Travelling to Nepal? Here Are 8 of Nepal’s Less Crowded Treks

If you’re travelling to Nepal to trek, the two names you’ll hear first are Everest Base Camp and the Annapurna region. Both are worth doing, but in October and April you’ll share them with a lot of other people.

Plenty of other routes stay quiet. Some need a special permit, some only opened to foreigners in the last few decades, and some are simply a long way from the nearest road. Below are eight of them, from a six-day walk near Kathmandu to a three-week trek in the far east, with days, altitude and price for each.

Nepal’s Less Crowded Treks at a Glance

Prices are the lowest published per-person price for each package, and days run from Kathmandu back to Kathmandu.

1. Manaslu Circuit

Photo: Himalayan 360

The Manaslu Circuit loops around Manaslu, the world’s eighth highest mountain at 8,163 m, and crosses the Larkya La pass at 5,106 m. It’s a restricted area, so you need a special permit and a licensed guide, and there’s no road on the trail between Machha Khola and Tilje.

It’s also the busiest trek on this list, and it’s growing fast. Permit records counted 14,986 trekkers in the Manaslu Conservation Area in 2025, sixteen times the 2021 figure. In October and April the handful of lodges at Dharamsala, the last stop before the pass, fill up. Late September, early December and early March are noticeably quieter.

If it’s your first trek at altitude, choose a version with two acclimatisation days. This 13-day Manaslu Circuit itinerary spends extra nights at Samagaon (3,530 m) and Samdo (3,875 m), including a day hike toward the Tibet border at 5,058 m, just 48 m below the pass.

2. Tsum Valley

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Tsum Valley sits in a secluded, restricted corner of Gorkha district close to the Tibetan border, and it only opened to outsiders in 2008. That late start is why it keeps some of Nepal’s best-preserved Tibetan culture: monasteries, chortens, mani walls and villages that follow Bon and Tibetan Buddhist traditions. It’s held to be a sacred valley blessed by Guru Rinpoche.

The 15-day trek stays inside the Manaslu Conservation Area and reaches Ganesh Himal Base Camp at 4,200 m, with views of Manaslu (8,163 m), Ganesh Himal (7,140 m) and Himalchuli (7,893 m). It’s rated medium, which makes it one of the gentler restricted-area treks in the country.

3. Nar Phu Valley

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Nar and Phu are two villages in a restricted pocket of the Annapurna region that opened to trekkers only in 2003. Tibetan Buddhist traditions shape the whole valley, and the views take in Annapurna II, Manaslu and Dhaulagiri.

It’s one of Nepal’s tougher treks. The 18-day trip starts walking from Jagat and tops out at 5,416 m. Don’t expect crowded trails or fancy tea houses. You get thick forest, high-altitude quiet and small villages where the hospitality makes up for the basic rooms.

4. Upper Mustang

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Upper Mustang, often called the last forbidden kingdom, was closed to outsiders until 1992. It lies beyond the main Himalayan range and the reach of the monsoon, so the land is dry and desert-like, closer to the Tibetan plateau than to the green Nepal most people picture. The trail follows old caravan routes past fortress villages, cliffside cave monasteries and fossil-studded rock to Lo Manthang, the walled city at the heart of the trek.

It’s a restricted area, so you’ll need a restricted area permit. The 16-day trip reaches 4,280 m and includes a 25-minute mountain flight. Because it sits outside the monsoon, its season is unusually long: February to June and September to December.

5. Makalu Base Camp

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If you want to avoid the Everest and Annapurna crowds entirely, Makalu is the pick. It’s in the remote eastern Himalaya, inside Makalu Barun National Park, and ends at Makalu Base Camp (4,870 m) beneath the south face of the world’s fifth highest mountain.

Villages and tea houses are few and far between, so you really feel the isolation. The trail climbs from Rai, Gurung and Sherpa villages near Num through rhododendron and bamboo forest, crosses passes above 4,000 m including Shipton La, and runs through the habitat of red pandas, musk deer and Himalayan tahr. The trip takes 17 days.

6. Kanchenjunga North Base Camp

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Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest mountain, stands on Nepal’s far eastern border, and the trek to its north base camp is one of the least travelled routes in the country. The 15-day trip starts with a flight to Bhadrapur, then climbs through the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area from subtropical forest and terraced farms to glaciers, reaching 5,140 m.

It’s rated very difficult and suits trekkers with some altitude experience. The Ghunsa Khola valley is lined with rhododendron, bamboo, oak and birch, and the conservation area is home to red pandas and blue sheep.

7. Dhaulagiri Circuit

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The Dhaulagiri Circuit is one of Nepal’s most adventurous treks. It crosses two high passes, French Pass at 5,360 m and Dhampus Pass, and circles Dhaulagiri, the world’s seventh highest mountain at 8,167 m. Starting at Darbang, it runs through Magar, Thakali and Gurung villages like Muri, Bagar and Dobhan, crosses the Chhonbardan Glacier, and passes Japanese Base Camp (3,890 m) and Dhaulagiri Base Camp (4,748 m) before finishing at Marpha.

Part of the route uses camping instead of tea houses, which is one reason so few people attempt it. At 18 days and from USD 3,060, it’s the most committing trek on this list.

8. Tamang Heritage Trail

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For something much shorter, the Tamang Heritage Trail, opened in 2004, is one of the closest trekking routes to Kathmandu and takes six days. It’s rated easy, averages about six hours of walking a day, and tops out at 3,165 m at Nagthali.

The Tamang people trace their origins to Tibet and practise Tibetan Buddhism, and you stay in locally run tea houses in their villages with the Langtang range as the backdrop. You need two permits, a TIMS card and a Langtang National Park entry permit, and the trip starts from USD 360.

Which Quiet Trek Suits You?

Before You Go

• Sort permits early. Manaslu, Tsum Valley, Nar Phu and Upper Mustang are restricted areas. Their permits are arranged through a registered agency, and on Manaslu a licensed guide is compulsory.
• Match your insurance to your highest point. It should name trekking at that altitude and helicopter evacuation. Most insurers jump from a 5,000 m band straight to 6,000 m, so any trek above 5,000 m needs the 6,000 m band.
• Travel in the shoulder weeks. Spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November) are the main seasons, and the first and last weeks of each are the quietest.
• Carry a water filter or purification tablets. Bottled water costs more the higher you go.

These treks take more planning than the classics, mostly because of permits and distance, and in return you’ll often have long stretches of trail to yourself. If you want to travel to Nepal, compare and book these routes, get in touch with Himalayan 360 one of the best travel & trek companies in Nepal.

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