When I returned from my Everest Base Camp trek, I was asked one main question – “what’s the cost of hiking to Everest Base Camp”?
Luckily, I’d taken detailed notes on the trek so I could write this very post!
I hiked to Everest Base Camp with a guide, but I’ve calculated the costs for independent hiking to Everest Base Camp as well.
Here’s my full analysis!
Everest Base Camp costs: the tour
For our Everest Base Camp tour with Nepal Hiking Adventure, I paid £910, or $1,150.
Nepal Hiking Adventures tours generally cost $1,350 but ours was cheaper as we were a large tour with 11 people.
This is cheaper than a third-party provider, like GAdventures or PlotPackers; largely because when you book third party, that company will need to keep some of the profit too.
Prices with third-party providers range from £1,200 to £1,500.
What tours include
Our tour included the following:
- airport pick up and drop off (they even dropped us back at the airport for free a week later, as we spent some time in Kathmandu after the trek)
- two nights’ accommodation in Kathmandu (night before and night after the hike)
- transfers to Ramechhap Airport
- flights to Lukla Airport
- two guides for all 11 days
- one porter per two people
- all park fees
- all accommodation on the trek
- all meals on the trek
- a duffel bag to use on the trek that we could take home with us
- a commemorative t-shirt and certificate!
What tours DON’T include
Our tour didn’t include the following:
- snacks
- drinks (including tea, bottled water and alcohol)
- food bought outside the tea houses
- tips
- extras like WiFi, hot water bottles, hot showers and toilet roll
Most tours are quite similar to us regarding what they include.
Some include extras like a down jacket, sleeping bag hire or medical kit.
Other expenses
I managed to spend £180 more on the trail on the following things:
- snacks (buy them in Kathmandu, they’re so much cheaper!)
- toilet paper
- WiFi
- having my hot water bottle filled up
- hot showers
- bottled water (although I usually used my water-to-go bottle)
- tea
- one cocktail and one gin and tonic at Namche Bazar’s Irish Pub (on the way back down)
- pizza at the Irish Pub
- tips
Of course, you could reduce these greatly by being a little more prepared than me and buying your snacks and loo roll in advance. These items are much more expensive the higher up the mountain you go.
Also, while my hot water bottle was lovely, it was an unnecessary expense (everyone else managed without one).
I only had three hot showers, which I would say are quite necessary, although my partner managed on one (free) cold shower and one hot shower.
You will want to pay a bit extra for tea, as it’s warming and helps toward your water intake!
Obviously, WiFi, alcohol and extra pizza aren’t essential, but they are very nice to have.
Tips are something you can’t scrimp on. It’s really important that the porters and guides are recognised for their work, so please do make sure you leave enough cash to tip them! We tipped $100 each, half went to the porters and half to the guides.
How much would it cost independently?
If that all seems a bit expensive to you, of course, you can look at doing an EBC trek independently!
However, I will say that it is much more complicated and less safe. I’m happy that I did the hike with a guide.
Flights
I’ve done a fair amount of research, and I’m still a bit stumped on the best way to book the flight from Ramechhap to Lukla without a guide!
However, a few sources suggests that it should cost $217 (£171.42) each way. So, a total of $434 (£342.90) per person.
You can book these flights online on Get Your Guide in advance (click here to see) but they are £50 more expensive each way.
The other alternatives seem to be to try online (on the Sita Air website, it seems that you send a form and they contact you, although there wasn’t an option to fly from Ramechhap here) or buy in Kathmandu.
I don’t doubt that there are plenty of vendors selling flight tickets in Kathmandu, but it’s likely that if you leave it until just before your trek the early flights will be booked up, and afternoon flights are at the mercy of the weather changing.
Getting to Ramechhap and accommodation
You’ll also need to pay for a bus from Kathmandu to Ramechhap (flights depart from here now due to air traffic at Kathmandu Airport).
I can’t find too much information online about this, but long-distance tourist buses in Nepal are usually around $20.
Finally, I’d advise spending a night in Ramechhap before the trek, as it’s a 5-7 hour bus ride from Kathmandu. This means you’ll get a good night’s sleep (and I don’t think tourist buses leave in the middle of the night anyway).
Budget around $25/ £20 per room for this.
