Planning Guide
Nepal Trekking Cost 2026
Five days on Poon Hill starts at $350. Fourteen days to Everest Base Camp reaches $1,800. Between those two numbers sit the same line items every time: guide, permits, a teahouse bed, food, transport, and the extras nobody budgets for. Here is what each one costs in 2026, at the prices I pay on the trail.
The short version
- 1.A trekking day in Nepal costs $50 to $90 per person. That is the guide fee, a teahouse bed and three meals, and it climbs as you climb.
- 2.A whole trek runs $350 to $1,800: five days on Poon Hill at the bottom, fourteen days to Everest Base Camp at the top.
- 3.Permits are the small fixed part. An Annapurna trek costs NPR 5,000 per person (ACAP 3,000 plus TIMS 2,000). Everest costs NPR 6,000 (Sagarmatha 3,000 plus Khumbu municipality 2,000, and no TIMS).
- 4.Group size saves the most money. Annapurna Base Camp is $450 to $620 each in a group of four to six, which is $200 to $280 per person less than going solo.
- 5.Add $50 to $150 for the costs nobody quotes you: tips, hot showers, charging, snacks and travel insurance.
What are the daily costs for trekking in Nepal?
Daily costs average $50–90 per person depending on altitude (prices rise higher up), season, and which route you take. The table below covers every line item you'll encounter in 2026.
| Item | Cost (NPR) | Cost (USD approx.) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guide fee (Rohit) | NPR 3,900–5,200 | $30–40/day | Direct guide rate - transparent, no hidden charges |
| TIMS card | NPR 2,000 | ~$15 | One-off, per trek |
| ACAP permit | NPR 3,000 | ~$23 | Annapurna Conservation Area |
| Teahouse room | NPR 500–2,500/night | $4–19/night | Higher at altitude, off-season cheaper |
| Meals (3x/day) | NPR 400–900/day | $3–7/day | Dal bhat is cheapest, most filling, unlimited refills |
| Pokhara → Nayapul bus | NPR 500 | ~$4 | Annapurna trailhead transport |
| KTM → Pokhara bus | NPR 1,300–2,000 | $10–15 | 7–8 hour journey |
| KTM → Pokhara flight | NPR 10,400–15,600 | $80–120 | 30-minute flight |
| Porter (optional) | NPR 1,950–2,600/day | $15–20/day | Carries up to 20kg, highly recommended for EBC/Manaslu |
Why guide rates vary from $30 to $40 a day
That spread is not haggling room. It is the difference between guides. Two people can both hold a valid licence and be worth very different money on the same trail, and the things that move the rate are the things you notice on day four, not day one.
| What moves the rate | Lower end, around $30 | Upper end, around $40 |
|---|---|---|
| Years guiding | Newly licensed, one or two seasons | Five or more years, hundreds of trips |
| Languages | Nepali and functional English | Fluent English plus others, so nothing gets lost |
| Route knowledge | Follows the standard itinerary | Knows which teahouse to avoid and where the trail washes out |
| Altitude experience | Has been high, not responsible for it | Has turned groups around and knows when to |
| First aid | Basic or none | Certified for high-altitude emergencies |
For what it is worth, here is where I sit: Government of Nepal trekking guide licence #1497, 5+ years guiding, first-aid certified for high-altitude emergencies, and I work in English, Hindi, Nepali and basic French. Born in Pokhara, so the Annapurna trails are the ones I grew up on.
The number worth being suspicious of is the one well under $30. At that point either the guide is unlicensed, or an agency is taking most of it and paying them a fraction. Neither is the person you want deciding whether you go over a pass in bad weather.
Why you cannot just multiply the cheapest column. Take the bottom of every line above for ten days at Annapurna Base Camp and you get $412. The route totals further down start at $650, and the gap is real, not a mistake.
Those floors do not happen on the same trek. A NPR 500 room exists in Ghandruk, not at Deurali or Machhapuchhre Base Camp, where the same bed is four or five times that. Dal bhat at NPR 400 is a low-altitude price. Everything you carry up the valley has been carried up the valley, and it is priced accordingly. The per-route figures below assume the altitude-adjusted prices you will actually be paying by day six, which is why they are the numbers I quote people.
How much does each trek in Nepal cost in total?
A whole trek costs $350 to $1,800 per person: $350 to $500 for five days on Poon Hill at one end, and $1,200 to $1,800 for fourteen days to Everest Base Camp at the other. Everything in between sits on that line. Each figure below covers the guide fee, permits, teahouse beds and food, and assumes a shared room and dal bhat where it is on the menu. The same routes are also available as full packages through 6knepaltreks, the trekking company Rohit co-founded, which rolls permits, transport, accommodation and a guide into one price.
Poon Hill Trek
5 days$350–500
Best beginner trek
Mardi Himal Trek
5 days$400–550
Off the beaten path
Annapurna Base Camp
10 days$650–900
Most popular circuit
Manaslu Circuit
14 days$950–1,400
Remote, spectacular
Everest Base Camp
14 days$1,200–1,800
Iconic bucket-list route
* Prices are 2026 estimates. Seasonal surcharges and EBC-specific Sagarmatha National Park permit (~$30) are included in the EBC range above.
