Why Irish Trekkers Book Direct with a Nepali Family Company
Ireland turns out good hill walkers. If you have done the Reeks in the rain, walked the Wicklow Way, or come off Carrauntoohil with the cloud down, you already have the two things that matter most in Nepal: you can walk all day, and you are not put off by weather. What you probably do not have is a straight answer on what a Himalayan trek actually costs when you book it from Dublin, because most of what you find online is a tour operator in Ireland or the UK reselling a Nepali company like mine with their margin stacked on top.
We are that Nepali company. The Everest Holiday is family run out of Kathmandu, registered here in 2016, and we are the people who actually run your trek on the ground. When you book direct you pay our price, not our price plus a reseller's cut. This guide lays out the real euro figures, how you get here from Ireland, and what an Irish walker needs to know before booking. No sales pressure. Read it, then message us if it is for you.
Trek Prices for Irish Trekkers
These are our published prices converted to euro at roughly 1 US dollar to 0.87 euro (September 2026). The rate moves through the year, and we quote and charge in US dollars, so treat the euro figures as a close guide rather than a fixed number. Each trek comes in three levels, and the difference is real: budget means you carry your own bag and meals are not included, standard adds a shared porter and all meals, and luxury adds a dedicated porter, better lodges, and on Everest a return helicopter to Lukla instead of the fixed-wing flight.
| Trek | Budget (€) | Standard (€) | Luxury (€) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Everest Base Camp, 12 days | 1,220 | 2,180 | 4,350 |
| Annapurna Base Camp, 9 days | 435 | 695 | 1,220 |
| Ghorepani Poon Hill, 6 days | 435 | 650 | 970 |
| Langtang Valley, 8 days | 320 | 565 | 870 |
| Manaslu Circuit, 12 days | 695 | 1,390 | 1,830 |
| Mardi Himal, 7 days | 395 | 740 | 970 |
The deposit is 10 per cent to hold your dates, and you pay the balance in Kathmandu when you arrive, in US dollars cash or by card. A card payment carries a 3.5 per cent charge; cash does not. We do not take Nepali rupees from foreign clients, so bring dollars or plan to pay by card. The price you see holds for 2026 and 2027 departures.
What Booking Direct Actually Gets You
The same trek, run by the family whose name is on it, at the ground price. We provide the down jacket, the four-season sleeping bag, and the duffel free, made to our own spec, so you are not buying kit you will use once. Your guide is one of ours, licensed and insured, and on most treks a porter carries the heavy bag. And every booking helps fund our Nagarjun Learning Center, which I will come to at the end.
How Do You Get to Kathmandu from Ireland?
There is no direct flight from Ireland to Nepal, and anyone who tells you otherwise is guessing. You fly one stop through a hub. The cleanest option from Dublin is Qatar Airways through Doha, one airline the whole way from Dublin to Kathmandu, which keeps your bags checked through and gives you one place to sort out any delay. The other realistic one-stop is through Dubai, flying Emirates from Dublin and then flydubai on to Kathmandu.
Total travel time is usually somewhere around fifteen to twenty hours door to hub to Kathmandu, depending on the connection. Fares swing hard with the season, so book early for October and for the spring, which are the two busy windows. We do not sell your international flights and we make nothing on them, so this is just honest advice: shop the Doha route first, watch the Dubai one, and buy when you see a fare you are happy with.
What Do Irish Walkers Need to Know Before Booking?
Visa
Irish passport holders get a tourist visa on arrival at Kathmandu airport. Bring a passport valid for at least six months, a passport photo, and the fee in US dollars cash. A 30-day visa covers every trek in the table above with room to spare. It is a simple queue at the airport, not something you arrange in advance.
Permits
Permits are included in the trek price we quote, so there is nothing extra to buy at home. For the record, national park entry in Nepal is a flat fee of 3,000 rupees per person, with no added tax on top, and the restricted-area treks like Manaslu carry their own permit that we arrange for you. You do not deal with any of this yourself; we handle every permit before you set foot on the trail.
