monjo national park checkpoint
At the entrance to Sagarmatha National Park, your passport and permit are logged; next door a board shows the wildlife of the Khumbu.
Larja Dobhan suspension bridge
The highest of the steel bridges, hung with prayer flags, spans the confluence of the Dudh Koshi and Bhote Koshi.
Ascent to Namche Bazaar
600 metres of climbing in zigzags through pine forest to the horseshoe-shaped trading village at 3,440 m.
Evening: bazaar lanes of Namche
Bakeries, gear shops and pool halls are stacked in terraces one above the other — the last place with a cash machine and Wi-Fi.
Day 4Acclimatising above Namche
Sagarmatha National Park Visitor Centre
On the hill above the village, relief maps and old expedition photos explain the Khumbu; from the terrace you see Everest between Nuptse and Lhotse.
Ascent to Syangboche
A steep climb to the gravel airstrip at 3,750 m, the highest airfield in the valley — gaining altitude without sleeping higher.
Hotel Everest View
A Japanese concrete building of 1971 on a ridge, whose terrace offers what is probably the world's most comfortable view of Everest.
Khumjung
The largest Sherpa village in the valley, with green tin roofs; the monastery keeps a supposed yeti scalp in a glass case.
Khunde and its Hillary hospital
The neighbouring village is home to the clinic funded by Edmund Hillary, which still serves the valley's population today.
Evening: viewing terrace above Namche
From the edge of the horseshoe, in the evening you see the lights of the lodges beneath the black wall of Kongde Ri.
Day 5To the monastery at Tengboche
Panoramic trail to Kyangjuma
An almost level balcony path along the slope with constant views of Ama Dablam, Everest and Lhotse; yaks graze among the rhododendron scrub along the way.
Descent to Phunki Tenga
Down 400 m in tight bends to the Dudh Koshi, where water-driven prayer wheels stand beside the bridge.
Ascent to Tengboche Monastery
The tough climb back up through mountain forest ends on the meadow in front of the Khumbu's largest monastery, at 3,860 m.
Tengboche monastery courtyard for the evening puja
In the late afternoon, horns and drums call the monks to the ceremony; visitors may sit quietly along the wall of the prayer hall.
Evening: Ama Dablam in the alpenglow
From the meadow behind the monastery the last sun turns the summit slope pink, before the cold drives everyone into the lodge.
Day 6Via Pangboche to Dingboche
Deboche in the rhododendron forest
A sheltered clearing below Tengboche with a small nunnery and the last tall trees in the valley.
Pangboche and its old monastery
The oldest gompa in the Khumbu stands above the village at 3,985 m; from here you see Ama Dablam up close.
Shomare
A scattered settlement of stone huts and potato fields; above it, the treeline finally comes to an end.
Ascent to Dingboche
Over the Imja Khola bridge and up an open slope into the high valley at 4,410 m, your base for the next two nights.
Evening: stone walls of Dingboche
A short stroll between the kilometres of dry-stone walls built against the valley wind, while the sky above Lhotse is still light.
Day 7Acclimatisation day on Nangkartshang
Ascent of the Nangkartshang ridge
A steep scree ridge right behind the village, where in two and a half hours you gain 600 metres to help you acclimatise.
View of Makalu and Lhotse
From the prayer-flag saddle at around 5,080 m the view stretches across the Imja valley to the fifth-highest mountain on Earth.
Descent back to the village
Back down the same ridge to Dingboche — deliberately slowly, so your body can process the altitude.
Walk in the Imja valley
A flat path down the valley towards Chhukhung, past yak pastures, with views of the ice wall of the Nuptse–Lhotse chain.
Evening: starry sky over the Imja valley
With no light pollution and the dry mountain air, the Milky Way is so sharp here that you can see the silhouettes of the peaks against it.
Day 8Over the Thukla Pass to Lobuche
Dughla by the glacier stream
Two lonely lodges at the foot of the moraine, where the meltwater stream of the Khumbu Glacier emerges from beneath a bridge.
Thukla Pass and its memorials
On the saddle stand dozens of stone cairns for climbers who died on Everest, including that of Scott Fischer.
