The information that we provide is for UK passport holders. A passport with 6 months remaining validity at the end of your stay is generally required, and you should have at least 2 blank pages for each country that you visit.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you have the correct travel documents and visas for your holiday. Please ensure that you check for the latest advice before travel. For the most up to date information on entry requirements, please visit the UK Government website.

If you are travelling via India (Delhi or Calcutta) to your destination you may also require a visa for India. This may apply even if you are not leaving the airport unless your baggage has been checked all the way through to your destination. Generally, if you use the same carrier for both legs of your journey, you will not need an India Visa. Please download the detailed information document: Visa PDF India.

Visa Nepal

All nationalities require a visa. The visa process is partly automated and the fee is $30 for 15 days, $50 for 30 days, $125 for 90 days. The visa is FREE for children under 10 years. The visa allows multiple re-entry. Payment must be made in cash and USD, GBP or Euros are accepted.

Part of this on-arrival visa process involves filling in a ‘Tourist Visa Application Form’ and you can simplify the procedure at Kathmandu Airport by filling this form in online (within 15 days of travelling) at this link. This generates a receipt which you present (hard copy or saved on your phone) on arrival. This should allow you to go straight to the cashier to pay for your visa and has the potential to save you time in the visa queue.

Whilst these are not now needed for the visa process, we recommend that you travel with at least 2 spare passport photographs.

TREKKING PERMITS – WHAT DO WE NEED FROM YOU ?

For treks in the Everest region – EBL, EVL, EHW, ELL - we need your passport details and we need you to take with you to Nepal 2 passport photographs. You will hand these over to your local leader on Day 1.

For treks in the Annapurna region – ASL, ACL, UAT, ANL and for the Gosainkund and Langtang Trek - GLT – we need your passport details and we need to send through to Nepal ahead of your departure a scan of a passport-style photograph of yourself. Please send this to us once your holiday is guaranteed.

For these Conservation Area treks and other treks requiring Special Permits – KAN, DLG, NAP – we need to send through to Nepal ahead of your departure a scan of a passport-style photograph of yourself and a scan of the information pages of your passport. Please send these to us once your holiday is guaranteed. On arrival in Kathmandu you will still be required to provide your passport (with your visa) for presentation at the Nepal Tourism Board. Your passport will be returned to you by your tour leader at dinner.

For those trips requiring Climbing Permits – MER, IPC, CTL, YAR - we need to send to Nepal ahead of your departure, a scan of a passport-style photograph of yourself and a scan of the information pages of your passport. Please send these to us once your holiday is guaranteed. On arrival in Kathmandu, for YAR and for CTL, you will still be required to provide your passport (with your visa) for presentation at the Nepal Tourism Board. Your passport will be returned to you by your tour leader at dinner.

If you have a severe allergy please inform the KE office before you travel. We will do all we can to help, but we cannot guarantee an allergy free environment on KE trips. You will need to carry your own treatment for the allergy with you, as 'adrenaline auto-injectors' are not carried as standard by KE leaders and staff. You should inform your leader on arrival of your allergy, and let them know where you keep your adrenaline pen.

Dengue fever is a known risk in places visited. It is a tropical viral disease spread by daytime biting mosquitoes. There is currently no vaccine or prophylaxis available and therefore the best form of prevention is to avoid being bitten. We recommend you take precautions to avoid mosquito bites.

Vaccinations

You should contact your doctor or travel clinic to check whether you require any specific vaccinations or other preventive measures. You should be up to date with routine courses and boosters as recommended in the UK e.g. diphtheria-tetanus-polio and measles-mumps-rubella, along with hepatitis A and typhoid.

Malarial prophylaxis is not usually required for trips in the mountains, however if you are visiting rural and remote low lying areas then they might be necessary.

On holidays to more remote areas you should also have a dentist check up. A good online resource is Travel Health Pro.

The unit of currency in Nepal is the Nepalese Rupee.

It makes a lot of sense to spend some time before coming on a trekking holiday getting some additional exercise. The fitter you are, after all, the more enjoyable you will find the experience. We suggest that you adopt a weekly exercise regime leading up to your trip. Regular hiking in hill country is the best training but jogging, squash and swimming are also good for developing cardio vascular fitness and stamina.

October to November and March to May are the best times for trekking in Nepal. These months either side of the summer monsoon season are neither too hot in the foothills nor too cold in the higher elevations. Pre-monsoon is the time to see the colourful blooms of the rhododendron at lower elevations. The post-monsoon months usually offer the clearest skies and the most settled weather. You will encounter a wide range of daytime temperatures during your holiday. In October/November and April/May this will range from approximately 25C in Kathmandu to approximately 14C at 3000 metres, and approximately 3C at 5000 metres. From December to early April, temperatures will average around 5C lower than this but at any time of the year the real feel temperature in the middle of the day will be much warmer. At night in the rarefied air the temperatures plummet. You can expect to experience overnight temperatures below freezing once above approximately 4000 metre. (above 3000 metres from mid December) and at our highest overnight stops, outside temperatures may drop as low as minus 15C. Extended periods of rain or snow are very unlikely outside of the monsoon period but short-lived storms can and do occur.

