Can You Trek Manaslu Solo in 2026? The Permit Rule That Changed, and What It Really Costs

Written by Shreejan Simkhada, CEO of The Everest Holiday and third-generation Himalayan guide. TAAN Member #1586.

Last updated 9 September 2026. Permit fees read from the Department of Immigration's own fee page and from the government permit portal our office files through. Package prices read from our booking system on the same date.

Since March 2026 I have been asked the same question almost every week, in slightly different words: can I now do the Manaslu Circuit on my own? The answer is yes, and it is a real change rather than a rumour. But almost every version of it I read online is either out of date or gets the important half wrong. So here is what actually changed, what it did not change, what it costs a single trekker, and the one condition that nobody writes about.

What changed in March 2026?

The Department of Immigration decided on 8 Chaitra 2082, which is 22 March 2026, that a restricted-area permit can be issued to a single trekker. That applies across all thirteen restricted districts, Manaslu among them. Before that decision, the rule was a minimum of two trekkers on one permit, and a solo walker either found a stranger to pair with or did not go.

The notice says plainly why: the trekking associations, TAAN included, had complained that the two-person minimum was costing Nepal visitors. The decision was signed by the Director and Spokesperson of the Department. It is the Department of Immigration that issues restricted-area permits, not the Tourism Ministry and not the Tourism Board, which is why you will not find this on the tourism websites. The same round of changes also replaced the old Upper Mustang flat fee, which I covered in what changed in Nepal's permit rules.

You can check the current fee table yourself on the Department of Immigration's trekking route and permit fee page. I would encourage you to. Half the Manaslu pages on the internet are quoting figures that were replaced.

So can I actually walk the Manaslu Circuit alone?

You can be the only paying trekker. You cannot walk it unaccompanied, and this is the part that gets lost.

Three conditions came attached to the decision, and all three still stand:

First, the application must go through a registered trekking agency. You cannot walk into the Department of Immigration with your passport and buy a Manaslu permit over the counter. It is not a matter of queueing in the right place; the system will not issue one to an individual. Any website telling you to get your own restricted-area permit in Kathmandu is describing something that does not exist.

Second, a licensed trekking guide must accompany you. The guide's licence number goes on the permit application along with your passport details.

Third, the agency carries formal responsibility for your rescue in an emergency. That obligation is written into the decision, and it is the real reason the government wants an agency's name against yours. It also tells you something worth knowing when you compare quotes: the cheapest operator is the one whose rescue obligation you are relying on.

So "solo" here means solo in the way that matters to most people. Your own itinerary, your own pace, nobody else's rest days, no strangers in your group. It does not mean alone on the trail.

The rule almost nobody mentions: one guide per seven trekkers

The same decision set a ratio that I have not seen written up anywhere else. In a restricted area, one licensed guide may be listed for a maximum of seven trekkers. A group of eight needs a second licensed guide on the permit, not an assistant, not a porter-guide.

This matters to you even if you are travelling alone, because it tells you how to read someone else's cheap group departure. If an operator has put twelve people on a Manaslu permit behind a single guide, either the permit does not say what they told you, or there is a second licensed guide they have not mentioned and have costed. Ask which.

What does a solo Manaslu permit cost?

The restricted-area fee is charged per person per day, and it does not get cheaper or more expensive because you are one. From September to November it is US$100 for the first seven days, then US$15 for each additional day. From December to August it is US$75 for the first seven days and US$10 a day after.

The days are counted from your itinerary, not from how long you actually take. On our twelve-day route you are inside the restricted zone from Jagat to Dharapani, which is nine days. That means US$130 in the autumn and spring peak, or US$95 outside it.

Then there are three more documents, and this is where Manaslu is unusual. It needs more paperwork than any other standard trek in Nepal:

Document	Cost	Why
Restricted-area permit	US$130 peak, US$95 off-peak	Jagat to Dharapani, 9 days on our itinerary
Manaslu Conservation Area permit	NPR 3,000, about US$20	The conservation area itself
Annapurna Conservation Area permit	NPR 3,000, about US$20	The circuit exits through Dharapani, which is inside ACAP
TIMS card	NPR 2,000, about US$13	Manaslu Circuit is on the Tourism Board's TIMS route list
Total	about US$183 peak, US$148 off-peak

Every one of those is inside our package price. I list them so you can hold a quote up against them. If a Manaslu quote is only a little above the package prices below, the permits have not been included, and you will be asked for them later. The full breakdown of where a Manaslu budget goes is in what the Manaslu Circuit really costs.

Is trekking Manaslu solo more expensive?

Yes, and I would rather say so than let you find out at the quote stage.

The permit fees are per person, so they are the same whether you are one or twelve. What does not divide is the guide. On a group of six, one guide's wages, food, lodging, insurance and transport are spread across six people. Alone, you carry all of it. That is not an operator's margin, it is arithmetic, and any company quoting you a solo Manaslu trek at the group rate is either subsidising you now and finding it back later, or cutting the guide's pay.

Our own published prices for the twelve-day Manaslu Circuit are US$799 budget, US$1,599 standard and US$2,099 luxury for one to four trekkers, dropping in bands to US$649, US$1,449 and US$1,949 at thirteen to twenty. The price is identical whether you book privately or not, and we never put strangers into your group to fill it, so a solo booking is a private trek at the published rate.

