Annapurna Base Camp trek: days, permits, altitude and season

Annapurna Base Camp or Poon Hill: which trek fits your days

The choice comes down to time and height. The Poon Hill trek tops out at the 3,210 m sunrise viewpoint and fits into a few days; Annapurna Base Camp climbs to 4,130 m and needs a week at the least. The Nepal Tourism Board treats the two as neighbours: its TIMS list names a combined Poon Hill-ABC route, and it says the base camp trek offers sunrise views if combined with Poon Hill.

Book Annapurna Base Camp if you can give it at least a week with a day spare, you are in good health and you want to stand inside the Sanctuary rather than look at it from a ridge. Add Poon Hill if you have ten to twelve days. Choose Poon Hill alone if your time is short or you have never slept above 3,000 m; it is the easier way to learn how your body reacts to height.

This is a walk on a trail with lodges and a guide, not a mountaineering expedition, but nothing about the route lowers the altitude risk, and a bad-weather day can close a stage. The days below therefore carry a margin.

Inside the Sanctuary: Annapurna I, Fishtail and the hill villages

The payoff is the amphitheatre at the top. The Nepal Tourism Board puts the Sanctuary at 4,130 m and names the peaks around it: Annapurna I at 8,091 m, Machhapuchhre, the Fishtail, and Hiunchuli. Annapurna I is the tenth highest mountain in the world, the board says, and the Annapurna range stretches 55 km; Annapurna South, at 7,219 m, is one of the three other peaks that carry the name. Machhapuchhre is the razor-edged peak you will already know from Pokhara, where the board calls its Fish Tail the most lasting impression many visitors take home; at Machhapuchhre Base Camp, the last stop below the Sanctuary, you stand beneath it.

Sleep at base camp rather than turning round at midday. Sunrise is the reason: the first light falls on the ring of peaks around the lodges, and that is the view the climb is for.

The villages below are part of the walk. Ghandruk, the board says, is a traditional Gurung village with a Gurung museum and one of the best views of Annapurna South, Gangapurna, Annapurna III, Hiunchuli and Machhapuchhre; the conservation area project itself began there as a pilot programme in 1986, according to the National Trust for Nature Conservation. The trust, which runs the Annapurna Conservation Area, says it covers 7,629 square kilometres and is home to over 100,000 residents; Gurung and Magar communities are the dominant groups in the south, where the trek starts. If you take the Poon Hill variant, you also pass the rhododendron forest at Ghorepani, which the trust counts among the largest in the world.

Route and stages from Ghandruk or Birethanti to base camp

The Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal prints the normal route on its TIMS overview page. For the Poon Hill-ABC trek it reads Pothana or Birethanti, Poon Hill, Chhomrong, Dobhan, Annapurna Base Camp, with the TIMS check post at Birethanti and the exit check post at Birethanti or Pothana. The tourism board adds that you can also start the Annapurna trek at Ghandruk, which a road reaches from Pokhara. That gives two shapes of the walk: the direct one goes in at Ghandruk and on to Chhomrong; the longer one starts at Birethanti, crosses Poon Hill and joins the same valley at Chhomrong. Above Chhomrong both share the climb through Dobhan to Machhapuchhre Base Camp and Annapurna Base Camp, and the walk back down. Return to the road at Ghandruk; the tourism board also names Kimche among the trails around the village.

The days below are our plan for each shape, one night's stop per day; your agency fixes the final stops. The official pages used here do not give the intermediate sleeping heights or describe the stages through Himalaya and Deurali; have your agency set these out before you book.

• Direct walk, day 1: road transfer from Pokhara to Ghandruk, the afternoon in the village and its Gurung museum, and the night there.
• Day 2: Ghandruk to Chhomrong, the village on the association's route before the Sanctuary.
• Day 3: Chhomrong up the valley to Dobhan.
• Day 4: Dobhan through Himalaya to Deurali.
• Day 5: Deurali to Machhapuchhre Base Camp and on to Annapurna Base Camp at 4,130 m, for the night and the sunrise. This is a large sleeping-height gain, so have your agency explain its acclimatisation plan before you book and tell your guide at once if you feel unwell.
• Day 6: back down the valley to Dobhan.
• Day 7: down to Chhomrong and out to the road at Ghandruk, then the drive to Pokhara.
• Day 8: the spare day, for snow, rain or a slower climb.
• With Poon Hill, days 1 to 4: transfer to Birethanti, register at the TIMS check post, climb to Ghorepani for the Poon Hill sunrise at 3,210 m and cross the hills to Chhomrong; from there the plan follows the direct walk from day 3, which brings the total to ten to twelve days and the exit at Birethanti or Pothana.

Licensed guide, TIMS card and conservation area permit

Foreign trekkers may not walk this route alone. The Nepal Tourism Board says that since 31 March 2023 foreign trekkers on a listed set of routes in protected areas must be accompanied by a licensed trekking guide and carry a TIMS card issued through a trekking agency, and its list names Poon Hill-ABC. The board prints the route under that name, so arrange the guide and the card whichever way you walk in. The UK government adds that nobody should trek alone.

Only agencies buy the TIMS card: the agency registers the trekkers, guides and route on the board's system and pays online, and each trekker gets an e-card with a QR code. The UK government warns about trekking deals that look very cheap.

Fees. On the official pages checked on 17 October 2026, the TIMS card cost NPR 2,000 for foreign trekkers other than South Asian (SAARC) nationals, who pay NPR 1,000, and the Annapurna Conservation Area permit cost NPR 3,000 for foreigners and NPR 1,000 for SAARC nationals, tax included, for one entry; children under 10 do not need the permit. Give the agency your full range of days, spare ones included: Germany's Federal Foreign Office says permits must cover the whole planned trek.

