No deposit to enquire. 10% holds your dates, cancel free up to 14 days before.
Duration
8, 10 or 11 days
High point
Thorong La, 5,416 m
From
£1,095pp
Rated
4.9 from 90+ reviews
The route
The Annapurna Circuit, a full lap of the Annapurna massif
The Annapurna Circuit is a long-distance teahouse trek that walks all the way around the Annapurna range in central Nepal. You start low in the sub-tropical Marsyangdi valley, climb steadily north through Gurung and then Tibetan-influenced villages, cross the Thorong La pass at 5,416 m (17,769 ft), and drop into a completely different country on the far side, the dry, wind-scoured Kali Gandaki valley behind the Himalaya. Most people walk 110–160 km of it over 9 to 16 days, depending on how much of the lower road they choose to drive.
4.9 from 90+ Google reviews
Nepal-registered, guide licence #1497
10% deposit, free cancellation to 14 days
Booked direct, no UK agency margin
Thorong La
5,416 m
the high point
Pokhara return
8 days
6 days walking
On foot
105–140 km
jeep to Chame
From, per person
£1,095
two sharing
That change of world is the point of the trek. On day three you are walking through rice terraces and waterfalls with leeches on the path in the wrong season. On day nine you are above every tree in Nepal, on frozen scree, with prayer flags cracking in a wind coming off Tibet. Very few walks anywhere give you two climate zones and a 5,000-metre pass on the same trip, in teahouses, with a bed and a hot meal at the end of each day.
We run it as a 8-day trip from Pokhara back to Pokhara, nine days walking, an acclimatisation day in Manang, and buffer time built in at the end for the Jomsom weather. Small groups, licensed local guides, and lodges booked ahead on the pass section where beds run out in October. Bookings are open for 2026 and 2027.
Trek name
Annapurna Circuit Trek (ACT)
Highest point
Thorong La pass, 5,416 m (17,769 ft)
Trip duration
8 days Pokhara to Pokhara (6 days walking); 10 and 11-day versions available
Walking distance
Roughly 105–140 km, depending on the version and the side trips
Difficulty
Moderate to challenging, long days, high pass, no technical ground
Group size
2–12 on a group departure; any size as a private trip
Best season
Mid-September to late November & March to May
Accommodation
Teahouse / lodge, twin-share
Permits
ACAP permit & TIMS card (both included)
Start / end
Pokhara → Chame in, Muktinath → Pokhara out
Two things about the modern circuit that older guidebooks get wrong, and that we would rather you heard from us than found out on day two. First, there is now a road up much of the Marsyangdi valley on the east side and all the way to Muktinath on the west. Nobody walks the tarmac any more, and the good operators do not pretend otherwise: we jeep the dull sections and put you on the NATT footpaths and the high routes where the walking is still genuinely beautiful. Second, a licensed guide has been compulsory on Nepal treks since 2023, so the old solo-with-a-map version of the circuit is no longer legal, whatever a 2016 blog post tells you.
Is it for you?
Is the Annapurna Circuit right for you?
Be honest with yourself about two things: time and altitude. Everything else about this trek is manageable for a reasonably fit hill-walker.
It suits you if
You can walk 5–7 hours a day on rough ground, day after day, and you have done multi-day walking before: Snowdonia, the Lakes, the West Highland Way, an Alpine hut tour.
You have two to three weeks of leave and want the trip to feel like a journey rather than an out-and-back.
You want the high pass: 5,416 m is the headline, and crossing it is the thing you will talk about afterwards.
You like the idea of variety: paddy fields, pine forest, a Tibetan-Buddhist high valley, a desert gorge, apple orchards and hot springs, all in one walk.
It is the wrong trek if
You only have ten days including flights. The circuit compresses badly, and the thing that gets cut is acclimatisation. Take a shorter trek instead and enjoy it.
You want to stand in a glacial amphitheatre surrounded by 7,000-metre walls. That is the Sanctuary walk, not the circuit. See our Annapurna Base Camp trek instead.
You have a history of severe altitude sickness or a cardiac or respiratory condition you have not discussed with your GP. Thorong La is not a place to find out.
You dislike cold, dark early starts. Pass day begins between 04:00 and 05:00 at around −10 °C.
If you are unsure which side of that line you fall on, read the difficulty and fitness guide (it has an honest UK hillwalking benchmark rather than a marketing grade) and the Thorong La crossing guide, which explains what the pass day actually asks of you.
Book direct
Why book the Annapurna Circuit direct with 6K Nepal Treks
We are 6K Nepal Treks, a Nepal-registered operator based in Pokhara. We are not an agency that sells your trek on to somebody else: the guide who answers your WhatsApp message is from the team that walks with you over the pass.
01No middleman markup: you book the operator that runs the trek, not a UK reseller adding a margin on top of our price for a UK phone number.
02Real replies from real guides: message us on WhatsApp and get a straight answer about kit, dates or the state of the pass, usually within the hour.
03Low, flexible deposit: hold your dates with 10%, change them free up to 14 days before you fly.
04A guiding team rated 4.9 from 90+ Google reviews, led by Rohit Timilsina, co-founder, government licence #1497.