One thing I want to be direct about, because other companies are vague on it: a solo booking does not come with a porter on any tier. Our porter ratio is one per two trekkers, so a single trekker does not generate one. Your guide will carry some of your luggage and is with you from the start of the trek. If you want a dedicated porter as a single trekker, ask me and I will price one; it is not hidden, it is simply not in the package.

What does the agency actually need from you?

The permit application is filed in a government portal and it is stricter than people expect. If a document is wrong the application is rejected, not queried, so it is worth getting these right the first time:

Your passport, valid, with the number and a clear scan of all four corners, no glare.

A recent photograph in which both ears are visible. No selfies, no filters, no crops from a group photo. This sounds petty and it is the single most common reason an application comes back.

Your visa number, or your visa application submission ID. This is new and genuinely useful: the permit can be applied for before you arrive in Nepal, on the submission ID from your online arrival form, rather than waiting for a stamped visa. If you are arriving on a tight schedule, tell your operator early and this is the difference between trekking on day two and waiting in Kathmandu.

Your travel insurance certificate, as a file. It has to name trekking at the altitude you are going to. Larkya La is 5,160 m, so a policy capped at 4,000 m is no use to you. Buy cover to 6,000 m and make sure helicopter search, rescue and evacuation is named, not just medical repatriation.

The office can process an application the same day if it is paid at least an hour before closing. It cannot process one at all on a public holiday, and Nepal has a great many of them in October. Build a day of slack in Kathmandu.

Should you trek Manaslu alone, or is another trek better?

Manaslu is a serious trek and the solo rule change does not make it an easier one. It crosses Larkya La at 5,160 m, the villages above Namrung are genuinely remote, and there is no road to walk out to for several days in the middle. If this is your first Himalayan trek, I would honestly rather sell you Annapurna Base Camp or Everest Base Camp and see you come back for Manaslu, than take your money for this one now. The difficulty page is candid about what it asks of you.

If you have walked at altitude before, it is the trek I would pick for myself. It is quieter than Annapurna, the Tibetan Buddhist culture from Lho and Samagaon upward is intact rather than staged, and the Larkya La day is one of the best in Nepal.

Two variations worth knowing about. Tsum Valley with the Manaslu Circuit adds a side valley that most people on the circuit never see, and Tsum has its own restricted-area permit at a lower rate, US$40 a week in the autumn. Manaslu with Nar Phu joins two restricted areas in one trip and needs both permits. The rest of the region is on the Manaslu region page.

Solo and female? What I tell my own clients

A good proportion of the single trekkers I book on Manaslu are women, and the question behind the question is usually about the guide rather than the trail. My honest answer is that the guide is the whole of it: you are going to spend twelve days with this person in places where there is nobody else to turn to. Ask for the guide's name and licence number before you pay, ask how long they have worked with the company, and ask to speak to them. Any operator that will not put you on a call with your guide is telling you something. I have written more on this in the solo female trekking guide.

Is anything about the Manaslu route uncertain right now?

Yes, and you should hear it from me. The Manaslu Circuit closed on 6 September 2026 after flooding and reopened on 8 September. It is walking again. But this has been a hard monsoon in Nepal and conditions on the approach road change, so check the current Manaslu status page before you book flights, and ask me directly what the trail looked like this week rather than last month.

Check us before you pay

You are about to hand a restricted-area permit application, your passport details and a deposit to a company you have not met. Check it. The Everest Holiday Pvt. Ltd. was registered in Kathmandu on 8 April 2016, company registration 147653/072/073, trekking licence 2090/072, member 1586 of the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal. Every legitimate operator holds the same paperwork and none of us should be offended that you asked to see it. I will say plainly that even fully licensed operators have been involved in scams, so treat the paperwork as a floor and not a guarantee, and get on a call before you send money. If a company will not take that call, walk away.

The questions solo trekkers always ask me

Can I get the permit myself and hire a guide separately? No. The permit is issued to an agency, not to you, and the agency carries the rescue obligation. This is the one thing about Manaslu that has no workaround.

How far ahead do I need to book? For October, as early as you can, because the guide is the constraint, not the permit. Off-season, a week or two is usually enough.

Do I need the TIMS card if I have a restricted-area permit? You will read online that the restricted-area permit replaces it. The Tourism Board's own TIMS route list still names the Manaslu Circuit, so budget for it. It is thirteen dollars and it is inside our price.

Can I add days on the trail if I feel slow? Yes, but the permit is issued for a set number of days and extra days are chargeable, so tell your guide early rather than on the day.

Is the rule going to change back? I have no reason to think so, and it came about because the industry asked for it. But I have watched Nepal's permit rules move more than once, so I would check the Department's page again in the week you apply rather than trusting a blog, including this one.

If you are planning a single-trekker Manaslu and want the real numbers for your dates, write to me on WhatsApp. I answer myself, and I will tell you if I think the trek is wrong for you.

Shreejan Simkhada is the CEO and co-founder of The Everest Holiday, a family-run trekking company in Kathmandu, and a third-generation Himalayan guide. TAAN Member #1586. Every booking helps fund our Nagarjun Learning Center.