Annapurna Base Camp trek cost for Nepali citizens in NPR

The Annapurna Base Camp trek costs a Nepali citizen roughly NPR 15,000 to 24,000 for the standard seven-day trek from Pokhara, about NPR 19,600 in the middle, if you walk without a guide or porter. Food and lodging at NPR 2,000 to 3,000 a day (average 2,500) come to NPR 14,000 to 21,000, the ACAP entry fee is NPR 0 to 200 depending on the source, and the road legs from Pokhara are a line we hold at NPR 1,000 to 3,000 because no verified fare exists. Foreigners pay NPR 3,000 for the same permit. A group of five splits a jeep, a guide and a porter. Whether a guide is required for Nepali citizens is not settled in writing, so ask at the checkpoint. Prices and rules were checked on 21 October 2026; where sources conflict we show a range and say so.

How much does Annapurna Base Camp cost for Nepali citizens?

Most cost guides for Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) are written for foreigners and quote dollars and a NPR 3,000 permit. A Nepali citizen pays a very different permit fee, and the lodge and food prices are the same for everyone because the owner charges per room and per plate. This table is for one Nepali trekker on the classic seven-day plan in our Annapurna Base Camp itinerary, with no guide and no porter. All figures are NPR.

The daily band comes from the same price tables behind our cost calculator. The road line is not a published fare: our sources give none for the Siwai trailhead, so we hold a placeholder range and say so. For the full-price view that foreign trekkers face, read our sample Annapurna Base Camp budget.

Prices climb with altitude because everything is carried up the valley. Expect the first two nights to sit near the low end and the nights at Deurali and Annapurna Base Camp to sit near the high end, so keep your average honest by not stopping for extra drinks and snacks at every lodge. Our guide to teahouse prices by altitude explains how nightly prices build up.

What is the ACAP fee for Nepali citizens?

The Annapurna Conservation Area permit (ACAP) is the entry fee for the whole region, and it is the same permit whether you go to Poon Hill, Mardi Himal or Annapurna Base Camp. Our ACAP permit guide explains what it covers. For Nepali citizens we found three different answers, so here they are rather than one confident number.

• Nepal Tourism Board: the park entry fee page lists NPR 100 for Nepali citizens, NPR 1,000 for SAARC nationals and NPR 3,000 for foreigners (checked 21 October 2026). It adds no VAT note.
• A 2026 operator page: Shikhar Adventure says Nepali citizens pay nothing if they show a national ID.
• An older guide: The Longest Way Home lists NPR 200 for Nepalis, and NPR 2,000 plus 13 percent VAT for foreigners, which is out of date against the NPR 3,000 now shown by the Nepal Tourism Board.

We use the official page as the main figure and show NPR 0 to 200 as the range. The NTNC e-permit portal is the issuing body, but we could not read a Nepali fee from it, so confirm at the ACAP counter in Pokhara or Kathmandu. Our other guides note that a permit issued at a check post costs double the normal foreigner price, so buy before you start the walk and do not skip the counter. We do not know whether the doubling applies to Nepalis, and we do not guess.

TIMS. Nepali citizens do not need a TIMS card, so there is no TIMS line in the table. TIMS is for foreign trekkers (NPR 2,000, or NPR 1,000 for SAARC nationals). The explainer on the TIMS card shows the current position for foreigners.

Whatever the counter charges, carry your citizenship certificate or another Nepali ID, plus two passport photos. The permit paperwork checklist lists what to bring.

Do Nepali citizens need a guide for Annapurna Base Camp?

This is the line where we say the least, because the written rule does not mention Nepali citizens. Our guide-rule record, last checked on 19 October 2026, reads: a licensed guide through a registered agency is required in restricted areas (Department of Immigration) and, under the Nepal Tourism Board rule of April 2023, in national parks and conservation areas, where 2026 operator reports say checkpoints enforce it in Annapurna and Langtang but not in Khumbu. Annapurna Base Camp is inside the Annapurna Conservation Area, so it is one of the places where operators report enforcement. We found no separate notice that exempts Nepali citizens, and we found none that applies the rule to them, so the honest answer is to ask at the checkpoint.

Do that early. Ask at the ACAP counter in Pokhara, show your citizenship certificate and ask what the checkpoints at Chhomrong and Sinuwa expect from a Nepali citizen. Write the answer down with the date and the name of the person who told you. The guide rule page keeps the current position for each region, and our post on the guide rule for foreigners explains the rule as it was announced.

