Costs

Our fourteen-day trek runs from 1040 to 1695 USD per person on The Trail and Journey depending on group size, and from 2350 to 3150 USD on the private Transformation. Credible Nepal-based operators sit around 1450 USD all-inclusive, and we price The Journey in that band. Beware headline prices that exclude the porter or your lunches; we tell you exactly what is in and out.

Our tiers do not scale amenities. They scale how much friction we absorb on your behalf. Safety is identical across all three tiers pulse oximeter monitoring, the Two-Tier Altitude Protocol, supplemental oxygen, satellite phone above 4,000m, and pre-arranged helicopter evacuation are the same whether you pay $1,450 or $6,000.

The Trail ($1,450). A fixed-date departure with up to 7 other trekkers on a group departure date that we publish in advance. Clean teahouses selected for hygiene and location. Full safety protocol, full Kathmandu Pre-Trek Session, Silent Hiking and co-practice, ethical porter support at a 1:4 ratio. You join our schedule; we handle the rest.

The Journey ($2,250). A private departure on the dates you choose with only your own group of 1–8. Upgraded lodges below 4,000m where infrastructure permits attached bathrooms, heated rooms, varied menus. Flex days explicitly built in for acclimatization or exploration. A post-trek Traditional Nepali Recovery Massage in Kathmandu. Cultural access at confirmed relationship waypoints. This is the recommended product for most travelers.

The Transformation (from $3,800 custom). Every element is designed in consultation. Private group only. Premium lodges where infrastructure permits. Optional dedicated altitude specialist who accompanies the group. Optional dedicated trek photographer so you can stay off your phone. Deeper cultural access. Optional helicopter return from Lukla. Every Transformation begins with a conversation there is no single price because there is no single package.

The question to ask yourself: "How much friction do I want LHJ to absorb?" If you want logistics and safety handled and you are comfortable walking at a group pace on a group schedule, The Trail is right for you. If you want your own schedule, upgraded sleep, flex days, and a proper bookend to the experience, The Journey is right for you. If you want the experience fully designed around what will make the trip yours, The Transformation is right for you.

As of 2026 the restricted-area permit costs 50 US dollars per person for each day you are inside the zone, which begins at Kagbeni. This replaced the old flat fee of 500 dollars for ten days, so shorter trips now cost less and you only pay for the days you actually use. On top of that you need the Annapurna Conservation Area Permit, around 25 to 30 dollars, and a TIMS card, around 20 dollars. We arrange all three, and the restricted permit can only be issued through a registered agency, never to an individual.

Every LHJ trek, every tier, includes: Kathmandu airport pickup and drop-off in a private vehicle; the LHJ Welcome Kit (trail map, local SIM with data, reusable water bottle, Himalayan Altitude Kit); the half-day Kathmandu Pre-Trek Altitude Preparation Session; all lodge accommodation on the trek; all meals on the trek (breakfast, lunch, dinner, with hot drinks); licensed Government of Nepal trekking guide; ethical porter support (1:4 ratio on Trail and Journey, 1:2 on Transformation); a professionally cleaned -20°C sleeping bag with silk liner; the full safety kit (pulse oximeter, supplemental oxygen, comprehensive first aid kit); satellite phone and live GPS above 4,000m; pre-arranged helicopter evacuation protocol; all trekking permits; government taxes and VAT.

What you pay for separately: international flights to and from Kathmandu; Nepal visa fee (typically $30–$50 on arrival); travel insurance with helicopter evacuation coverage (hard requirement); lunch and dinner in Kathmandu before and after the trek; personal trekking gear (boots, layers, jacket, poles); hot showers at lodges ($2–$5 per shower, cash); device charging ($2–$5 per charge); Wi-Fi at lodges where available ($3–$6 per session); bottled drinks, snacks, alcohol; tips for guide and porters (customary); any itinerary extension, helicopter return, or add-on service.

The full inclusions/exclusions list is on every trek page.

Tipping is customary in Nepal trekking, though not technically mandatory. The wages we pay (above the industry average) cover the guide and porters as employees. Tips are a recognition of exceptional service and a meaningful portion of the team's income.

Honest guidance from twenty years of industry experience: head guide $10–$15 per day per trekker. Assistant guide (if present) $5–$10 per day per trekker. Porters $5–$8 per day per porter, paid directly to each porter at the end of the trek.

