Annapurna Circuit trek cost breakdown
What a 14-day Annapurna Circuit costs line by line: lodging and food by altitude, guide and porter, the ACAP permit, transport, and how sharing with one to three partners changes your share.
The Annapurna Circuit is one of the cheaper long treks in Nepal, because it has no flight, one inexpensive permit and teahouses in every village. Using our dated cost data (as of October 2026, converted at NPR 134 to the US dollar), the 14-day plan costs about USD 630 to 920 for one trekker on a budget, USD 490 to 710 each for two sharing and USD 410 to 610 each for four. A mid-range version with a porter for every two trekkers runs about USD 1,000 to 1,550 for one person and USD 620 to 920 each in a group of four. Those totals leave out the TIMS card (NPR 2,000 for foreigners, SAARC nationals NPR 1,000) and two jeep legs that have no published price, so treat them as a floor.
The difference between the solo and four-person columns is almost entirely the guide, who is paid per day for the whole group. That is why this trek is one of the best candidates for finding trekking partners. The numbers come from the "What it costs" section of the Annapurna Circuit route page and the Annapurna cost file behind it, so they match what the site shows elsewhere.
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What the 14-day plan assumes
The route plan runs from Kathmandu to Dharapani on day 1, then walks Chame (2,670 m), Upper Pisang (3,300 m), Ngawal (3,600 m) and Manang (3,540 m), with a rest day in Manang. It continues to Yak Kharka (4,050 m) and Thorong Phedi (4,540 m), crosses Thorong La (5,416 m) to Muktinath (3,800 m), and walks on through Jomsom, Kalopani, Tatopani and Ghorepani to Pokhara. For costing, the plan counts:
- 13 nights on the trail: 2 below 2,500 m, 9 between 2,500 and 3,800 m and 2 above 3,800 m.
- 14 guide days and 12 porter days.
- One Annapurna Conservation Area (ACAP) permit, NPR 3,000, plus a TIMS card.
- Four transport legs: Kathmandu to Besisahar, Besisahar to Dharapani by jeep, Tatopani to Pokhara, and Pokhara to Kathmandu by tourist bus.
Change the number of days, add a Tilicho side trip or take the jeep further and the total moves with it. The point of the breakdown is that you can swap in your own quote line by line.
Lodging and food by altitude
Teahouse prices rise with altitude because supplies are carried up the valley. Our data uses three altitude bands, and the per-night figure covers a room plus meals at the lodge. For the Annapurna region, as of October 2026:
| Band | Room per night | Dal bhat | Budget per night | Mid-range per night | Comfort per night |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Below 2,500 m | NPR 300 to 800 | NPR 500 to 1,000 | NPR 2,100 to 3,300 | NPR 2,900 to 4,700 | NPR 4,000 to 6,100 |
| 2,500 to 3,800 m | NPR 500 to 1,200 | NPR 700 to 1,200 | NPR 2,900 to 4,300 | NPR 3,800 to 5,600 | NPR 4,900 to 7,100 |
| Above 3,800 m | NPR 1,300 to 2,000 | NPR 1,300 to 1,600 | NPR 5,700 to 6,700 | NPR 6,400 to 7,900 | NPR 7,300 to 9,200 |
Multiply by the nights in each band and the budget style comes to NPR 41,700 to 58,700 (about USD 310 to 440) for lodging and food over the whole trek. The mid-range style, with a better room and a larger menu, is NPR 52,800 to 75,600 (about USD 390 to 560), and comfort is NPR 66,700 to 94,500. Nine of the thirteen nights fall in the middle band, which is why the middle row of the table matters most. For a deeper look at what a night buys, see teahouse prices by altitude.
Dal bhat is usually refilled free, so it is the best-value meal at every altitude. The two nights above 3,800 m, at Yak Kharka and Thorong Phedi, cost roughly twice a low-altitude night, because everything there arrives on someone's back or on a mule.
Guide and porter
The Annapurna Circuit is not a restricted area, but it runs through the Annapurna Conservation Area, and the guide rule applies. The Nepal Tourism Board announced in April 2023 that foreign trekkers must use a licensed guide in national parks and conservation areas. We found no separate Department of Immigration or park-authority notice, but 2026 operator reports say the checkpoints enforce it in Annapurna (ACAP) and Langtang, the strictest, and most other parks, though not in Khumbu, where the municipality opted out (checked 19 October 2026). Treat a guide as part of the budget; our guide rule explainer has the detail.
Our Annapurna rates, from market ranges in 2026 operator guides, are NPR 2,700 to 4,000 a day for a guide and NPR 2,100 to 3,400 a day for a porter. No current official or trade-body minimum was found, so none is stated. On the 14-day plan:
| Line | One trekker | Two sharing | Four sharing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guide, 14 days, shared | NPR 37,800 to 56,000 | NPR 18,900 to 28,000 | NPR 9,450 to 14,000 |
| Porters, mid-range (one per two trekkers), 12 days | NPR 25,200 to 40,800 | NPR 12,600 to 20,400 | NPR 12,600 to 20,400 per person |
The second row looks odd for four people: two porters share the load of four trekkers, so each person pays for half a porter. The budget style assumes no porter at all. If you want to understand what each role does and who should hire which, read guide versus porter roles and splitting guide and porter costs fairly.
