Nepal: the Annapurna foothills and Poon Hill trek

1. Day 1: Arrive in Kathmandu

   Tribhuvan International Airport to your hotel in Kathmandu

   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Kathmandu
   Day 1 details

   Welcome to Nepal. Most nationalities buy a visa on arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport, then a driver meets you outside arrivals for the short drive to your hotel, close to the lanes of Thamel. Kathmandu sits at about 1,400 metres in a wide valley ringed by green hills, and on a clear evening you can see snow peaks to the north. The afternoon is free to rest or wander. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a welcome dinner of momos and dal bhat and a first briefing on the trek: how the days run, what goes in the duffel the porters carry, what stays behind, and how the teahouses work. Bring your boots and layers to dinner if you are unsure about them; the full gear check is tomorrow afternoon. If you land late, your guide repeats the briefing over breakfast.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM)
   • Welcome dinner and trek briefing with your guide

   Free time: Free until the welcome dinner

2. Day 2: Swayambhunath at first light and Durbar Square

   Swayambhunath and Kathmandu Durbar Square, then a gear check

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Kathmandu
   Day 2 details

   We leave early for Swayambhunath, the hilltop stupa on the west side of the city, while pilgrims are walking the circuit, turning prayer wheels and feeding the resident monkeys. The light is soft at this hour and the haze has not yet settled over the valley below. From there we drive into the old city for Kathmandu Durbar Square with a licensed local guide: the former royal palace of Hanuman Dhoka, the temples rebuilt or braced since the 2015 earthquake, and the Kumari Ghar, home of the living goddess. Lunch is a sit-down meal near the square. The afternoon is for the trek. Your guide checks boots, layers and daypacks, hands out duffels and the sleeping bags we lend, and walks anyone who needs poles or a rain shell to the gear shops of Thamel. The evening is free; Thamel has plenty of places to eat.

   Included

   • Swayambhunath early in the morning
   • Kathmandu Durbar Square with a local guide, including the Kumari Ghar
   • Sit-down lunch in the old city
   • Gear check, duffel and a sleeping bag to borrow

   Free time: Evening free in Thamel

   Activity: About 3 hours on foot in the morning, including the stone stairs at Swayambhunath.

   

3. Day 3: Fly to Pokhara

   Kathmandu to Pokhara by plane, then to Lakeside

   • By plane
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Pokhara
   Day 3 details

   A morning flight west to Pokhara takes about 25 minutes, against six to eight hours on the road. Sit on the right side of the plane: on a clear morning the Himalaya runs along the horizon, with the Annapurnas and the fishtail peak of Machhapuchhre ahead as you land. We drive a few minutes to our hotel at Lakeside, on the shore of Phewa Lake, where we stay tonight and again for two nights after the trek, so whatever you do not need on the trail stays here in the hotel storeroom. Lunch is a sit-down meal by the lake. Afterwards you meet your licensed Nepali trek leader and the porters, pack your duffel (up to 10 kg) and go through tomorrow's route step by step. Late afternoon and evening are free: walk the lakeshore, rent a rowing boat, or have an early night before the first trekking day.

   Included

   • Flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara
   • Airport transfers in Kathmandu and Pokhara
   • Sit-down lunch at Lakeside
   • Trek briefing with your trek leader and porters

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free at Lakeside

   

4. Day 4: Nayapul to Ulleri: the stone staircase

   Pokhara to Nayapul by road, then on foot via Birethanti and Tikhedhunga to Ulleri

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Ulleri
   Day 4 details

   After breakfast we drive about an hour and a half west along the Baglung road to Nayapul, where the trek begins at about 1,070 metres. A short walk brings us to Birethanti, at the meeting of the Modi and Bhurungdi rivers, where the conservation area checkpoint stamps your permit. The first hours follow the Bhurungdi upstream past farms, small waterfalls and suspension bridges to Tikhedhunga, where we stop for lunch at a teahouse. The afternoon is the hard part, and we say so plainly: a steady climb of several thousand stone steps, often quoted as about 3,300, up the terraced hillside to the Magar village of Ulleri at about 2,020 metres. We take it slowly, with rests, and the porters go ahead with the bags. If the evening is clear, Annapurna South and Hiunchuli appear at the head of the valley. About 12 km and 5 to 6 hours on foot.

