Annapurna Base Camp Trek 2026

Trip highlights

• Sleep at 4,130 m inside the Annapurna Sanctuary
• Annapurna I, Annapurna South, Hiunchuli and Machhapuchhre from the lodge door
• Gurung and Magar villages on the way up
• Rhododendron forest between Chhomrong and Bamboo
• Natural hot springs at Jhinu Danda on the way down

Altitude profile

Itinerary

1. 1

   Day 1Pokhara to Jhinu Danda

   • Altitude1,780 m
   • Walking6 hrs
   • StayTeahouse
   • Mealslunch, dinner
   • TransportPrivate vehicle, then on foot

   

   The drive out of Pokhara takes about two hours, first along the Baglung highway and then on rougher road up the Modi Khola valley to the roadhead at Nayapul or beyond, depending on how far vehicles are running that season. From there the walking starts gently, following the river upstream past terraced fields and small settlements.

   The climb to Jhinu Danda is short but steep in places, and after a morning in a vehicle most people find it a useful way to loosen up. You will arrive with the afternoon still ahead of you.

   The hot springs are the reason to stop here. They sit about twenty minutes below the lodge on a steep path down to the river, and they are worth the descent and the climb back. Go before the light goes, and take a towel and a head torch.

2. 2

   Day 2Jhinu Danda to Chhomrong

   • Altitude2,170 m
   • Walking4 hrs
   • StayTeahouse
   • Mealsbreakfast, lunch, dinner

   

   A short day on paper — four hours — with a long stone staircase in the middle of it. The trail drops to cross the Modi Khola, then climbs steadily through Taglung and up towards Chhomrong on steps that were cut by hand and have been there a long time. It is the kind of ascent that is easier taken slowly than fought.

   Chhomrong is the last permanent village on the route and the largest settlement you will sleep in. Everything above it is seasonal: lodges built for trekkers, run through the season and shuttered outside it. It is also the last reliable place to buy anything you have forgotten.

   It is where the mountains stop being distant. Annapurna South and Hiunchuli fill the window above the village, and on a clear afternoon Machhapuchhre stands square at the head of the valley you will walk into tomorrow.

3. 3

   Day 3Chhomrong to Himalaya

   • Altitude2,920 m
   • Walking7 hrs
   • StayTeahouse
   • Mealsbreakfast, lunch, dinner

   

   The longest walking day of the trek, and the one that does the most work. From Chhomrong the trail drops several hundred metres to the river at Chhomrong Khola, then begins the long climb up the far side through Sinuwa and into the bamboo and rhododendron forest that gives Bamboo its name.

   The gorge narrows as you go. What was an open valley of terraced fields in the morning becomes a steep, wet, green corridor by the afternoon, with the river loud below and the walls closing in on both sides. In spring the rhododendron here is the best on the route.

   You will gain around 750 m over the day, with a substantial descent in the middle that you pay back twice. Take it steadily and eat properly at lunch. Above Bamboo the air begins to feel noticeably thinner, and the last stretch to Himalaya is where most people first notice it.

4. 4

   Day 4Himalaya to Annapurna Base Camp

   • Altitude4,130 m
   • Walking6 hrs
   • StayTeahouse at base camp
   • Mealsbreakfast, lunch, dinner

   

   The day the trek has been building towards, and the one to walk slowly. From Himalaya the trail climbs past Hinku Cave and up to Deurali, where the forest gives out and the landscape turns to rock, moraine and avalanche debris. From there it is a steady, exposed climb to Machhapuchhre Base Camp at around 3,700 m.

   Machhapuchhre Base Camp is where most people take lunch and where the altitude becomes a real consideration rather than a theoretical one. The last hour and a half from there into the sanctuary itself is not steep, but at this height it does not need to be.

   Then the valley opens. Annapurna Base Camp sits in a glacial amphitheatre ringed by Annapurna I, Annapurna South, Hiunchuli, Gangapurna and Machhapuchhre — a full circle of mountains with the glacier below.

   Sleeping at 4,130 m is the hardest thing this trek asks of you. Drink more than you want to, walk slower than feels necessary, and tell your guide immediately if you have a headache that does not shift. Sunrise on Annapurna I is the reason for the whole week.

5. 5

   Day 5Annapurna Base Camp to Bamboo

   • Altitude2,310 m
   • Walking7 hrs
   • StayTeahouse
   • Mealsbreakfast, lunch, dinner

   

   Most people are up before light for the sunrise, which comes onto Annapurna I first and works its way around the amphitheatre. It is worth the cold.

   After that the trek reverses itself, and quickly. You lose more than 1,800 m over the day, retracing the route through Machhapuchhre Base Camp, Deurali and Himalaya and continuing down past Dovan to Bamboo. Descending is easier on the lungs than climbing and much harder on the knees, so poles earn their place today more than on any other day.

   The compensation is that the air thickens with every hour. The forest closes back in below Himalaya, the temperature climbs, and most people find the second half of today the most enjoyable walking of the week — the mountain behind you, the hard part done, and the whole valley dropping away downhill.

6. 6

   Day 6Bamboo to Jhinu Danda and drive to Pokhara

   • Altitude820 m
   • Walking6 hrs
   • Mealsbreakfast, lunch
   • TransportOn foot, then private vehicle

   

   A last morning in the forest. The trail drops from Bamboo through Sinuwa, crosses the Chhomrong Khola and climbs briefly back towards Chhomrong before turning down the valley for the final descent to Jhinu Danda.

   The hot springs are worth a second visit on the way through, and this time you have earned them properly. Twenty minutes down, as long as you like in the water, twenty minutes back up.

   From the roadhead it is a drive of roughly two hours back to Pokhara, arriving in the afternoon with the lake and a hot shower waiting. You will have walked from 820 m to 4,130 m and back down again in six days.

What's included

Common questions about this trip

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