On private departures (The Journey and The Transformation), tips tend toward the higher end of these ranges because the guide-to-client ratio is more personal.

Tips are paid in USD or NPR at the end of the trek. The guide can help coordinate a group pool to make the math simple. LHJ does not take a cut, and we do not include tips in the trek price we want them to be a genuine recognition, not a hidden markup. If you want to budget roughly, add about 10% of the trek price for tips.

No hidden costs. But there are visible costs we do not include in the trek price because they are personal or variable.

International flights to Kathmandu $800–$2,500 depending on your departure city and season. Nepal visa $30 for 15 days, $50 for 30 days, $125 for 90 days. Travel insurance with helicopter evacuation $100–$300 depending on duration and coverage. Personal trekking gear if you do not already own it, budget $500–$1,500 for boots, layers, insulated jacket, gloves, hat, trekking poles, headlamp, daypack. Lunch and dinner in Kathmandu $5–$15 per meal at a decent restaurant. Hot showers and phone charging at lodges roughly $30–$60 total for a 12-day trek. Tips 10% of trek price approximately. Alcohol and bottled drinks on the trail bottled water is $1 at lower altitudes, up to $4 at Gorak Shep.

Budget roughly 20–25% on top of the trek price for all non-included costs, excluding your international flights.

Four permits are required for the Manaslu Circuit and all four are included in every LHJ tier. The Manaslu Restricted Area Permit (RAP) is the most expensive USD $100 for the first seven days plus $15 per additional day in peak season (September to November), and USD $75 for the first seven days plus $10 per additional day in off-season. The Manaslu Conservation Area Permit (MCAP) is a flat USD $30 environmental fee. The Annapurna Conservation Area Permit (ACAP) is also USD $30 required because the trek exits via Dharapani, which lies within the Annapurna region. There is also a small Chumnubri Rural Municipality fee of NPR 1,000 to 2,000 paid in cash at the Jagat checkpoint. Total permit cost for a fourteen-to-sixteen-day trek in peak season is approximately USD $175 to $215 per person. TIMS card is not required for Manaslu the RAP supersedes it. All permits are processed by your LHJ agency in Kathmandu before the trek; you do not handle the paperwork yourself.

On The Trail (fixed-date departures), room sharing is the default. If you are a solo traveler on a fixed-date departure and you request a private room where lodges permit, we add a single supplement of roughly $15–$25 per night depending on the lodge in practice about $180–$300 on a 12-day trek. At the highest altitudes (Gorak Shep, Lobuche, Larkya La Dharamsala), private rooms are often not available at any price because lodges have limited single rooms, so the single supplement does not apply there.

On The Journey and The Transformation (private departures), you are the only trekker in your group unless you bring companions, so the room question is different solo travelers on The Journey have single rooms by default below 4,000m where lodges offer them, and the trek price reflects the reality that fixed logistical costs are not shared with other trekkers.

The single-supplement amount for your specific trek and date is quoted in the booking conversation, not buried in a footnote.

Two - the Langtang National Park entry permit (around NPR 3,000, about USD 25 for foreigners, VAT included; roughly half for SAARC nationals; free for children under 10) and a TIMS card (about USD 10 to 20). We arrange both for you. They are checked at Dhunche, Ghodatabela and other points.

Safety is identical across all tiers - the same licensed guide, oxygen checks, and evacuation plan. What changes is comfort, pace, and how deep into the valley you go. The Trail is the shared, simple version: tourist bus and shared jeep, standard guesthouses, breakfast and dinner, and a Manang morning before the drive down.

The Journey gives couples a private jeep above Besisahar, better rooms where the valley allows, full board, a full day in Manang, and a rooftop dinner. The Transformation adds a private vehicle from Kathmandu, a guided Ice Lake day at 4620 m, and a final high night at Shree Kharka beneath Annapurna II.

You need the Annapurna Conservation Area Permit, the ACAP, which is the required permit for the region. It costs 3000 Nepalese rupees for foreign trekkers, roughly 20 US dollars, and we arrange it for you as part of every tier. The TIMS card is not currently required or checked on the Annapurna trails, though Nepal's permit rules have changed before, so we confirm the current position at the start of each season. NEEDS VERIFICATION: reconfirm ACAP fee and any TIMS change with operations before publishing exact figures each season.

The standard payment structure is 25% deposit on booking confirmation (to hold the trek and start the pre-trek documentation flow) and the remaining 75% due 14 days before the trek start date.

