Route guide
Khumbu Destination Guides
Every major stop on the Everest Base Camp Trek gets its own guide below, covering what it is, why itineraries stop there, and what to see. They’re grouped in the order most routes walk them, from the Lukla airstrip to the true Everest summit viewpoint at Kala Patthar.
- Destinations
- 22
- Elevation range
- 1,400–5,644 m
- Lowest stop
- Kathmandu, 1,400 m
- Highest stop
- Kala Patthar, 5,644 m
Kathmandu & the approach
4 stops
1,400 m
Kathmandu Before Your Trek
What to do in Kathmandu during your pre-trek briefing day and buffer days before flying to Lukla.
1,935 m
Jiri and the Lower Solu-Khumbu Trail
The historic 1953 starting point and the week-long walk-in corridor through lower Solu-Khumbu that most trekkers now skip by flying to Lukla.
2,610 m
Phakding
The universal first overnight stop, a gentle two-to-three hour walk down from Lukla along the Dudh Koshi river.
2,860 m
Lukla
The mountain airstrip where nearly every Everest Base Camp itinerary begins and ends, home to one of the world's most consequential runways.
Namche & acclimatisation
4 stops
3,440 m
Namche Bazaar
The Khumbu's trading and administrative hub, and the mandatory first two-night acclimatisation stop.
3,790 m
Khumjung and Khunde
Twin Sherpa villages near Namche tied to Edmund Hillary's Himalayan Trust, home to a school and hospital he helped found.
3,800 m
Thame
A historic Sherpa mountaineering village up a quiet side valley, widely cited as home to more Everest summiteers per capita than anywhere else in Nepal.
3,880 m
Everest View Hotel and Syangboche
One of the world's highest hotels, and the acclimatisation-hike viewpoint above Namche with the first clear Everest sighting on the route.
Tengboche to Dingboche
4 stops
3,860 m
Tengboche
Home to the largest and most significant monastery in the Khumbu, with panoramic Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse, and Ama Dablam views.
3,930 m
Pangboche
Home to the oldest monastery in the Khumbu, and the last permanently inhabited village before the trail climbs into higher alpine terrain.
4,240 m
Pheriche
The alternate acclimatisation stop to Dingboche, home to the Himalayan Rescue Association's volunteer-staffed aid post.
4,410 m
Dingboche
The second mandatory acclimatisation stop, a wide high-altitude valley village ringed by stone-walled potato fields.
The high route to Base Camp
6 stops
4,620 m
Dughla and the Everest Memorials
The chorten-covered ridge above Thukla where climbers who died on Everest and its neighbouring peaks are memorialised.
4,940 m
Lobuche
The last village before Gorak Shep, and the final overnight stop before Base Camp and Kala Patthar.
5,164 m
Gorak Shep
The highest overnight village on the trek, and the staging point for both Base Camp and Kala Patthar.
5,364 m
Everest Base Camp
The seasonal camp at the foot of the Khumbu Icefall that gives the entire trek its name, a physical place distinct from the multi-day trekking product that carries it.
5,486 m
Khumbu Icefall
The dramatic, constantly shifting river of ice rising directly above Everest Base Camp.
5,644 m
Kala Patthar
The actual Everest summit viewpoint, 280 m higher than Base Camp, and positioned to clear Nuptse's ridge.
The Gokyo valley
2 stops
4,730 m
Chhukung
The staging village for Island Peak and the Kongma La pass, tucked in a side valley beneath Ama Dablam and Lhotse's south face.
4,790 m
Gokyo Village and the Gokyo Lakes
A chain of turquoise glacial lakes and a quiet Sherpa village, the alternate high route to Everest views away from the classic Base Camp trail.