Permits
The ACAP entry permit is NPR 3,000 for foreigners (SAARC nationals NPR 1,000), tax included, per the NTNC e-permit page. Paying online adds a 2.9% gateway charge, and a permit issued at a check post costs double, so buy it in Kathmandu or Pokhara before you leave. That is about USD 22. Children under 10 are free. The permit mechanics are covered in the ACAP permit guide.
The TIMS card is the unpriced line. TIMS is agency-issued, the Nepal Tourism Board lists NPR 2,000 for foreigners (SAARC nationals NPR 1,000), and checkpoint practice in Annapurna varies in 2026 operator reports. Ask your agency whether it applies and what it charges, and get the answer in writing.
Transport
Our dated transport lines are the Kathmandu to Besisahar bus at NPR 1,300 to 2,700 per person (local or tourist bus about USD 10 to 20, according to the sources behind our data) and the Pokhara to Kathmandu tourist bus at NPR 800 to 2,500. A private jeep from Kathmandu to Besisahar is NPR 20,000 to 29,500 per vehicle, which becomes a per-person cost only when you split it. At mid-range and comfort levels our totals use the private jeep split across the group:
| Group | Budget transport (bus) | Private jeep, split |
|---|---|---|
| One trekker | NPR 2,100 to 5,200 | NPR 20,800 to 32,000 |
| Four sharing | NPR 2,100 to 5,200 | NPR 5,800 to 9,875 each |
Two legs have no published fare in our sources: the jeep from Besisahar to Dharapani and the bus or jeep from Tatopani to Pokhara. They are flagged as "to check" and are not in the totals. Ask your guide or agency for both before you finalise a budget. Our region note adds a Kathmandu to Pokhara tourist bus at NPR 800 to 2,500 each way and a Pokhara to Jomsom flight of about USD 120 to 200 each way, relevant if you cut the walk short or finish at Jomsom.
The totals
Put together, the per-person range on the 14-day plan, rounded outward to the nearest USD 10 below USD 1,000 and USD 50 above:
| Style | One trekker | Two sharing | Four sharing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget lodges, guide, no porter | USD 630 to 920 | USD 490 to 710 | USD 410 to 610 |
| Mid-range lodges, guide, one porter per two | USD 1,000 to 1,550 | USD 730 to 1,100 | USD 620 to 920 |
| Comfort lodges, guide, one porter each | USD 1,100 to 1,700 | USD 920 to 1,400 | USD 820 to 1,250 |
A trekker who goes from alone to a group of four saves roughly USD 220 to 310 in the budget style and USD 380 to 630 at mid-range. Almost all of that is the guide, plus the jeep and the porter. Lodging and food, about USD 310 to 440 in the budget style, do not change at all.
What the totals leave out
International flights, travel insurance, Kathmandu and Pokhara hotels before and after, gear rental, tips, snacks, hot showers, charging, wifi and the TIMS card are not counted. Insurance should cover trekking to 5,500 m or more and helicopter evacuation; Thorong La is 5,416 m, and the pass day is long and cold. Add buffer days at the end for road delays, and consider a mid-trek rest day beyond the one in Manang; the acclimatisation schedule explains why.
Where to go next
- Sharing the guide. In our worked per-person table the guide share falls from NPR 46,900 for one trekker to NPR 23,450 for two, NPR 15,633 for three and NPR 11,725 for four; the full table is in Annapurna Circuit cost per person when two, three or four share a guide.
- The days behind the money. The day-by-day itinerary shows where each night in the totals is spent, and Kathmandu to Besisahar covers the first transport line.
- Insurance. Thorong La is 5,416 m, so read travel insurance for trekking above 4,500 m and helicopter evacuation: how it works and what it costs before you buy.
- A partner. See finding a partner for the Annapurna Circuit in October and November or browse open Annapurna trips.
How to use these numbers
- Take a written quote from an agency or guide for your dates and group size.
- Compare it with the totals above. A quote far below the budget column deserves questions about what is excluded; one far above the comfort column should explain why.
- Split the guide, porter and jeep lines by the number of partners you will really have on the day, not the number you hope for.
- Check the date. Our cost files were verified on 18 October 2026, and prices shift with season and demand.
For the season and conditions on Thorong La, see the best time for the Annapurna Circuit. If you are weighing it against the other long circuit, Annapurna Circuit versus Manaslu Circuit compares cost, permits and difficulty, and the wider Nepal trekking cost guide explains every line. You can also find people to share with on the Annapurna Circuit partner page, and browse the rest of the Annapurna region. All guides on budgets sit in the costs and budget hub.