The permit can be bought on the National Trust for Nature Conservation's e-permit website, with a 2.9% online payment-gateway charge, or in cash at one of its counters with your passport or other valid identification, with no additional charge. Permits issued at check-posts cost double, so buy it before the trek. It is non-transferable and non-refundable, and you should register at the check-posts along the route. The board's restricted-area permit table does not list these trails. The full permit picture for all the treks is in the trekking permits guide.

Insurance. Make sure your policy covers trekking to 4,130 m: the UK government advises cover for mountain rescue and helicopter costs and warns that rapid helicopter evacuation may be hard to arrange from a remote area. France's foreign ministry says mountain rescue is paid for and helicopters fly only when payment is guaranteed; give your insurance details to the agency before the trek. It reserves helicopter transport from an accident site to Kathmandu for extreme emergencies. France's foreign ministry recommends that trekkers or their guides carry satellite phones.

What the trek costs two people

For two foreign adults other than SAARC nationals, the permits come to NPR 10,000: two TIMS cards at NPR 2,000 and two conservation area permits at NPR 3,000, at the fees checked on 17 October 2026, paying the conservation-area fee at a counter.

Guide, porter, transfer and lodge prices are not published as one official tariff, so compare agencies on the full package price and on what it includes.

Have the quote list lodge nights and meals, the guide and any porter, transfers, tips and insurance separately, including the spare day. Budget for the Pokhara nights either side, which the where to stay guide covers.

Altitude, avalanches and landslides above 3,000 m

At 4,130 m the Sanctuary is the highest point this guide asks of you, and the risk starts much lower. Germany's Federal Foreign Office advises seeing a doctor experienced in altitude medicine before any trip above 2,300 m, and UK Travel Health Pro says altitude illness is a risk from 2,500 m.

TravelHealthPro advises gaining no more than about 500 m of sleeping height a day above 3,000 m. Take a rest day at the same altitude every three or four days. UK Travel Health Pro also advises spending a few days below 3,000 m and, where possible, avoiding a rise from under 1,200 m to over 3,500 m in one day. If you develop symptoms of altitude sickness, stop climbing, descend promptly with a companion to a lower altitude (below 4,000 m if you are higher) and consult a doctor. Signs of cerebral or pulmonary oedema need immediate descent and emergency medical treatment. The tourism board adds that temperatures fall about 6 degrees C for every 1,000 m you climb.

The UK government lists sudden weather changes, avalanches and snow drifts, landslides, rockfalls and flooding among the hazards above 3,000 m all year round. After heavy snow or rain, be prepared to wait or turn back with your guide; the spare day allows room to change the plan.

For a weather or flood warning call 1155, the Nepal Meteorological Department's toll-free line, and for help call the tourist police on 1144. Nepal Police lists tourist-police posts at Birethanti, Ghorepani, Ghandruk and Dhampus.

When to go: spring, autumn and the monsoon

The Nepal Tourism Board says that for most trekking areas the best times are spring and autumn. Spring is when the rhododendrons bloom, and the clearest skies come after the monsoon, in October and November. The seasons and the other regions are compared in the best time guide.

The monsoon runs from June to September. The board gives Pokhara 3,345 mm of rain a year against 1,600 mm for the country. The UK government gives June to October as the season when travel can be hazardous, with floods and landslides making roads impassable and cutting off towns for days. Winter is cold, but the board points out that even in December and January there is bright sun and brilliant views; keep the spare day for weather.

Getting from Pokhara to the trailhead

Fly from Kathmandu to Pokhara before the trek. Yeti Airlines gives Kathmandu to Pokhara as about 25 minutes. The Pokhara guide covers the flight and the bus, and the nights either side of the trek. The Nepal Tourism Board says intercity tourist buses to Pokhara, Chitwan and Lumbini leave from Kantipath in Kathmandu. Tourist-bus operators and fares are not listed on that page; check both when booking. Have the final boarding point written on the ticket.

From Pokhara the trek starts with a road transfer. For the direct walk, the Nepal Tourism Board puts Ghandruk 54.8 km by road from Pokhara and gives the drive as anything from about 1 hour 35 minutes to 4 to 5 hours, so keep the rest of that day free. The Poon Hill variant starts at Birethanti instead, the TIMS entry point. No official page gives the road distance, time or fare from Pokhara to Birethanti; ask your agency to include the transfer. Check that the road is open, travel in daylight and use a marked tourist bus or an agency-arranged vehicle. If the trailhead road closes, delay the trek in Pokhara rather than relying on a same-day alternative.

Keep a buffer day before an international flight when you come back. Mountain flights are often delayed by weather, and every Nepali airline is on the UK Air Safety List and the EU list of unsafe airlines.

Lodges and meals on the trail

Expect lodges rather than a camp. The tourism board says that in the main trekking areas lodges have been established where trekkers find accommodation and food, that they have facilities for charging batteries, and that Annapurna is among the treks that can provide lodge accommodation.

Carry enough rupees from Pokhara for the whole walk: the UK government warns that in remote areas ATMs may not be available and credit cards are not accepted. Meals are built around dal bhat, and the tourism board says Thakalis, known for their entrepreneurship, run tea houses along the trek routes in the Annapurna region. Drink only sealed or boiled water: UK Travel Health Pro advises against untreated tap water and ice in countries with poor sanitation.