ATMs and cash on Nepal treks: how much to carry

Carry all the rupees you need from Kathmandu or Pokhara, because ATMs on the trails are few and unreliable. Sources, checked 25 October 2026, name machines only at Lukla and Namche on the Everest route and at Jomsom and Manang on the Annapurna Circuit, and we found none confirmed for Chame, Syabrubesi or Langtang. A Nepali bank charges a flat fee of about NPR 500 to 800 per withdrawal, per-transaction caps run from NPR 10,000 to 35,000, and teahouses take rupees only. Our cost tables put room and food at NPR 2,100 to 3,400 per person per night below 2,500 m on the Everest route and NPR 5,000 to 7,100 above 3,800 m at the budget tier. Multiply by your nights, add a buffer for charging, wifi and a delay, and withdraw the maximum your card allows each time. Sources are listed below; this is not a bank or an agency.

Where are the last ATMs on each route?

Route pages for planning: Everest Base Camp, Annapurna Circuit and Langtang Valley.

The honest answer is "earlier than you think, and not dependable". We rely on operator blogs and traveller guides, because no bank publishes a trail ATM list. Where sources disagree we say so.

Chame, often mentioned on the circuit, is a gap in our data. An older, undated presentation we found suggests dollars could be changed at Chame or Jomsom, but we could not confirm it for 2026, so do not plan around it. Syabrubesi is the same: a roadhead town with no ATM we can verify.

The practical rule is to treat the last confirmed city machine as the one in Kathmandu or Pokhara. Anything after that is a bonus. Our guides to Kathmandu to Besisahar and Kathmandu to Syabrubesi cover the road legs, and the Everest region guide covers the Khumbu villages.

What does an ATM withdrawal cost?

Two layers of fees apply. One 2026 guide says the Nepali bank charges a flat NPR 500 to 800 per withdrawal regardless of the amount, and another gives NPR 500 to 700. Your home bank may add a foreign transaction fee, which the first guide puts at 1 to 3 percent plus possibly a flat international fee. Decline "dynamic currency conversion" at the machine and choose rupees: the same guide says conversion is typically 3 to 5 percent worse than the real rate.

Its worked example for NPR 25,000 comes to about USD 4 to 7 with conversion declined and a low-fee card, and USD 10 to 18.50 if you accept conversion and your bank charges heavily. Since the machine fee is flat, withdraw the maximum each time, but only up to what you can carry and protect.

Limits per transaction and per day

Per-transaction limits are commonly NPR 10,000 to 35,000, and the most common cap for foreign cards is NPR 25,000, according to the guide updated on 17 September 2026. Some banks reportedly allow 35,000, and many apply a daily cap of about NPR 50,000 across several withdrawals. So a NPR 100,000 float needs at least two days of withdrawals and several fees. Start in Kathmandu or Pokhara on your first days, not the night before you leave. Cash is dispensed only in rupees, and machines that accept international Visa and Mastercard are mostly in the two cities, while outside them many serve national banks and not every foreign card works.

Can you use a card on the trail?

Mostly no. An operator guide to the Annapurna Circuit says credit cards and digital wallets "disappear entirely" on the trail and that teahouses, local jeeps and mountain portals take only Nepali rupees. The same guide says USD and EUR cannot be spent at teahouses, and that of Indian rupee notes only the 50 and 100 are usable. We cannot verify every lodge, so ask when you check in, but plan as if cash is the only option. Use your card for Kathmandu and Pokhara hotels, gear and the flights you book yourself; see Lukla flight costs.

Bring clean, undamaged notes if you change foreign currency, because damaged ones fetch worse rates. Carry a second card from a different network if you can: one traveller account describes a Mastercard failing at Jomsom while a Visa worked, which is a single report but a cheap precaution.

How much cash per day should you carry?

Start from our own tables, then add a buffer. The cost tables give room-and-food ranges per person per night by altitude band; the figures below are the budget tier, as of October 2026.

The mid and comfort tiers are higher: for example the Everest high band is NPR 6,300 to 9,000 at mid tier and NPR 7,900 to 11,000 at comfort. Our cost calculator lets you set route, days and tier, and the route guides break it down: Everest Base Camp, Annapurna Circuit and Langtang Valley.

A rough check on those: a simple sum of five nights above 3,800 m on the Everest route at budget tier is NPR 25,000 to 35,500 (5 x 5,000 and 5 x 7,100). That is arithmetic on our ranges, not a quote, and it excludes the lower nights.

What the tables do not include

Our band figures cover lodging and food. Charging, wifi and hot showers are extras; see hot showers, charging and wifi. One operator guide puts Annapurna wifi at NPR 300 to 700 per day. Guides and porters are a separate line: our tables give a market range of NPR 2,700 to 4,000 per guide per day on Annapurna and Langtang and NPR 3,400 to 4,700 on Everest, and NPR 2,100 to 3,400 per porter per day, with no official minimum we could cite. If you pay staff on the trail, carry that cash too, or agree with the agency that it is prepaid; see splitting guide and porter costs.

Permits are paid before you walk. Buy them in Kathmandu or Pokhara, see where to buy permits.

What do operator guides suggest?

Two operator blogs give rule-of-thumb totals, and they are higher than our tier arithmetic because they include extras. The Everest guide suggests about USD 250 to 300 for basic expenses, USD 400 to 500 for extra comfort and USD 600 or more with souvenirs or alcohol. The Annapurna guide puts independent trekkers at USD 45 to 55 per day on budget, USD 60 to 75 on standard and USD 80 to 95 or more on comfort, and estimates NPR 90,000 to 130,000 per person for a 14-day independent trek. Both are commercial, not audited, so use them as a cross-check against the tables, not as a quote.

A cash plan that works

1. Withdraw the first tranche on arrival, using a machine inside a bank branch in daylight, and the rest over the next days.
2. Split the float: some in a money belt, some in your daypack, a small amount in your guide's or partner's care if you trust them.
3. Keep spare rupees for a delay: a grounded flight can add days of lodging, as in Lukla flight delays.
4. Carry small notes. Change for a large note can be hard to find in a village.
5. Do not carry more than you need on the descent; spend down the cash and withdraw again in town.
6. Tell your bank you are travelling, and write down its lost-card number.

If you walk with a partner, agree who pays what and settle up in the city; our post on what to agree before you book covers it, and the logistics checklist covers the rest.

Where sources conflict or are silent

• Namche limits: one source says NPR 35,000 to 50,000, while the broader guide says 25,000 is the most common foreign-card cap and 35,000 the high end. We cannot say which applies at a given machine.
• Chame, Syabrubesi and Langtang: no confirmed ATM in our sources; an undated Chame or Jomsom remark is not usable.
• We found no official bank list of trail ATMs, and operator blogs are commercial.
• Lukla: a single operator describes one machine with low limits and high fees; no second source.
• The fee figures are 2026 traveller guides, not bank tariffs, and they may change.

Plan your trek budget

Open the cost calculator to set your own route and tier, then post a trip so a partner can share guide and porter costs. See the trekking partner page, or browse open trips. We are a matching platform, not an agency or a bank: we do not handle your money.