Everest Base Camp Trek Cost from Ireland: Euro Prices, Flights, Visa and Insurance

Last updated 3 October 2026. Trek prices are read from our own booking system. Euro figures use the European Central Bank reference rate of 2 October 2026, 1 euro = 1.1225 US dollars (the bank does not publish on weekends), so 1 US dollar is about 0.89 euro. Flight prices are a snapshot from one day, and I say so wherever they appear.

Irish trekkers who write to me usually ask the same thing in the first line: how much will Everest Base Camp really cost from Dublin, in euros, door to door? The honest answer has three parts. The trek price I can give you to the dollar. The flight I can only show you a snapshot of, and from Dublin that snapshot is not cheap. And the euro is not the currency you pay us in, so every euro figure below is a guide that will move a little.

If you want the wider picture first, our guide to trekking in Nepal from Ireland covers more than Everest. This page is narrower. It is one trek, one budget, and the arithmetic done in full. If you would rather ask me directly, my WhatsApp is +977 9810351300. I answer it myself.

Is there a direct flight from Dublin to Kathmandu?

Not that I could find. On 3 October 2026 I ran three live searches from Dublin to Kathmandu, leaving 19 October and returning 5 November: one sorted by price, one for Qatar Airways only, and one limited to a single change of plane in each direction on a single ticket. Every result needed at least one change, and the cheapest ones needed two or three. I have no source for a nonstop, so I will not tell you one exists. I searched Dublin only, so I have nothing to say about Shannon or Cork.

What did the flights actually cost on one day?

This is where travel pages invent numbers, so here is exactly what I saw on Kiwi.com on 3 October 2026, in euros, return, one adult, leaving on 19 October and coming back on 5 November. The hours are the total of both directions, waiting time included.

Route and airlines	Return fare	Notes
Out via Dalaman, Istanbul and Delhi with Ryanair, Turkish Airlines and IndiGo; back via Delhi and Paris with Air India and Ryanair, changing airport in Paris	EUR 642	Three changes out, two back, about 67 hours in total, no checked bag
Out via Abu Dhabi with Etihad; back via Doha with Qatar Airways	EUR 1,437	One change each way, about 48 hours in total including a 20-hour wait in Abu Dhabi, cabin bag included, no checked bag
Qatar Airways both ways via Doha	EUR 1,563	One change each way, about 38 hours in total, cabin bag and one checked bag included
Out via Istanbul with Turkish Airlines; back via Doha with Qatar Airways	EUR 1,729	One change each way, about 36 hours in total, one checked bag included
Qatar Airways both ways via Doha, shorter connection out	EUR 2,072	One change each way, about 29 hours in total, one checked bag included, only about an hour and a half to change in Doha

Read that table carefully. The EUR 642 fare is the cheapest I found and I would not buy it. Three changes out and two back on mixed airlines may mean separate tickets stitched together by the booking site, and a missed connection on the first leg is then your problem, not the second airline's. It also has you changing airport in Paris on the way home. Check how any fare is issued before you pay, whichever one you choose.

The fare I would look at first from Dublin is the Qatar Airways one through Doha at EUR 1,563. It is not the cheapest, but it is one airline, one change each way, a checked bag included, and you land in Kathmandu on the evening of 20 October, the day after you leave. Our Ireland guide says the same thing, to watch the Doha route first. In my searches, none of the cheapest fares included a checked bag, and EUR 1,563 was the lowest single-ticket fare I saw that did. For a trekker with boots and a duffel, the realistic Dublin figure is far above the headline price. Baggage allowances are as Kiwi.com listed them, so confirm the weight on the airline's own page.

What does the trek itself cost in euros?

These come straight out of our booking system. They are the same for 2026 and 2027 departures, and the same whether you go privately or in a group.

Everest Base Camp, 12 days	USD per person	EUR, approximate
Budget	US$1,399	about 1,245 euros
Standard	US$2,499	about 2,225 euros
Luxury	US$4,999	about 4,455 euros

The difference between the tiers is not marketing, and I want you to be able to check it. On Budget you carry your own bag, rooms are shared and meals are not included. On Standard you get a porter shared between two trekkers, all meals and a private room. On Luxury you get your own dedicated porter, a private deluxe ensuite room, all meals with fruit, nuts and unlimited soft drinks, and the Lukla legs by helicopter both ways instead of a fixed-wing flight.

The flights to and from Lukla are part of the trek price on the fixed-wing tiers. For a sense of scale, a Kathmandu to Lukla ticket is about US$253 one way and about US$506 return, according to our own domestic flights guide, so a good part of a Budget price is simply getting you to the trail and back. The full day-by-day route is on the Everest Base Camp Trek 12 Days page, and our Everest Base Camp cost guide has every line of the price.

What permits do you need, and are they included?

The Khumbu is not a restricted area, so there is no special trekking permit. You need three things, and we arrange and pay for all of them in every tier:

• Sagarmatha National Park entry: NPR 3,000 for foreigners.
• Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality fee: NPR 3,000.
• TIMS card: NPR 2,000.

