Panchase trek – a detailed guide & itinerary

The Panchase trek is an off the beaten path 3-day hike through the rural areas and lush green forest in the Annapurna region. It is a moderately difficult trek with the highest point at 2500m which means no prior acclimatization is needed. The Panchase trek offers beautiful scenery and an authentic experience of staying with locals. This hike is a great option to do as an acclimatization hike before doing more challenging treks in the region like the Annapurna Circuit or Annapurna Base Camp.

Panchase trek route overview

• Distance – 44,5 km/27,6 mi
• Time required – 3 days
• Starting point – Pokhara, Lakeside. As an option, you can take a boat from Pokhara to the World Peace Pagoda and start walking from there.
• Finishing point – Kande (the trek can be done either way)
• Highest point – Panchase peak (2500m)
• Total elevation gain (over 3 days) – 2762m
• Total elevation loss (over 3 days) – 1834m
• Accommodation – tea houses/home-stays
• Food – momos, chapati, rice, dal

Permits – no special permits or TIM cards required. Note! At the information office, we were told that if you go to Kande you need a permit; technically it’s located inside the National park, in fact, nobody checks permits there, you can go up to the Australian camp without a permit.

Panchase trek route options 

In the beginning, we were a bit confused on different routes suggested online some sites saying the route starts and finishes at Kande (it’s a return 2-day hike), some that it starts at World Peace Temple. We checked a map and decided to start right from our hotel in Lakeside (Pokhara). The trail is not really marked but using an offline navigation application on my phone (Maps.me) we had no problem finding the way. Several accommodations and food options are available along the route.

It’s totally up to you where you want to start and to finish since we don’t like walking to and back the same way we considered the loop route as a better option, plus the part from Kande to Bhadaure (5 km) is along a dirt road under construction with some trucks and road working machines it’s not the most beautiful part of the trek.

Starting in Pokhara/finishing at Kande – it’s always great when you can just walk out of your hotel and start hiking. It doesn’t take long to get out of the city to the rural area and then to the forest.  Total distance – 44,5 km/27,6 mi. Elevation gain – 2762m, elevation loss – 1834m. It’s possible to make the first day a bit shorter by taking a boat from Lakeside to the World Peace Pagoda. 

Starting at Kande/finishing in Pokhara – it’s the same route just walked the other way around, the main difference of this route option is that you’ll have less ascend and more descend, 1834m up against 2762m down. Total distance – 44,5 km/27,6 mi.

Starting and finishing at Kande – it’s the easiest route option though you walk to and back the same way and as I mentioned above 10 km/6,2 mi out of it will be on the dirt road. Total distance – 30,2 km/18,7 mi. Elevation gain = elevation loss – 1706m.

Starting at Kande/finishing at Ghatichina – the shortest route option, if you don’t want to go back the same way, is to walk to Ghatichina and from there take a bus to Pokhara. Total distance – 26 km/16 mi. We were thinking of taking this route to get back to Pokhara from Panchase instead of going to Kande in case of rain.

Practical information for the Panchase trek

The route is poor/not marked we and other fellow trekkers we met on the route used Maps.me offline navigation app and it worked great, it was quite easy to find the hiking trail. Every day we find the finishing point and it gave us the best walking option of getting there, sometimes on the way we did see some route marking and signs.

No permits needed for this trek on the map you can see that Kande is located inside the Annapurna National park but you still don’t need permits to access that area.

Tea houses on the route have electricity and power outlets remember to charge your phone every night you’ll use it a lot for navigation.

You can find more information for planning and preparing for your trip to Nepal in our detailed Nepal trekking guide.

Insurance for the trek

As I mentioned above you don’t need any special permits for the Panchase trek so it’s not compulsory to have travel insurance. Evacuation and treatment from remote areas can be very expensive.

Want to know how much insurance will cost? Get a quick, free, online quote here!

World Nomads travel insurance has been designed by travelers for travelers, with coverage for more than 150 activities as well as emergency medical, lost luggage, trip cancellation and more.

Panchase trek cost

Day 1

• Snacks – NRP 100/US$1
• Accommodation + food (food was included in the price) – NRP 1600/US$14

Day 2

• Food (lunch, dinner, tea) – NRP 1600/US$14
• Accommodation – NRP 300/US$2,6

Day 3

• Food (breakfast) – NRP 600/US$5,3
• Transport (bus Kande – Pokhara) – NRP 300/US$2,6 (150 per person)

Total: NRP 4500/US$40 for 3 days/two people

Because you don’t need any permits for this trek Panchase is the cheapest trek we’ve done in Nepal so far. We spent less than US$10 per person per day which is ridiculously cheap compared for example to the cost of trekking to Everest Base Camp.

Note! We had a LifeStraw water filter so we could use tap water for drinking, we didn’t buy water on the trek. If you’re going to buy water add about NRP 150-200/US$1-2 pp. to the budget. A one-liter bottle costs usually about NRP 25, at Panchase the price is NRP 100/US$1 per bottle.

How difficult is the trek?

Some sources say it’s an easy trek suitable for families with children and elderly people and I agree. Panchase is not the most difficult hike in the Annapurna region, the highest point of the route is shy 2500m. Don’t underestimate it it’s not that easy considering many steep ascents and descents on the route and the remoteness of the area. I’d give the Panchase trek 4 out of 10 (10 being the Annapurna Circuit trek). We did this trek as an acclimatization hike before doing the Poon Hill and Mardi Himal trek.