For The Transformation tier, which is custom-quoted, the payment structure is negotiated in the booking conversation. For bookings more than 6 months out, we can sometimes accommodate a 25% / 25% / 50% three-stage structure ask in the booking conversation.

We accept credit cards and debit cards via Stripe. Bank wires are possible for larger bookings but take 3–5 business days to clear. We do not accept cryptocurrency, PayPal, or Western Union not because of ideology, but because the reconciliation overhead for a six-person team is not worth the marginal convenience.

If paying the balance 14 days before departure creates a genuine hardship, write to the CEO. We have accommodated individual circumstances before and will tell you honestly whether we can for yours.

You need the Annapurna Conservation Area Permit, the ACAP, which costs 3000 Nepalese rupees for foreign trekkers, roughly 25 US dollars, and we arrange it for you on every tier. It is the main document checked at trail checkpoints like Chhomrong. The TIMS card is not currently required or checked on the Annapurna Base Camp trail, even though it still appears in some older guides, so we do not charge you for one. Nepal's permit rules have changed before, so we confirm the current position at the start of each season. NEEDS VERIFICATION: reconfirm the ACAP fee and any change in TIMS status with operations before publishing exact figures each season.

The flight to Lukla from Ramechhap (Manthali) is cheaper than the direct flight from Kathmandu, by roughly 80 to 120 US dollars on the round trip. The catch is a drive of five to six hours from Kathmandu that starts in the small hours of the morning. The Trail takes that trade deliberately the early drive in exchange for a lower price and we are upfront that it is a comfort trade, not a safety one.

One honest caveat: in the busiest spring and autumn weeks the authorities sometimes route every Lukla flight through Ramechhap, including the Journey and Transformation, because of congestion at Kathmandu's airport. If that affects your dates, we tell you in advance rather than at midnight.

Eleven days door to door from Kathmandu and back, with six active trekking days. The length comes from the four Manang-area nights at the front and the jeep days in and out, not from extra trail. Shorter versions exist, but they get short by cutting the acclimatisation, which is the part we keep.

If you have less time, the honest answer is that this is not the trek to compress, because the days you would cut are the safety days. We would rather tell you that than sell you a rushed crossing.

You need the Annapurna Conservation Area Permit, the ACAP, which is the required permit for the region. It costs 3000 Nepalese rupees for foreign trekkers, roughly 22 to 30 US dollars depending on the exchange rate, and we arrange it for you on both tiers. The TIMS card is arranged where applicable; in practice it is not currently checked on the Annapurna trails, though Nepal's permit rules have changed before, so we confirm the current position at the start of each season. NEEDS VERIFICATION: reconfirm the ACAP fee and any TIMS change with operations before publishing exact figures each season.

You need the Annapurna Conservation Area Permit, the ACAP, which is the required permit for the region. It costs 3000 Nepalese rupees for foreign trekkers, roughly 20 to 25 US dollars, and we arrange it for you as part of every tier. Tilicho is inside the same conservation area as the Annapurna Circuit, so the same single permit covers it; there is no special restricted-area permit for this route. The TIMS card is not currently required or checked on the Annapurna trails, though Nepal's permit rules have changed before, so we confirm the current position at the start of each season. NEEDS VERIFICATION: reconfirm ACAP fee and any TIMS change with operations before publishing exact figures each season.

The anchor prices we publish ($1,450 / $2,250 / from $3,800) apply to the peak trekking seasons spring (March–May) and autumn (September–November). These are the seasons when weather is most reliable, views are clearest, and lodges are fully operational.

Winter (December–February): reduced availability on many routes. Some high-altitude passes (Thorong La, Larkya La) are closed due to snow. The treks we run in winter (mostly Everest Base Camp with extra buffer days, Mardi Himal, lower Langtang) are priced at roughly 85–90% of the peak rate but the honest answer is we often recommend against winter trekking unless you have specific cold-weather experience.

Monsoon (June–August): most routes are closed due to leeches, slippery trails, and obscured views. The one trek we strongly recommend during monsoon is Upper Mustang, which sits in Nepal's rain shadow and is largely unaffected by the monsoon. Upper Mustang is priced slightly lower in monsoon (~5–10%) because the Kathmandu-to-Jomsom flight is less contested but the permit cost ($500 for the first 10 days) does not change.

