Everest Panorama Premium Trek

Yes. It is one of the most suitable treks in the Everest region if you are concerned about altitude. You sleep no higher than 3,820 m at Deboche and reach 3,880 m for an hour at the Everest View Hotel. Serious altitude illness is uncommon at these heights, and the two nights at Namche before you go higher reduce the risk further.

You need to be able to walk four to six hours on rough ground, on consecutive days, carrying a light daypack. If you can walk in hilly country at home for half a day and enjoy it, you are fit enough. The climb to Namche is one demanding afternoon, and the rest of the trek is easier than most people expect.

There is no upper age limit. We recommend this trek to people in their seventies who want to see Everest and have been told that Base Camp is too demanding, and it is the trek we run most often for families. The minimum age is eight, walking with a parent.

Most children over eight manage this trek well, often better than their parents, provided the days are kept short and nobody is hurried. For families, we always add an extra night at Namche, our team carries the daypacks, and the night at Deboche is optional if a child is tired.

You miss Base Camp itself, which is a moraine with tents on it, and the view from Kala Patthar, which is the best on the Base Camp trek. You still see the Khumbu: the forest, the villages, the monastery, and a view of Everest from the Everest View Hotel that is arguably better than the view from Base Camp.

Not during the trek. Base Camp requires a different acclimatisation schedule, and we do not change the itinerary on the trail. If you think you might want to reach Base Camp, book the Base Camp trek instead. Turning back early on that trek is easy, but extending this trek is not possible.

Five-star hotels in Kathmandu rather than three-star, the best lodges on the route at Phakding, Namche and Deboche, a heated room with a private bathroom at every stop, one porter per traveller instead of one for every two, and a slower itinerary. The eleven-day schedule, compared with seven days, is part of what you pay for.

At Phakding, Namche and in Kathmandu, yes: each room has a private bathroom, hot water and heating. At Deboche, the best rooms have a private bathroom, but heating is provided by a stove in the dining room, not in your room.

Yes, we can arrange it, but it is not part of the standard itinerary. Sleeping at 3,880 m on your third night after Lukla is a larger gain in altitude than we recommend when you could sleep 440 m lower in Namche. If you would like to stay there, we add an extra day beforehand.

Yes, at every stop on this route, which is not the case higher up the valley. Hot showers are included and are in your own bathroom, not in a shared, coin-operated cubicle. Water is heated by gas or solar power, so after a cloudy day the water may be warm rather than hot.

Yes, at every stop on this itinerary. This is unusual in the Khumbu and is one reason we keep the route low. A single room throughout costs $360 in addition to the trip price. The lodges we use have single rooms available, but the teahouses further up the valley do not.

Mild symptoms, such as a headache or a poor night's sleep at Namche, are common and usually pass. Serious altitude sickness is rare below 3,900 m. Your guide measures your oxygen saturation each evening and records it, so any decline is clearly visible in the figures.

We descend, which is easy on this route, because Namche is always within a few hours and Lukla within a day. Descent is the effective treatment. If the condition is serious, we call a helicopter, which can reach Namche or Lukla within an hour in daylight, and your insurance covers the cost.

You need a policy that covers trekking to 4,000 m and includes helicopter evacuation and repatriation. This is cheaper and easier to buy than the 6,000 m cover needed for Base Camp, so tell your insurer which trek you are doing. We ask to see your insurance certificate before you fly to Lukla.

At Deboche, the highest overnight stop, expect around 0°C in October and as low as -14°C in January. Namche is two or three degrees milder. During the trekking seasons, daytime temperatures on the trail are 10°C to 16°C and pleasant in the sun. Your room is heated at Phakding and Namche, which makes the evenings much more comfortable.

Between 5 km and 13 km a day, which takes four to six hours at our pace. The last day, out to Lukla, takes six to seven hours. We stop for lunch every day, and we allow time at the monastery, at the Everest View Hotel and in Khumjung rather than passing straight through.

Wifi is included and works well at the lodges we book, which is not the case at most lodges on this route. Ncell and NTC mobile data cover Lukla, Namche and most of the trail between them. Buy a SIM card in Kathmandu, because you cannot register one on the trail.

At these lodges, the food is good and better than most people expect: soups, fresh bread, vegetables from the lodge greenhouse, and espresso machine coffee. We still advise against eating meat above Namche, because it is carried up without refrigeration. This applies at every standard of lodge.

Vegetarian food is easy to provide and is often the best choice on the menu. Vegan and gluten-free diets are manageable if you tell us when you book, because the guide orders ahead at each lodge. Teahouse kitchens cannot rule out cross-contamination, so please take this into account.

A porter carries your duffel bag. On this trip there is one porter per traveller rather than one for every two, and the maximum load is 20 kg. You carry a daypack of around 5 kg with water, a warm layer and a camera. The Lukla flight baggage allowance of 15 kg is the stricter limit.

You need two permits, and both are included in the price: the Sagarmatha National Park entry permit at NPR 3,390, and the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality permit at NPR 2,000. A TIMS card has not been required in the Khumbu since 2018.

Most nationalities can get a visa on arrival at Kathmandu airport: $30 for 15 days or $50 for 30 days, paid in cash. Completing the online form within 15 days before arrival makes the queue much shorter. Bring a passport photograph and a passport valid for at least six months.

Bring $200 to $300 in small notes, changed into rupees in Kathmandu. Almost everything is included on this trip, so this covers drinks, souvenirs in Namche and tips. There is an ATM in Namche, but it often runs out of cash, and no lodge on the route accepts cards.

It depends on the month. During the busiest periods of spring and autumn, the aviation authority moves Lukla flights to Manthali airport at Ramechhap. This means a four to five-hour drive, leaving Kathmandu in the early hours of the morning. At other times, you fly from Kathmandu, which takes about 35 minutes. We tell you which applies before you book.

Lukla flights are cancelled several times a month in every season, and day 10 is a spare day for this reason. If the delay is longer, we can book you on a helicopter for around $500 a seat, or move you to a lower-altitude trek at no extra charge. Book your flight home with at least one clear day to spare.

You can fly from Kathmandu to Lukla by helicopter, and in a week of bad weather this may be the only way to start the trek. We do not fly travellers directly to Syangboche at 3,880 m to start there. Gaining 2,500 m in twenty minutes is a common cause of altitude illness, even on an easy route.

For October, book three to six months ahead, because there are only a few lodges of this standard in the Khumbu and they fill up long before the flights do. For other months, six to eight weeks is enough. We have occasionally started travellers on the trail within a week, when a cancellation made a room available.

Yes, and most travellers do. You can add a night at Namche, sleep at the Everest View Hotel, walk to Thame for a quieter day, or extend the trek to thirteen days for a more relaxed pace. For a group of five or more, a private trip on your own dates costs the same as joining a group departure.