The Weather You Are Used To Helps
Irish walkers arrive better prepared than most, because you already know how to keep going in cold, wet, changeable weather and how to layer for it. Nepal in the trekking seasons is drier than Ireland but the mornings and the high nights are genuinely cold, well below freezing at altitude, so the hill-walking instinct to carry warm layers and not trust a clear morning serves you well. The kit you use in the Irish mountains, boots, layers, a proper waterproof, is the right starting point.
Altitude Is the Real Difference, Not the Distance
The hills at home top out a little over 1,000 metres. Everest Base Camp sits at 5,364 metres and Kala Patthar above it at 5,545, and that is a different kind of day, not because the walking is harder but because the air is thin. This is why our Everest and higher treks build in acclimatisation days and why the pace is deliberately slow. Fitness from Irish hillwalking is a real head start, but altitude respects no one's fitness, so the guide's job is to walk you up slowly enough that your body keeps up. Our guides carry an oximeter and check you daily. They do not carry bottled oxygen, and on a well-paced trek you do not need it.
Insurance
You need travel insurance that covers trekking to the altitude of your chosen trek and, crucially, helicopter evacuation. Ordinary holiday insurance usually stops well below Himalayan heights, so read the altitude limit and check that mountain rescue by helicopter is included. This is the one thing we will not let you skip, because a rescue you have to pay for out of pocket runs to thousands.
Money, Phones and Language
Nepal runs on the rupee, but as an Irish visitor you will change euro or dollars in Kathmandu or draw rupees from an ATM for your own spending on the trail, tea, snacks, charging, hot showers. Your trek balance to us is in dollars, as above. A local SIM is cheap and easy to buy in Kathmandu, and most lodges have some form of wifi, slower and sometimes paid the higher you go. English is widely spoken across the trekking regions and by every one of our guides, so there is no language barrier on the trail.
Which Trek Should an Irish First-Timer Choose?
If you have the time and you want the big one, the Everest Base Camp trek is the classic, and our full Everest cost breakdown goes through it day by day and euro by euro. If you have less time or you would rather build up, the Annapurna Base Camp trek gets you into a true high mountain amphitheatre in nine days, and the shorter Ghorepani Poon Hill trek is the gentlest way in, six days with one of the best sunrise viewpoints in Nepal.
For something quieter, the Langtang Valley trek is close to Kathmandu and carries a fraction of the Everest traffic, and the Mardi Himal trek is a short, steep, beautiful ridge walk. If you want a real wilderness circuit and you have done a bit of altitude before, the Manaslu Circuit crosses a 5,000-metre pass through country far emptier than the Annapurna and Everest trails.
When Is the Best Time to Trek from Ireland?
Two windows stand out. October into mid-November is the most reliable, with clear skies and settled weather after the monsoon, and it is the busiest, so book early. March and April are the second season, warmer, with the rhododendron forests in flower, and a little quieter. December to February is clear and very cold and very empty, which some walkers love. Avoid June to mid-September, the monsoon, when the trails are wet and the views are gone. For an Irish walker used to a short summer weather window, October is the safe bet.
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 are dealing 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 email. That is the whole point of booking direct.
Our Charity, the Nagarjun Learning Center
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 not a marketing line bolted on to the price; it is where a real part of what you pay ends up.
Frequently Asked Questions: Irish Trekkers
Do Irish citizens need a visa for Nepal?
You get a tourist visa on arrival at Kathmandu airport with a valid passport, a photo, and the fee in US dollars cash. No advance application is needed for a standard trekking holiday.
Is there a direct flight from Dublin to Kathmandu?
No. You fly one stop through a hub. Qatar Airways through Doha is the simplest, one airline all the way, and the Dubai route with Emirates then flydubai is the other realistic option.
How fit do I need to be?
If you can comfortably walk a long day in the Irish hills with a day pack, you have the fitness for our teahouse treks. Altitude, not distance, is the challenge, which is why we walk slowly and build in rest days. There is a trek in the table for every level.
How cold does it get?
Colder than Ireland at altitude, well below freezing on the high mornings on Everest and Manaslu, milder and greener on the lower treks like Poon Hill and Langtang. We provide the down jacket and the four-season sleeping bag free, so you do not have to buy Himalayan-grade kit for one trip.
Written by Shreejan Simkhada, CEO of The Everest Holiday and third-generation Himalayan guide. TAAN Member #1586.
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