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

Last updated 2 October 2026. Trek prices are read from our own booking system. Euro figures use the European Central Bank reference rate of 1 October 2026, 1 euro = 1.1298 US dollars, so 1 US dollar is about 0.89 euro. Flight prices are a snapshot from one day, and I say so wherever they appear.

Italian trekkers who write to me usually ask the same thing in the first line: how much will Everest Base Camp really cost from Rome or Milan, 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 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 Italy covers more than Everest, and there is an Italian version, Nepal trekking dall'Italia. 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 Rome or Milan to Kathmandu?

Not that I could find. I ran a live search from Rome Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa to Kathmandu, leaving 19 October and returning 5 November 2026, sorted by price. Every result needed at least one change of plane, and the cheapest ones needed two or three. That is partly because I sorted by price, and the cheapest tickets are the most tangled ones. Routings through Doha with Qatar Airways or Istanbul with Turkish Airlines are covered in our Italy guide, but they did not come up in this price-sorted search, so I will not put a fare on them. I have no source for a nonstop, so I will not tell you one exists.

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 2 October 2026 (checked that day), in euros, return, one adult, leaving on 19 October and coming back on 5 November.

From	Route and airlines	Return fare	Notes
Rome	Out via Alexandria and Kuwait with Wizz Air and Jazeera; back via Kuwait and Giza with Jazeera and Wizz Air	EUR 624	Two changes each way, about 52 hours in total, no bags included
Milan	Out via Pristina, Istanbul and Kuwait with Wizz Air, Pegasus and Jazeera; back via Kuwait and Giza in Egypt with Jazeera and Wizz Air	EUR 629	Three changes out, two back, about 45 hours of travel in total, no bags included
Milan	Out via Istanbul and Delhi with Turkish Airlines and IndiGo; back via Kuwait and Giza with Jazeera and Wizz Air	EUR 723	Two changes each way, about 42 hours in total, no bags included
Milan	Out via Istanbul and Delhi with Turkish Airlines and IndiGo; back via Delhi with Air India	EUR 733	Two changes out, one back, about 33 hours in total, a cabin bag included, no checked bag
Rome	Out via Sharjah with Air Arabia; back via Kuwait and Giza with Jazeera and Wizz Air	EUR 757	One change out, two back, about 35 hours in total, no bags included
Rome	Via Sharjah with Air Arabia both ways	EUR 865	One change each way, about 30 hours in total, personal item and cabin bag included, no checked bag

Read that table carefully. Kiwi.com allows combinations of different airlines by default, and mixed-airline fares like the cheaper ones above may be separate tickets stitched together by the booking site. If that is how yours is built, a missed connection on the first leg is your problem, not the second airline's, so check how your fare is issued before you pay. Not one fare in the table includes a checked bag, and a trekker needs boots and a duffel, so add the bag fees from each airline's own page before you decide. I have not priced them.

The single-airline Air Arabia fare through Sharjah at EUR 865 is not the cheapest, but it has one change each way and the shortest total travel time I saw. A cheaper Air Arabia fare both ways, EUR 821, also had one change each way, but it took about 41 hours because of a long wait in Sharjah on the way home. For many people the 865 fare is worth the extra 240 euros over the Rome fare at 624.

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 1,240 euros
Standard	US$2,499	about 2,210 euros
Luxury	US$4,999	about 4,425 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 Italian citizens need a visa for Nepal?

Yes, but it is simple. Italy is not on the short list of countries whose citizens must apply at an 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, 44 and 111 euros.

Almost every Everest trekker needs 30 days, so budget US$50 and carry it in US dollars cash. Check the passport rules on the Department of Immigration site before you fly, because I will not quote a validity requirement I have not read for Italians. Our visa on arrival guide walks through both routes.

Will your European health card or Italian 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 traveller who received a bill for mountain rescue, 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 Italian 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 212 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 Italy?

One person, Budget tier, twelve days, flying from Rome at EUR 624, the cheapest fare I found, with no bags included:

Item	USD	EUR, approximate
Trek, Budget tier (permits included)	US$1,399	1,238
Return flight, Rome, cheapest snapshot, no bags	about US$705	624
Nepal visa, 30 days	US$50	44
On-trail spending at US$20 a day	US$240	212
Total	about US$2,394	about 2,120

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 a checked bag on those cheap flights is an extra I could not price.

If you choose the single-airline Air Arabia fare from Rome at EUR 865 instead, add roughly 240 euros, which brings the total to about 2,360 euros. 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 CAI section 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 Italian law say?

Ask for sixteen to seventeen days away from Italy. That is two travel days, twelve on the trek and two or three 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. Helicopters are not affected.

That is less time than it sounds. Article 10 of Legislative Decree 66 of 2003 gives every Italian employee a right to paid annual leave of not less than four weeks, and says the minimum cannot be replaced by a payment in lieu except when the job ends. So a trek like this fits inside the legal minimum. 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 Pasquetta, Easter Monday, is 29 March, a national holiday. That is the very start of the spring trekking season. The other national holidays near the trekking months, 25 April, 1 May and 2 June, fall on a Sunday, a Saturday and a Wednesday in 2027, so only the last gives you a weekday off. 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. Italians who spend weekends in the Dolomites or on the Alta Via routes already have the habit. What no Italian mountain can give you is the altitude. Base Camp is 5,364 metres, so you will spend days sleeping higher than you have ever been. Even Mont Blanc, the highest summit in the Alps, is far below it. 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 Italy have to do with Everest?

More than most people remember. Reinhold Messner, born in 1944 in Brixen in South Tyrol, climbed Everest with Peter Habeler on 8 May 1978, and according to Wikipedia they were the first men to reach the summit without supplemental oxygen. In 1986 he became the first person to climb all fourteen of the eight-thousanders. Plenty of climbers argued about whether either was possible before he did them.

A Base Camp trek is a different undertaking from any of that, and I will not pretend it is the same. But it walks into the same valley, and that is reason enough for many of the Italian trekkers I hear from.

How do you pay from Italy?

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.

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 Italian clients ask me

Is there a direct flight from Rome or Milan? 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 and from France.

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.