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ANNAPURNA BASE CAMP TREK COST – How we did it on less than £20 a day!

How much does it really cost to trek to Annapurna Base Camp?

The Annapurna Base Camp Trek is one of the most popular hiking trails in Nepal. Moderate in difficulty, and relatively short, the trek appeals to both beginner and experienced trekkers alike. And while many end up spending a large amount of money on trekking to Annapurna Base Camp; we know from experience, that this doesn’t have to be the case.

In fact, our Annapurna Base Camp Trek Cost turned out to be less than £20 a day per person. That includes permits, rental gear, and all costs along the trail. In this guide, we breakdown the expenses of our 7-day Trek to Annapurna Base Camp. We also share all our money-saving secrets, so that you too can complete this once in a lifetime experience on a low budget.

Suggested read: Training for your Annapurna Base Camp Trek

FIRST THINGS FIRST… TRAVEL INSURANCE

It’s important to note that most standard travel insurance packages do not include high altitude trekking. The risks of trekking at a high altitude are significant. We saw many people having to be helicoptered down due to altitude sickness or injury. The cost of a helicopter rescue is $2500, so unless you can afford that, be sure to get suitable cover.

World Nomads are our favoured travel insurers as they make it super easy to make changes to your policy. We contacted them the day before we were due to start our trek and a simple add on gave us cover right away. Get a quick quote from World Nomads here or using the form below.

*As the cost of travel insurance varies from person to person, we have not included this in our Annapurna Base Camp Trek Costs.

annapurna avalanche
Crossing the Avalanche Risk Area before arriving at Annapurna Base Camp

TIMS CARD AND PERMIT FOR TREKKING

To trek to Annapurna Base Camp, you will need to obtain a TIMs card and a permit from the tourism centres in either Pokhara or Kathmandu.

The process is simple; however, there are some things you need to consider. To this end, we have put together a simple step by step guide that will help make this process straight forward.

Must Read:  A step by step guide to getting your Annapurna Trekking Permit

TIMS CARD AND PERMIT COSTS

ACAP (Annapurna Trekking Permit) Foreigner: 2,000 NPR ($18/£14)
TIMS permit (without a guide) 2,000 NPR: ($18/£14)

The total cost per person: £28

TREKKING GEAR – RENTAL AND BOUGHT

Must Read: The Ultimate Annapurna Base Camp Packing List

Trekking in Nepal was (like most of our decisions) a last-minute thing. We’d spent the two previous months in India, sweating our boobies off, and the warmest item we owned was a thin hooded jumper.

Thankfully, everything we needed, from down jackets to hiking boots, was available to buy or rent. We rented most of our hiking gear in a Lakeside store in Pokhara and the quality was very good for an affordable price. Here are the daily rental prices we paid:

  • Cold temperature sleeping bag with stuff sack: 100NPR/£0.70 per day.
  • Down jacket with stuff sack: 150NPR/£1 per day.
  • Hiking Boots: 150NPR/£1 per day.
  • Trekking Poles: 80NPR/£0.60 per day.

The total cost per person (7 days rental): £6.90

And we bought:

  • Warm Hat: 250NPR/£1.80
  • 2 x Trekking Socks: 200NPR/£1.40 a pair
  • Warm Gloves: 250NPR/£1.80

The total cost per person: £6.40

*Tip – Hiking Boots are available to buy for around 4000NPR/£28; however, the authenticity and quality is questionable. We heard stories from other hikers of the boots coming apart after just a few days. The best option when it comes to hiking boots is to bring your own.

annapurna best time

ANNAPURNA BASE CAMP TREK COST – ACCOMMODATION

You would think that accommodation on the ABC trek would be your biggest expense, wouldn’t you? Wrong! A bed in a tea house is, in fact, unbelievably cheap.

We were averaging 500 NPR (£3.54) for a private double room each night, (although we know others who found cheaper), with the proviso that you order food from the onsight restaurant. This was never an issue as the last thing you want to do after a long day trekking is to move anywhere.

While some villages have ‘premium’ teahouses, most are very basic. You will often get a shared bathroom, and any luxuries such as a hot shower or wifi generally come at an extra cost.