   Included

   • Drive from Pokhara to Nayapul
   • Annapurna Conservation Area permit and TIMS card
   • Trek from Nayapul to Ulleri with your guides and porters
   • Lunch at Tikhedhunga and dinner at the teahouse

   Easier option: Where the jeep road is open, ride from Birethanti to Tikhedhunga with the porters' bags and save about two hours of walking; the climb to Ulleri is the same for everyone.

   Activity: About 12 km and 5 to 6 hours on foot, with a climb of about 1,000 m, most of it on stone steps after lunch.

   

5. Day 5: Through the rhododendron forest to Ghorepani

   Ulleri to Ghorepani via Banthanti and Nangethanti

   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Ghorepani
   Day 5 details

   Today is shorter and gentler than yesterday. Above Ulleri the steps ease into a steady climb along the ridge, then the trail enters forest of oak and rhododendron hung with moss, crossing streams on small bridges. In March and April the rhododendrons flower red and pink here, and in any season you may hear langur monkeys in the trees. We stop for tea at Banthanti and lunch at Nangethanti, then climb the last hour to Ghorepani, a village of lodges on a saddle at about 2,860 metres. Arriving by mid-afternoon leaves time for a hot shower before the water runs short, a slow walk up to the upper village for the evening view of Dhaulagiri, and an early dinner by the dining room stove. Ghorepani gets cold after dark, so the sleeping bags earn their place tonight. About 9 to 10 km and 4 to 5 hours on foot.

   Included

   • Trek from Ulleri to Ghorepani
   • Hot showers and charging at lodges that have them
   • All meals on the trail with a hot drink and drinking water

   Free time: Late afternoon free in Ghorepani

   Activity: About 9 to 10 km and 4 to 5 hours on foot, with a climb of about 850 m.

6. Day 6: Poon Hill at sunrise, on to Tadapani

   Ghorepani to Poon Hill and back, then over the ridge via Deurali and Banthanti to Tadapani

   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Tadapani
   Day 6 details

   The reason for the trek. We leave the lodge with head torches about an hour before dawn and climb steadily for 45 minutes to an hour to Poon Hill, at 3,210 metres. As the sky lightens, the peaks appear in a long arc: Dhaulagiri to the west across the Kali Gandaki gorge, Annapurna South and Hiunchuli ahead, Machhapuchhre to the east. Many people come up, so we arrive early enough to find a place on the slope rather than behind the tower. Back in Ghorepani for a hot breakfast, we set off east along the ridge through rhododendron forest to a pass of about 3,100 metres, with views back to Dhaulagiri, then descend on stone steps past Banthanti and climb a little to Tadapani. This is the longest day, about 7 hours on foot in all, and lunch is a proper sit-down stop on the way.

   Included

   • Sunrise from Poon Hill, with the viewpoint fee
   • Trek from Ghorepani to Tadapani
   • Lunch on the trail and dinner at the teahouse

   Easier option: Skip the Poon Hill climb: sleep an hour longer and watch the first light on Dhaulagiri from the upper village in Ghorepani with the trek leader, then walk to Tadapani with the group.

   Activity: The longest day: about 1.5 to 2 hours for Poon Hill and back (about 350 m up), then about 10 km and 5 hours to Tadapani on forest trail and stone steps.

   

7. Day 7: Tadapani sunrise, Ghandruk and back to Pokhara

   Tadapani to Ghandruk on foot, then by jeep to Nayapul and by road to Pokhara

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Pokhara
   Day 7 details

   Tadapani sits on a forested ridge facing the Modi valley, and at sunrise you do not need to climb anywhere: Annapurna South and the sharp double summit of Machhapuchhre catch the first light straight from the lodge terraces. After breakfast the trail drops steadily through rhododendron and oak forest for about two and a half hours to Ghandruk, a large Gurung village of stone houses and slate roofs spread over a terraced hillside. Many Gurung men from villages like this have served as Gurkha soldiers. We have lunch in the village and visit the Old Gurung Museum, a traditional house kept with farm tools, clothes and household objects. In the early afternoon a jeep takes us down the hill road to Nayapul, and our van continues to Pokhara, about three hours of driving in all. A hot shower, then an end-of-trek dinner with the trek leader and porters.

