What a Nepal trekking package should include, what is usually left out and why, the questions to ask before you book, and a checklist you can use to compare quotes line by line.
11 min read
A full Nepal trekking package normally includes a licensed guide, porters, all trekking permits, teahouse rooms, three meals a day on the trail, and transport to and from the trailhead, plus any domestic flights the route needs. What it normally leaves out is the international flight, your visa, travel insurance, drinks and snacks, hot showers, charging and wifi, tips and personal gear.
The trouble is that "package" means different things to different companies. Two quotes for the same trek can differ by hundreds of dollars simply because one includes meals, flights for staff or a sleeping bag and the other does not.
This guide goes through what a fully guided package from us includes, item by item, why each matters, what is usually excluded and why, and the questions worth asking any company before you pay. There is a checklist at the end you can use to compare quotes.
A fully guided package covers the people, paperwork, beds, food and transport you need on the trail: a licensed guide, porters, permits, teahouse rooms, three meals a day and transport to the start and end. On our treks this is the standard, whether you travel in a group or privately, with between one and twelve people.
Here is what our own trip pages list as included on a typical teahouse trek from Pokhara, such as Ghorepani Poon Hill or Annapurna Base Camp, and on a fly-in trek from Kathmandu such as Everest Base Camp:
Item | Pokhara treks (Poon Hill, ABC) | Kathmandu fly-in trek (EBC) |
|---|---|---|
Licensed English-speaking guide, with wages, meals, room and insurance | Included | Included |
Porter, one for every two trekkers, about 20 kg in total | Included | Included |
Trekking permits | ACAP | Sagarmatha National Park and Khumbu municipality |
Teahouse rooms on the trek, twin share | Included |
Each trip page shows its own list, and restricted-area treks add the extra permits and staff; check the trek you are interested in.
The guide's wages, food, accommodation and insurance for the whole trek should all be included in your package price, so you never pay your guide directly on the trail. If a quote lists the guide's daily wage but not their meals, rooms or flights, those costs will appear later.
A licensed guide does far more than show the way. Ours handle permits and checkpoints, choose lodges and order meals, check your oxygen saturation and pulse each day, decide when to rest or turn back, and arrange evacuation if needed. Since 1 April 2023, foreign trekkers in Nepal's national parks and conservation areas are required to trek with a licensed guide; see do you need a guide to trek in Nepal?.
On our treks a porter is included, one for every two trekkers, carrying up to about 20 kg in total, so roughly 10 kg of your kit each. Many budget packages leave the porter out or treat it as an add-on, so check. A porter's wages, food, room and insurance should all be covered by the company.
You carry a daypack with water, snacks, a warm layer, rain gear and your camera. Your main bag goes with the porter and is waiting at the lodge when you arrive.
Yes: a proper package includes every permit the route needs, and the company arranges them before you start. That means ACAP for Annapurna treks, the Sagarmatha National Park and Khumbu municipality permits for Everest, and for restricted areas the Department of Immigration permit plus conservation area permits.
Restricted-area permits, for treks like Manaslu and Upper Mustang, can only be applied for by a registered agency, so they are always part of the package. We need a scan of your passport and visa details in advance, and sometimes your original passport in Kathmandu. Fees and rules are in our Nepal trekking permits guide.
Teahouse rooms are included every night on the trek, normally twin share, with shared bathrooms at the higher lodges. Teahouses are family-run lodges with simple bedrooms and a heated dining room. Hotel nights in Kathmandu or Pokhara are included on some trips and not others, so check your itinerary.
On our 12-day Annapurna Base Camp trek, for example, two nights in a Pokhara hotel with breakfast are included; on the 10-day version, which starts and ends with the drive from Pokhara, hotel nights in town are not. Single rooms are possible on most lower trails but scarce at small high lodges in October and November.
On a full package, breakfast, lunch and dinner are included every day of the trek, with tea or coffee at each meal. You order from the lodge menu. Meals in Kathmandu or Pokhara are usually not included beyond hotel breakfast, and some cheaper "standard" packages exclude trail meals entirely.
Check whether a quote includes meals: food is the largest daily cost on a trek, about USD 20–50 a day per person depending on altitude, as our Nepal trekking cost guide shows. Drinks beyond tea or coffee with meals, snacks and bottled water are almost always extra.
Road transport between the city and the trailhead is included, and so are any domestic flights the itinerary needs, such as Lukla on Everest treks or Jomsom on Upper Mustang. Getting between Kathmandu and Pokhara before a Pokhara-based trek is usually your own arrangement.
On our Pokhara treks, road transfers to Nayapul or the other trailheads and back are included; travel between Kathmandu and Pokhara is not. On Everest Base Camp, return Lukla flights, the private vehicle to Ramechhap when flights leave from there, and Kathmandu airport transfers are included.
We lend a down jacket and a sleeping bag for the trek, returned at the end, and on Everest a duffel bag for the porter load. Your guide carries a first-aid kit and a pulse oximeter. Boots, clothing, a daypack and personal items are yours to bring.
Some companies charge rental for the jacket and bag, or leave them out. A good bag matters at Gorak Shep or Annapurna Base Camp, where nights in unheated rooms go well below freezing in winter.
Almost every package excludes international flights, the Nepal visa, travel insurance, drinks and snacks, hot showers, charging, wifi, tips and personal gear. These depend on your own choices or are paid directly by you, so companies cannot price them fairly in advance.
