How expensive is a trip through Nepal? The answer to this question depends on the type of traveller you are, the activities you do and how long you will travel etc. But to give you an idea of how much Nepal cost we give you an indication and we share with you how much we spend in this magical country. So, in this blog: how expensive was our trip through Nepal? Also, we will share a realistic daily budget for both a backpacker travelling in Nepal as a more luxurious holiday in Nepal. And you can read prices for food and general travel expenses in Nepal.
Is Nepal a budget destination?
Yes, Nepal is definitely a budget destination. It is one of the cheapest countries we have ever been to! Accommodation is in general very cheap. There are plenty of enough hostels, dorms and guesthouses. Food and drinks are very affordable too. Public transport is well arranged and cheap too. Activities are fairly priced as well (e.g. parasailing starting from 40 euro). All in all, Nepal is a perfect destination if you travel on a limited budget.
Tip: multi-day hikes are really cheap in Nepal if you do it yourself! The two of us spent no more than €40 per day (excluding permit). It contained our sleeping places and meals during our two-week trek.
Read all about beautiful mountain village Bandipur in our travel blog!
How much money did we spend in Nepal?
First a disclaimer: Everyone travels in his or her way and has different priorities. That is completely fine, but keep this in mind when you read our expenditures. It can always be more expensive or cheaper. This blog provides you with an indication of the costs of travelling through Nepal.
We travelled four weeks through Nepal, and we hiked at least half of the time. We arranged everything for the multi-day hike ourselves. No guides, nor porters for us. If you are thinking of using a guide or porter, your daily budget increases sharply. A guide is around €25 Euro a day and porter cost €15 a day. We travelled the majority of the time by public transport. We also stayed in guesthouses almost every night, where we had a private room with sometimes shared bathroom.
Budget and expenses in Nepal
Number of days in Nepal: 29
Total spendings in Nepal: NPR 211.628/ €1.664,49/ $1.833,80
Expenditures per person in Nepal: NPR 105.815/ €832,25/ $916,90
Average daily spendings in Nepal: NPR 7.298/ €57,40/ $63,24
Average daily spendings per person in Nepal: NPR 3.649/ €28,70/ $31,62
Our daily budget for Nepal: NPR8.900/ €70/ $77,12
Did we stay within budget: yes!
All expenses are for two people (unless stated otherwise) and are calculated based on exchange rates during the trip. This does not include our airline tickets of getting to Nepal. The currencies displayed are NPR (Nepalese Rupee), Euro (€) and USA Dollar ($).
What to pack for the Annapurna Circuit? In this blog, you will find a Himalaya packing list!
How expensive are accommodations in Nepal: 19.2% of the total budget in Nepal
Total expenditures: NPR 40.595/ €319,29/ $351,77
Amount of nights: 29
Average price for overnight stay 2 persons): NPR 1.399/ €11,01/ $12,13
Hotels, guesthouses and tea houses are relatively very cheap in Nepal. Spending 11 euros per night for a double room is really affordable. We slept most of the time in private rooms with a private bathroom. Only during the Annapurna circuit hike, we never had our own bathroom and did we sometimes stay on a dorm.
Tip: in some of the tea houses during the Annapurna Circuit you can sleep for free if you also eat ( both dinner and breakfast) at the location. For example, we slept six nights for “free”.
Read here about the best hotels in Nepal.
Tip: It is very hard to book tea houses in advance, even for tour operators! The ‘big” tea houses sometimes have a Facebook page. In case they have one, you can try to book via Facebook messenger a private room.
How expensive is transport in Nepal: 13.8% of the total budget in Nepal
Total expenditures: NPR 29.131/ €229,12/ $252,43
Taxi : NPR 6.409/ €50,41/ $55,54
Bus: NPR 5.638/ €44,35/ $48,86
Jeep: NPR 16.527/ €129,99/ $143,21
Boat: NPR 555,62/ €4,37/ $4,81
The majority of the time we travelled by public transport in Nepal. There are dozens of bus companies that run between Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan. The buses are called “tourist buses” and are generally somewhat larger and more comfortable than ‘local’ buses.
There are also smaller buses that run throughout the country. These reminded us of the packed vans in Africa, although it seems that more people can be put on a bus in Nepal. We have not used this mode of transport. We can recommend it neither, there a yearly a lot of bus accidents on the road. Chauffers of these “local buses” tend to be more risk-loving compared to drivers of “tourist buses”. These drivers are very risk-averse on the road and are almost never involved in accidents. As a result, a journey takes a bit longer. But, safety first!
In Kathmandu and Pokhara small cars serves as a taxi. Perfect for short city-trips and not too expensive. For travelling in the Himalayas, we rented a jeep a few times with other people. This is just a little safer, much faster and more comfortable than other modes of transport.
In our Nepal itinerary blog you will find 3 itineraries for a trip through Nepal varying from 2 till 4 weeks!
