16-Day Annapurna Base Camp Trek Nepal

16 Days to the Annapurna Sanctuary

Days 1 to 3  |  Kathmandu

Arrive in Kathmandu for the trek briefing and three days in the Kathmandu Valley. Swayambhunath, the hilltop stupa known as the Monkey Temple, has been a center of Buddhist practice for over two thousand years. Pashupatinath, on the Bagmati River, is the most sacred Hindu site in Nepal. Boudhanath is the center of the Tibetan Buddhist community in exile. The Durbar Squares of Kathmandu and Patan are full of medieval Newari stone and timber work, and the old town of Kirtipur, on its ridge above the valley, is one of the best preserved of the valley’s ancient settlements. These days are a good introduction to the culture you will meet on the trail.

Days 4 to 6  |  Pokhara and the Foothills

Drive west to Pokhara, where Phewa Lake sits below the whole southern face of the Annapurna range, with Machhapuchhre right above the far shore. A morning row on the lake gives you your first close view of the peaks you will be walking toward. The trek starts at Nayapul and climbs through the terraced farmland and stone villages of the Modi Khola foothills. The Gurung communities of Landruk and the villages around it are at the heart of the approach: their bravery as Gurkha soldiers is part of Nepali and British military history, and experienced trekkers here often mention their hospitality first.

Days 7 to 9  |  Chomrong and the Modi Khola Gorge

Above Chomrong the trail narrows into the Modi Khola gorge. Rhododendron forest closes in above the river, and above Dovan you reach the Hinko Cave, a huge overhanging rock big enough to have sheltered the whole 1970 Bonington expedition, which used it during the first ascent of Annapurna’s South Face. Above the cave the gorge is at its narrowest, with the walls of Hiunchuli on the left and Machhapuchhre on the right forming the natural gateway into the sanctuary.

Day 10  |  Annapurna Base Camp

Above the gateway the sanctuary opens into a high glacial basin at 4,130 meters, ringed by a near-complete circle of Himalayan peaks. From base camp you see Annapurna I (8,091 meters), Annapurna South, Hiunchuli, Machhapuchhre, Annapurna III, Gangapurna, and Annapurna IV in a single view. A full day here, instead of a quick visit and an immediate descent, gives you time to walk the moraine, take in the size of the faces around you, and enjoy the quiet.

Days 11 to 13  |  Ghandruk and the Hot Springs

Retrace the approach down through the gorge and the rhododendron forest to Ghandruk, one of the largest and most prosperous Gurung villages in the Annapurna region. From Ghandruk the trail drops to the natural hot springs at Jhinudanda, geothermal pools at the river’s edge that feel very good after the altitude of the sanctuary. From the springs you look out over terraced farmland stepping down to the Modi Khola, a view worth sitting still for even without the big peaks.

Days 14 to 16  |  Patan, Bhaktapur, and Departure

Return to Kathmandu by road or by a short flight past the Manaslu and Ganesh Himal massifs. The last days visit Patan’s Golden Temple and Bhaktapur’s Peacock Window, a single carved wooden window that is the best-known piece of Newari woodcarving, in a medieval city that has kept its character by keeping out motor traffic. A farewell dinner in Kathmandu ends the trip.

Day by Day

Days 1 to 3  Kathmandu  The Sacred Valley

Arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport for a traditional welcome and transfer to the boutique hotel. That evening’s briefing covers the full 16-day trip: the route from Pokhara through the Modi Khola foothills to the Annapurna Sanctuary, the altitude profile from the lower valley to base camp at 4,130 meters, how we acclimatize for the high section, and what to expect in the gorge above Dovan. We arrange your Annapurna Conservation Area permit and TIMS trekking permit during these days.

Swayambhunath, the hilltop stupa above the western edge of Kathmandu, is one of the oldest Buddhist sites in Nepal. You climb the 365 stone steps of the eastern staircase, past prayer wheels and carved images worn smooth by centuries of hands, to the stupa at the top, whose painted eyes look out across the valley in all four directions. For many visitors it is the picture of Kathmandu they take home. Pashupatinath, on the Bagmati River, is different and just as important: a working Hindu temple where the cremation ghats are in constant use, sadhus sit in the outer courtyards, and daily worship goes on with no museum or heritage signs in between. Boudhanath’s stupa, one of the largest in the world, rises above a ring of monasteries and homes of the Tibetan Buddhist community that has made this neighborhood its center since the 1950s. On the last Kathmandu day, a guided tour of Durbar Square and the lanes of Kirtipur introduces the Newari art you will see again at Bhaktapur on the way home.

Stay: Luxury Boutique Hotel in Kathmandu

Days 4 to 6  Pokhara to Landruk  Lakeside and the Foothills

The drive from Kathmandu to Pokhara follows the Prithvi Highway west through the middle hills, and the Annapurna range appears above the northern ridgeline as you near the lake. Pokhara, at 800 meters, sits right below the southern face of the massif. In the early morning Phewa Lake is still, with Machhapuchhre and the Annapurna peaks reflected on the water. A row across the lake before the wind arrives gives you a first sense of the size of the mountains you will walk among for the next ten days.

