Monsoon and winter, the two seasons everyone tells you to avoid

Eight months of the year are 'the season'. The other four are cheaper, emptier and — on the right route — better. Here is which routes.

By Dawa Gurung · 7 min read · Updated 1 August 2026

Every operator in Nepal will tell you to come in October or April. They are right: those are the best months, and they are also when the lodges are full, the viewpoints are crowded and the prices are highest.

What almost nobody will tell you is which treks are good in the months they are steering you away from, because it is easier to sell you the standard answer.

Monsoon and winter both work. They work on specific routes, for specific reasons, and badly everywhere else.

Monsoon: go north of the mountains

From roughly mid-June to August, cloud comes up from India, hits the Himalaya and drops its water on the southern slopes. The Annapurna Sanctuary in July is cloud, leeches and no view. That is the reputation, and for most of the country it is accurate.

But the same mountains create a rain shadow. North of the main range — Upper Mustang, and the upper Kali Gandaki above Marpha — gets a fraction of the rainfall. It is warm, dry, and the passes are open while Pokhara is under water.

So if your holiday is locked to a European or North American summer, Upper Mustang and the Jomsom–Muktinath route are not compromises. They are the right answer, and it is the busiest pilgrimage season, which makes Muktinath itself extraordinary.

What monsoon is actually like elsewhere

Green in a way you will not see at any other time. Waterfalls everywhere, rice terraces flooded and luminous, forests dripping and alive. Photographers who come specifically in monsoon are not confused; they are after this.

Leeches from about 1,000 to 3,000 m in the wet forest belt. They are harmless, they are persistent, and salt plus long socks plus checking your ankles at breaks handles them. No one has cut a trip short over a leech.

Mountains hidden most days, with occasional startlingly clear windows after overnight rain — usually early morning. If you come in monsoon expecting views, you will be disappointed. If you come for the landscape at your feet, it is the best time of year.

Winter: clear, cold and empty

December to February gives the sharpest air of the year. Post-monsoon dust has settled, haze is minimal, and the mountains are as clean and close as they ever look. Lodges are quiet, prices soften and you can have a viewpoint to yourself in a month when October has two hundred people on it.

The costs are real: nights well below freezing above 3,000 m, some high lodges closed, and high passes that can shut with snow. Thorong La and Kang La are not winter propositions without proper preparation. The routes that shine are the low ones. The Royal Trek at under 1,800 m is close to perfect in January — warm walking, clear skies, empty trails. Ghandruk, Poon Hill and the Pokhara day hikes all work well with a good jacket.

What to bring for each

Monsoon: a proper waterproof rather than a showerproof jacket, quick-dry everything, sandals for evenings because your boots will be wet, salt for leeches, and a dry bag for electronics. Expect humidity rather than cold.

Winter: a four-season sleeping bag, a real down jacket, hat and gloves, and micro-spikes if any high viewpoint is on the plan. Dining rooms have a stove; bedrooms have nothing.

Both: rent the bulky items in Lakeside rather than carrying them across the world. A winter-rated bag costs a few dollars a day here and several hundred to buy.

The honest summary

If you can choose freely, come in October, November, March or April. We are not going to pretend otherwise.

If you cannot, you have not missed your chance — you have a shorter list. Monsoon means north of the range. Winter means low and warm, or high and properly equipped. Either way you get a country with far fewer visitors in it, which is worth more than most people realise until they have stood on a ridge in February with nobody else on it.

Walk it with us

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

Upper Mustang — Lo Manthang10 days · 3,840 mRs 253,300 · See dates →Jomsom Muktinath Trek8 days · 3,760 mRs 127,200 · See dates →Royal Trek4 days · 1,730 mRs 37,400 · 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 →

Questions we get asked

Is trekking cheaper off-season?

Lodges are more negotiable and flights into Nepal are usually cheaper. Our guiding and permit costs do not change — those are the same whatever the month.

Which single trek is best in July?

Upper Mustang, without hesitation, with Jomsom–Muktinath as the shorter and cheaper version. Both sit in the rain shadow and both are properly good in high summer.

Can I do Annapurna Base Camp in winter?

Yes, with a proper bag and jacket, and accepting that some upper lodges close and the Sanctuary can hold snow. It is beautiful and very quiet. Avalanche risk on the Deurali–MBC section needs local judgement on the day.

How bad are the leeches really?

Present, determined and harmless. Salt and long socks. They are far less of a problem than the reputation suggests and no reason on their own to avoid monsoon.

Do lodges close off-season?

Some high ones do, particularly in deep winter and on the newer routes with only a handful of lodges. We check what is open before we commit an itinerary — this is one place where local knowledge saves a trip.