   Included

   • Sunrise on Annapurna South and Machhapuchhre from Tadapani
   • Trek from Tadapani to Ghandruk
   • Lunch in Ghandruk and the Old Gurung Museum
   • Jeep from Ghandruk to Nayapul and drive to Pokhara
   • End-of-trek dinner with the crew

   More active option: Walk on down the stone steps from Ghandruk to Kimche, about an hour, and meet the jeep there.

   Activity: About 6 km and 2.5 to 3 hours on foot, mostly downhill on stone steps, which is hard on the knees; poles help. About 3 hours by jeep and van to Pokhara.

8. Day 8: Pokhara: Phewa Lake and a free afternoon

   Lakeside, a boat to Tal Barahi temple, then free time

   • By boat
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Pokhara
   Day 8 details

   A slow morning after the trek, with no alarm and a late breakfast. Mid-morning we walk down to the Lakeside boat landing and cross Phewa Lake in a wooden rowing boat to the small island temple of Tal Barahi, a two-tiered pagoda to a form of the goddess Durga, where local families bring offerings. On a clear day the Annapurnas and Machhapuchhre stand above the far end of the lake. From the island the boats can take anyone who wants a walk to the south shore, for the climb through forest to the white World Peace Pagoda and its view back over the lake and town; the rest of the group returns to Lakeside. The afternoon and evening are free: a massage for tired legs, the cafes along the shore, a paraglide from Sarangkot, or the International Mountain Museum for the history of Himalayan climbing.

   Included

   • Rowing boat on Phewa Lake to Tal Barahi temple

   Optional experiences

   • Paragliding from Sarangkot, at your own cost, price shown at booking
   • International Mountain Museum, at your own cost

   More active option: From the south shore, walk up to the World Peace Pagoda with your guide, about 45 minutes up, and take the boat back.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Pokhara

   

9. Day 9: Fly to Kathmandu, Boudhanath at dusk

   Pokhara to Kathmandu by plane, then Boudhanath

   • By plane
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Kathmandu
   Day 9 details

   A morning flight back to Kathmandu, about 25 minutes; this time sit on the left side of the plane for the mountains. If cloud cancels the flights, which happens now and then, we arrange the drive instead, with a sit-down lunch on the way, and still reach Kathmandu tonight. That buffer is why the trip ends with a night here rather than in Pokhara. After checking in, the early afternoon is free for shopping or a rest. Late in the day we drive out to Boudhanath, one of the largest stupas in the world and the centre of Kathmandu's Tibetan community. At dusk the square fills with pilgrims and monks walking clockwise around the dome, spinning prayer wheels, as butter lamps are lit in the monasteries around it. We join the walk, then sit down together for a farewell dinner.

   Included

   • Flight from Pokhara to Kathmandu
   • Airport transfers in Pokhara and Kathmandu
   • Boudhanath at dusk with your guide
   • Farewell dinner

   Free time: Early afternoon free

10. Day 10: Depart Kathmandu

    Your hotel to Tribhuvan International Airport

    • Breakfast
    Day 10 details

    The trip ends after breakfast. If your flight leaves later in the day, the morning is free: take a taxi to Patan Durbar Square, south of the river, for its temples and the Patan Museum, or browse the shops of Thamel for a singing bowl or a pashmina shawl. Your hotel can hold luggage until you leave. We drive you to Tribhuvan International Airport in time for your flight; allow three hours before an international departure, as security and check-in lines can be slow. You can book your flight home for any time on day 10, because the domestic flights are behind you and the trip already holds a spare night in Kathmandu. If you would like longer in Nepal, we can add hotel nights, or join the start of our classic Kathmandu, Chitwan and Pokhara trip.

    Included

    • Drop-off at Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM)

    Free time: Morning free

    Activity: Book a flight home for any time on day 10, allowing three hours at the airport.

Wildlife and weather: October and November usually bring the clearest mountain views; March and April are warmer and hazier, with the rhododendron forests between Ghorepani and Tadapani in flower. Mornings at Ghorepani are near freezing in late autumn and spring. Cloud often builds by late morning, which is why the mountain moments are at sunrise.

• Kathmandu2 nights
• Pokhara1 night
• Ulleri1 night
• Ghorepani1 night
• Tadapani1 night
• Pokhara2 nights
• Kathmandu1 night