Himalayan Region

Everybody wants a glimpse of the world’s highest mountain and that’s the reason why the Everest Base Camp Trek is so popular. The trek has a number of stunning attractions, not least of these is being able to say you’ve visited the highest mountain in the world. The trek gets you right into the high-altitude heart of the high Himalaya, more so than any other teahouse trek. There are some lovely villages and gompas (monasteries), and the friendly Sherpa people of the Solu Khumbu region make trekking through the area a joy.

Most of the trek is through the Sagarmatha National Park, a Unesco World Heritage Site (Sagarmatha is the Nepali name for Everest) and a refuge for musk deer, snow leopard, Himalayan tahr, black bear and many spectacular types of iridescent pheasant.

For scenery and cultural diversity, this has long been considered the best trek in Nepal and one of the world’s classic walks. It follows the Marsyangdi Valley to the north of the main Himalayan range and crosses a 5416m pass to descend into the dramatic desert-like, Tibetan-style scenery of the upper Kali Gandaki Valley.

The walk passes picturesque villages home to Gurungs, Manangis and Thakalis, offers spectacular mountain views of the numerous 7000m-plus Annapurna peaks and boasts some of the best trekking lodges in Nepal.

Our best tip for this trek is to remember that the side trips and excursions from places like Manang, Muktinath and Jomsom rank as the highlights of the trek. It’s well worth adding a couple of days to explore some of these trails. You’ll be better acclimatised for the pass and you’ll manage to shake some of the crowds. This is not scenery to rush through.

The Langtang Valley is a superb short trek that packs a lot of scenic punch into a small amount of time. The trail ascends the Langtang Valley from just 1470m at Syabrubesi to hit 3870m at Kyanjin Gompa, following the rushing Langtang Khola river past lush forests and bamboo groves to a collection of high alpine pastures, glaciers and peaks on the border with Tibet.

The superb day hikes from Kyanjin Gompa in particular offer spectacular close-up views of the surrounding peaks and glaciers of Langtang Lirung (7246m), Kimshung (6781m) and Langshisha Ri (6370m). It's worth budgeting a couple of days here to take advantage of the fabulous scenic side trips.

After suffering greatly in the 2015 earthquake, the valley is now fully open for business. Choose to trek here and you'll be directly contributing to the recovery of communities who lost much on that dark day.

The Annapurna Sanctuary Trek leads you right into the frozen heart of the Annapurna Range, a magnificent arena of rock and ice on a staggering scale. The trail starts in rice paddies and leads through a gorge of bamboo and forests to end among glaciers and soaring peaks – an unparalleled mountain adventure. It's an amazing experience to have an open-air breakfast surrounded by 7000m or 8000m peaks in every direction.

Other highlights include sublime views of fish-tailed Machhapuchhare (6997m) and one of Nepal’s largest and prettiest Gurung villages at Ghandruk, which is a short detour off the main trail.

The side trips off the Everest Base Camp Trek rank as some of the region’s highlights, so it makes sense to add an extra week or so to your itinerary to explore the region more fully.

A particularly scenic side trip is the six-day detour from Namche Bazaar to the multiple blue lakes of the Gokyo Valley, culminating in the Everest region's most spectacular glacier and lake viewpoint at Gokyo Ri (5360m). It’s important to ascend the valley slowly, overnighting in Phortse Thenga, Dole, Machhermo and Gokyo to aid acclimatisation. From Gokyo you can rejoin the main Everest Base Camp trail near Khumjung or upper Pangboche.

You can combine both the Gokyo Valley and Everest Base Camp by crossing the Cho La (5420m) via Dzonglha, for a total duration of 17 days, but you need to take this route seriously and enquire about the conditions before setting out. Some months the pass is clear of snow; at other times you’ll need crampons for this high crossing. You can hire a guide (Rs 2000) at most lodges to guide you across the glacier and pass.

Throw in the high crossings of the Renjo La (5345m), between Thame and Gokyo, and the Kongma La (5535m), between Lobuche and Chhukung, and you get the Three Passes Trek, a 20-day trek for experienced connoisseurs.

Another recommended three-day side trip is up the Imja Khola Valley to Chhukung, for awesome mountain views. Chhukung is also the staging post for climbers heading to Island Peak and the valley is well worth exploring.

As an alternative to flying back to Kathmandu, you can escape the crowds on the nine-day teahouse trek southeast from Lukla to Tumlingtar, from where you can fly or bus back to Kathmandu. For full details see Lonely Planet’s Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya guide.

This relatively new trail is an excellent walk, either on its own or in conjunction with a Langtang Valley trek. It attracts far fewer trekkers and is less commercialised than most other trails, leading many people to compare it to trekking through Nepal 30 years ago.

It’s not an easy trek by any means, with plenty of steep ups and downs, but days are generally quite short, averaging around five to six hours. If you prefer cultural interactions and homestays over big mountain views, this might be just the trek for you.