How Much Does Upper Mustang Trek Cost? 2026 Guide with New Permit Rates

Upper Mustang costs more than most Nepal treks, and for good reason. The restricted-area permit alone costs more than some entire treks elsewhere in the country. But the prices changed in 2025, and the new structure actually makes the trek more accessible than it used to be. Here is what the full trip costs in 2026, broken down so you can budget properly.

How Much Does the Upper Mustang Permit Cost in 2026?

Until 2024, the Upper Mustang restricted-area permit cost a flat USD 500 for 10 days. If you stayed longer, you paid USD 50 per extra day. This meant a short trek and a long trek cost nearly the same in permits, which discouraged shorter itineraries.

From 2025, Nepal's Department of Immigration switched to a daily rate. The permit now costs USD 50 per day. For the standard 10-day Upper Mustang trek, your permit comes to USD 500. That works out at exactly the old flat rate, so nothing changed for a standard 10-day trip. What changed is everything shorter: an 8-day trek now costs USD 400 rather than USD 500, and a 6-day trek USD 300. The daily rate rewards shorter itineraries instead of penalising them.

On top of the restricted-area permit, you also need:

• TIMS card: NPR 2,000 (about USD 15)
• Annapurna Conservation Area Permit (ACAP): NPR 3,000 (about USD 22)

So the permit total depends entirely on how many days you book:

• 8 days: USD 400 + 15 + 22 = USD 437
• 10 days (our standard itinerary): USD 500 + 15 + 22 = USD 537
• 15 days: USD 750 + 15 + 22 = USD 787

Restricted-area permits are issued by the Department of Immigration, the ACAP permit by the National Trust for Nature Conservation, and the TIMS card through the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal. That last one is worth a minute of your time for a different reason: you can check there whether any company you are considering is genuinely a member. We are number 1586.

When does the permit clock start, and can you get the money back?

Two details catch people out, and both cost money. The permit is priced by the days you spend inside the restricted area, counted from the checkpoint above Kagbeni, not from the day you land in Kathmandu. Your Kathmandu nights, the drive up the valley and the days below Kagbeni are not charged at USD 50. A fifteen-day holiday and a fifteen-day permit are therefore rarely the same number, and if an operator quotes a permit cost that happens to match your total holiday length, ask them to break it down.

The second is that the restricted-area permit is issued for named dates and is neither refundable nor transferable. Turn back early and the unused days are gone. If the Pokhara to Jomsom flight is grounded for three days and you lose your window, the permit does not move with you. That is the practical argument for building a spare day into the plan, and for driving rather than flying in a windy season.

The season that changes the arithmetic

Upper Mustang sits behind the main Himalayan range, in its rain shadow. While the rest of Nepal is shut by the monsoon from June to mid-September, Lo stays comparatively dry, which makes it one of very few regions in the country genuinely worth walking in summer. Lodges are quiet, the trails are empty and shoulder pricing applies, so a monsoon trip is usually the cheapest way to see Lo Manthang.

The trade-offs are honest ones. The drive up the Kali Gandaki is worse in the wet, flights are less dependable, and the light is less kind for photographs than the hard clear skies of late October. But if budget is your binding constraint and your dates are flexible, this is the single largest saving available on an Upper Mustang trek. It is also the exact opposite of the advice we would give anyone asking about Everest or Annapurna, which is why it is worth saying out loud.

What a Guided Trek Actually Costs

Most trekkers book Upper Mustang as a full package because the logistics are complicated and independent trekking is not permitted in the restricted area. You must have a registered guide and travel with a licensed agency.

One rule did change, and a lot of operators still have the old version on their own websites. On 22 March 2026 Nepal removed the requirement for a minimum of two trekkers in the restricted areas, so a single trekker can now hold an Upper Mustang permit. A licensed guide and a registered agency are still mandatory and the USD 50 daily permit is unchanged, but solo travel here is legal now where before it simply was not. We quote solo trips individually, because a guide, a jeep and a single room do not split between one person.

Here is what package prices look like in 2026:

Category	Price Range (per person)	What You Get
Budget	USD 1,290, down to 1,140 by group size	Teahouses, shared room, licensed guide. No porter, and you buy your own meals on the trail
Standard	USD 1,930, down to 1,780 by group size	Twin private room, one guide per six, one porter per two, all meals with seasonal fruit
Luxury	USD 3,500, down to 3,350 by group size	Best rooms available with private bathroom, one guide per two, a porter each, all meals and drinks, private vehicle

On our own trek the price includes all three permits, teahouse accommodation, a licensed guide, return road transport between Kathmandu and Kagbeni where the walking starts, a first aid kit with an oximeter, and a free sleeping bag rated to minus fifteen and a down jacket if you do not own them. Kathmandu hotels are quoted separately on every tier, and so are international flights, travel insurance, your Nepali visa and personal gear such as boots. Meals on the trail are included from the Standard tier upward, not on Budget, and Budget has no porter, so you carry your own bag.

