How many days have you got? A straight answer for every length

Most trekking sites sort trips by mountain. You do not arrive with a mountain, you arrive with a number of free days. Here is what each number actually buys.

By Dawa Gurung · 8 min read · Updated 1 August 2026

Almost every trekking website in Nepal is organised by destination, which is backwards. Nobody flies in having decided they want the Modi Khola valley specifically. They arrive with four days, or nine, or two weeks, and a vague wish to see mountains.

So this page is sorted by the only variable you actually control. Find your number, read the entry, ignore everything else.

One rule before the list: the days below are days on the trail. Add a day either side for arriving in Pokhara and getting organised, and if your trek needs a flight, add two more for weather.

One day

Australian Camp. Drive to Kande, ninety minutes uphill through forest, and come out on a grass shoulder at 2,060 m with Annapurna South and Machhapuchhre filling the sky. Back in Lakeside for lunch.

This is the best view-per-hour ratio in Nepal and it is on the first section of a real trekking route rather than a purpose-built viewpoint path. If somebody has one free morning, this is the answer every time. Alternatives for a single day: Sarangkot for sunrise, or the World Peace Pagoda by boat if the group includes someone who does not want to climb.

Two to three days

Ghandruk. A proper Gurung village of slate and stone at 2,012 m, with Annapurna South at the end of the main lane, and enough time to sleep there and see it after the day-trippers leave.

Or Poon Hill, if the sunrise photograph is what you came for — three days, 3,210 m, the famous panorama, and several hundred people sharing it in October.

Both are low, warm and forgiving, with good lodges and a road never far away. This is the right bracket for a first Himalayan trek and for anyone travelling with children.

Four to five days

This is the sweet spot for Pokhara, and where our local routes beat anything a Kathmandu operator will sell you.

Mardi Himal for the best ridge walking within a week of Lakeside — forest, then a high grass spine with Machhapuchhre directly above. Khumai Danda if you want that same country with almost nobody on it. Kapuche if a glacier lake at 2,546 m with no acclimatisation sounds better than a ridge. Kori Danda if you want 3,800 m and an empty horizon.

Sikles or the Royal Trek if the villages matter more than the altitude. Both are gentle, warm and cultural rather than scenic-dramatic.

Six to eight days

Annapurna Base Camp. Seven days on the trail into a glacial amphitheatre at 4,130 m, ringed by six thousand metres of ice. It is the trek most people picture when they picture Nepal, and it earns that.

Khopra Ridge is the quieter alternative at 3,660 m facing Dhaulagiri across a gorge, on community-owned lodges. Mohare Danda is the same idea, greener and better for birds. Jomsom and Muktinath if you want the landscape to change completely — subtropical valley to Tibetan high desert in a couple of days, and the one route that works through monsoon.

Ten days to two weeks

The Annapurna Circuit. Twelve days, Thorong La at 5,416 m, and the best pass day in Nepal. Add three more for Tilicho Lake, which is the finest use of an extra three days anywhere in the country.

Everest Base Camp is fourteen days plus flight buffer, and it is the one trek where we will tell you honestly that you are competing with everybody — every operator in Nepal sells it and October is busy. It is still extraordinary.

Upper Mustang or Nar Phu if you would rather have culture and emptiness than a famous name. Both need restricted-area permits and both are, for our money, better trips.

More than two weeks

Dhaulagiri Circuit — sixteen days, two passes above 5,200 m, full camping support and no teahouses at all. It is the hardest thing we run and it is not a longer version of the Circuit; it is a different category of trip.

Or combine: Nar Phu into the Annapurna Circuit over Kang La is around seventeen days and one of the finest itineraries in Nepal. Mardi into Annapurna Base Camp via Siding is a superb two weeks. At this length, tell us what you want rather than picking a package. The good long trips are almost always assembled rather than bought off a page.

If you have the days but not the legs

Length and difficulty are separate axes and people conflate them. Sikles, the Royal Trek and Ghandruk are all gentle. Kapuche is only four days and has the roughest ground of any short trek we run.

If you have two free weeks and limited hill fitness, the answer is not a hard trek done slowly — it is a gentle trek plus Chitwan, or Bandipur, or a week of day hikes from a comfortable bed in Lakeside.

Tell us your honest recent walking history rather than your aspiration. We would much rather build you a trip you enjoy than sell you the one with the best name on it.

Walk it with us

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

Australian Camp Sunrise HikeFull day · 2,060 mRs 7,900 · See dates →Ghandruk Gurung Village Trek3 days · 2,012 mRs 30,700 · See dates →Poon Hill Sunrise Trek3 days · 3,210 mRs 46,800 · See dates →Mardi Himal Trek5 days · 4,500 mRs 73,600 · See dates →Annapurna Base Camp7 days · 4,130 mRs 100,400 · See dates →Annapurna Circuit & Thorong La12 days · 5,416 mRs 167,400 · See dates →

Questions we get asked

What is the shortest trek that still feels like a real trek?

Three days to Ghandruk or Poon Hill. You sleep in teahouses, walk between villages and wake up in the mountains. Anything shorter is a very good day walk rather than a trek, which is not a criticism.

I only have four days. Is Annapurna Base Camp possible?

Compressed versions exist and we do not recommend them — the day you save comes out of your acclimatisation. With four days take Mardi, Kapuche or Kori and enjoy them, rather than rushing ABC and enjoying none of it.

How many spare days should I build in?

One either side of any trek, and two extra if a domestic flight is involved. Lukla and Jomsom cancel routinely. Never book an international flight for the day after your trek ends.

Can I decide when I get here?

Yes, and plenty of people do. Come to the office in Lakeside, tell us your days and your fitness, and we will usually have you walking within twenty-four hours. Permits are the only thing that takes time.