Hundreds of foreign tourists stranded by heavy fog in the Everest region are hiking their way to safety across the Himalayas.

With continuing bad weather hampering their rescue, up to 400 of the thousands of stranded trekkers have given up waiting for the fog to lift and are heading to Jiri, a four-day walk away, to pick up buses back to Kathmandu, a Nepalese official said on Sunday.

Managers on Wednesday were forced to close the only airstrip in Lukla, the gateway for climbers heading to Everest and surrounding mountains, grounding all flights in and out of the region.

"Around 300 to 400 tourists have walked from Lukla to Jiri after losing hope of an improvement in the weather."

The Nepalese army had hoped to deploy its rescue helicopter, which carries up to 40 people, but bad weather has prevented it from accessing Lukla, 135 kilometres from Kathmandu.

"Small helicopters have continued rescuing tourists from Surke, a village a one-and-half hour walk from Lukla," Kharel said. "They have carried around 400 foreigners to Kathmandu."

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