The total cost of accommodation (5 nights): 2700 NPR (£19)
The total cost per person (5 nights): 1350 NPR (£9.50)

ANNAPURNA BASE CAMP TREK COST – FOOD & DRINK

As mentioned above, the caveat of staying at any teahouse is that you order your dinner with them, and this is how they make their money! While you can expect to find a wide selection of food choices on the menu, they do not come cheap. Not when you compare the prices to Kathmandu or Pokhara anyway.

Regardless of the price, the food we had along the trail was actually pretty good. You’ll want to order something carb-heavy after a days trekking and there’s plenty to choose from in that respect. The popular choice among trekkers is the local dish Dal Baht, as it comes with unlimited refills. But you can also order pizza, burgers, noodles, and even baked goods in some places.

Tea and coffee can be expensive at the teahouses, which made us wish we had brought our own. That way we would have only had to buy hot water. Alcohol was almost prohibitively expensive; although we never fancied drinking at all during the trek as it can increase your chance of altitude sickness.

The total cost of food per person: 5665 NPR (£40.00)
The total cost of drinks per person: 2100 NPR (£15.00)

annapurna trekking

ANNAPURNA BASE CAMP TREK COST – EXTRAS

As mentioned above, any extras such as a hot shower, wifi, a heater or sometimes even electric sockets, are an additional charge at some guesthouses. At an effort to keep our budget under £20.00 a day, we only treated ourselves once to a hot shower. Thankfully, we had our RavPower Power Bank to charge our electricals, and we went completely cold turkey on using the internet. It was bliss!

The total cost of extras per person (1 hot shower) – 100 NPR (£0.70)

ANNAPURNA BASE CAMP TREK COST – SNACKS

Taking plenty of snacks with you on your trek is one of our top money-saving tips. By taking enough high energy snacks, such as nuts, protein bars, peanut butter, and chocolate, we only had to buy two meals a day. This saved us at-least £20 each.

You can find snacks along the route; however, you will pay a premium. As a guideline, we splurged on our last day on a bottle of sprite and a snicker. It set us back 400 NPR (£3.00).

Total costs of snacks per person: 1400 NPR (£10.00) (including the sprite and snicker).

ANNAPURNA BASE CAMP TREK COST – TRANSPORT

Finally, let’s look at transport to and from the trek. To save costs, we opted for a bus to the starting point rather than a taxi. However, on the way back to Pokhara, we splurged on a jeep so as not to have to stay on the trail another night.

For more information on bus timetables, jeeps, taxis, and prices, check out our guide to completing Annapurna Base Camp in 7 days.

The total cost of transport per person: 1375 NPR (£10.00)

ANNAPURNA BASE CAMP TREK COST – TOTAL

So, there we have it. This is how we managed to complete the Annapurna Base Camp Trek on just £20.00 a day.

annapurna base camp

MONEY-SAVING HACKS FOR ANNAPURNA BASE CAMP TREK

1. TREK WITHOUT A GUIDE OR PORTER

At an effort to keep our Annapurna Base Camp Trek costs down, we decided to trek without a guide or porter. We did some research beforehand and were pretty confident we wouldn’t get lost on this relatively developed trail.

For us personally, it turned out to be the right decision. There are signs in every village that point you to the next one, and it would be difficult to make a wrong turn. Not only that, but you’re never too far from another group on the trail. Unless you are keen to learn more about the local culture and environment, a guide is not necessary.

You also have the option to hire a porter who will carry your belongings for you on the trek. Again, we decided against this as we wanted the challenge for ourselves. We packed light and left behind most of our belongings at our guesthouse in Pokhara.

Must Read: The Ultimate Annapurna Base Camp Packing List

To pay for a guide and porter can significantly increase the cost of your experience. Prices start at $25 per day for a guide and $15 a day for a porter. Although it would have been nice to provide a job for a local, unfortunately, we did not have the budget on this occasion.

Alternatively, you could opt for a shorter trek such as Poon Hill, which will help to reduce costs even further.

2. TAKE A STERIPEN OR IODINE TABLETS TO STERILISE WATER

To buy drinking water on the trek can seem exploitatively expensive; however, at the end of the day, somebody has to get it up there. To avoid paying up to 500 NPR per refill (and you’re going to need at least 3 a day), consider using a sterilising method instead. A steripen is a worthwhile investment for any long term traveller, or alternatively iodine tablets (available in Pokhara or Kathmandu) work just as efficiently.

