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Mt. Everest Epic Views: Why a Flight Over the Himalayas is Top of Nepal Trip Bucket List 

Flight over the Himalayas tour from Kathmandu, Nepal: enjoy a bird-eye view of Himalayan mountain range and see epic Mt. Everest with your own eyes!

Have you ever dreamt of seeing the famous Jomolungma – the Goddess Mother of Mountains – with your own eyes? Well, you are in luck! On your next visit to Kathmandu, Nepal, that is. There are plenty of local airlines taking tourists into the sky and flying over the Himalayan mountains daily. The flight over the Himalayas experience is not even that expensive, considering you don't have to do weeks of trekking – but can see Mt. Everest all the same! This post shares our Mt. Everest flight tour adventure from our trip to Kathmandu, Nepal in December 2013. Tons of aerial photos of Mt. Everest and the Himalayas.

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Himalayas Mountains 

The vast majority of travelers visit Nepal for one purpose: taking in the incredible Himalayas mountain range. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks – 8 (!) Peaks towering over 8,000 meters over the sea level can be found here. Including Mt. Everest, or Jomolungma (“the Goddess Mother of Mountains”. LEGEND and Details HERE), which is the highest peak in the World – 8,848 meters high.

The Himalayas are massive! They divide the Asian continent in half – separating the Tibetan plateau from the Indian subcontinent, and cross 5 countries – Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. 

Yet nowhere else do Himalayan mountains are so accessible to tourists, outdoorsy, adventurers, and trekkers of all levels, as in Nepal. 

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Flight Over Himalayas Adventure Tour

Whether you have a day-long layover, hop on a short 3-day trip to Nepal, or plan to stay and explore the country for two months, a flight over the Himalayan tour and seeing Mt. Everest should be at the top of your bucket list. It is simply a must-do. Period. 

There are two types of tours that you can find: a helicopter tour and a small plane tour.

Helicopter tours are more expensive, but you can have a truly private time with the magnificent Himalayas and the Jomolungma mountain. While group tours in a small plane carrying 16-20 passengers will cost you considerably less. Yet the experience is nevertheless out of this World.

At the time of our travel to Nepal, we chose a small plane group tour. 

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Where to find and how to book Himalayan flight tour?

Quite a few local Nepalese airline companies offer small plane Himalayas fly-over experiences. Mt. Everest and Annapurna flight routes are by far the most popular ones and are worth every penny. 

When we visited in 2013, we chose a tour flying with Buddha Air. They are one of the largest and have a solid flight record. There are other companies of course.

If you are not sure and want to browse around: the best and the safest way to get information is at your hotel in Nepal. Your hotel reception will help you book your Himalayas flight experience, alongside the hotel pick-up.

Do NOT book your tours from “travel agents” outside of the Kathmandu airport on arrival. There is much fraud going on. Always look for an official tour company booth, book online via a reputable website such as Viator or TripAdvisor, or ask at your Kathmandu hotel. 

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What does it cost to fly over the Himalayas to see Mt. Everest?

The price for Everest scenic flight tours by plane is pretty standard across the board.

In 2013 we paid $150 USD per person for a 1-hour tour.

In 2021 the cost to book your experience online is $200-220 USD per person. 

A typical small plane will seat 12-16 passengers. There is only one seat per window on each side, so everyone will have a good view of the Himalayas on their flight.

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Alternatively, if you would like a longer and “more delicious” experience, it is worth considering chartering a helicopter tour. Helicopters go out for around 4 hours, landing at Mt. Everest BASE Camp. 

The cost of such an adventure tour is between $1350-$1500 USD per person. 

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Are the small plane flight tours kids-friendly?

The short answer is NO. 

The long answer is: it depends on the age of your child. 

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NOT to Infants or Toddlers

Each side of a small plane has only one seat per window. You will have to purchase a ticket for each child, even if they are just a toddler. Based on our experience, the flight over Himalayas tour will be a total waste of money on an infant or a toddler, as they can't yet grasp the significance of the experience of the fly over the Himalayas to see Mt. Everest with their own eyes. 