How expensive is food in Nepal: 46.4% of the total budget in Nepal
Total expenditures: NPR 98.136/ €771,86/ $850,37
Dining and drinks in restaurants: NPR86.133/ €677,45/ $746,36
Groceries: NPR 12.004/ €94,42/ $104,02
Yes, most of our spendings during this trip through Nepal were on food. And that is not surprising since the Nepalese food is so delicious! However, take into account that most hotels and guesthouses don’t have a kitchen, so you are ‘forced’ to eat in restaurants. This is still very affordable. You can get a cheap meal on the street or go to one of the many nice restaurants. If we had wanted, we could have spent much less money on food, however, we enjoyed every bite and thought it was totally worth the money!
Click here for our blog on the best restaurants in Pokhara!
How expensive are activities in Nepal: 10.4% of the total budget in Nepal
Total expenditures: NPR 22.017/ €173,17/ $190,78
Hike permits: NPR 10.085/ €79,32/ $87,39
Yoga: NPR3.922/ €30,85/ $33,99
Other: NPR8.307/ €65,34/ $71,99
The largest part of spending on activities was on the permits for the Annapurna Circuit. To be able to hike here you need two permits, a TIMS card and an ACAP permit. We also did a food tour, we visited some temples and we took yoga classes.
Read this blog our detailed itinerary for the Annapurna Circuit Trek plus handy map!
Other: 10.3% of total budget in Nepal
Total expenditures: NPR 21.746/ €171,04/ $188,44
Calling credit: NPR 1210/ €9,52/ $10,49
Visa: NPR11.865/ €93,32/ $100
Clothes: NPR 1.251/ €9,84/ $10,84
Other: NPR 7.420/ €58,36/ $64,30
A visa to enter Nepal is not cheap, you pay 50 dollars per person. We also had laundry done a number of times and we bought new facial products (I am a fan of Himalaya’s products) and we bought some hiking items.
A SIM card and data is very cheap in Nepal. Immediately upon arrival at the airport, we bought a SIM card with 28 GB internet at Nepal Telcom (NTC). This is a government-run company that has the best reach in all of Nepal. For 28 GB we only paid € 9.52 and this also included some calling credit.
Prices of food and general travel expenses in Nepal?
Below the prices of food and general travel expenses in Nepal!
- 1 Kilo appels: NPR 150/ €1,18/ $1,3
- 500 ml olive oil: NPR 550/ €4,33/ $4,77
- 1 Bag of chips: NPR 245/ €1,93/ $2,12
- 1 Kilo bananas: NPR 100/ €0,79/ $0,87
- Yoghurt (0,5L): NPR 70/ €0,55/ $0,61
- 1 Bread: NPR 100/ €0,79/ $0,87
- 1 Kilo avocado: NPR 350/ €2,75/ $3,03
- Milk (1L): NPR 240/ €1,89/ $2,08
- Bottle of coke (0,5L): NPR 70/ €0,55/ $ 0,61
- 500 gram Nutella:NPR 1150/ €9,04/ $9,96
- Bottle of water (1L): NPR 25/ €0,20/ $0,22
- Bottle of wine in supermarket (750 ml): NPR 1700/ €13,37/ $14,73
- Beer in the supermarkt: NPR 335/ €2,63/ $2,90
- Bottle of shampoo: NPR 300/ €2,36/ $2,60
- Cappuccino: NPR 200/ €1,57/ $1,73
- Glas wine in a restaurant: NPR 500/ €3,93/ $4,33
- Local beer in a restaurant: NPR 500/ €3,93/ $4,33
- Simple lunch/dinner (1 pers): NPR 500/ €3,93/ $4,33
- 1 Liter diesel:NPR 107/ €0,85/ $0,93
Read before you start hiking, this blog full Annapurna Circuit tips!
What is a realistic daily budget for Nepal?
A realistic daily budget for a backpacker in Nepal is around €25 per person. To stay within this budget forecast, you will travel by public transport, you will usually sleep in guesthouses/ tea houses but in a private room. Also, you mainly eat at local restaurants and enjoy street food (which is delicious!). A multi-day hike is certainly possible within this budget. However, a guide and porter(s) are not budgeted in this forecast of €25 a day per person. If you are travelling with just the two of you and you sometimes want to spoil yourself with a massage, a tasty coffee, or having dinner at a fancy restaurant, in short, are you a more luxurious traveller? Then you can go along with €30 per person per day.
Click here for all my Nepal blogs!
Like this post? Pin it!
please mention about entrance fees in Kathmandu also. The restaurants in all sightseeing places are not that cheap besides when we go sightseeing we have to eat there we can not come to Thamel for eating all the time. Any way your blog is very informative and accurate.
What do you mean with entrance fees? We mentioned all the cost we made so all is in there.
Hi, thank you for beautiful and detailed description of your Nepal experience :) could you please publish the year of your visit in Nepal? I couldn't find it in the articles. E.g. the fees rise every year so that some travellers told me.
Hi there! We were there in 2019, right before COVID hit.