05Licensed, insured, small-group guiding: Nepal Tourism Board licensed, TAAN and NMA members, with guide and porter insurance included as standard.
The part that matters most on this particular trek is the last one. The Annapurna Circuit is safe right up until the weather turns on pass day, and then the only thing between a group and a serious problem is a guide who is willing to lose a day. Ours are. There is a review further down this page from a trekker whose guide did exactly that.
Day by day
The 8-day Annapurna Circuit itinerary
Eight days is the shortest version that still gives you the arc of the trek, high valley, pass, desert, with a proper acclimatisation day in Manang. It has no spare day in it, so if your flight home is fixed, ask us to add a buffer day when you enquire.
The single best walking day of the lower circuit, and the one most rushed groups skip. Instead of following the valley floor to Hongde, you climb the north side to Ghyaru (3,730 m) and Ngawal (3,660 m), a hard 500 m pull first thing, then a level traverse with Annapurna II, III and IV filling the whole southern sky. It is also good acclimatisation: you gain height, then sleep lower in Manang. Expect 6–7 hoursand around 17 km.
Trek: 6–7 hours
Sleep at 3,540 m
Meals: B, L, D
Teahouse, Manang
Day 4: Manang acclimatisation day
Not a rest day: an active acclimatisation day. You will walk up to a viewpoint above the village and come back down to sleep: the Chongkor viewpoint above Gangapurna Lake at about 3,900 m for most groups, or, if you are moving well, the long haul towards Ice Lake. Manang itself is worth the day. It is a stone-built Tibetan-Buddhist village at 3,540 m with a bakery, a small cinema, and the daily altitude-sickness talk at the Himalayan Rescue Association post, which we send everybody to.
Walk: 3–4 hours
Up to ~3,900 m, sleep 3,540 m
Meals: B, L, D
Teahouse, Manang
Day 7: the Thorong La crossing
The day the trek is built around. You leave Thorong Phedi at about 04:30, or High Camp a little later, by head torch, in cold that is usually somewhere between −5 and −15 °C before the sun reaches the slope. The climb is a long series of switchbacks and false summits, roughly 1,000 m of ascent over 4–6 hours, and then the prayer flags and the tin sign at 5,416 m. You do not linger; the wind picks up mid-morning and there is nothing to shelter behind. The descent to Muktinath is 1,600 m down and takes another 3–4 hours on knee-punishing scree. It is a 7–10 hour day and the hardest one of the trip.
You wake up on the other side of the Himalaya, and it looks like Tibet because geographically it nearly is. Muktinath (3,760 m) is a genuine pilgrimage site for both Hindus and Buddhists: 108 water spouts, an eternal natural gas flame in the Jwala Mai temple, and a steady stream of Indian and Nepali pilgrims who have come by jeep. Then the drive out, down the Kali Gandaki through Jomsom, Marpha and Tatopani, rough as far as Beni and smooth tarmac after it. Six to nine hours, and a spectacular way to finish.
Drive: 6–9 hours
Down to 820 m
Meals: B
Jeep, Muktinath to Pokhara
The full write-up, with distances, ascent and descent for every day and the alternatives at each junction, is on the 8-day itinerary page. The route map and altitude profile shows the same thing as a picture.
Our guided 8-day Annapurna Circuit starts at £1,095 per person, based on two trekkers sharing. That price is all-inclusive on the trail: guide, porter, permits, every teahouse night and three meals a day while you are walking. There is no UK agency margin on top of it because there is no UK agency.
Per-person prices fall as the group grows, because a guide and a porter are fixed costs that get split more ways. Solo trekkers pay a single supplement for the same reason. We quote your exact figure in writing before you pay anything. Tell us your group size and dates and it comes back the same day.
How payment works. Reserve your dates with a 10% deposit, handled through our brand hub 6knepaltreks.com. The balance is paid in Nepal before the trek starts. Free cancellation up to 14 days before departure, and group discounts apply to groups you form rather than groups we assemble.
What's included & excluded
Included in the package
Pokhara → Besisahar → Chame private jeep to the trailhead
Licensed, English-speaking guide for the whole trek
Shared porter (one per two trekkers, up to 22 kg)
Every teahouse night on the trail, twin-share
Three meals a day while trekking (B, L, D)
ACAP permit and TIMS card
Muktinath → Pokhara jeep at the end of the trek
Guide and porter insurance, wages, meals and lodging
First-aid kit with a pulse oximeter
Excluded from the package
International flights to and from Kathmandu
Nepal visa (issued on arrival)
Hotels and meals in Kathmandu and Pokhara
Travel and medical insurance: must cover 5,500 m and helicopter evacuation
Drinks, hot showers, Wi-Fi and charging on the trail
Personal trekking kit and clothing
Tips for the guide and porter
The full breakdown, including UK-side costs.
Flights, visa, insurance that actually covers 5,416 m, tips and on-trail extras.
Reviews of Rohit and the 6K guiding team, from Google. The trek is named as the reviewer wrote it.
4.9
90+ Google reviews of the guiding team
He took us up to Annapurna Base Camp. We had bad weather, so Rohit decided to wait a day when other guides kept going up. Due to avalanche-risk, this was the obviously the best decision.
