A guided Everest Base Camp trek costs from USD 1,350 per person in 2026. Our fixed departures run from USD 1,190 for a July monsoon date up to USD 1,690 for the busiest October and April weeks. The price covers both Lukla flights and every bed and meal. Guide, porter and permits too. Build the same trip yourself and you still have to hire a guide, so the saving is thinner than budget blogs suggest.
What does an Everest Base Camp trek cost in 2026?
Our 14-day package has 12 walking days, topping out on Kala Patthar at 5,545 metres. Three numbers make up what you really spend. There's the package price, the trail costs that price already absorbs, and the extras that sit outside it. People who blow their budget usually forget the third group. Insurance and tips are the two that bite.
The guided package price
The base price is USD 1,350 per person for a large group. Smaller groups pay more per head, so a solo private trip costs USD 1,890, a pair or a group of three pays USD 1,490, and four to seven people pay USD 1,390 each. Season moves it too. Our Everest Base Camp trek departures for late 2026 and 2027 sit at USD 1,590 for November, USD 1,490 for late March and USD 1,690 for mid-October and mid-April, with July at USD 1,190 for anyone who can live with monsoon cloud.
Inside that price are both Lukla flights, teahouse rooms and 38 trail meals, a TAAN-certified Sherpa guide and a porter. The Sagarmatha National Park fee and the Khumbu municipality permit are included as well. So are a pulse oximeter check every morning and emergency oxygen. Cheaper operators tend to quietly drop those two.
What you would pay arranging it yourself
Doing it yourself still means hiring a guide. The 1 April 2023 rule requires one inside Sagarmatha National Park, so "independent" here only means buying each piece separately. The Lukla flight is the biggest single cost. Foreigners pay roughly USD 215 to 255 each way from Kathmandu. In spring and autumn the flights move to Manthali in Ramechhap, where a seat is closer to USD 175 to 210, but you add a 4 to 5 hour drive that leaves Kathmandu around 1 a.m.
Permits are cheap. The Sagarmatha National Park fee is NPR 3,000, which becomes NPR 3,390 once 13 percent VAT is added, about USD 25. The Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality fee for foreigners went up to NPR 3,000 (about USD 22), and you pay it at Lukla or Monjo. A licensed guide costs around USD 25 to 35 a day and a porter USD 18 to 25. Beds are close to free at USD 5 to 10 a night, but food is where the mountain gets its money back, and three meals a day run USD 30 to 45 by the time you pass Namche. The full fee list sits in our guide to Nepal trekking permits.
The extras people forget
Four costs fall outside almost every quote, and together they add USD 400 to 700. Tips are the first. Most of our trekkers hand over USD 150 to 250 each across the guide and porter on a two-week trek, and our tipping guide breaks that down per role. Second, insurance. Your policy has to cover trekking to 6,000 metres and helicopter evacuation, and that runs about USD 100 to 200 for the trip. Third come the small charges above Namche, where a phone charge, a wifi code or a hot shower costs USD 2 to 5 each. Khumbu villages have banned plastic water bottles, so carry a filter or buy boiled water at the teahouses. Last is the visa, USD 30 for 15 days or USD 50 for 30, plus a night or two in a Kathmandu hotel at each end.
Budget trek or comfort trek?
Group size and season matter most. Joining a group of eight instead of travelling as a pair saves about USD 140 a head, and late March or November undercuts mid-October by USD 100 to 200. Spending more buys time or comfort. A helicopter out of Gorak Shep saves three days of walking down and costs USD 750 per person. For something cheaper, lower and shorter with the same teahouse routine, our breakdown of the Annapurna Base Camp cost starts at USD 890.
A worked two-week budget
Here's the do-it-yourself version added up. Two Lukla flights come to about USD 450, and the park and municipality permits add about USD 47. A guide for 12 days is about USD 360 and a porter about USD 250. Food and lodging at roughly USD 40 a day add another USD 480. That's around USD 1,590 before tips, insurance and gear, which is USD 240 above our large-group price and USD 100 above the pair rate. And it leaves out the oximeter, the oxygen bottle and the peak-season bed bookings. Going it alone saves money only if you already know the trail and the lodge owners.
Is the Everest Base Camp trek worth the cost?
For most people, yes. From USD 1,350 you get both Lukla flights, the permits, a licensed guide, a porter and safety kit, and buying those one by one costs about the same. The mandatory guide rule took away most of what independent trekkers used to save.
How much should I tip on the Everest Base Camp trek?
Plan on USD 150 to 250 per trekker across the guide and porter for a two-week trek. The group pools it and hands it over on the last evening, and guides and porters count on that money as part of their season's income.
Why is the Lukla flight so expensive?
Foreigners pay about USD 215 to 255 each way from Kathmandu. It's a 35-minute flight in a small Twin Otter, Dornier or Let 410 into a 527-metre sloping airstrip at 2,860 metres, and the weather limits it to a few morning hours. Few seats, plenty of buyers. Our Lukla flight guide covers the Ramechhap routing and delays.
Can you do Everest Base Camp on a budget?
Partly. Join a bigger group, pick late March or November, skip the helicopter, and you're near the USD 1,350 floor. July is cheaper still. USD 1,190, with cloud and leeches on the lower trail thrown in. The guide, the permits, the Lukla flight and evacuation insurance can't be cut, so they set the real minimum.
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Karma Gyalzen
Trekking Guide, Annapurna Trekking
Karma Gyalzen guides treks across Nepal for Annapurna Trekking. More about our team →
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