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How Much Does the Everest Three Passes Trek Cost in 2026?

How Much Does the Everest Three Passes Trek Cost in 2026?

Name: The Everest Holiday Pvt. Ltd.
Address: Gyanjoti Marga, House No. 183, Banasthali, Ward No. 16, Kathmandu, 44600, NP
Telephone: +9779810351300
Price range: $1000 - $10000

Shreejan Simkhada

Updated on July 12, 2026

A verified 2026 cost breakdown for the 17-day Everest Three Passes trek: tiers from US$1,649 to US$4,719, plus permits, Lukla flights, food, insurance and tips.

The Everest Three Passes trek is the biggest teahouse route in the Khumbu, and in 2026 our 17-day Everest Three Passes trek costs US$1,649 to US$4,719 per person depending on tier. It crosses Kongma La (5,535 m), Cho La (5,420 m) and Renjo La (5,360 m), takes in Everest Base Camp and Gokyo, and needs 17 days of guiding, lodging and logistics, which is why it costs more than a straight EBC trek.

We are The Everest Holiday, a family-run Kathmandu company operating since 2016, with guides drawn from three generations of family guides. Here is where every dollar goes.

What does the Three Passes trek cost in 2026?

Tier	2026 price (per person)	What defines it
Budget	US$1,649	Round-trip Lukla flight, licensed guide, all permits, shared teahouse rooms. Meals on the trail are your own expense. No porter.
Standard	US$2,659	Everything above, plus three meals a day with seasonal fruit, better rooms with attached bathroom where possible, and one porter between two trekkers.
Luxury	US$4,719	Helicopter transfers between Kathmandu and Lukla instead of the fixed-wing flight, the best rooms available, all meals plus tea, coffee and soft drinks, hot showers and charging covered, one guide per two trekkers and a personal porter each.

Group discounts apply from two trekkers upward, so a couple already pays less per head than the solo rate. Every departure is private to your group.

Why does this trek cost more than Everest Base Camp?

Simple arithmetic. Compared with a 12-day EBC itinerary you are paying for five extra days of guide wages, porter wages, lodging and logistics, plus contingency planning for three passes that can be closed by snow. Nothing about the route is more expensive per day; there are just more days. This post stays on the money; for the route itself, day by day, read our full Three Passes trek guide. The shorter trek's numbers are in our EBC cost guide for 2026.

What do the permits cost?

The Khumbu needs two main permits, both included in every tier:

Sagarmatha National Park permit: NPR 3,000 plus VAT, roughly US$25 for foreign nationals.
Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality fee: the local permit that replaced TIMS for most Khumbu itineraries, currently around US$15 to 25 depending on the municipality's current rate.

Call it US$50 or less in total. Permits are a rounding error on this trek; flights and staffing are the real costs.

How much is the Lukla flight?

Around US$250 each way for foreigners at 2026 fares, so roughly US$500 return, and it is included in all three of our tiers. One honest caveat: in the busiest weeks of the season, Lukla flights often operate from Manthali (Ramechhap), a four-to-five-hour drive from Kathmandu, rather than from Kathmandu itself. Our packages include that ground transfer when it applies. Luxury-tier trekkers skip the question entirely and fly by helicopter both ways.

What should I budget for food and lodging?

On the Budget tier you pay for your own meals, and the Khumbu is the most expensive trekking region in Nepal to eat in:

Dal bhat runs NPR 800 to 1,200 higher up; a full day of meals and hot drinks is US$35 to 45 above Namche.
Rooms are cheap (NPR 500 to 1,000) but hot showers, charging and Wi-Fi are all paid extras that add up over 17 days.
A realistic on-trail budget is US$40 per day, so around US$550 to 600 for the full route.

On Standard and Luxury, meals are included and your trail spending shrinks to drinks and extras.

What about gear, insurance and tips?

Gear: we provide a duffel bag, down jacket and sleeping bag free of charge. For the passes you will also want microspikes in the shoulder months, good sunglasses and serious gloves; budget US$150 to 400 if starting from scratch.
Insurance: non-negotiable here. You need cover for trekking to 6,000 metres including helicopter evacuation; expect US$150 to 200 for a 3-week policy. All three passes are above 5,300 metres and rescue is only by air.
Tips: for a 17-day trek a common benchmark is US$120 to 170 for the guide and US$80 to 120 per porter, pooled by the group.

So what does the whole trip total?

Scenario	Package	Trail spend	Insurance + tips	Realistic total
Budget	US$1,649	~US$575	~US$330	~US$2,550
Standard	US$2,659	~US$100	~US$380	~US$3,150
Luxury	US$4,719	minimal	~US$450	~US$5,200

International flights, Kathmandu hotel nights and the US$50 tourist visa are additional on every tier.

Is the Three Passes trek worth the money?

If you have the fitness and the 17 days, yes. You get everything the EBC trek offers, plus Gokyo's lakes, the quiet Renjo La approach and long stretches of trail where the crowds thin out to almost nothing. Per day on the mountain, it is arguably the best value itinerary in the Khumbu. It is also the hardest of the standard Everest-region treks, so treat the acclimatisation days as fixed, not optional.

How do payments and booking work?

Book with a 10% deposit and pay the balance when you arrive in Kathmandu; that is our standard payment policy. For autumn 2026 departures we recommend confirming two to three months ahead, chiefly because Lukla flight seats and the better teahouses at Gokyo and Lobuche go early in October. We hold 300+ verified reviews, and we will quote your exact dates and group size with nothing added afterwards.