Accommodation
Accommodation varies wildly throughout the hike!
In Lukla, I saw that the room rate at The Nest was 500 NPR (£3)
This can increase to over 1,000 (£6) in tea houses at higher altitudes.
So let’s say it’s an average for 750 NPR (£4.50) per night. For 11 nights, that would be a total of £49.50 per room – if there’s two of you, you can divide this in half.
Obviously, this is very cheap!
BUT there’s a catch – you have to eat there, or they charge an extra rate.
Food
So, what are the Everest Base Camp trek food prices?
Again, these start cheaper and become more expensive as you go up the mountain.
At lower altitudes, meals cost around 700 NPR. Higher up, they were more like 1,000 – 1,200 NPR.
Here’s a potential day of eating around Lobuche, with prices taken from the menu:
- vegetable omelette – 1050
- vegetable fried potatoes – 1200
- dal baht vegetable – 1200
So a total day of eating here would be 3450 NPR, or £20.50.
Lower down, it might be more like 2,000 NPR, or £12.
So, considering an average of £16 per day, the total costs for food would be around £176 per person.
Porter
Even if you don’t hire a guide, you’re probably going to want to hire a porter.
Porters are incredibly strong and can carry up to 30kg – so generally you’ll hire one for two people.
They generally cost around $25 (£20) per day – of course, if you’re travelling as a couple, you’ll pay half of that per person.
Cost of permits
Another aspect that you’ll want to factor in is the cost of permits. These clock in at 5,000 NPR (£30).
You’ll need a local permit (2,000 NPR), which you purchase in Lukla, and a National Park Permit (3,000 NPR), which you’ll grab in Monjo.
Costs in Kathmandu
A few costs in Kathmandu that you’ll need to pay if you’re hiking independently include:
Two night’s accommodation
Our tour included two night’s accommodation
We stayed in the Kailash Kutee Hotel, which cost £35 per night.
If there are two of you, this is a total cost of £35 per person for two nights.
Airport transfer
You may be able to barter with a taxi driver to get this lower, but the cheapest we could find an airport transfer was $15 (£11.80).
You’ll need to pay for it both ways, but presuming there are two of you on the trek, the total cost per person is £11.80.
So, what are the costs of hiking Everest Base Camp?
Here’s a table summarising the costs of hiking to EBC.
| Expense Category | Cost on Tour (Per Person) | Cost Independently (Per Person, based on two people sharing some costs) |
| Tour Package | $1,350/ £910 | N/A |
| Flights to/from Lukla | Included in tour | $434/ £342.89 |
| Accommodation in Kathmandu | Included in tour | $44/ £35 |
| Airport Transfers in Kathmandu | Included in tour | $15/ £11.80 |
| Bus to Ramechhap | Included in tour | $25/ £20 |
| Accommodation in Ramechhap | N/A | $20/ £16 |
| Accommodation on Trek | Included in tour | £62.68/ £49.50 |
| Meals on Trek | Included in tour | $176/ £139 |
| Permits | Included in tour | $38/ £30 |
| Porter (per two persons) | Included in tour | $110/ £86.86 |
| Extra Costs (WiFi, showers, snacks and drinks etc.) | $227.96/ £180 | $227.96/ £180 |
| Tips | $100/ £78.96 | $50/ £39.46 for porter |
| Total Costs | $1,679.20/ £1,325.99 | $1,202.64/ £950.51 |
As you can see, the costs aren’t actually a huge amount different – that’s the benefit of having locals arrange the logistics!
And do remember, if you hike Everest Base Camp without a guide, you’ll be missing out on:
- logistical support with booking flights
- potentially the best earlier flights
- the time saved going straight to your pre-booked tea house – you’ll have to ring them up or walk around independently instead
- answers to any questions before the trek
- assistance if you fall ill on the hike
- guidance while you’re actually doing the hike
- a full itinerary already pre-planned for you!
Plus, going with a tour, especially a local company like Nepal Hiking Adventures, supports the Nepalese economy!
So, is hiking to Everest Base Camp expensive?
All things considered, hiking to Everest Base Camp costs $1,000 to $1,500 – which isn’t too bad for a bucket list tick!
What do you think? Is hiking to Everest Base Camp cheap or expensive? Let me know over on TikTok, Instagram or YouTube!