How much does group size cut the cost per person?
Annapurna Base Camp costs $450 to $620 per person in a group of four to six, against $650 to $900 for the same trek solo. That is $200 to $280 saved per person for doing nothing except bringing friends. The pattern holds on every route below: a pair pays roughly 18 to 20 percent less each than a solo trekker, and a group of four to six pays roughly a third less.
| Trek | Duration | Solo | 2 People | 4–6 People |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poon Hill | 4–5 days | $350–500 | $280–400 | $220–350 |
| Mardi Himal | 4–5 days | $400–550 | $320–450 | $260–380 |
| Khopra Ridge | 5–6 days | $500–650 | $400–530 | $340–450 |
| ABC | 7–10 days | $650–900 | $530–730 | $450–620 |
| Manaslu | 12–14 days | $950–1,400 | $780–1,150 | $650–950 |
| EBC | 12–14 days | $1,200–1,800 | $980–1,480 | $820–1,250 |
| Upper Mustang Tour | 5–7 days | $800–1,200 | $650–980 | $550–830 |
Per-person prices drop because one guide fee and one set of transport bookings get split across more people. The guide fee itself does not change with group size: I don't cut quality for a bigger group. Permits are the exception. They are charged per person and never split, so an Annapurna group of six still pays NPR 5,000 each.
Annapurna Base Camp trek cost
Annapurna Base Camp costs $650 to $900 per person for the ten-day version trekking solo, $530 to $730 each as a pair, and $450 to $620 each in a group of four to six. It is the trek I get asked to price more than any other, so here is what actually sits inside that number for ten days up to 4,130 m and back.
Guide fee
The biggest line on the trek by a distance. Ten days of guiding at the direct rate.
$30–40/day
Permits
ACAP at NPR 3,000 plus a TIMS card at NPR 2,000. Per person, issued in your name, and checked at Birethanti.
NPR 5,000
Teahouse room
Rooms climb with altitude. Cheapest around Chhomrong, dearest at Machhapuchhre Base Camp and ABC itself.
$4–19/night
Meals
Dal bhat is the cheapest plate and the only one with free refills, which matters more on day eight than on day one.
$3–7/day
Pokhara → Nayapul bus
The trailhead run, roughly $4. The cheapest line item on the whole trek.
NPR 500
What that figure does not cover: getting to Pokhara in the first place (NPR 1,300 to 2,000 on the tourist bus, or $80 to $120 to fly), a porter at $15 to $20 a day if you want one, and the $50 to $150 of extras below. Nothing else turns up at the end.
Route detail, the day-by-day itinerary and season notes are on the Annapurna Base Camp trek page.
What hidden costs should you budget for on a Nepal trek?
Budget an extra $50 to $150 per person on top of your route total. That is what tips, hot showers, device charging, snacks and travel insurance actually come to across one trek, and it is the line first-timers leave out. None of it is really optional, and the insurance is the one item I will not let a group set off without.
Guide tips
Tipping is deeply customary in Nepal's trekking culture and a meaningful part of guide income.
10–15% customary
Hot shower at altitude
Solar-heated above 3,000m. Cold bucket-wash is free. Budget NPR 2,000 for a 10-day trek.
NPR 300–500 each
Device charging
Power banks save money. Some teahouses offer free charging in common rooms - Rohit knows which.
NPR 200–400 per device
Snacks & drinks
Chocolate bars, Snickers, Coke, and bottled water multiply in cost as altitude rises. Stick to tea.
NPR 500–1,500/day
Travel insurance
Required for helicopter evacuation coverage above 4,000m. Do not skip this under any circumstances.
$50–100 total
How Rohit's pricing works - two transparent ways to book
There are two transparent ways to book, and both come with honest pricing and a real, experienced licensed guide. Book Rohit directly as your private guide and you pay the guide fee plus the actual permit and logistics costs, with nothing hidden. Compare booking a private guide with a full package to decide which suits you: prefer everything handled for you, and you can book a bundled package through 6knepaltreks, the trekking company Rohit co-founded, which rolls permits, transport, accommodation and an experienced guide into one price.
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Transparent ways to book
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Hidden charges, either way
Direct
WhatsApp from day one
Book direct and Rohit handles all permits and logistics at cost, with no hidden fees - permits are obtained in your name and receipts are shared. Prefer a package? 6knepaltreks, the company he co-founded, bundles it all into one price. See also: Nepal trekking permits guide.
Related planning guides
Two transparent ways to book with Rohit
Book me directly as your private guide and you pay the guide fee plus the actual permit, accommodation and meal costs, with nothing hidden. Prefer everything under one price? Book a full package through 6knepaltreks, the company I co-founded, which bundles permits, transport, accommodation and an experienced guide. Either way the pricing is honest and you always trek with a real, experienced licensed guide.
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