Nepal Trekking Guides

Nepal has eight of the world's fourteen 8,000-metre peaks and a teahouse network that lets ordinary walkers sleep in a bed and eat a hot meal every night between them. That combination is why trekking in Nepal is the country's main draw and why the choice of route matters more than anywhere else: the same word covers a two-day stroll to a sunrise ridge and an eighteen-day loop over three 5,000-metre passes. This page is the short orientation. The full guide, with every region and route compared on one page, is Trekking in Nepal: the complete guide.

How to choose a trek

Four questions settle it. How many days do you have, from Kathmandu back to Kathmandu, including a flight buffer? How high are you willing to sleep, since altitude rather than distance is what ends treks? Do you want a flight into the mountains or a road? And how much comfort do you need at night? The answers sort the routes into four groups.

• A first trek, four to six days, under 3,600 m: Poon Hill, Mardi Himal, or the Langtang Valley. Teahouse beds, no flight, low altitude risk.
• The classics, ten to fourteen days, up to 5,500 m: Everest Base Camp, the Annapurna Circuit, and Annapurna Base Camp. The EBC vs Circuit comparison is the usual decision.
• The quieter and harder routes: Gokyo and the Cho La, the Three Passes, and the restricted areas such as Upper Mustang, which need a licensed guide and an agency.
• No trek at all: the day hikes and short walks around Kathmandu and Pokhara, which need no permit and no flight.

When to go

October and November are the default: dry, clear, and stable, with the crowds to match. March to early May is the second season, warmer and hazier, with rhododendrons on the lower trails. December to February works for anything below about 4,000 m and for Everest Base Camp with winter gear; the high passes close after storms. The monsoon rules out the big routes but opens the rain-shadow regions of Mustang and Dolpo. The best time to visit guide weighs the months, and Nepal in winter covers the cold season trek by trek.

Permits, guides, and money

Most treks need two pieces of paper: a park or conservation-area entry fee and, outside the Everest region, the TIMS card. The restricted areas add a daily or weekly permit and a mandatory guide. The permits guide lists every fee by route and where to buy it. Nepal has required licensed guides for foreign trekkers in most national parks since 2023, with the Everest region the standing exception and enforcement uneven elsewhere; the guide or no guide comparison explains what a guide changes beyond the rule. On costs, the Everest Base Camp budget is the worked example every other trek is cheaper than, and teahouse trekking explained covers how the lodges, meals, and extras add up on the trail.