Upper Mustang Itinerary: 10, 12 or 14 Days? What Each Extra Day Adds for 2027

Updated 25 October 2026.

Short answer: Our live Upper Mustang trek is 10 days, with 8 of them inside the restricted area, and it is the shortest plan I would run. Twelve days gives you a second day around Lo Manthang. Fourteen days gives you slack for wind, a slow stomach or a late road. The restricted-area permit is USD 50 per person for every day you are inside, so 8 days costs USD 400, 10 days USD 500 and 12 days USD 600. The 10-day trek is USD 1,290 Budget, USD 1,930 Standard and USD 3,500 Luxury per person for two to four people, permit included.

I am Shreejan. Guests often ask me whether 10 days is too rushed for Upper Mustang, and whether adding days is worth the money. It depends on what you want from Lo Manthang and how much margin you want on the road. Here is the live plan first, then what I would add.

What is in the 10-day Upper Mustang itinerary?

This is the plan on our Upper Mustang trek, 10 days. Heights are from our itinerary, and distances and hours from our distance and difficulty guide.

Day	Route	Sleep	Distance and time
1	Drive Kathmandu to Kagbeni	Kagbeni, 2,804 m	About 350 km, 10 to 14 hours
2	Kagbeni to Chele	Chele, 3,055 m	14 km, 5 to 6 hours
3	Chele to Syangboche	Syangboche, 3,800 m	15 km, 5 to 6 hours
4	Syangboche to Dhakmar	Dhakmar, 3,820 m	17 km, 6 to 7 hours
5	Dhakmar to Lo Manthang via Ghar Gompa and the Choku La (about 4,290 m)	Lo Manthang, 3,840 m	17 km, 7 to 8 hours
6	Lo Manthang exploration day	Lo Manthang, 3,840 m	Short walks, flexible
7	Lo Manthang to Ghami via Tsarang	Ghami, 3,520 m	23 km, 7 to 8 hours
8	Ghami to Samar	Samar, 3,610 m	21 km, 7 to 8 hours
9	Samar to Kagbeni	Kagbeni, 2,804 m	21 km, 6 to 7 hours
10	Drive Kagbeni to Kathmandu	Your Kathmandu hotel	About 350 km, 10 to 14 hours

You walk seven days and spend two days in a vehicle. The long walking days are the way back, 21 to 23 km each.

Two things in this plan are tight. There is one full day in Lo Manthang, and there is no spare day anywhere. If a landslide closes the road or the wind keeps you in a lodge, the plan has no slack.

How do 10, 12 and 14 days compare?

Only the 10-day trek is a live package with a fixed price. The 12 and 14 day versions below are outlines I would suggest. We confirm the exact plan and price when we quote, and I am not giving a price for them here.

	10 days (live)	12 days (outline)	14 days (outline)
What changes	One day in Lo Manthang	Add a day to the Chhoser caves and a spare day inside	Add two more spare days inside, one early for acclimatisation and one for the return
Days inside the restricted area	8	10	12
Restricted-area permit, per person	USD 400	USD 500	USD 600
Margin for weather and roads	None	One day	Two to three days
Package price	USD 1,290 / 1,930 / 3,500	On quote	On quote

The package price is Budget, Standard and Luxury per person for two to four people. Solo, or groups of five or more, is priced differently, and the package page shows each band.

What does the Upper Mustang permit cost for each length?

The Upper Mustang restricted-area permit is USD 50 per person per day. The Department of Immigration's fee page lists it as "per day, no flat fee since Dec 2025". Before that there was a 10-day minimum. Now it is a straight multiplication.

The days that count are the days you are inside the area, not the days of your whole trip. On the 10-day plan that is day 2 to day 9, which is 8 days, so USD 400. The two driving days are outside.

• 8 days inside: 8 x USD 50 = USD 400
• 10 days inside: 10 x USD 50 = USD 500
• 12 days inside: 12 x USD 50 = USD 600

So each extra day inside adds USD 50 per person for the permit alone. It also adds a guide day, a lodge night and meals, and I cover those when I quote. The permit is only the part that is fixed by the government.

You also need the Annapurna Conservation Area permit (NPR 3,000, or NPR 1,000 for SAARC nationals) and a TIMS card (NPR 2,000, or NPR 1,000 for SAARC). The restricted-area permit does not replace TIMS. We arrange all three and they are in our prices. The permit application needs 48 hours in government working days, so we ask for passport details early.

A longer trip does not always mean a bigger permit. Our 15-day route flies to Jomsom and drives out, so more of the days are outside the area. Its permit is USD 450, for 9 days inside. More on that below.

Does Upper Mustang need Jomsom flights or the road?

The 10-day plan drives from Kathmandu to Kagbeni and back. That is about 350 km each way and 10 to 14 hours on the day. Those two days are the main reason many people lengthen the trip.