If you are flexible on dates and are looking for the lowest price on a specific trek, ask us we will tell you the cheapest honest option, not the most profitable one.

Two, the same as for Everest Base Camp, since Gokyo is inside the same national park. The Sagarmatha National Park entry permit is NPR 3,000 for foreigners, plus 13 percent VAT, and the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality permit the local "trek card" is a further NPR 3,000, bought at Lukla rather than in Kathmandu. Together that is roughly 40 to 45 US dollars per person at current rates.

Both permits are included in your trek price; we arrange them for you. The TIMS card is not enforced in the Khumbu. Permit fees are set by the authorities and can change, so we confirm the current figures at the start of each season.

You need the Annapurna Conservation Area Permit (ACAP), which we arrange for you, around NPR 3000 for foreign trekkers. A licensed guide is mandatory in the Annapurna region, and that is included. The TIMS card is not currently checked on the Annapurna trails, though rules can change and we verify each season.

One ACAP also covers the Tilicho Lake add-on if you choose it. The cost of permits is small relative to the trip; the main costs are guide and porter days, transport, and the days on the route.

Meals are included, and we say so clearly because some operators quote a low headline price and leave food out. The Trail includes breakfast and dinner, with lunch on your own for flexibility on driving and walking days. The Journey and The Transformation include full board, all three meals. Food on the trail is simple teahouse cooking: the Nepali staple dal bhat, lentils with rice and vegetables, plus noodles, soups, eggs, potatoes and pancakes. Prices on menus rise as you go higher because everything is carried or hauled up, but on our included tiers that is already covered.

It depends on the tier, and we are clear about it because some operators quote a low headline price and leave food out. The Trail includes breakfast and dinner, with lunch on your own for flexibility on driving and walking days. The Journey and The Transformation include full board, all three meals. Food on the trail is simple teahouse cooking: the Nepali staple dal bhat of lentils, rice and vegetables, plus noodles, soups, momos, eggs and pancakes. Prices on the menus rise as you climb, because everything is carried up by porter, but on our included tiers that is already covered.

Two permits, both for the Everest region, and we arrange both for you. The Sagarmatha National Park entry permit is 3000 Nepalese rupees for foreign trekkers, plus applicable VAT, and the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality permit, sometimes called the Trek Card, is another 3000 rupees, bought at Lukla or Monjo rather than in Kathmandu. That is roughly 40 to 45 US dollars in total at current rates. The Cho La Pass needs no separate permit, as it is inside the same national park.

The main extras are travel insurance (roughly 50 to 150 per person, paid to your insurer, and mandatory - we do not sell it), your Nepal visa (30 to 50 on arrival), international flights, and your Kathmandu hotel and meals, which are not part of this trip. Drinks beyond included meals, snacks, laundry, and tips for your guide and driver are also on you.

On The Journey and The Transformation, solo travellers who want a private room pay a single supplement of 180. The optional helicopter return on The Transformation is quoted separately, around 700 to 800 per seat, and confirmed nearer the date depending on weather.

All four permits, all on-trek lodging (tier-specific quality), full board on the trek, breakfast in Kathmandu, private jeep transport in both directions, a licensed Guardian Profile, porter support (Trail 1:4, Journey 1:2, Transformation 1:1), a clean professionally-laundered sleeping bag, a branded duffel bag, the Pre-Trek Altitude Preparation Session in Kathmandu, and all safety equipment (pulse oximeter, supplemental oxygen, first-aid kit, satellite phone and GPS above 4,000 m). The Journey adds a down jacket loan, upgraded teahouses where available, post-trek Traditional Nepali Recovery Massage, and farewell dinner. The Transformation adds welcome and farewell dinners, premium hotel, deeper private support, and a Kathmandu Valley cultural day. What we do not include: optional helicopter returns, international flights, Nepal visa fee (paid in cash at Kathmandu airport, USD $30 to $125 depending on length), travel insurance (mandatory, must cover trekking to 6,000 m), Kathmandu lunches and dinners beyond the inclusive ones, bottled drinks and alcohol, tips for your guide and porter (customary suggestion: USD $10–15 per day per trekker, split between guide and porter), hot showers above 3,500 m if you are on The Trail, personal trekking gear you choose to bring or rent. A realistic budget for personal extras across the trek, beyond the tier price, is USD $250 to $450 per trekker primarily insurance, visa, tips, and incidentals.