AroundTrail
← All itineraries

Itinerary

Ghorepani Poon Hill Trek: 6 Days from Pokhara

6 days · 13 stops · 4h travelling

Nepal's most accessible teahouse trek, with the two Pokhara days that actually make it work: a day to sort permits and acclimatise, four walking days to Poon Hill and out through Ghandruk, and a day back on the lake. No camping, no altitude problem, no guide strictly required.

Make this yours: you get an editable copy with every day and stop already in place, plus the travel between days. Nothing here changes — the copy is separate.

Day 1 — Pokhara: permits and the lake

You need two pieces of paper before you walk: an ACAP entry permit for the Annapurna Conservation Area and a TIMS card. Both are issued in Pokhara at the Nepal Tourism Board office on the Lakeside road; bring passport photos and cash.

That is a half-day errand, which leaves the afternoon for the lake. Walking the Lakeside strip end to end is also a decent last check on your boots.

  1. 1

    Pokhara Lakeside

  2. 2

    Phewa Lake

  3. 3

    Annapurna Conservation Area

  4. 4

    ACAP permit + TIMS cardNote

    Issued at the Nepal Tourism Board office in Pokhara. Take your passport, two photos and Nepali rupees in cash. Checkpoints on the trail do inspect both.

Jeep · 2h · $34
  • Shared jeeps leave from Baglung bus park in the morning; a private jeep costs several times as much and is not faster.

Day 2 — Nayapul to Tikhedhunga

A jeep out to the road head at Nayapul, then an easy first afternoon following the Bhurungdi Khola upstream through Birethanti. 4–5 hours walking.

Tikhedhunga sits at the bottom of the Ulleri staircase, which is tomorrow's problem.

  1. 1

    Ghorepani Poon Hill Trek

  2. 2

    TikhedhungaStay

    Stage 1 overnight. Teahouses on both sides of the river.

Day 3 — Tikhedhunga to Ghorepani

The hard day, and it comes early: the stone staircase up to Ulleri is a long unbroken climb, and after it the trail goes into rhododendron forest all the way to the pass. 6–7 hours walking.

Ghorepani straddles the ridge at around 2,850 m. Sleep early — Poon Hill is a pre-dawn start.

  1. 1

    GhorepaniStay

    Stage 2 overnight, on the ridge. Poon Hill is roughly 45 minutes above the village.

Day 4 — Poon Hill sunrise, then on to Tadapani

Up at 04:30 for the 45-minute climb to the Poon Hill viewpoint: Dhaulagiri to the west, the Annapurnas and Machhapuchhre to the east. Back down for breakfast.

Then the day's actual walking, east along the ridge and down into the forest to Tadapani. 5–6 hours.

  1. 1

    Poon Hill viewpoint (3,210 m)Note

    45 minutes up from Ghorepani in the dark; head torch needed. There is an entry fee collected at the top.

  2. 2

    TadapaniStay

    Stage 3 overnight. Machhapuchhre is directly north of the village on a clear morning.

Day 5 — Tadapani to Ghandruk

The shortest walking day, downhill through forest into Ghandruk. 3–4 hours.

Ghandruk is a large Gurung village with slate roofs and stone lanes, and it is worth arriving early enough to walk around it properly rather than treating it as a bus stop.

  1. 1

    GhandrukStay

    Stage 4 overnight, and the end of the walking. Gurung village at about 2,000 m.

JeepJeep · 2h · $34
  • Shared jeep down the Modi Khola road. We have no timing data for this hop — allow the morning for it, or walk down to Birethanti instead.
  • Sealed road the whole way.

Or start an empty plan and build it day by day.