Planning your Annapurna Circuit trek? One of the first and most important steps is creating a realistic budget. This guide breaks down the expected costs to help you prepare. Traces the route because it ranges from green rainforests to dry alpine deserts, with mountain passes mountaineering to extra than 17,000 feet. But before you pull on your boots, there’s business to attend to — both financial and logistical.
Knowing what to budget for the Annapurna Circuit Trek Itinerary will also help to prevent any unwelcome surprises when you are on the trail. So, wherever you’re using that fat-pack, whether you’re slumming it, luxury hiking, or doing something in between, this post should be giving you a real and practical guide as to how to budget your way to, through, and from out there on the trail.
Annapurna Circuit Budget – An Overview and what affects it (Summarised)
Annapurna Circuit Trek Total Cost: Your total Annapurna Circuit Trek cost is somewhat hard to estimate. The duration of your hike, whether you intend to hike alone or with a guide, and how fancy you would like to get (mattress only or all-out camping gear?), is your budget itself, as well as the time of year you’ve chosen to travel.
Independent trekkers take 14-18 days to walk the circuit. (While trekking may be possible on the cheap, a couple of creature comforts — some supplementary snacks, hot showers, or porters, for example — are likely to inflate the bottom line.) This guide will walk a middle line: a little cheaper than dirt, but not luxury travel, either.
And Just What The Hell Are Permit Fees, And Why Do Millionaires Need Them
Two permits. Each Annapurna Circuit Trekking trekker is required to obtain two permits before embarking on the trek. The first is the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) permit, to help conserve the region’s environment. The second thing is the TIMS card ( Trekkers’ Information Management System). People are to take this wisely because it is a security measure on behalf of the trekker.
The Annapurna entrance permit (ACAP) is currently 3,000 Nepalese rupees for all, and the TIMS card is currently 2,000 Nepalese rupees for independent trekkers and 1,000 Nepalese rupees for trekkers walking with a registered guide. So these permits, calculated e US$/INR 40-50, would cost you ( and also depend on the Dollar Rate).
How Much You’ll Pay to Hit the Trail
You can usually get food and lodging at teahouses, small guesthouses that are often run by a Nepali family, on the Annapurna Circuit. You can step up from nothing but the price of the meal to song at low elevations.
But again, that is when we start to run up a bit in the price structure as we work higher. I recommend you travel with around 3 to 6 dollars per night in the lower villages (even if it says “We have free wifi”) or 8 to 10 dollars in the less accessible slots, e.g., Thorong Phedi and High Camp.
There are also bare-bones rooms — twin beds, a blanket, and a shared bathroom. No heat, not a lot of luxury gear, especially in the cold at altitude. If you need more than a bed — say, a private bathroom or extra padding beneath that bed — expect to pay a bit more.
Avg Daily Spends on Food and Drink Cost for One Week of Food and Drink on a Ion Trekicopterggfgfggng DaysACATIONSforest_2urbation.
Cheaper foods are what most of your days are spent on. Wherever you climb, food of any kind is more expensive the higher up you get, such is the difficulty of shifting supplies up the more remote parts of this route.
The local equivalent of 3 to 5 dollars is a small price to pay for porridge, eggs, and tea to start the day.Lunch/dinner (dal bhat, pasta, fried rice, momos) – 5-8 USD. Tea, coffee, and bottled water are also extras, more so as you ascend.
If you don’t bring cooking gear and cook the teahouse style, eat no one to eat with but yourself, a nd everybody else in the teahouse the whole time &you can allow for 20-25 dollars/day.
To the Trailhead And Back: Buses and Jeeps
You’ll usually start your Annapurna Circuit trek in Kathmandu or Pokhara. Most trekkers have been filing into Bhesisahar by either public bus or shared jeep — two personal travel options that will be important to consider before setting out on the trail. A public bus from Kathmandu to Besisahar can cost you anywhere between 10-12 USD. A quicker (and much more comfy) jeep might set you back closer to 20 or 30 bucks, depending on whether you’re splitting a ride or hiring your own.
Most likely, you will fly out from the end of the trek (Jomsom or Muktinath) on a local jeep back to Pokhara. Note: Those are rides that would add up to 25-40 bucks, especially since the road isn’t THAT nice and taxis/Uber aren’t around the corner.
So it’s another 50-70 bucks on top of that at the end of the day to get to JFK and come back.
Comparison Chart and Porter Prices for a PARTIAL HELP NEEDED person
A licensed trekking guide can narrowcast you: teach you about the region, know the neat waypoints, and get you out of trouble. If you would like to use a guide, that’s typically 25 – 35 dollars a day, including food and lodging.
If you choose to hire a porter to assist with your gear, you can expect to pay between 18 to 25 dollars a day. Porters can only carry around 20 – 25kg….so 1 porter per 2 trekkers you trek with: Bags for 2 trekkers.
It’s another 500-800 bucks for a 2nd person for a 2-week trek, and it helps someone earn a job, and it’s nice to have some added support.
How Much Trekking Gear and Clothing Can Cost in You’re Buying or Renting in Nepal
If you’re making your gear, you might not cross all that many of your expenses off before you begin. But also, if you’re headed up light, or if you just forgot something, both Kathmandu and Pokhara have dozens of shops that will sell (and in some cases rent) you what you need.
If you rent a down jacket or sleeping bag, you should plan to pay 1USD – 2USD per day. If you throw in some midrange gear, you can easily add 100 to 300 dollars, depending on what you pick.
And you have to spend that money on shoes regardless, and let me tell you, most hikers run you 100-200 bucks.
Extra Costs: Hot Shower, Wi-Fi, and II Charging
All the essentials are included in the rate you pay each night (though you’ll often pay a small fee for a few extras whenever and however you can get your hands on them- Wi-Fi, device charging, or hot showers, usually—especially if altitude is involved.
The cost for a Wi-Fi connection could be between $2 and $5 per use. Hereish, you can pay $1 to $3 an hour to power up a phone or camera. Hot-water showers cost around $2-4 a pop, and some charge by the bucket of hot water.
The balance will be for you to pay from, out of which you have to pay on own i.e, lunch & dinner, shopping, drinks, desert while in city, laundry service, telephone, bar bills, sweets, tea & coffee in the house, after completion of 33%Himalayan Herbs Table and 40% Environmental 4 Hanuman Table, toilet paper, snacks, pure drinking water, bottle / bottled water, money you give as tips and donation to the monasteries and school etc. And build in a small daily cushion, to yes the yeses, just so you can be flexible, add a friend, take a lesson, add a scarf, or rebook a missed cable car.
On the Fly Cash Tips + Budgeting + Planning for the Unexpected or Last Minute Adjustments
And as you budget, try to budget in a bit more time for rest days, for days when you’re sick, for thunderstorm layovers, or changes of heart. That 100 or 150 bucks in one of those emergency funds could be a lifesaver.”
Cash is king on the trail. Yes, there are no ATMs on the route (once you get outside of towns like Besisahar and Manang), so be absolutely sure to load up on cash in Kathmandu or Pokhara before you leave.
Most trekkers go their way and spend $500 to $800 all in, including flights to Nepal, on the Annapurna Circuit for themselves. Figure on a price of $1,000 to $1,400, depending on how long and how plush you believe you need to trek, complete with guides and a cushier style.