The trek starts at Nayapul, a short drive from Pokhara, and climbs straight into the terraced farmland of the Modi Khola foothills. The Gurung and Magar villages here are among the most traditional on any approach route in the Annapurna region: stone houses, terraced fields worked by hand and by animal, and families who have sent soldiers to the Gurkha regiments of the British and Indian armies for two centuries, living in a way the altitude and terrain have preserved. From the ridge above Landruk you get your first views of the Annapurna range, with the sanctuary peaks above and the Modi Khola valley below.

Stay: Luxury Hotel in Pokhara then Best Available Mountain Lodges

Days 7 to 9  Chomrong to the Sanctuary  The Rhododendron Ridge

Chomrong (2,170 meters) is the last sizable village before the gorge. From Chomrong to Dovan the trail follows the Modi Khola through forest that changes as you climb: rhododendron and oak lower down, then bamboo, then the subalpine growth of the upper gorge. In spring the rhododendrons bloom red and pink on the hillsides above the trail.

The Hinko Cave above Dovan has a history. Its overhanging rock is big enough to have sheltered the whole team of Chris Bonington’s 1970 British expedition on their approach to the South Face. The South Face of Annapurna was the most technically demanding Himalayan climb of its day: a 3,000-meter wall of rock and ice that no one had attempted before Bonington’s team arrived below it. The cave itself is just a feature of the gorge, but it means more once you know who sheltered there. Above the cave the gorge narrows to its tightest point, with the walls of Hiunchuli on the left and the south-west ridge of Machhapuchhre on the right forming the gateway into the sanctuary.

Beyond the gateway the sanctuary opens into a wide glacial basin, and the peaks you glimpsed through the gorge are in full view: the huge south face of Annapurna I above, the pyramid of Machhapuchhre to the east, and Hiunchuli and Annapurna South to the south. The base camp lodges, at 4,130 meters, sit on the moraine above the South Annapurna Glacier, with peaks filling the sky in every direction.

Stay: Best Available Mountain Lodges and Annapurna Base Camp Lodge

Day 10  Annapurna Base Camp  The Throne Room

The full day at Annapurna Base Camp (4,130 meters) is the center of the trek. The near-complete circle of peaks around the camp, Annapurna I, Annapurna South, Hiunchuli, Machhapuchhre, Annapurna III, Gangapurna, and Annapurna IV, is what gives the sanctuary its name. The phrase throne room of the gods has been in use since the first trekking groups came in the 1960s, and few viewpoints in Nepal are so completely surrounded by high peaks. The mornings, before the clouds build, are the clearest, and an early walk along the moraine shows you the faces from different angles as the light moves across them.

The South Face of Annapurna, which you see from base camp, opened a new era in Himalayan mountaineering when Bonington’s team climbed it in 1970. Until then, the hardest Himalayan climbs had followed the standard ridge routes; the South Face was the first time Alpine techniques were used on an 8,000-meter peak. From base camp you are looking at both the mountain and that piece of climbing history.

Stay: Annapurna Base Camp Lodge

Days 11 to 13  Ghandruk and Jhinudanda  The Homeward Path

The descent retraces the approach through the gateway gorge and the rhododendron forest. With no more altitude to gain, you have time for the forest and the river that you did not have on the way up. Ghandruk (1,940 meters) is one of the largest and best-preserved Gurung villages in the Annapurna region, with stone houses, a strong community life, and the regional center of the Annapurna Conservation Area Project.

The natural hot springs at Jhinudanda are a short walk below the main trail: geothermal pools at the river’s edge, warm enough to bathe in. After the sanctuary and two days of descent through the gorge, an hour in the pools does more for tired legs than any lodge shower. From the springs you look over terraced fields stepping down to the Modi Khola, watered by channels the Gurung villages have kept up for generations, with the high peaks above and the farmed valley below.

Stay: Best Available Mountain Lodges

Days 14 to 16  Kathmandu  Patan, Bhaktapur, and Farewell

Return to Kathmandu by road from Pokhara, or by a short flight that passes the Manaslu and Ganesh Himal massifs on the western approach, for a last look at the high peaks from the air. The final days in Kathmandu are for the medieval cities of the valley. Patan’s Golden Temple, formally Hiranya Varna Mahavihar, is a Buddhist monastery in the center of the old city, in continuous use since the twelfth century, and its courtyard and gilded facades are among the best examples of Newari religious architecture in Nepal.

Bhaktapur is the most intact of the valley’s three medieval royal cities. Motor traffic is kept out of the old city, and so much Newari architecture lines its streets that it still feels medieval. The Peacock Window on the Pujari Math in Tachupal Tole is the best-known single piece of Newari woodcarving in Nepal: a lattice of carved peacock feathers in wood, worked by generations of artisans, so fine that you can pick out individual feathers. That evening’s farewell dinner in Kathmandu, with traditional Newari food and the whole guide team, is a proper end to a trip that has taken you from the sacred streets of the capital to the Annapurna Sanctuary and back.