Don’t waste your money!

The conditions within the small plane are also a bit rough: you won’t find “regular” soft and comfortable seats in the cabin. The seats we had were very firm, with a complex belt system.

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OK for Kids 6+

In our completely subjective opinion, once your child reaches school age, can sit by himself/herself, pay attention and not jump around taking you away from the magnificent Himalayas, the flight to see Mt. Everest can be an extremely memorable experience for the entire family.

On our flight back in 2013, Alex and I didn't have kids yet. One of the other passengers brought an 8yo boy with them. You can tell by looking at that kid how excited and through the roof, he must have felt. Especially when on the flight back to the airport, pilots took him into their cabin to show how they fly that plane!

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No bathrooms on planes

Whether you have decided to take your kids with you or not, remember: there are no bathrooms on the plane. There are plenty of bathrooms at the airport, however. So plan accordingly.

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What to Expect: Personal Notes and Photos

The Mt. Everest flight was at the top of our Nepal trip bucket list, so that was the first thing we did when arriving in Kathmandu. In 2013 the mobile internet and smartphones were not yet really “a thing”. We booked our tour using our hotel reception desk. 

Buddha Air flight, using a small charter plane, that can seat 12 passengers. Our fee included hotel pick-up and drop-off. 

It was mid-December: in Nepal, the beginning of winter is the foggy season. We were advised in advance that in case of a heavy fog, we should expect delays or even cancellations. 

The original flight was scheduled for 6:00 am. We got picked up from the hotel at 5:15 am. 

Not surprisingly, the fog was extremely heavy that morning. Hence the delay, and delay again. There were about 5 or 6 flights on the board that morning – they typically leave every 30 min. All of us sat there waiting. 

At approx. 8:30 am we had been advised that we are free to stay and wait, but our Himalayas flight over Mt. Everest adventure tour is likely to get canceled. Those who wanted to leave could reschedule. Some people left. We decided to stay anyways. We only had one day – THAT day – to fly over the Himalayas and see Mt. Everest. 

By approx 9:30 am the fog lifted. Everyone was excited. Yet the staff found out that one of the planes about to fly out had a technical issue, and they had to cancel it if it is not fixed. The absolute latest time any plane would fly out that morning was 11:00 am. Same message: “free to reschedule”. We stayed.

By 10:30-ish, they could not fix the plane and it was canceled. Yet on a quick count, we quickly found out that enough tour passengers had left already for everyone left to fit into 4 planes. We got merged with one of the other tour groups.

And Bingo! Quickly we were up in the air and flying towards one of the Seven Wonders of the World – the highest peak on Earth – Mt. Everest! 

Let’s look at our photos!

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The Mt. Everest flyover experience is likely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most travelers to see the famous Jomolungma. Hence when traveling to Nepal, it is recommended you stock up on good photo and video equipment.

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Mt. Everest close-ups. So out of the world stunning!

By the way, if you have a chance, you should definitely make time to experience Sunrise over the Himalayan mountains. Better: you can DOWNLOAD our Nepal 3-day trip itinerary below completely free. This way you'll know you made the best of your limited time in Nepal!

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Concluding Notes

Nepal is a Beautiful Place! Himalayas – simply stunning! As much as we do not generally like organized tours of any kind, in our opinion, a Himalayan flight over experience must be at the top of any traveler to Nepal. We strongly recommend having this experience on your bucket list, even if you are visiting Kathmandu for only a weekend. Overall, here is the top 3 for your Nepal trip: 1/ have Mt. Everest flyover, 2/ watch the sunrise over the Himalayas in Nagarkot, and 3/ visit Swayambhunath – the iconic Monkey Temple of Kathmandu.

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Enjoy!

Cheerfully yours,

Alexandra, Alex & Cosmos

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