Is there a short – 4 or 5 day – trek with views of Mt Everest?

Some Nepal trekking operators market a short four or five day trek from where you might get a very distant and totally unrewarding view of Mt Everest.

On these treks you fly into Lukla and then walk to Namche (arriving there on day two), then along the trail towards Dingboche for a couple of hours from where, on clear days, you can just about see Mt Everest. You'd then walk back to Namche and then, in one long day, all the way back to Lukla for a flight back out the following day.

Take into account flight delays and you'd be lucky to do it in four days. It's technically possible, just not remotely worth it in my opinion.

If you wanted to get up to Everest Basecamp and there were no hiccups with flights in and out of Lukla (which happens all the time) then you'd need at least ten days. This is the minimum safe amount of time to do it in and in that time frame you'd still run a real risk of altitude sickness.

If it's views of Everest you're after, there are some view points on the edge of the Kathmandu valley where you can spend the night in one of the villages there and at dawn on a clear day stand on your hotel balcony and see a distant smudge of Mt Everest.

Here's my advice: there's much more to trekking in Nepal than just seeing Everest. Please choose a route that is safe, gives you time to properly acclimatise, and doesn't rush through this magnificent country just to tick off a bucketlist item.