Gokyo Lakes Trek Itinerary

Your morning begins with breakfast at a tea house in Phakding. While trekking, you can even stop by a bakery in Phakding to grab some brownies and fresh coffee.

You'll cross a bridge, trek to TokTok, trek to Benkar, cross a bridge, hike to Monjo, and stop at the national park checkpost at Jorsale for an Everest region trek permit.

You'll cross a bridge and reach Jorsale, where you'll stop for lunch.

After lunch, you'll cross a bridge, trek along the shore of Dudh Koshi, climb the stairs, and cross Hillary Bridge at Larcha Dovan. From Larcha Dovan, you'll start the climb to Namche Bazaar, which often tires you.

You'll stop by a tea house at Namche Bazaar for overnight accommodation.

Namche Bazaar sits at 3,440 meters, an ideal altitude for an acclimatization stop. Since you fly to Lukla, from 1400 meters to 2860 meters, taking a day's rest at Namche is crucial for better acclimatization with the altitude.

Here's our Namche Bazaar travel guide which can help you plan different day activities. However, if you want to follow the standard Gokyo Lakes Trek Itinerary, you can plan your day as below.

Day activity at Namche Bazaar

You'll start your morning with breakfast at the tea house.

You'll begin acclimatization activities by visiting the Sagarmatha National Park area. From the park, you'll get the first immediate glimpse of Mt. Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Ama Dablam, and other mountains in the region.

After visiting the park, you'll hike to Hotel Everest View. Most of the routes to this hotel are rapid ascending, which can be tiring. However, once you reach Syangboche, the trail gets flat and less steep.

You'll return to Namche for lunch. After lunch, you can shower or have a good rest.

Overnight at the tea house in Namche.

With a fantastic breakfast at the tea house, you'll prepare for the day's hike to Dole. You'll cover around a 10 km long trail, taking 6 hours of medium-paced walk.

You'll trek on the Everest Base Camp Trek route till Sanasa. At Sanasa, you'll take the uphill trail on the left that leads to Gokyo.

From the junction of Sanasa, you'll trek for one and a half hours to Mong-La, also called Mong Danda. From the link to the hilltop of Mong, it's an uphill climb. You may get tired when you reach the top of this hill. Few tea houses on this hilltop are the place for lunch before heading to Dole.

From the hilltop of Mong, you'll descend for one hour. However, the descent hike short lives. You'll trek for two to three hours on an almost uphill trail leading to Dole.

The route gives you a panoramic glimpse of Mt. Ama Dablam, Thamserku, and the beautiful Phortse village. Also, the meadows and several waterfalls keep you serene and amazed. Plus, with fewer trekkers on the trail, you'll have the opportunity of a peaceful trek.

You'll be accommodated at the best available tea house in Dole, for example, Comfort Inn.

Distance and duration-wise, it's one of the shortest day hikes on the Gokyo Lakes Trek Itinerary. You'll trek along the panoramic landscape past Dole with beautiful mountain scenery and cliffs. The green pasture lands and crowd-free trails lead you to the beautiful hamlet, Machermo.

To mention the trekking route grade, the first hour after leaving Dole is an uphill hike. However, you'll trek on a moderately sloped trail for the rest.

You'll leave Dole with breakfast and reach Machermo by lunchtime.

Lunch, dinner, and overnight accommodation at a tea house in Machermo.

On day 6 of your 11-day-long Gokyo Lake Trek Itinerary, you'll set your foot on Gokyo Valley. But first, you should prepare to leave Machermo.

You'll start the trek around 7 a.m. after breakfast. The primary reason for leaving Machermo this early is to get the best glimpse of Gokyo Lakes before the mid-day clouds cover the region.

There are no stops midway, so you'll reach Gokyo Lakes before lunchtime. Thus, you'll have your lunch at a tea house in Gokyo.

The route from Machermo to Gokyo is slightly uphill for the most part. Also, with a gradual increase in altitude, you may experience difficulty breathing and trekking.

Before reaching Gokyo, you'll trek along the cliff over the Dudh Koshi River. And before heading to Gokyo Cho, you'll hike along two small Gokyo Lakes.

Lunch, dinner, and overnight accommodation stop at a tea house in Gokyo.

Gokyo is a beautiful place to stay and stop for a day for acclimatization. Today, you'll trek up to the Gokyo Ri vantage point at 5,357 meters. It offers 360˚ panoramic glimpses of Gokyo Lakes, Mt. Everest, Mt. Cho Oyu, and other beautiful mountains of the region.

You'll start the hike to Gokyo Ri around 4 a.m. for a better sunrise view over the mountain panorama. Every trekker takes nearly three hours to reach the top of Gokyo Ri from the tea house.

The benefit of hiking up the Ri in the early morning is to avoid the sun's heat and wind. With clear weather during the entire morning, you'll get fantastic moments at the top from where you can capture amazing photographs.

It takes one hour to descend to the tea house at Gokyo, where you'll have breakfast.

After breakfast, you can rest at the tea house for the entire day or prepare for the Cho Oyu Base Camp trek. Hike to Cho Oyu Base Camp, which takes you to the beautiful Gokyo's fifth lake. As it takes a full day to hike up and return to Gokyo, you must carry a packed lunch. If you trekked with a guide, your guide will make all the arrangements for a packed lunch.

You'll return to a tea house for dinner and overnight accommodation in the evening.

You'll prepare for the return trek to Dole after breakfast at the tea house. You'll trek along the shore of Gokyo lakes, through beautiful landscapes and cross mini bridges over streams. Machhermo will be the place where you'll have lunch.

The expected trek hour is around 6 hours, and you'll reach Machermo in 4 hours from Gokyo. Likewise, you'll settle for overnight accommodation at a tea house in Dole after an hour's trek from Machermo.

Today, you'll descend most sections except one hour's ascend of Mong La, also known as Mong Danda.

After breakfast at a tea house in Dole, you'll descend to Phortse. From Phortse, you'll climb to Mong and stop for lunch. From Mong, you'll further hike down to Sanasa, from where you'll join Everest Base Camp Trek route to Namche.

Overnight at a tea house in Namche Bazaar.

You'll leave Namche around 8 a.m. after breakfast at the tea house.

From Namche, you'll descend to Larcha Dovan, cross Hilary Bridge, and trek to Jorsale and Monjo. After checking out at Sagarmatha National Park checkpost, you'll trek further to Benkar, TokTok, and Phakding.

You'll stop for lunch at Phakding.

From Phakding, you'll trek another 3 hours to Lukla via Ghat and Chaurikharka village.

Overnight at a tea house in Lukla.

A 25 minutes flight from Lukla takes you to Ramechhap airport from where you'll take a 6 hours drive to Kathmandu.

You'll have your breakfast before taking the flight at Lukla.

Once you arrive in Kathmandu, we'll provide you a complimentary hotel transfer on a private vehicle.

In the evening, you'll get a farewell dinner organized by our trek manager. It marks the end of your 11 day Gokyo Lakes Trek.