If you've never trekked in the Himalaya, the Ghorepani-Poon Hill loop out of Pokhara is the gentlest possible introduction that still delivers the full postcard: a 3,210-metre viewpoint with Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South, and the shark-fin of Machhapuchhre lined up across the dawn sky. It takes four or five days, needs no camping gear, and runs entirely on teahouses where dal bhat arrives in refillable quantities. This is the route we recommend to every first-timer, and it's still the one we'd happily walk again.
Kathmandu to Pokhara
Tourist buses leave Kathmandu's Thamel district around 7am and take 7-9 hours to Pokhara depending on the Prithvi Highway's mood; tickets cost $8-15, or $25-30 for a fancier coach with reclining seats. Flying takes 25 minutes and costs about $110-130 — worth considering on the return if you're short on time. Pokhara itself deserves two nights before the trek: rent a rowboat on Phewa Lake ($6 an hour), walk up to the World Peace Pagoda, and eat your bodyweight in momos along Lakeside, where dorms cost $6-10 and good private rooms $15-25.
Permits and the trailhead
You need an ACAP permit (about $23) and, under current rules, a licensed guide for the Annapurna Conservation Area — check the latest, as enforcement has fluctuated; a guide costs $25-30 a day and genuinely improves the trip if you get a good one. Agencies all along Lakeside arrange everything in an afternoon. From Pokhara, a taxi or local bus runs 1.5-2 hours to Nayapul ($3 by bus, $20-25 by taxi split between you), where the walking starts.
The climb to Ghorepani
Day one follows the Modi Khola then climbs to Tikhedhunga or Ulleri. Day two is the famous staircase: over three thousand stone steps rising through rhododendron forest to Ghorepani at 2,860 metres. It sounds grim and is actually lovely — mule trains jingle past, teahouses sell milk tea every hour or so, and in March and April the entire hillside blooms red and pink with rhododendron, Nepal's national flower, so thick it looks unreal. Teahouse rooms cost $3-6 (often free if you eat dinner and breakfast in-house), and meals run $3-6 a plate. Budget $25-30 a day all-in, more in peak season.
Poon Hill at dawn
The alarm goes at 4:15am. You join a bobbing line of headtorches climbing 45 minutes to the Poon Hill viewpoint, buy a $2 cup of hot chocolate from the hut at the top, and wait. When the light comes, it comes fast: Dhaulagiri (8,167 m) catches fire first, then the whole Annapurna wall down to Machhapuchhre's impossible twin summit. It's crowded and cold and completely worth it. Afterwards, walk the high ridge to Tadapani through moss-hung forest — for our money the prettiest walking of the whole loop.
Ghandruk and out
Descend to Ghandruk, a large Gurung village of slate-roofed houses with Annapurna South filling the sky behind it. Stay the night rather than rushing out; the village museum and the evening light on the terraces are the reward for slowing down. Next morning it's a couple of hours down to the road, where jeeps and buses run back to Pokhara ($3-10, 2-3 hours).
When to go and what to know
October-November gives the clearest skies; March-April trades a little haze for rhododendrons. Winter is cold but feasible; monsoon (June-September) means leeches and clouds. Carry cash for the whole trek — there are no ATMs after Pokhara — plus a layer you think you won't need and a water filter or purification tablets, since bottled water gets pricier with altitude. Total cost for the trek including permits, guide share, food, and beds: roughly $150-220 per person. Few experiences anywhere return so much on so little.