Usually excluded | Why | What to budget |
|---|---|---|
International flights | Your route and dates | Varies by origin |
Nepal visa | Paid at entry by you | USD 50 for 30 days |
Travel insurance | Personal contract; must cover trekking and helicopter rescue | Roughly USD 100–250 a month |
Drinks beyond tea or coffee, snacks, bottled water | Personal choice |
Flight cancellations, landslides on mountain roads and leaving a trek early cause costs nobody can predict, so most packages exclude them. Our Everest itinerary builds in a spare day in Kathmandu for Lukla delays; nights beyond that, and helicopter flights to avoid delays, are paid by the trekker, and insurance often covers them.
No. Helicopter evacuation is paid through your travel insurance, not the trek package, which is why insurance with helicopter rescue to the trek's maximum altitude is required. Your guide and our office arrange the evacuation; your insurer pays. Check your policy covers the altitude: 4,500 m for ABC and 6,000 m for EBC on our treks.
Ask exactly what is included, who your guide will be, what happens if plans change, and what you will pay on top. A good company answers in writing without hesitation. The questions below catch most of the differences between quotes.
Is the guide licensed, and are their wages, food, rooms, insurance and any flights included?
Is a porter included, how many trekkers per porter, and what is the weight limit?
Are all permits included, and do you apply for them?
Are breakfast, lunch and dinner included every day on the trek?
Which hotel nights, transfers and flights are included?
Do you lend a sleeping bag and down jacket?
Does the guide carry a first-aid kit and pulse oximeter, and what is the evacuation plan?
What insurance cover do you require?
What happens if a flight is cancelled or I need to leave the trek early?
What is the payment schedule and cancellation policy?
Our how booking works page answers these for our treks, and our cancellation and refund policy sets out what happens if plans change. For a fuller picture of choosing a company, read how to choose a reliable trekking company in Nepal.
Use this list to compare quotes item by item. Tick what each quote includes in writing; anything not ticked is a cost you will pay separately.
People
Licensed guide for the whole trek
Guide's wages, meals, room, insurance and flights
Porter (ratio and weight limit stated)
Porter's wages, meals, room, insurance and equipment
Permits
National park or conservation area permit
Municipality permit (Khumbu) or TIMS card if required
Restricted Area Permit if required
Accommodation and food
Teahouse rooms every night on the trek
Hotel nights in Kathmandu or Pokhara (how many)
Breakfast, lunch and dinner on the trek
Transport
Airport transfers
Road transport to and from the trailhead
Domestic flights, and road transfer to Ramechhap if needed
Gear and safety
Sleeping bag and down jacket on loan
Duffel bag for the porter
First-aid kit and pulse oximeter carried by the guide
Written evacuation plan
Paperwork
Written day-by-day itinerary
Clear payment schedule and cancellation terms
List of what is excluded
Bring money for
Drinks, snacks and water
Hot showers, charging and wifi
Tips
Meals in town and any extra nights
Usually not. Tea or coffee comes with meals on our treks, but boiled, filtered or bottled water is bought from the lodges. Carry a bottle and purification tablets or a filter and refill rather than buying plastic bottles.
No. Tips for your guide and porter are not included in our packages or in most others. They are paid at the end of the trek, in Nepali rupees, and are an important part of staff income.
Often on lower trails and in town hotels, though not always on busy high trails in October and November, when small lodges have few rooms. Ask when booking.
Rarely, and not on our treks. International flights depend on where you start, so you book them yourself. We meet you at the airport on treks that include an airport transfer.
On a private trek the guide and porters are just for you and your companions, and you choose the dates. On a group departure you share staff with other trekkers. What is included is the same on our treks; only the people you walk with change.
Travel advice
How much to tip your trekking guide and porters in Nepal in 2026, in US dollars and rupees, for group and private treks, with sample totals for Poon Hill, Annapurna Base Camp and Everest Base Camp, plus when and how to hand it over.
Included
Breakfast, lunch and dinner on the trek, with tea or coffee | Included | Included |
Road transfers to and from the trailhead | Included | Included, including the drive to Ramechhap when flights leave from there |
Domestic flights | None needed | Return flights to Lukla, plus staff flights |
Hotel nights | On the 12-day ABC: two Pokhara nights with breakfast | Kathmandu hotel with breakfast as listed |
Airport transfers | On the 12-day ABC | Included in Kathmandu |
Down jacket and sleeping bag on loan | Included | Included (four-season bag) |
Duffel bag for the porter load | Included |
First-aid kit and pulse oximeter carried by your guide | Included | Included |
A few dollars a day
Hot showers, charging, wifi | Paid to the lodge where charged | USD 5–20 a day, more higher up |
Tips | At your discretion | See our cost guide |
Personal gear | Fit is personal | Rent jackets and bags if not lent |
Meals and nights in town | Your choice of hotel | Varies |
Extra nights from delays or leaving early | Outside anyone's control | Keep a buffer |
Where it is needed, yes. TIMS is not used on Everest, where the Khumbu municipality permit replaces it, and is not currently checked on Annapurna routes. Treks such as Langtang include it.
A scan of your passport photo page, a passport photo for permits, your travel insurance details and your arrival time. For restricted-area treks we also need your visa details and sometimes the original passport in Kathmandu.
No. Lodges that charge for hot showers, battery charging and wifi do so directly, and prices rise with altitude. A power bank saves money on charging.
If you leave early, extra hotel nights, meals and transport to get back are usually your cost, as are any flights changed. Unused days are normally not refunded; check the company's cancellation and refund policy before booking.