Trail along the Khumbu Glacier
A flat high path at 4,900 m beside the debris-covered river of ice, with the wall of Pumori rising opposite.
Lobuche
A handful of lodges in a windy hollow at 4,940 m — cold, bare and the penultimate stop before base camp.
Evening: Nuptse face in the last light
A few steps behind the lodges, the flank of Nuptse stands so close that you have to crane your neck.
Day 9Gorak Shep and base camp
Changri Glacier moraine
Up and down over loose rubble ridges between remnants of ice; here everyone notices for the first time how thin the air is at 5,100 m.
Gorak Shep
Four lodges on the edge of a sandy lake bed at 5,164 m, the former base camp of the 1952 Swiss expedition.
Everest Base Camp
Along the lateral moraine to the cairn with prayer flags at 5,364 m, right beside the jagged Khumbu Icefall.
Return across the glacier tongue
Back along the same path over the ice, in the afternoon wind, with rubble crunching underfoot.
Evening: Pumori face above Gorak Shep
In the last light, Pumori rises directly above the lodges; afterwards the temperature drops below zero within an hour.
Day 10Kala Patthar and descent to Pheriche
Kala Patthar
The black rocky hump at 5,545 m is the highest point of the trip and the only place with a clear view of the entire south-west face of Everest.
Descent via the Khumbu moraine to Thukla
Back through the boulders and over the pass, with the air noticeably thicker at every step.
Pheriche
A long, strung-out village in a wind tunnel at 4,240 m, home to the Himalayan Rescue Association's altitude clinic.
Evening: stove room at the Panorama Lodge
The only heated room for miles around, where porters, guides and trekkers gather round the yak-dung stove in the evening.
Day 11Back to the green at Namche
Descent through the Pheriche valley to Orsho
The path follows the Imja Khola downhill; after days among rock, juniper and the first shrubs reappear.
Deboche nunnery
A small, little-visited ani gompa in the forest, home to a dozen nuns — far quieter than Tengboche up on the ridge.
Climb back up to Sanasa
Back via Phunki Tenga and the balcony path, with the Tibetan women's souvenir stalls at the trail junction.
Sherpa Culture Museum above Namche
An open-air museum with a reconstructed Sherpa house, old expedition photos and the famous Everest viewing platform.
Evening: Namche's Irish pub
The world's highest Irish bar at 3,440 m — the usual place for trekking groups to toast their success.
Day 12Last trekking day to Lukla
Jorsalle suspension bridge
The long descent from Namche ends at the river terraces of Jorsalle, where the trail crosses sides twice.
National park exit at Monjo
At the barrier your permit is stamped; from here it's almost all downhill along the Dudh Koshi.
Riverside path via Ghat to Chaurikharka
The final stage through pine forest, past painted rocks and mills, before the last climb up to Lukla begins.
Lukla village centre
A stone-paved main lane with bakeries and shops, at the end of which the runway disappears into the hillside.
Evening: farewell evening in Lukla
In the lodges at the end of the village it's traditional to celebrate with guides and porters, often with Sherpa dancing and chang.
Day 13Flight back and temples of the Kathmandu Valley
Onward to Kathmandu
Hotel check-in
Boudhanath Stupa
Nepal's largest stupa, with its painted Buddha eyes, circled by pilgrims, prayer wheels and Tibetan monasteries.
Pashupatinath on the Bagmati
Nepal's most important Shiva temple, with the cremation ghats by the river and sadhus on the steps opposite.
Patan Durbar Square
A royal square of Newar brick with the Krishna Mandir, the old palace courtyard and the museum in the restored courtyard buildings.
Evening: oil lamps at Kumbheshwar Temple
A five-storey pagoda north of Durbar Square, where in the evening locals light butter lamps by the water tanks.
Day 14Farewell to Kathmandu
Swayambhunath
The Monkey Temple stupa on the western hill, reached by 365 steps, with the best view over the whole valley basin.
Kathmandu Durbar Square
The old royal square with the Hanuman Dhoka palace, the Kasthamandap and the house of the living goddess Kumari.
Departure from Kathmandu
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