Short treks from Pokhara in 3 to 5 days

If you have three to five days and are starting from Pokhara, four treks fit: Australian Camp and Dhampus (3 days, easy, about 2,050 m), Poon Hill (4 days, easy, 3,210 m), Panchase (4 days, moderate, about 2,500 m) and Mardi Himal (5 days, moderate, 4,500 m at the viewpoint). For a first trek, choose Poon Hill or Australian Camp; for quiet, choose Panchase; for a ridge walk beside Machhapuchhre, choose Mardi Himal once you have walked a few days before. All four start within about an hour or two of the lake and need no flight.

Australian Camp and Dhampus: the gentlest

A drive of about an hour reaches Phedi, a stone staircase climbs 520 m in 2.1 km to the Gurung village of Dhampus, a ridge path leads through Pothana to Australian Camp at about 2,050 m, with Annapurna South and Machhapuchhre across the horizon, and the third morning walks down to Kande for the drive back. The walking is about 11 km with 1,010 m of climbing over three days, and it suits families and first-timers. It also makes a good warm-up for a longer trek, because the first day of Mardi Himal follows the same path.

Poon Hill: the classic

Four days from Pokhara through Gurung villages and rhododendron forest to the viewpoint at 3,210 m above Ghorepani, with a sunrise over Dhaulagiri, Annapurna I, Annapurna South and Machhapuchhre. The first two days are steep, with the Ulleri stone staircase and over 1,500 m of climbing between Tikhedhunga and Ghorepani; the last two are gentler, via Ghandruk. Lodges are many, so you rarely need to book ahead except at the busiest times. The altitude is modest, so altitude sickness is rare but possible if you climb quickly. Read the Poon Hill itinerary.

Panchase: the quiet one

A four-day ridge walk with a boat across Phewa Lake, the World Peace Pagoda steps, Bumdi, Panchase Bhanjyang and a sunrise summit at about 2,500 m, then down to Naudanda. It has no villages on the last stage, so carry food and water. Our Panchase trek guide has the day plan and the permit question.

Mardi Himal: the step up

A ridge trek east of the Modi Khola to High Camp at about 3,550 m and a viewpoint near 4,500 m at the foot of Mardi Himal (5,587 m), with Machhapuchhre immediately beside it. It opened to trekkers in 2012, is quieter than Poon Hill, and uses small, simple teahouses with limited menus. The climb from about 1,800 m at Kande to 3,550 m takes three days, which is fast, and some people feel altitude symptoms at High Camp. The final climb to the viewpoint is long, steep and exposed, and nights at High Camp are cold. See the Mardi Himal itinerary.

How to choose

If you have never trekked, take Poon Hill: it stays below 3,300 m and has plenty of lodges. If you only have three days, take Australian Camp. If you want a quieter ridge and are willing to confirm the permit, take Panchase. If you want to sleep high and look at Machhapuchhre from close up, take Mardi Himal, ideally with a spare night at High Camp. For a head-to-head comparison read Poon Hill versus Mardi Himal, and for the Annapurna Base Camp option see ABC versus Mardi Himal.

What first-timers should expect

The surprise on all four treks is the steps. Poon Hill's Ulleri staircase has roughly three thousand stone steps, the Dhampus staircase climbs 520 m in 2.1 km, and Panchase uses stone steps to the summit and down to Bhadaure, so your knees will notice the descents more than the climbs. Poles help. The second surprise is the cold: Australian Camp is mild, but Poon Hill's pre-dawn climb, Panchase's summit morning and High Camp on Mardi Himal are all cold, so carry a warm layer and a hat even in spring.

Lodging is simple everywhere. On Poon Hill and Australian Camp you can usually turn up without a booking except at the busiest times; on Mardi Himal the teahouses are small and menus limited, and some have no hot showers; on Panchase there are homestays and basic lodges, and nothing to buy on the last stage. Carry cash in small notes, since there are no cash machines on the trails. Our teahouse prices guide explains what rooms and meals cost, and what is a teahouse trek covers how the lodging system works.

Combining two treks

You can stack them. Australian Camp links to Mardi Himal on its first day, so a trekker with eight days can walk both in one go and see how the altitude feels before the High Camp night. Poon Hill and Ghandruk combine naturally because Ghandruk is on the Poon Hill route, and our Ghandruk village trek guide shows the two-day version. Panchase is the odd one out: it starts from the lake rather than a road, so it works best as a separate trip. Allow a rest day in Pokhara between treks.

Permits and the guide rule

The ACAP permit is NPR 3,000 for foreigners, per the NTNC e-permit page, and a TIMS card is requested where required. Permits are checked at Birethanti on the Poon Hill route. These routes are in or beside the Annapurna Conservation Area, so the Nepal Tourism Board April 2023 guide rule applies: 2026 operator reports say the ACAP checkpoint checks for a licensed guide (checked 19 October 2026). For Panchase, agencies disagree on whether it needs an ACAP permit. If your route passes an ACAP checkpoint, the Annapurna wording applies. The written rule is the April 2023 announcement, and we found no separate Department of Immigration or DNPWC notice. See guide rule by region and the ACAP permit guide.

Getting there and costs

A taxi from Pokhara to Nayapul takes about 1.5 hours for Poon Hill, and to Kande about an hour for Mardi Himal. Phedi for Dhampus is about an hour. The pack's dated cost data (checked 18 October 2026) gives a guide day rate of NPR 2,700 to 4,000 for Annapurna-region routes (NPR 4,000 to 6,000 for the Pokhara foothills region) and a porter day rate of NPR 2,100 to 3,400, and shows taxis as lines to check because no fares are published in our sources. Splitting the guide and a taxi between two or three people cuts the cost per head sharply: use the trekking partner hub or the Poon Hill partner page to find someone who wants the same dates.

Season

October to November and March to April, with rhododendron in March to May on Poon Hill and Mardi Himal. December and January are cold but clear on Poon Hill, and winter makes the upper Mardi Himal trail dangerous. The monsoon is wet and views are poor. For more on seasons see trekking in Nepal in October and in March, or start with the first-time trekking guide.