*Tip – Water sterilised using a steripen is ready in just 90 seconds, while you have to wait 30 minutes when you use iodine tablets.

3. USE LOCAL TRANSPORT TO AND FROM THE TREK

Instead of taking a taxi to and from the trek, use local transport instead. The bus from Pokhara to Nayapul (start point) was 200 NPR (£1.40) vs 1000 NPR (£7.00) for a taxi.

4. AVOID LUXURIES ON THE TRAIL (HOT WATER SHOWER, WIFI, etc.)

Giving in to luxuries each day, such as hot water showers, WIFI, real coffee etc. can soon bump up your Annapurna Base Camp trek costs. We had a complete internet detox (which was bliss by the way) and only paid for one hot shower throughout the week. To be honest, it was way too cold most of the time to even think about getting naked!

Stock up on baby wipes, take your own coffee, and if you really need internet, get a local sim card in Pokhara or Kathmandu.

5. TAKE A POWER BANK

While some teahouses offer free electrical points, many of the budget options charge extra to use them. To keep this expense to a minimum, we recommend taking a RavPower high voltage power bank. This baby is one of our backpacker essentials and has got us out of plenty of sticky situations.

We can usually get around 6-7 full charges out of our power bank, and with 3 USB ports, you can charge multiple devices at the same time. A godsend!

6. BUY MEDICATION & TOILETRIES BEFOREHAND

It’s better to be prepared in advance than have to pay a premium for such items on the trail. Be sure to check out our ultimate packing list for the ABC trek to see what items you should take with you.

7. TAKE PLENTY OF SNACKS

Taking plenty of snacks with you on your trek is one of our top money-saving tips. By taking enough high energy snacks, such as nuts, protein bars, peanut butter, and chocolate, we only had to buy two meals a day.

While snacks are available to buy along the trail, be prepared to pay a premium. Our advice is to stock up in advance and while slightly limited, you can find a variety of items in Kathmandu or Pokhara. Again, check out our packing list for what snacks we recommend taking.

8. RENT TREKKING GEAR

If it’s your first-time multi-day trekking (like us), you might want to consider renting your trekking gear rather than buying it. Our logic was that we had no idea if we were going to dig this kind of experience (which we totally did btw), so why spend a fortune on kitting ourselves out.

Thankfully, all the expensive stuff, from down jackets to hiking boots, was available to buy or rent. We rented most of our hiking gear in a Lakeside store in Pokhara and the quality was very good for an affordable price. If you missed it, here are the rental prices again:

  • Cold temperature sleeping bag with stuff sack: 100NPR/£0.70 per day.
  • Down jacket with stuff sack: 150NPR/£1 per day.
  • Hiking Boots: 150NPR/£1 per day.
  • Trekking Poles: 80NPR/£0.60 per day.
annapurna sunset

TRAVEL RESPONSIBLY

As travellers, it should always be a top priority to travel responsibly.  We already leave a substantial carbon footprint just by flying to our travel destinations, so that’s even more reason to make a positive impact when we get there.  There are many small steps you can take to becoming a responsible traveller, and we highly encourage you to educate yourself before trekking in the Himalayas. Here are some things you can do to minimise your footprint when trekking in Nepal:

1. Do not leave any rubbish along the trail (unless it’s in a bin): You would think this would go without saying;  however, there are some questionable humans who think it’s ok to leave rubbish lying around on the trail.

2. Carry a Steripen or iodine tablets to sterilise water: This not only limits your usage of single-use plastic but also saves you money too!

3. Respect the local culture: Be courteous of the local culture and act in such a way that leaves a good impression.  Learn a little of the local language (hello and thank you is the minimum, you can use Google Translate), greet the locals in a polite manner, and respect dress codes & traditions.

Well, that concludes the Annapurna Base Camp Trek Cost and Budget. If you have any questions or feel we have missed anything, please reach out to us in the comment section below.

Stay adventurous & happy trekking,

Charlotte & Natalie X

Disclosure:  Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. That means that if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. And we can continue bringing you free travel tips and advice.  If you use our affiliates, you are awesome, and we thank you! 

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ANNAPURNA BASE CAMP TREK COST – How we did it on less than £20 a day!

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govin

Monday 13th of February 2023

Wow, great information about the Annapurna trek. Thank you for sharing.

Our Taste For Life

Wednesday 2nd of August 2023

Thank you for taking the time to comment!