What's on in Namche Bazaar (Everest Base Camp), Nepal through the year

Quiet — school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Rule

  Park entry and municipality fee

  1 Jan – 31 DecBook early

  Sagarmatha National Park entry is paid at the Monjo gate and the Khumbu rural municipality charges its own fee on top, collected at Lukla. Neither is issued further up the trail, and the old TIMS card does not cover this valley. Source ↗

Still on: Winter quiet (1 Dec – 20 Feb)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Park entry and municipality fee (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Winter quiet (1 Dec – 20 Feb)

Busy — Spring trekking and expedition season, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Spring trekking and expedition season

  15 Mar – 20 MayTrail seasonCrowded

  The second of the two walking seasons, and the one the Everest expeditions run in, so the lodges hold climbers and their loads as well as trekkers. Hazier than autumn, and warmer on the way up from Lukla.

Still on: Park entry and municipality fee (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Busy — Spring trekking and expedition season, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Park entry and municipality fee (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Spring trekking and expedition season (15 Mar – 20 May)

Busy — Spring trekking and expedition season, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Park entry and municipality fee (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Spring trekking and expedition season (15 Mar – 20 May)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Season

  Monsoon in the Khumbu

  15 Jun – 10 Sep · usuallyClosuresRisk

  Cloud sits in the valley, the Lukla flights are cancelled for days at a time, and the trail below Namche is mud and leeches. A few lodges stay open and the mountains are behind cloud when you get to them.

Still on: Park entry and municipality fee (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Quiet — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Park entry and municipality fee (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Monsoon in the Khumbu (15 Jun – 10 Sep (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Park entry and municipality fee (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Monsoon in the Khumbu (15 Jun – 10 Sep (usually))

Busy — Autumn trekking season, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Autumn trekking season

  25 Sep – 20 NovTrail seasonCrowdedBook early

  The busiest weeks on the trail and the clearest air of the year. Namche is the compulsory acclimatisation stop, so every lodge here is full, and a day of bad weather at Lukla backs the whole valley up behind it.

Still on: Park entry and municipality fee (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Monsoon in the Khumbu (15 Jun – 10 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Autumn trekking season, Mani Rimdu at Tengboche

• Festival

  Mani Rimdu at Tengboche

  15 Oct – 20 Nov · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  The monastery half a day above Namche dances the masked drama over three public days set by the Tibetan calendar. It falls inside the autumn season, so the courtyard holds Sherpa families and trekkers in roughly equal number. Source ↗

Still on: Park entry and municipality fee (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Autumn trekking season (25 Sep – 20 Nov)

Peak crowds — Autumn trekking season, Mani Rimdu at Tengboche

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Park entry and municipality fee (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Autumn trekking season (25 Sep – 20 Nov), Mani Rimdu at Tengboche (15 Oct – 20 Nov (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Season

  Winter quiet

  1 Dec – 20 FebOff-season shutdownClosures

  The valley empties, a lot of the lodges shut and the families who run them go down to Kathmandu for the winter. The trail is walkable and the views are the year's best; the nights in an unheated stone room are the price.

Still on: Park entry and municipality fee (1 Jan – 31 Dec)