The other live option is the 15-day Upper Mustang trek via Pokhara and Jomsom. You fly Kathmandu to Pokhara, fly Pokhara to Jomsom, walk to Kagbeni, and on the way out take a private jeep from Kagbeni to Pokhara and fly to Kathmandu. It adds a second day in Lo Manthang for the Chhoser caves and costs USD 2,460 Budget, USD 3,185 Standard and USD 4,850 Luxury per person for two to four people. It includes the flights and the jeep.

The Pokhara to Jomsom flight runs in the morning only, and wind usually stops flights after midday. Our own page says flights are often delayed or cancelled and that the road can have landslides, which is why I suggest a spare day before your international flight. As of 14 October 2026 our page says the Beni to Jomsom road is repaired and open to vehicles again. We check 48 hours before departure, and if it is not open we move your dates. I wrote more about the choice in fly to Jomsom or drive from Kathmandu.

Who should take which length?

Take 10 days if you have a fixed holiday, you are fit and you are fine with long driving days. It works when the weather behaves.

Take 12 days if you want time in Lo Manthang. One day covers the walled town and its gompas. A second day lets you go out to the Chhoser caves, and it is also a day you can use if the wind or your stomach says rest.

Take 14 days if you walk slowly, or you are coming for photography, or you cannot afford to miss your flight home. The slack is what you are buying.

For the heights, the highest point is the Choku La at about 4,290 m, crossed in a day. The highest night is Lo Manthang at 3,840 m. The step to respect is day 3, from Chele (3,055 m) to Syangboche (3,800 m), a gain of about 745 m. An extra rest day does not change that climb, but it gives your body a day at 3,800 m or above to catch up. Your travel insurance must cover trekking and helicopter evacuation to 4,500 m, which is the Choku La height rounded up to the next 500 m. Our guides carry a pulse oximeter and check it daily.

When should you go in 2027?

I keep the month-by-month answer in a separate post, Upper Mustang best time in 2027. The short version is that Upper Mustang sits behind the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri ranges, so it takes very little rain, and the wind builds every afternoon, usually 40 to 60 km an hour by 1 or 2 pm. We start at about 7 am. If you want the Tiji festival in Lo Manthang, read our Tiji guide, because its dates move each year, and a longer trip gives you a better chance of arriving with rooms in hand.

How much does an extra day really cost?

I cannot give you a number for the 12 or 14 day versions until we know the plan, the group size and the season. What I can say is the permit part: USD 50 per person per day inside. The rest is the guide, the lodge, the food and sometimes a porter. For a worked breakdown of the 10-day price, see the Upper Mustang trek cost guide.

Not in the trek prices: your international flights, your Nepal visa, travel insurance, your Kathmandu hotel and tips. On Budget, meals are not included either, and we tell guests to plan USD 20 to 30 a day because almost everything is carried in. The 10% deposit confirms your dates and you pay the balance in Kathmandu, in US dollars or euros. Card payments of the balance carry a 3.5% bank charge. Cash in Kathmandu carries none.

Is 10 days enough for Upper Mustang?

It is enough to see Lo Manthang, Ghar Gompa, Dhakmar's red cliffs and Samar, and most people finish happy. What it does not give you is a spare day. If everything runs to plan, you are fine. If one thing slips, you lose a day from the end.

Can I do Upper Mustang in 7 or 8 days?

Not on foot with our route. The trek needs seven walking days plus two driving days. An alternative is the jeep tour, and I compare it with the trek in a separate post.

Do I pay the permit for the driving days?

No. The permit counts the days inside the restricted area. The drive from Kathmandu to Kagbeni and the drive back are outside it on our 10-day plan, which is why that permit is 8 days, not 10.

Can I go solo and do a longer itinerary?

Yes. Solo restricted-area permits have been possible since 22 March 2026, with an agency and a licensed guide, and at most 7 trekkers per guide. Every trek we run is private. The solo price is higher than the 2 to 4 price, and the live page shows it.

Do I need a porter?

Budget has no porter, so you carry your own bag. Standard has one porter for every two trekkers, so about 10 kg each. Luxury gives each guest a dedicated porter and your bag can be up to 20 kg. If you are one person on Standard, there is no porter, and the guide carries up to 10 kg of your gear.

What if the road or the weather delays us?

On the 10-day plan something has to give, because there is no spare day. On the 12 and 14 day outlines the spare days exist for this. If our plans change before the trip, we reschedule to any date within a year, with 7 days' notice for restricted areas. The deposit itself is not refunded if you cancel.

Which length would I choose?

If it were my own trip and I had the time, I would take 12 days and put the extra day in Lo Manthang. The 10-day plan is fine, but the road home is where its margin disappears.

If you tell me your dates and how you like to walk, I will say which length fits and send a price for it on WhatsApp, +977 9810351300.