That is NPR 8,000 in total, about US$52 or roughly 46 euros at today's market rate. None of it is added to your bill. Our permits guide covers the rest.

Do Irish citizens need a visa for Nepal?

Yes, but it is simple. Ireland is not on the list of twelve countries whose citizens must apply at a Nepali embassy before travelling, so you can get a visa on arrival at Tribhuvan airport or apply online beforehand. The fees published by the Nepal Department of Immigration are US$30 for 15 days, US$50 for 30 days and US$125 for 90 days. That is about 27, 45 and 111 euros.

Almost every Everest trekker needs 30 days, so budget US$50 and carry it in US dollars cash. Your passport must have at least six months of validity left on the day you travel. That is the one item on the list you cannot fix at the airport, so check the date now rather than in October. Our visa on arrival guide walks through both routes.

Will your European health card or Irish insurance cover you in Nepal?

This is where European trekkers get caught, so I am going to be blunt.

The European Health Insurance Card is for temporary stays in another EU country and a few neighbouring ones. Nepal is not among them, so it gives you nothing there. And even inside Europe, the EU's own page says the card will not help with rescue and repatriation, and that it does not cover private healthcare. It gives the example of a Swedish skier who was rescued off a mountain in France and received a large bill, because search and rescue costs are not covered by the card.

So you need a private policy, and you need to read it. I have not read any particular Irish insurer's policy wording, so I cannot tell you which policy is good. What I would ask for in writing before you buy: cover for trekking to at least 6,000 metres, because Kala Patthar is 5,545 metres, and helicopter evacuation for illness as well as accident. Altitude sickness is an illness, and a policy that pays only for accidents will not lift you off the mountain. Get the answer in an email from the insurer, and buy the policy at home before you fly. Our insurance guide goes through what to look for.

What will you spend on the trail?

On Budget, where meals are not included, plan about US$20 a day, so about US$240 across twelve days, or roughly 214 euros. That covers food, hot showers, charging and wifi. On Standard and Luxury your meals are already paid for, so the same money goes much further. Dal bhat is the best value on any teahouse menu and comes with refills, and our dal bhat guide explains why every guide in Nepal eats it twice a day.

Tipping is customary and is not included in any price. Budget roughly US$10 to US$15 a day for your guide and US$8 to US$10 a day for a porter, shared by the group rather than paid by each person.

What is the full cost from Ireland?

One person, Budget tier, twelve days, flying with Qatar Airways from Dublin at EUR 1,563, one change each way and a checked bag included:

Item	USD	EUR, approximate
Trek, Budget tier (permits included)	US$1,399	1,246
Return flight, Dublin, Qatar Airways snapshot, checked bag included	about US$1,754	1,563
Nepal visa, 30 days	US$50	45
On-trail spending at US$20 a day	US$240	214
Total	about US$3,443	about 3,070

Three things sit outside that total on purpose. Kathmandu hotels are not included in any trek tier and are quoted separately, though you can stay in our own family homestay at US$15 per person per night, which helps fund the learning centre my family runs. Insurance is yours to buy, for the reasons above. And your spending money for the days either side of the trek is yours too.

If you took the cheapest fare in the table, EUR 642, the same arithmetic gives about US$2,410 or about 2,150 euros. That is roughly 920 euros less, and it buys you five changes, about 67 hours of travel, an airport change in Paris on the way home and no checked bag. I will not tell you which to choose, but you should see both numbers. If you want the same arithmetic for Standard or Luxury, ask me and I will run it for your dates.

Does it get cheaper as a group?

Yes, and only by group size. Here is the whole table from the live trek page.

Group size	Budget	Standard	Luxury
1 to 4 people	US$1,399	US$2,499	US$4,999
5 to 8 people	US$1,299	US$2,449	US$4,949
9 to 12 people	US$1,199	US$2,399	US$4,899
13 to 20 people	US$999	US$2,349	US$4,849

The price is the same whether you book privately or as a group, and we never add strangers to a private booking. Six friends from the same walking club pay less each than six separate travellers would, simply because you are six. Solo trekkers are welcome, and there is no single supplement on Everest Base Camp because your guide joins you from Lukla.

How many days off do you need, and what does Irish law say?

Ask for seventeen days away from Ireland. That is a day or two of travel each way, twelve on the trek and two spare in Kathmandu. Those spare days are not a luxury. The Lukla flight is weather dependent and delays are routine, and a trekker with no buffer is a trekker who misses the flight home. During the peak months, March to May and October to November, fixed-wing flights to Lukla leave from Manthali rather than Kathmandu, which means a road transfer of four to six hours starting around midnight. We tell every client this before they book. We confirm the road is open 48 hours before departure, and if it is not, we find an alternative. Helicopters are not affected.

That is less time than it sounds. Section 19 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 gives an employee paid annual leave of four working weeks in a leave year in which they work at least 1,365 hours, and a proportion of that for fewer hours worked. So a trek like this fits inside the legal minimum for a full-time employee. Whether your employer will agree the dates is a separate conversation, and the practical advice is to have it early. A spring 2027 trek is a conversation for this autumn, not for February.

