Annapurna Base Camp Trek

It is the trek we recommend most often for a first visit. It reaches 4,130 m rather than 5,545 m, it stays within the teahouse network, the walking is long rather than technical, and if something goes wrong you are a day and a half from a road. The scenery at the end is also among the most impressive in Nepal.

They are very different treks. The Everest trek is higher, longer, colder and harder, and it depends on a mountain flight that is often cancelled. The Annapurna trek is greener, warmer, less expensive and more reliable, and it ends with mountains on all four sides rather than on one. Many people do both treks, and this one is a good choice to do first.

You need to be fit enough to walk for six hours on stone steps, on consecutive days, carrying a daypack. The eight-week training plan on this page is suitable for a reasonably active person. Train specifically for descents: the steep descent from Chhomrong puts a heavy load on the thigh muscles.

There is no upper age limit. We regularly take trekkers in their sixties and seventies to the Sanctuary. The minimum age is ten, with a parent, and children usually manage this trek better than adults expect. Your walking experience matters more than your age.

Yes, you can book as one person, but you will not walk alone: since April 2023, foreign trekkers in the conservation area must be accompanied by a licensed guide. A private departure for one person runs on your dates whether or not anyone else books, and costs $1,640.

Yes, on one section. Between Hinku Cave and Machhapuchhre Base Camp the trail runs through a narrow gorge below steep, snow-loaded slopes, and trekkers have been killed there, most recently in a spring avalanche in 2025. The risk is real but manageable: it is limited to a few kilometres, it is highest after fresh snow, and it is much lower early in the morning before the sun warms the slopes. We cross this section early, we take local advice on snow conditions at Chhomrong and Deurali, and in a year with heavy snow we turn groups around.

Some people do. Acute mountain sickness can start at around 2,500 m, and Machhapuchhre Base Camp, at 3,700 m, is well within that range. It is much less common here than on the Everest trek, and it is usually mild. The altitude protocol on this page explains what we do: we check you every evening above Dovan, and if you show symptoms, we descend.

Yes, it is a condition of booking. Cover up to 5,000 m is sufficient for this trek. A rescue flight from the Sanctuary to Pokhara costs $2,500 to $4,000, and the helicopter will not fly without a payment guarantee, so we ask to see your insurance certificate.

You descend with a guide, which is why the guide-to-trekker ratio matters, and the rest of the group continues. From Deurali or Machhapuchhre Base Camp you can reach Chhomrong in one long day, and from Chhomrong the road at Jhinu is a few hours away. It is much easier to leave this trek early than to leave a trek in the Everest region.

For most of the route the lodges are better than those in the Everest region, but they are more basic near the top. Chhomrong has some of the best teahouses in Nepal, with private bathrooms and a bakery. Dovan and Deurali are basic. Machhapuchhre Base Camp is a small group of buildings in a basin at 3,700 m, and it is cold, cramped and often full.

In October, yes. There are only a few lodges and nowhere else to sleep, so groups arriving late in the afternoon in peak season sometimes have to sleep on a dining room floor. We start day 8 early and our guides call ahead. If the lodges are full, we stay at Deurali instead, which is 400 m lower and better for acclimatisation.

Hot showers are available up to Chhomrong for 2 to 5 US dollars, and not at all above Deurali. Wifi is free or inexpensive in the lower villages, unreliable in the gorge and unavailable at Base Camp. Charging costs 2 to 4 US dollars per device, and the upper lodges run on solar power, so there may be no charging on a cloudy day. Bring a power bank.

At Machhapuchhre Base Camp, night temperatures range from minus 3°C to minus 12°C depending on the month, and bedrooms are not heated anywhere on the route. We provide a sleeping bag rated to minus 10°C. Lower down, in the gorge and at Chhomrong, the weather is mild, and in April you can walk in a shirt.

During and around the monsoon, yes, in the wet forest between Chhomrong and Deurali. They are harmless but unpleasant. In the main trekking seasons they are not a problem. In June and September they are, and long socks with a little salt or insect repellent keep them off.

You need two permits: the Annapurna Conservation Area permit, at NPR 3,000, and a TIMS card, at NPR 2,000. Both are included in the trek price and we arrange them for you. The Everest region is different: it stopped using the TIMS card in 2018.

Yes. Since April 2023, foreign trekkers have been legally required to walk with a licensed guide in Nepal's conservation areas, and the checkpoint at Birethanti enforces this. Independent trekking on this route is no longer permitted.

Bring 200 to 300 US dollars' worth of Nepali rupees, in small notes, for tea, hot showers, charging, wifi, drinks and tips. There are cash machines in Pokhara, and less reliable ones at Ghorepani and Chhomrong, so plan to carry all the cash you will need.

Mainly because of the road. A jeep track runs to the trailhead and most of the way to Jhinu, so supplies arrive by vehicle rather than being carried by porters for two days, and lodges and food cost less as a result. There is also no mountain flight, which costs $350 to $420. The lower price does not reflect a lesser trek.

October and November offer the most reliable weather and the clearest views. March and April are the months for rhododendron. October is the busiest month of the year and the lodges at the top fill up, so if you can travel in late November instead, the weather is almost the same and there are about half as many trekkers.

Outside October, one week's notice is enough, because this trek does not depend on seats on a small mountain aircraft. For an October departure we need one month's notice, because beds at Machhapuchhre Base Camp are limited.

Yes. Most of our departures on this trek are private, and for a party of five or more a private trek costs no more than joining a group. A private trek runs on your dates, at your pace, and can include an extra day at Ghandruk or a night at Deurali if you wish.

Yes, both combine well and we arrange them regularly. Chitwan fits between Pokhara and Kathmandu and adds three days. Doing Annapurna Base Camp and the Annapurna Circuit back to back takes about four weeks and covers the best of the Annapurna region.