It is worth understanding why the number is what it is. There is no meaningful road freight above Kagbeni, so food, cooking gas and fuel go in by jeep along the Kali Gandaki riverbed, and lodge prices upstream reflect that. The permit alone is USD 50 a day before you have eaten or slept anywhere. The vehicle is a full day on rough road, not a bus. None of that shrinks when the group does, which is exactly why the per-person price falls as the group grows: the fixed costs simply have more people to sit on.

How Much Money Do You Need Per Day in Upper Mustang?

Even on an all-inclusive package, you will spend money on the trail. Here is what to expect:

• Hot drinks: NPR 150-300 per cup (USD 1-2). Tea and coffee at high-altitude teahouses cost more than in Kathmandu.
• Charging devices: NPR 200-500 per charge (USD 1.50-3.50). Bring a power bank.
• Hot showers: NPR 300-500 (USD 2-3.50). Not available everywhere above Lo Manthang.
• Snacks and extras: NPR 500-1,000 per day if you want chocolate, biscuits, or extra food.
• Tips: Budget USD 10-15 per day for your guide and USD 8-10 per day for porters.

A reasonable daily budget for extras is USD 15-25 per day, so about USD 150-250 across the standard 10-day trek.

How Do You Get to Upper Mustang?

Our own itinerary drives you from Kathmandu to Kagbeni, just past Jomsom, and back again, and that is inside the price on all three tiers. If you would rather fly part of the way, or you are putting a trip together yourself, these are the two ways in:

• Flight (Pokhara to Jomsom): USD 177 one way, which is Tara Air's published 2026 fare for foreign nationals. Twenty minutes in the air, but it cancels often because the Kali Gandaki wind gets up late morning. Take the earliest slot of the day.
• Jeep (Pokhara to Jomsom): USD 25-40 one way in a shared vehicle. Eight to ten hours on rough road, but it does not cancel, which in this valley matters more than comfort.

Flying both ways rather than driving adds roughly USD 300 per person once you set the fares against the road transport already in the price.

Full Budget Summary

Cost Item	Budget	Standard	Luxury
Trek package (10 days)	USD 1,290	USD 1,930	USD 3,500
Daily extras (10 days)	USD 150	USD 200	USD 250
Kathmandu hotels (3 nights, twin share)	USD 90	USD 135	USD 300
International flights	USD 400-1,200	USD 400-1,200	USD 400-1,200
Travel insurance	USD 80-150	USD 80-150	USD 80-150
Total	USD 2,010-2,880	USD 2,745-3,615	USD 4,530-5,400

Ways to Reduce the Cost

The biggest variable is group size. Permit costs and guide fees are fixed, so splitting them across 4-6 people makes a real difference. A solo trekker pays the full guide cost alone. A group of four splits it four ways.

Travelling in shoulder season (late March or late November) can reduce package prices by 10-15 per cent, though the weather becomes less predictable. Taking the jeep rather than the Jomsom flight saves about USD 140 per person each way.

There is one time of year when the arithmetic runs the other way. The Tiji festival in Lo Manthang falls on 1 to 3 June 2027, and 21 to 23 May 2028. Lodges in Lo Manthang are taken close to a year in advance and cost more than the list price, so a Tiji trip is a different budget from an ordinary one. If Tiji is why you are coming, book it a year out and expect to pay above the numbers on this page.

One thing you should not cut costs on is your guide. Upper Mustang is remote, the culture is sensitive, and the logistics require someone who knows the area well. A good guide is the difference between a trip you remember for the right reasons and one you remember for the wrong ones.

Is It Worth the Price?

If you have done the Annapurna Circuit or Everest Base Camp and want something completely different, Upper Mustang delivers. Lo Manthang feels like stepping into a different century. The landscape shifts from green valleys to Tibetan desert in a few days. You will not see crowds. The permit fee keeps the numbers low, and that is precisely what makes the trek special.

For a full day-by-day itinerary and current pricing, see our Upper Mustang Trek - 10 Days page.

What Does Upper Mustang Cost Compared to Other Restricted Treks?

Nepal has several restricted-area treks, each with different permit structures. Upper Dolpo costs USD 500 for ten days. Nar Phu Valley costs USD 100 per week. Tsum Valley costs USD 35 per week. Upper Mustang at USD 50 per day sits at the top of that range, level with Upper Dolpo once Dolpo's ten-day block is broken down per day.

But the infrastructure in Upper Mustang is better than any other restricted region. Lo Manthang has proper guesthouses with attached bathrooms, hot showers, and restaurants serving Tibetan, Nepali, and Western food. Dolpo has basic camping facilities. Tsum has simple teahouses. The permit price reflects not just exclusivity but the actual quality of the trek itself.

For trekkers deciding between restricted regions, Upper Mustang offers the best balance of cultural depth, comfortable accommodation and dramatic landscape. It is the restricted trek that even non-hardcore trekkers can do comfortably.

Upper Mustang is expensive because the restricted area permit costs $50 per day and the logistics require jeep transport, fuel, and supplies carried into a region with no shops. But it is also one of the most extraordinary cultural experiences in Asia. The walled city of Lo Manthang, the cave monasteries, the wind-carved cliffs — you are paying for access to a place that time forgot.

See our Upper Mustang Trek for exact 2026 pricing.

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