As a reputable tour operator, KE supports the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's ‘Travel Aware’ campaign to enable British citizens to prepare for their journeys overseas. The 'Travel Aware' website provides a single, authoritative source of advice for all kinds of travellers and we recommend that before travel, all KE clients visit the official UK Government website at travelaware.campaign.gov.uk and read the FCDO Travel Advice for their chosen destination. North Americans can also check out the U.S. Department of State website: www.travel.state.gov for essential travel advice and tips.

KE treat the safety and security of all clients as the most important aspect of any trip we organise. We would not run any trip that we did not consider reasonably safe.  Should the FCDO advise against travel for any reason, we will contact everyone booked to travel to discuss the situation.  We receive regular updates directly from the FCDO and are in constant touch with our contacts on the ground.  If you have any questions about government travel advice, please call our office.

KE do not encourage the use of single use plastic items. We are ensuring that our agents all over the world are working together to reduce the problem and educate those around them. We are leading by example in our KE office by reducing our plastic use.

• Trekking and Climbing in Nepal. Steve Razzetti. New Holland

• Annapurna, a trekkers guide – Kev Reynolds, Cicerone

• Trekking in Nepal. Stephen Bezruchka

• Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya. Stan Armington

• Trekking in Nepal, West Tibet and Bhutan. Hugh Swift

• Kathmandu and the Kingdom of Nepal. Prakash Raj

• Insight Guide to Nepal

• Adventure Treks Nepal. Bill O’Connor

Annapurna Adventure Trekking Map - 1:125,000. National Geographic & Nepa

Nowadays the best maps of Nepal tend to be produced in Nepal. This map is a collaboration between the Nepal publishers ‘Nepa’ and National Geographic. It covers the whole of the Annapurna Circuit plus Pokhara. This is an excellent map for the circuiteer, though the scale at 1:125,000 does not provide quite enough detail. 

It is an essential condition of joining a holiday with KE Adventure Travel that you have a valid travel insurance policy to cover the cost of medical treatment and to protect the value of your holiday in the event of cancellation.  When taking out insurance please ensure the policy you choose covers you for the activities and altitude included in your itinerary.

For appropriate insurance cover we recommend Campbell Irvine Direct.  Please go to our Travel Insurance page for further information and to get a quote.

The following checklist should help you with your packing. As a general rule, you should always try to keep the weight of your equipment to a minimum. The packed weight of your kit bag while trekking should be no more than 15 kgs.

You must bring the following items:

• Hiking boots
• Trekking poles (see notes)
• Trekking trousers
• Waterproof overtrousers
• Baselayer shirts
• Casual shirt and/or T-shirts
• Fleece jacket or warm jumper
• Waterproof jacket
• Warm jacket (down)*
• Sunhat
• Warm hat
• Sunglasses
• Gloves or mittens
• Daypack 30 litres
• Headtorch and spare batteries
• Sun protection (including total bloc for lips, nose etc.)
• Water bottles 1 Litre x2 (we encourage re-filling water bottles rather than single use plastic)
• Water purification tablets
• Sleeping bag (comfort rated -10°C)*
• Washbag and toiletries
• Travel towel
• Toilet paper (you can also buy this in the lodges if necessary)
• Antibacterial handwash
• Small towel
• Selection of dry bags (to keep your kit bag contents dry)
• Small padlock (to lock your kit bag)
• Basic First Aid Kit including: antiseptic cream, throat lozenges, diarrhoea treatment (Imodium), painkillers, plasters and blister treatment, insect repellent, and re-hydration salts (Dioralite). Glucose tablets and multi-vitamin tablets.

The following items are optional:

• Trainers or similar for use in lodges
• Gaiters
• Microspikes (Kahtoola) or similar footwear traction (see notes)
• Spare laces
• Shorts
• Thermal baselayer - leggings
• Sleeping bag liner
• Pillowcase
• Swimwear (for the hotel pool in Kathmandu)
• Travel clothes
• Camera
• Pen-knife (remember to pack sharp objects in hold baggage)
• Reusable cloth bag for shopping (to avoid plastic bags)

Notes

*FREE sleeping bag and down jacket hire is included in your KE holiday booking on request.

Please make all requests at least 4 weeks prior to the trip departure date. Please note all hire / rental equipment is issued in Kathmandu. Please remember to allow room in your kit bag for these items.

Trekking Poles and Instep Crampons. For this trip you must bring a pair of trekking poles, even if you only use them as a safety measure for the crossing of the Thorung La. In certain conditions, the trip leader may also issue Grivel Spider ‘instep’ crampons to group members for this crossing. These are small lightweight crampons, which can quickly and easily be attached to any kind of walking boot. If you have brought your own footwear traction such as the excellent Kahtoola Microspikes you can use these instead.

Respect Nepalese Custom. The Nepalese are still traditional and conservative in the way they dress. Therefore to avoid embarrassment on both sides we recommend that you respect this and do not wear revealing clothing or sleeveless tops while visiting Nepal. Shorts are acceptable, but they should reach to just above the knee and be modest and for women it is preferable to wear trousers or a long skirt.

Many of the equipment items listed above are available from Cotswold Outdoor - our 'Official Recommended Outdoor Retailer'. When you book a holiday with KE you will receive a 12.5% discount with Cotswold Outdoor, Snow+Rock and Runners Need. The discount code can be downloaded from your MyKE account and you can use this code at the checkout, either in store or online.