Stay: Luxury Boutique Hotel in Kathmandu

The Sherpa Standard

Every SherpaHolidays trip is fully supported from arrival to departure. Here is what that means on this one.

Accommodation and Meals

• City Hotels: A luxury boutique hotel in Kathmandu on arrival and return, and a premium hotel in Pokhara before the trek.
• Mountain Lodges: The best available mountain lodges from Landruk to the sanctuary and back.
• Base Camp Lodge: One night at the Annapurna Base Camp lodge at 4,130 meters, the highest point on the route.
• Full Board on Trek: All meals on the trek, with breakfast, lunch, and dinner at every lodge.
• City Meals: Daily breakfast at the Kathmandu and Pokhara hotels, plus a farewell dinner of traditional Newari food on your last evening in Kathmandu.

Leadership and Support

• Expedition Guide: One dedicated English-speaking Sherpa trekking guide for the whole trek, who knows the Annapurna Sanctuary route, Gurung culture, and high-altitude trail conditions well.
• Sherpa Support Team: Professional porters who carry your luggage and handle trek logistics throughout the trekking section.
• City Guide: A professional English-speaking guide for all sightseeing in the Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara, including Durbar Square, Swayambhunath, Pashupatinath, Boudhanath, Patan, and Bhaktapur.

Transport and Permits

• Private Transfers: All ground transportation in a private, air-conditioned vehicle, including airport pickup, the drive from Kathmandu to Pokhara, and all city sightseeing transfers.
• Permits: Annapurna Conservation Area permit and TIMS trekking permit, fully covered.
• Heritage Access: All entrance fees for Kathmandu Valley UNESCO heritage sites, temples, and monuments.

What Is Not Included

• International airfare to and from Kathmandu and Nepal entry visa fees
• Lunch and dinner in Kathmandu and Pokhara, except the farewell dinner
• Optional activities including paragliding from Sarangkot, the Everest mountain flight, or sunrise views from Sarangkot Hill
• Comprehensive travel insurance, which is a condition of every booking. Your policy must cover emergency medical treatment, emergency evacuation, trip cancellation and interruption, and repatriation. We can recommend providers.
• Tips for guides and porters, personal trekking equipment, and souvenirs
• Single supplement (for those taking a private room)

Five Highlights

Annapurna Base Camp

The glacial basin of the Annapurna Sanctuary, at 4,130 meters, is ringed on almost every side by Himalayan peaks. Annapurna I (8,091 meters) fills the northern wall, and Machhapuchhre, Hiunchuli, Annapurna South, Annapurna III, and Gangapurna complete the circle. Base camp sits on the moraine above the South Annapurna Glacier, with peaks in every direction. People have called the sanctuary the throne room of the gods since the first trekkers reached it in the 1960s. The mornings, before the clouds build, give you the clearest view of the whole circle above you and the glacier below.

The Modi Khola Gorge and the Hinko Cave

The Modi Khola gorge above Dovan is the only way into the Annapurna Sanctuary. The trail passes the Hinko Cave, a huge overhanging rock that sheltered Chris Bonington’s 1970 expedition during the first ascent of Annapurna’s South Face, and then reaches the narrowest point, where Hiunchuli and Machhapuchhre form a natural gate into the basin above. It takes only minutes to go from the closed-in gorge to the open sanctuary. Most Annapurna region trekkers take the circuit route, and very few walk through this gorge.

Phewa Lake and the Mountain Reflection

Pokhara sits closer to a major Himalayan massif than almost any other town its size in Nepal. In the early morning, before the wind picks up, Phewa Lake reflects the whole southern face of the Annapurna range and the pyramid of Machhapuchhre above the far shore. A row across the lake before the trek, with the reflection below you and the summits above, gives you your first sense of the size of the mountains you will walk among for the next ten days.

The Gurung Villages

The Gurung communities of the Modi Khola foothills have sent soldiers to the Gurkha regiments of the British and Indian armies for two centuries, and the villages on the approach show the discipline and prosperity that this service has brought. Ghandruk, one of the largest Gurung settlements in the region, is worth an unhurried walk. Its stone houses and terraced fields, and the village’s active role in managing the Annapurna Conservation Area since the late 1980s, give it a character that the busier stops on other trekking routes lack. The hospitality is warm, and experienced Annapurna trekkers often mention it first.

Patan and Bhaktapur

The last days of the trip visit two of the best-preserved medieval cities in the Kathmandu Valley. Patan’s Golden Temple is a Buddhist monastery in continuous use since the twelfth century, and its gilded facades and courtyard are some of the best Newari religious architecture there is. Bhaktapur’s Peacock Window is the best-known piece of Newari woodcarving: a single latticed window of carved peacock feathers in wood, in a medieval city whose car-free streets have kept their character better than the other valley cities. After ten days in the Annapurna foothills, the fine detail of the carving makes a striking change from the scale of the mountains.