The calendar helps a little. In 2027, Easter Sunday is 28 March and Easter Monday, 29 March, is a public holiday in Ireland, as is Saint Patrick's Day on Wednesday 17 March. That is the very start of the spring trekking season. For autumn 2027, the October holiday is the last Monday of the month, which is 25 October, right inside the trekking window. The first Monday holidays in May and June fall on 3 May and 7 June. Check how it all falls against your own employer's calendar.

When should you go, autumn or spring?

October is the most reliable month and the busiest. Mid-November into early December is cold at night, very clear and much quieter. March and April are warmer, with the rhododendrons in flower, and are the second busiest season. June to mid-September is the monsoon and I will talk you out of it. Late October carries a real risk of cyclone tails, and we have had two autumns disrupted by them, so build a spare day into your flights home. Our month-by-month guide goes deeper.

Is Everest Base Camp hard, and how do you prepare?

If you can walk five to seven hours a day on consecutive days, you have the fitness for it. Irish walkers who spend weekends on the hills usually already have the habit. What no Irish mountain can give you is the altitude. Carrauntoohil, the highest mountain in Ireland, is about 1,039 metres. Base Camp is 5,364 metres, more than five times higher, so you will spend days sleeping higher than you have ever been. That is a reason to walk slowly and take the acclimatisation days seriously, not a reason to stay home.

Our guides carry an oximeter, not bottled oxygen. If you want a canister available we can arrange it at cost, and I will tell you honestly that most trekkers who walk slowly and listen to their guide never need it. Our fitness guide shows what the days really demand.

What does Ireland have to do with Everest?

Dawson Stelfox, an architect from Belfast, reached the summit of Everest on 27 May 1993 by the North Ridge, and according to Wikipedia he became the first person from Ireland to do so. He was part of a 1993 Irish expedition that included climbers from both jurisdictions on the island. That is the north side of the mountain, in Tibet, not the Nepali side where the Base Camp trek goes.

A Base Camp trek is a different undertaking from a summit, and I will not pretend it is the same. But it walks into the same mountain's shadow, and that is reason enough for many of the Irish trekkers I hear from.

How do you pay from Ireland?

A 10 per cent deposit confirms your booking, and the balance is due when you reach Kathmandu. We bill in US dollars only, by card or cash. Card payments carry a 3.5 per cent bank charge, and cash in Kathmandu carries none. We cannot take Nepali rupees from foreign clients. Your own bank may add a currency margin when it converts from euros, so ask it before you pay.

Please be clear on the terms before you pay. The deposit is non-refundable, and if you cancel there is no refund. What we do offer is free rescheduling, with at least 72 hours' notice, to any date within one year. For restricted areas and Tibet the notice is seven days. If we are the ones who cannot run your trip, we refund what you paid, less taxes, bank and card charges and any money already spent on permits and flights.

Check us before you pay

You are sending money to a company in another country, so verify us rather than trusting a nicely written page. We are The Everest Holiday Pvt. Ltd., registered in Nepal on 8 April 2016, TAAN member number 1586. You can check any Nepali operator through the Office of the Company Registrar, TAAN, the Department of Tourism licence register and the Nepal Rastra Bank forex certification. Ask any operator for those numbers and check them yourself. You can also read our over 300 reviews across TripAdvisor, Google and Trustpilot.

I will also say what most operators leave out. Even fully licensed companies have been involved in scams. A licence is a floor, not a guarantee. Talk to us, ask hard questions, and see whether the answers are specific.

The questions Irish clients ask me

Is there a direct flight from Dublin? Not in my search, and I have no source for one. Every fare I found needed at least one change.

Does my European health card work in Nepal? No. It is for temporary stays in the EU and a few neighbouring countries, and it never covers rescue or repatriation. You need a private policy that covers trekking to altitude, in writing.

Do I need a guide? We run every Everest trek with a licensed guide, and honestly you want one. On restricted-area routes a licensed guide is mandatory.

What if the Lukla flight is cancelled? That is what your spare days in Kathmandu are for. We rebook you, and on Luxury you are on a helicopter anyway.

Are permits included? Yes, in every tier. Sagarmatha National Park, the Khumbu municipality fee and the TIMS card, NPR 8,000 in total.

Is autumn or spring better? Autumn for weather and atmosphere, spring for cost and flowers. Both are good.

If you want the numbers run for your dates and your group size, message me on WhatsApp or email [email protected]. I will give you the real figure, including the parts that are not in our favour. You may also want our country guides for neighbouring markets, from Spain, from France and from Italy.

About The Everest Holiday

We are a family company in Kathmandu, three generations of Himalayan guides, registered in 2016 and a member of the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal, number 1586. When you book with us you deal with the family, not a call centre, and the guide who meets you at the airport works for the same people who answered your first message.

Every booking helps fund our Nagarjun Learning Center. We fully run the centre at Saldum, where 70 children learn with a teacher I pay for personally, and we have helped build and still support other community learning centres. It is where a real part of what you pay ends up.

Written by Shreejan Simkhada, CEO of The Everest Holiday and third-generation Himalayan guide. TAAN Member #1586.