A guide is useful on its own merits. The trail from Chhomrong goes down to Sinuwa and then up to Deurali and the Machapuchare Base Camp, and the last day to 4,130 m is where people feel the altitude. If you hire one, share the cost. Our Annapurna rates are NPR 2,700 to 4,000 a day for a guide and NPR 2,100 to 3,400 for a porter, from market ranges in 2026 operator guides, and no official minimum was found. Over seven days a guide is NPR 18,900 to 28,000 in total, which is NPR 3,780 to 5,600 each in a group of five. Our post on splitting guide and porter costs fairly shows the arithmetic, and guide versus porter roles explains which one you need.

How do you get from Pokhara to the trailhead and back?

The standard plan drives from Pokhara to Siwai, about three hours on a winding road according to our itinerary, then walks to Jhinu Danda on day one. The way back reverses it: you walk from Jhinu Danda to Siwai on day seven and take a jeep to Pokhara. Our guide to the Annapurna trailheads from Pokhara gives the full list.

We found no verified NPR fare for Siwai or Jhinu Danda. The closest figures conflict. A local bus from Pokhara to Nayapul is about NPR 200 to 300 in one 2026 guide and NPR 270 to 670 in our own Ghandruk table, and the jeep from Kimche or Ghandruk back to Pokhara is NPR 540 to 670 in our table. Nayapul is the trailhead for Poon Hill, not for Annapurna Base Camp, so these are proxies for the cost, not the cost. We therefore keep the road legs as a placeholder of NPR 1,000 to 3,000 for the return and tell you to agree a fixed price before you sit down. See jeep and bus costs to trailheads and shared jeep versus private jeep versus bus for how the arithmetic changes with vehicle type.

Because a jeep costs the same for one trekker or five, this is where a group helps most. Work out the vehicle price, divide by the number of people and agree who pays the driver.

What does a group of five save?

Group size matters less than people expect, because the biggest lines are per person. A group of five still buys five permits, five beds a night and five plates of dal bhat. What sharing does is spread the group-wide lines:

• The jeep. A private vehicle to Siwai and back is one price, divided by five.
• A guide. Seven days at NPR 2,700 to 4,000 is NPR 3,780 to 5,600 each in a group of five, against NPR 18,900 to 28,000 alone.
• A porter. One porter for two people halves the day rate per person.
• Spare days. A group can agree a buffer day for rain or a landslide on the road instead of each person paying alone.

Our default group in the cost calculator is five for exactly this reason. Put in Annapurna Base Camp and the Nepali rates and it returns each person's share.

What else costs money?

Beyond the table, budget for hot showers, device charging and Wi-Fi, which cost extra and rise with altitude, and for water purification. The natural hot springs below Jhinu Danda are a cheap alternative to a lodge shower, according to our itinerary. A night in Pokhara before and after the trek is a real cost for anyone who travels from Kathmandu; our post on Kathmandu and Pokhara pre-trek costs lists it. We have no Nepali-specific price for these extras, so we do not invent one. A buffer of 10 percent of the trek total, about NPR 2,000, is a rule of thumb of ours, not a published rate. Carry rupees; card payments rarely work above Chhomrong.

Insurance is the one line we would not skip. See trekking insurance and helicopter evacuation costs. If you are comparing treks, our Annapurna Base Camp versus Mardi Himal comparison and the Mardi Himal cost for Nepali trekkers post show the cheaper option.

Where do you find people to share the trip with?

Splitting only works if there are five of you. Our pillar guide, trekking in Nepal for Nepali citizens, covers the whole picture across regions, and finding a trekking partner for Annapurna Base Camp covers this trek. If you already have a date in mind, post a trip free on FindTrekkingPartner and other Nepali trekkers can ask to join; contact details stay hidden until both sides agree. Our trekking partner page explains how the matching works, and the Annapurna Base Camp partner page lists the route.

What should you check before you go?

Rates change and the Nepali figures are scattered. Before you set out, check three things: the ACAP fee at the counter for Nepali citizens, whether a guide is expected at the Annapurna checkpoints, and a fixed price for the Siwai road. Take a citizenship certificate, passport photos and small notes. We will update this post when we get an official fee schedule that names Nepali citizens.