SWSander WoltersAnnapurna Base Camp, 2025Google
Had an amazing 9 day Annapurna Base Camp Sanctuary Trek this June with Rohit and his team. His fantastic organisation, hosting, knowledge and professionalism makes Rohit a fabulous choice of guide.
RPRupert PottsAnnapurna Base Camp, Sep 2025Google
Undertook Annapurna Base Camp Trek along with Rohit in first week of April 2025. His detailed knowledge and experience of the terrain and weather helped us having an awesome experience.
PJPrateek JohariAnnapurna Base Camp, Jul 2025Google
This was my second trek with Rohit. Both experiences were absolutely fantastic. He takes care of all the logistics, finds great tea houses, and adjusts the pace perfectly for everyone.
PMPeter Murphyrepeat trekker, Jan 2026Google
The first review is the one we would point at. The decision to sit still for a day when other groups pushed on is the same decision our guides make at Thorong Phedi when the forecast is wrong. More on the reviews page.
Departures
Departures and group size
We run the Annapurna Circuit as a private trip on any date you like in the two good seasons, for two trekkers or more. Group departures run to a maximum of 12 so that one guide and one assistant can actually keep eyes on everybody on pass day.
We only list dates we can guarantee. Confirmed group-join departures for the Annapurna Circuit are published on 6knepaltreks.com as they are fixed. If you have your own dates, send them over. Private departures run on any date in the spring and autumn windows, and the price is confirmed in writing before you pay anything.
Two practical notes on timing. October is the busiest month on the circuit and the lodges at Thorong Phedi and High Camp fill; if you are walking in the second half of October we book those beds well ahead. And if you are tied to UK school holidays, the October half-term lands inside the best autumn weather but needs booking early, while Easter sits in a good spring window with far fewer people on the trail. The month-by-month detail is in the best time to trek guide.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How long does the Annapurna Circuit take?
Eight to eleven days on the ground, Pokhara to Pokhara, depending on which side trips you add. Our standard version is 8 days, with six days walking and a full acclimatisation day at Manang. The 8-day Circuit is the shortest we will run without cutting that day. Add roughly two travel days each end from the UK.
Is the Annapurna Circuit trek easy?
No, and anyone who tells you it is has not done it. It is graded moderate to challenging. There is no climbing and no technical ground, but you walk five to seven hours a day for nine days or more, and you cross a pass higher than anything in western Europe. Fit hill-walkers manage it comfortably; people who have not walked since last summer struggle. See the difficulty and fitness guide.
How high is Thorong La?
5,416 m (17,769 ft). It is the highest point of the trek and is crossed east to west, starting before dawn from Thorong Phedi (4,450 m) or High Camp (4,880 m) and descending 1,600 m to Muktinath the same day.
What permits do I need?
An ACAP permit for the Annapurna Conservation Area and a TIMS card. We arrange both and they are included in the package. Since 2023 a licensed guide is also compulsory. Full detail on the permits page.
When is the best time to go?
Mid-September to late November gives the most stable pass weather and the clearest air. March to May is warmer at night with rhododendron in flower lower down, but hazier. Winter crossings are often blocked by snow on Thorong La, and monsoon brings leeches and landslides to the Marsyangdi side. We will talk you out of a July departure.
Is it safe to pay a Nepal operator from the UK?
You pay a 10% deposit through our brand hub 6knepaltreks.com, and the balance in Nepal before the trek starts, so you are never holding a large sum out of the country. The deposit is refundable up to 14 days before departure. Our guiding team is rated 4.9 from 90+ Google reviews, and the company is Nepal-registered with a licensed lead guide.
Can you customise the itinerary?
Yes. That is most of what we do. Add the Tilicho Lake detour, collect the high lakes on the 11-day lakes route, add a buffer day at Manang, walk more of the lower valley, or start on a date that fits your leave. Tell us what you want on the enquiry form.
How dangerous is the Thorong La crossing?
The walking is not technical. The risks are altitude and weather, and they are real: in October 2014 an unseasonal storm killed more than 40 people in the Annapurna region, many of them on or near the pass. The controls are unglamorous: proper acclimatisation, a pre-dawn start so you are over before the wind builds, a forecast checked at Manang and Phedi, and a guide with the authority to say no. We have the full picture on the Thorong La page.
Next step
Ready to walk the Annapurna Circuit?
Send us your dates and group size and we will come back the same day with your exact price in writing, the itinerary length that fits your leave, and an honest view of whether the month you are looking at works on the pass. Nothing is charged until you are happy with the plan.
10% deposit holds your dates, free cancellation up to 14 days before departure, balance paid in Nepal. Group departures are capped at 12.
More trips
Other treks we run
Fourteen days is our standard, and it suits most people. It is not the only shape this trek comes in. Same route, same guiding team, different lengths: cut the road days at the start, add acclimatisation in the middle, or bolt a second objective onto the end.
Every one of these crosses Thorong La at 5,416 m. If you are not sure which length your fitness and altitude history point to, start with the difficulty and fitness guide, and the cost breakdown shows what changes as the days go up.
