Mount Everest is one of the wonders of the world and hundreds and thousands of people from all around the world come to Nepal to catch a glimpse of this beautiful mountain. Some choose to take a quick one day heli trip to Everest region whereas others decide to trek to Everest Basecamp.

Talking about trekking, Everest region is one the most popular trekking destinations in Nepal. While posing for a once in a life time picture in front of the Mount Everest is truly a surreal experience, there are plenty of other exciting views and things to do on this trek too. With traveling almost becoming a cult around the globe, people trekking to Everest region is growing every year.

While the majestic view of Mt. Everest is the highlight of the trek, there are in fact quite a few routes to take if you wanna trek around the Everest region.

Here are the top 3 popular routes.

Traditional Everest Base Camp Trek

The most popular trekking route for travelers trekking to Everest Basecamp is this traditional route. The trek takes about 10 days to complete. You start with a flight from Kathmandu to Lukla, from where you begin your trekking journey making your way past Phakding to reach Namche Bazaar. After a relaxing rest day at Namche Bazaar, you begin your trekking making your way through Tengboche, Dingboche, Lobuche, Gorakshep, and finally to Everest Base Camp. The basecamp is at the altitude of 5,380m (17,600 ft).

Three Passes Trek Everest Base Camp

If you’re looking for a more challenging alternative route, then this is the perfect trekking route for you. This challenging trek will have you cross three passes above 5000m and it will take you at least 14 days to make your way to Everest base camp and back. The extra days and the challenge, other than the satisfaction of having completed it, is more than worth it as you get amazing views of Makalu (8463m), Cho Oyu (8,291m), Lhotse (8,516,) other than the obvious Mt. Everest.

This trek also starts from Lukla but takes an alternate route from Namche following the course of BhoteKoshi Canyon and descending into the Gokyo Valley. After crossing the three passes, you stop at Chukkung. The rest of the trek takes the same old route back to Lukla via Tengboche and Namche.

Gokyo and Reanjo La Pass Trek

If you want to do a shorter version of the Three Passes Trek, this is the one, as it skips the Kongma La. This cannot be called the alternative route to Everest Basecamp, since it skips the basecamp too. You will still be able to get great views of Everest though. Like previous treks, this also follows the traditional route to Namche, and diverges from there. The trek climbs towards the Ngozumpa glacier and makes way to Gokyo and its six lakes.

Leaving Gokyo, you make your way to Renjo La, and crossing that you make your way down to follow the BhoteKoshi canyon and make your way back to Namche. Majestic views of Makalu, Cho Oyu, Lhotse, and the Mt. Everest are the highlights of this trek.