Everest Base Camp Tibet Tour

Everest Base Camp in Tibet on HSJ's 8-day itinerary usually needs about 6 working days of annual leave from Singapore, because 8 consecutive days span one weekend. Day 1 is your arrival at Lhasa Gonggar Airport with a free afternoon to acclimatise, and Day 8 is your departure, so both are travel days. Most routes from Singapore connect through Chongqing or Chengdu, so depending on your connection you may need to leave Singapore the day before Day 1, and the itinerary advises a full travel day home. Weather, road closures or permit changes can shift plans, so keep a buffer day before returning to work.

Singapore has no non-stop flight to Lhasa, so travellers connect through a Chinese city such as Chongqing or Chengdu and land at Lhasa Gonggar Airport. Flights to and from Lhasa, including from Singapore, are not included, and schedules change, so HSJ confirms the best routing when you book. Your Tibetan guide meets you at Lhasa Gonggar Airport or Lhasa railway station for the transfer of about 1 hour into the city, and takes you back on Day 8. Allow most of a day to travel each way. Tibet uses Beijing time, the same as Singapore.

HSJ prices its Everest Base Camp tour in Tibet per person in Singapore dollars on a twin-share basis, and the price for each departure is shown in the dates and prices table on this page, with a single supplement for a room of your own. The price covers six hotel nights and the night near Everest, the Tibet Travel Permit, Alien's Travel Permit and Everest area permits, a licensed English-speaking Tibetan guide, a vehicle with a professional driver, bottled oxygen in every vehicle, Lhasa transfers, daily breakfast, a welcome Tibetan dinner, entrance fees, Everest area entry and the eco-bus, and tourist accident insurance in Tibet. Budget separately for flights, your own travel insurance, most lunches and dinners, tips and photography fees.

The best months for Everest Base Camp in Tibet are April to June and September to October, when the roads are open and the North Face is most often clear. The Singapore June school holidays fall inside that window. The year-end holidays from mid-November to December are outside the listed seasons, when nights near Rongbuk are far colder, and Tibet can close to foreign visitors at short notice, historically around February and March. Even in spring and autumn the night near Everest is around minus 7 to minus 10°C. Open dates appear in the dates table on this page, and other dates can be requested through the enquiry form.

Everest Base Camp in Tibet needs reasonable general health, not trekking fitness, because there is no trekking and the walking is short, with long stairways at the Potala Palace. The demanding days are on the road: Day 5 is about 340 km and 8 hours from Shigatse over Gyatso La to Rongbuk, and Day 6 is the same distance back. Active days run 3 to 8 hours. The real challenge is a week between 3,650 m and 5,000 m, and age or fitness does not predict how you will cope, so seniors often manage but should see a doctor first, especially with heart or lung conditions, high blood pressure or past altitude problems.

Everest Base Camp in Tibet, at the visitor area near Rongbuk, is at about 5,000 m, and Rongbuk Monastery is at 4,980 m. The highest point on the tour is Gyatso La at 5,248 m, crossed by vehicle on Day 5. Lhasa is at 3,658 m, Gyantse about 3,980 m and Shigatse 3,840 m. The first three days in Lhasa are there to help your body adjust before going higher, you sleep only one night at about 5,000 m, and there is bottled oxygen in every vehicle. Tell your guide early about any headache, nausea or poor sleep.

At Everest Base Camp in Tibet you spend one night at the Everest Base Camp Tent Guesthouse in the Rongbuk valley, or at the Rongbuk Monastery guesthouse outside the tent season. The night is basic, with warm bedding, shared toilets, no showers and very cold nights for most of the year. Every other night is in a premium 4-star hotel: four at the Lagari Hotel Lhasa by the Lhasa River and two at the Shigatse Cangyu Yabu Hotel, twin sharing. Breakfast is included daily, with a welcome Tibetan dinner in Lhasa on Day 2; other lunches and dinners are paid locally.

Singaporeans visiting Everest Base Camp in Tibet need the Tibet Travel Permit, the Alien's Travel Permit and the Everest area permits, and HSJ arranges all of them as part of the tour; your guide carries them and presents them at checkpoints. Singapore passport holders can currently enter mainland China visa-free for up to 30 days, but visa-free entry does not replace the Tibet Travel Permit, which can only be arranged through a tour operator. Book at least 30 days ahead. Your own travel insurance covering high altitude and emergency evacuation is still required. Entry rules can change, so check before you travel.

Solo travellers can join HSJ's Everest Base Camp journey in Tibet as a small-group departure of 2 to 12 travellers, led throughout by a licensed English-speaking Tibetan guide, and the same itinerary can also be booked privately for your own family or friends. Every trip in Tibet must travel with a licensed guide and a registered vehicle and driver, both included. The price is per person on a twin-share basis, so a solo traveller who wants a room alone pays the single supplement; at the Everest guesthouse, rooms depend on what is available. Private dates can be requested through the enquiry form.