What permits do you need for the Annapurna Circuit?
The standard Annapurna Circuit requires two permits: the Annapurna Conservation Area Permit (ACAP) and a TIMS card. If you detour into the Nar-Phu valley you also need a restricted-area permit. Nothing else.
We arrange all of them and they are included in your package price. You bring a passport and some photos; we handle the offices, the queues and the paperwork in Kathmandu or Pokhara before you start walking.
| ACAP | Approx. NPR 3,000, required for the whole Circuit |
|---|---|
| TIMS card | Approx. NPR 2,000, required for the whole Circuit |
| Nar-Phu restricted permit | Approx. USD 90 per week (Sep–Nov), lower other months, only if you detour |
| Who arranges them | We do. Included in the package. |
| What you bring | Passport with 6+ months validity, and passport photos |
The ACAP permit (Annapurna Conservation Area Project)
The entire Annapurna Circuit sits inside the Annapurna Conservation Area, at around 7,600 km² the largest protected area in Nepal. Entering it requires an ACAP permit, and you will be asked for it.
ACAP is not a national park in the government-run sense. It is managed by the National Trust for Nature Conservation, and the permit fee is the funding mechanism: it pays for conservation work, trail and bridge maintenance, and community projects in the villages you walk through. It is one of the few trekking fees where the link between what you pay and what you see is fairly direct.
Checkpoints. Your permit is checked on entry to the conservation area and again at posts along the route, including at Manang, where the check doubles as a record of who is on the mountain ahead of the pass. That record matters: if weather closes Thorong La, it is how the authorities know who is up there.
Keep the permit on you, not in your duffel with the porter. Checkpoints want to see the person and the permit together.
The TIMS card (Trekkers' Information Management System)
TIMS is a trekker registration system run by the Nepal Tourism Board with the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal (TAAN). Its purpose is search and rescue: it records who you are, which route you are on, and who to contact in an emergency.
There are two categories, one for independent trekkers and one for those trekking through a registered agency. You travel on the organised-trekking card with us, issued against our TAAN registration, which is both cheaper and faster to obtain than the independent version.
Like ACAP, the TIMS card is checked at posts along the route. Carry it with your passport.
The Nar-Phu restricted-area permit (only if you detour)
Nar and Phu are two villages in a side valley north of Koto, sealed off from the main Circuit by a gorge and only opened to foreigners in 2002. They are restricted-area villages: Tibetan in culture, almost untouched by the trekking economy, and subject to a separate permit regime.
You need this permit only if you take the detour. The standard Circuit does not enter the valley.
| Cost | Approx. USD 90 per person per week, September to November; lower December to August |
|---|---|
| Minimum group | Restricted-area rules require you to travel with a registered agency and a licensed guide. You cannot do this independently. |
| Time needed | Add roughly 3–4 days to your itinerary |
If Nar-Phu interests you, tell us at enquiry stage: it changes the permit paperwork and the itinerary, and it is not something we can add once you are walking. The same is true of the Tilicho Lake variant, though Tilicho itself needs no extra permit.
Do I need a guide? Nepal's 2023 rule change
Yes, and this is the change that catches out trekkers working from older blog posts.
In 2023 the Nepal Tourism Board moved to require trekkers in national parks and conservation areas to be accompanied by a licensed guide, ending the long era of solo independent trekking on routes like this one. The stated reason was safety and traceability: too many solo trekkers were going missing, and search operations were starting days late because nobody knew where they were.
What it means in practice for the Annapurna Circuit:
- You trek with a licensed guide. Ours are licensed by the Government of Nepal: our lead guide holds licence #1497.
- Your TIMS registration is made through a registered agency rather than as an individual.
- You are traceable at checkpoints, which is what makes a pass closure survivable.
Booking with us covers all of this by default. See about us for who you are actually walking with.
Passport and photo requirements
- Passport valid for at least 6 months beyond your date of entry into Nepal. UK passport holders: check the expiry now, not the week before you fly.
- Passport photos. Bring four; you will use them for permits and the visa. We can get more taken in Kathmandu or Pokhara in under an hour if you run short.
- A photocopy or photo of your passport page, kept separately from the passport itself.
- Your insurance policy number and emergency assistance number: see below.
Nepal visa on arrival
UK passport holders get a visa on arrival at Kathmandu airport. It is a straightforward process (kiosk form, payment, immigration desk), and the fee is banded by length of stay, starting at around USD 30 for 15 days, with 30-day and 90-day options above that.
Choose the band that covers your whole trip, not just the trek: the 15-day visa is too short for most Circuit itineraries once you add arrival and departure days. Bring USD cash for the fee.
Full visa detail sits with our brand hub, 6knepaltreks.com. It applies to every trek we run, not just this one.
Insurance paperwork
Insurance is not a permit, but it is a condition of trekking with us and it is checked before you start.
Your policy must cover trekking to at least 6,000 m and helicopter evacuation. A large number of standard UK travel policies cap trekking cover at 3,000 m or 4,000 m, which would leave you uninsured on the highest and most serious day of the trek. Read the altitude limit in the policy wording, not the marketing page.
Send us the policy number and the insurer's emergency number before departure. Why this matters in practice is set out on our Thorong La guide and altitude sickness guide.
What we handle for you
- ACAP permit, obtained before you start walking
- TIMS card, issued under our TAAN registration
- Nar-Phu restricted permit, if you are detouring
- All permit fees, included in your package price
- The office visits and queueing, which take most of a working day in season
- Extra passport photos if you arrive short
You bring the passport and the photos. See the cost page for exactly what else the package covers, and the packing list for the documents to carry.
