How to choose a trekking company in Nepal

There are thousands of registered operators here and the good ones are not obviously different from the bad ones on a website. Six questions that separate them.

By Sabina Adhikari · 7 min read · Updated 1 August 2026

We are a trekking company writing about how to choose a trekking company, so read this knowing exactly what we are. What follows is still the advice we would give a friend, including the parts that do not favour us.

Nepal has thousands of registered agencies and the websites all look similar — the same photographs, the same itineraries, the same claims about experienced local guides. The differences are real and they are almost all invisible until you ask directly. Six questions. Ask any operator, including us.

1. What do you pay your guides and porters, and what weight do you cap porters at?

This is the question that sorts the field, and it should be answered immediately and specifically, without checking.

Our answer: porters carry 9 kg per trekker with two trekkers to a porter, which is about 18 kg with their own kit. Guides and porters are insured, which is a legal requirement in Nepal and not universally honoured.

Vagueness here is the single most reliable warning sign in this industry. A trek that is dramatically cheaper than everyone else's is not a bargain somebody missed — the money comes from somewhere, and it usually comes from the person carrying your bag.

2. What happens if you cancel, and what happens if I do?

The second question tells you as much as the first. Ask for the terms in writing before you pay a deposit.

Specifically: what is returned if you cancel at various points, and what happens if they cancel for weather, a closed pass or a guide's judgement on the day. An operator with a clear answer has thought about it; one who gets vague on the second half has not. The reason this matters is not the money. It is that an operator with no cancellation policy has a financial reason to keep a group moving when it should turn around.

3. Is the itinerary built around acclimatisation or around days?

Ask why the trek is the length it is, and where the acclimatisation days sit. On the Annapurna Circuit that means two nights at Manang; on Everest, two at Namche and a second at Dingboche.

If someone offers to compress a standard route by two or three days for the same price, they are removing acclimatisation, and that is a safety cost dressed up as flexibility.

The correct answer to 'can you do Annapurna Base Camp in four days' is not yes.

4. Who exactly is my guide, and can I know before I arrive?

Reviews of Nepali operators overwhelmingly name the guide rather than the company — people write about Paban or Sudip, not about the logo. That is a real signal about where the value sits.

Ask whether the guide is licensed, how many seasons they have on your specific route, what languages they speak, and whether they are directly employed or hired freelance for your trip.

Freelance is not disqualifying — most of the industry works that way in peak season. Not knowing who it will be until the morning you leave is a different thing, particularly if you are travelling alone.

5. Are permits and fees listed separately?

Government permit fees are fixed and identical whoever you book with. An operator who lists them as their own line is showing you what is fee and what is margin; one who buries them in a package price is not.

Ask what is genuinely not included. Drinks, hot showers, charging, wifi and tips are normal exclusions. Anything else appearing at the last minute is a flag. Get a written breakdown before paying anything. Every reputable operator produces one without complaint.

6. Where are they actually based?

Most Nepali trekking is sold from Kathmandu, including trekking that happens entirely in the Annapurnas. That works, and it means a Kathmandu leg you may not need and guides who arrive with the group rather than living at the trailhead.

For Annapurna routes, a Pokhara company is usually cheaper and knows the local trails better. For Everest, a Kathmandu company has the logistics advantage. Neither is universally right and anyone claiming otherwise is selling.

We are in Pokhara. On Annapurna routes that is an advantage and we will say so; on Everest it is not, and we will say that too.

Things that do not tell you much

Registration and association memberships. Necessary, universal, and not a differentiator — essentially everyone has them.

Awards and certificates on the office wall. Some are meaningful; most are paid listings.

The number of years in business. A twenty-year-old company with a new guiding roster is not obviously better than a five-year-old one with the same three guides throughout.

Review counts on aggregator sites, which are gameable. Read the content of reviews instead — specifically whether they name people and describe decisions, or read like a brochure.

Walk it with us

Private departures on your dates, guided by the people who wrote this page.

Permits & TIMS ServiceSame-day serviceFrom Rs 700 service fee · See dates →Annapurna Base Camp7 days · 4,130 mRs 100,400 · See dates →Trekking Gear RentalRent by the dayFrom Rs 300 per item / day · See dates →

Questions we get asked

Should I book before arriving or once I am here?

Either works. Booking ahead secures permits, dates and a specific guide in peak season. Walking in gives you a conversation face to face, which is a better test than any website. Plenty of our clients do the second.

Is a more expensive company safer?

Not reliably. Price correlates with city hotels and group size as much as with guide quality. The six questions tell you more than the number does.

What if I get a bad feeling in the office?

Walk away. There are thousands of operators and you owe nobody a booking. That instinct is usually reading something real.

Do you mind being asked all this?

No — we wrote the list. If any operator, including us, gets defensive about these six questions, that is the answer to your question.