Everest Base Camp Trek Distance

Updated: December 10, 2020
everest-base-camp-trek-distance

The Everest Base Camp Trek distance is a 130 km round trip beginning from Lukla.

However, the outward 65 kilometers to Everest Base Camp takes far longer as you need to factor in acclimatization. If you were to rush to base camp you would almost certainly fall ill from altitude sickness.

Depending on how much previous trekking experience you have, 130 km may or may not sound like a long distance. What you should bear in mind here is that the average walking speed of a human is 5 km per hour.

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Therefore, 130 km is not particularly far when you think of it in those terms. The walking is also made easier by the fact that your larger bags will be carried by your porters (assuming you are not trekking solo).

If you would like to know more about the difficulty of the Everest Base Camp trek, please see our article here.

On a standard 14 day return trek to EBC you will be walking for 9 days with an average of 15 km a day.

The other days will either be spent acclimatizing or in Kathmandu. Although 15 km a day is not a long distance, the steep and rocky terrain can slow you down. This is especially true in winter when the trail will often be covered in snow and ice.

At no point is the path paved and the naturally hilly landscape means that your average walking speed will suffer a little.

Below we have provided a day by day distance itinerary for the classic EBC trek.

  • Day 1: Fly from Kathmandu to Lukla, then walk to Phakding – 9 km (4.5 hours)
  • Day 2: Trek from Phakding to Namchee Bazaar – 12 km (6 hours)
  • Day 3: Acclimatization day. No walking except maybe a quick hike up to the Everest View Hotel.
  • Day 4: Trek from Namchee Bazaar to Tengboche – 12 km (10 hours)
  • Day 5: Hike from Tengboche to Dingboche – 12 km (6 hours)
  • Day 6: Acclimatization day in Dingboche. Explore the area.
  • Day 7: Trek from Dingboche to Lobuche – 12 km (6 hours)
  • Day 8: Hike from Lobuche to Gorak Shep – 8 km (3-4 hours)
  • Day 9: Hike from Gorak Shep to EBC and back to Dingboche – 22 km (7 hours)
  • Day 10: Trek from Dingboche back to Namchee Bazaar – 24 km (8-10 hours)
  • Day 11: Hike from Namchee Bazaar to the airstrip at Lukla – 21 km (7-9 hours)
  • Day 12: Fly back to Kathmandu

If you have any further questions about the distance of the Everest Base Camp Trek, please leave a note below and we’ll get back to you within 24 hours.

Thank you and happy trekking!

Tags: Everest Base Camp trek distance, How long is the Everest Base Camp trek

About the author 

Andrew Roux

Andrew is one of the senior writers at Mountain IQ. A native of South Africa, Andrew has hiked and climbed all over the world. His favourite destination is Nepal and his most memorable hike was to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro!

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  1. Thanks for the complete info about the distance of EBC. I would like to know about the best months for the trek and do we need a guide for it or we can do it by ourself?

    1. Hi Nishant, the best months are March through to May and September through to October. The latter is the Everest season, so if you want to feel the energy of the climbing season then April-May are the best months. You can do the trek unsupported but I recommend taking a guide. All the best

    1. The summit of Mount Everest is 8,848m (29,029 ft). Everest Base Camp is at 5,364m (17,598 ft). So the altitude variation in feet is 11,431 ft.

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