Guided tour or independent trek

Guided tour costs from US$400 per person vs US$20 pp. that we spent on the trek and the fact that you pay more doesn’t mean you’ll get better accommodation or food it’s very likely you’ll get the same, you just pay extra for someone to arrange the trek for you and of course for a guide and a porter. The main difficulty of the Panchase trek is poor route marking – a guide here might be quite helpful but with Maps.me app we didn’t have any problem of finding the right way. It’ll be cheaper to find a porter/a guide that knows the route than buying a tour package.

The Panchase trek, a 3-day itinerary

Day 1. Lakeside Pokhara – Pumdi, 10 km

Lakeside (809m) – World Peace Pagoda (1100m) – Pumdi (1300m), 10 km/6,2 mi

• Distance – 10 km/6,2 mi
• Starting point – Lakeside, Pokhara
• Finishing point – Pumdi
• Total ascent – 644m
• Total descent – 163m
• Walking time – 3h20min.

We started walking from our hotel with a quick stop at the Tourist Information office on the way. We were hoping to get a map but they didn’t have one, asking anything about the route was pointless as they didn’t have a clue so we just found Pumdi on Maps.me and followed the suggested walking route. It seemed to be quite accurate as it took us away from the road to the forest path, past World Peace temple to Pumdi. The route is not marked at all having an offline navigation app was super helpful. There were several tourists on the route and many people at the temple so it felt quite safe to walk in the area.

As an option you can take a boat from Pokhara to and from the pier walk to the World Peace temple, it will make your walking day half shorter, about 5 km in total but you’ll still have to climb all the way to the temple from the pier (it’ll be quite a steep climb).

Challenges

• Steep and long ascend from Pokhara (809m) to Pumdi (1300m)

Highlights

• The World Peace Pagoda
• Beautiful views from the top of the hill over Pokhara, Phewa lake and the surrounding

Stops on the route

The World Peace Pagoda, 5,5 km/3,4 mi from Lakeside. There are a couple of restaurant/coffee shops where you can get food or buy snacks and water. At Elite cafe, you can even get a proper Espresso or Cappuccino. Everything a bit more expensive than in Pokhara; lassi – NRP 200/US$1,7, coffee –  from NRP 150/US$1,3, water NRP 25-30/US$0,30. I’d suggest stopping here for lunch food options in Pumdi are quite limited. 

Pumdi, a small rural village visited by very few tourists so people here don’t really speak English and are not used to see foreigners.

• Tea houses – yes but there are no signs you have to ask locals, they’ll take you to one of them, we found it immediately.

• Shops – yes, one or two small shops that sell water, snacks, sweets, and cool drinks.
• Bus stop – yes, we saw a local bus stopping here, I guess it goes to Pokhara or another biggish town nearby.

Homestay in Pumdi

Price NRP 1600/US$14 for room and food (two people).

• Shower – yes
• Hot water – no
• Asian style toilet
• Blankets – yes
• Electricity – yes
• Outlets in the room – yes, we could charge all our devices
• Food – yes, dinner is included in the room price.

Our dinner was quite basic not like the food you get on the popular hiking routes in Nepal. It’s basically the food that local people eat; a big portion of rice, two slices of carrot and radish, very thin, watery dal and a little bit of chicken with many bones – don’t expect a lot here. I’d suggest bringing some snacks. 

Day 2. Pumdi – Panchase, 17 km

Pumdi (1300m) – Panchase (2080m), 17,3 km/10,7 mi

• Distance – 17,3 km/10,7 mi
• Starting point – Pumdi
• Finishing point – Panchase
• Total ascent – 1220m
• Total descent – 441m
• Walking time – 5h46min.

Honestly, it was quite a tough day of walking and we were quite tired by the end of it. All we read online about the hike was saying it’s an easy hike suitable for elderly people and families with children. We’re quite experienced hikers but it wasn’t a very easy relaxing walk you walk uphill all day, with some really steep ascends.

First 6 km/3,7 mi the trail goes through a rural area and small villages though there is not a single place to stop for food anywhere except the Peace Home tea house after about 6 km where we stopped for food and tea. 

The second part of the walk is really beautiful through the forest, this part has the most ascends for the day. The forest part of the trail is marked with small colorful ribbons on the trees and yellow-red marks painted on the trees and rocks. If your phone dies and you’re not sure which way to walk look for these indications. Before you enter the forest part make sure you have enough water to last you for 10 km/6,2 mi, there will be no place to refill water and it’s the main ascend for the day, about 830m up. There is a water tap just before the Peace Home tea house. The forest path is quite slippery especially if it rains having walking poles will be quite helpful here.

Challenges

• Very long ascend, basically the whole day you walk up with short downs in between.
• Not many places between Pumdi and Panchase to stop for food, basically there was only one place opened Peace Home Tea House, at about 6 km from Pumdi so make sure to have breakfast at your home-stay or bring some snacks with. 

Highlights

• Beautiful rural scenery; green hills, rice terraces, local houses, mountains etc.
• The last 10km to Panchase through the beautiful lush green forest.

Stops on the route

5 km/3 mi from Pumdi; Bhumdi tea house with rooms for rent, no food available.

6 km/3,7 mi from Pumdi; water tap, Peace Home tea house with rooms for rent and a small shop, can get food here (dal, chapati, tea). There is a bus stop right next to the tea house, the bus goes to Pokhara.

Panchase – a small village, quite a popular place for locals to come for the weekend.

• Tea houses – yes, four or five, they all are called hotels but look just like a normal tea house.
• Shops – yes, a couple of small shops that sell water, snacks, sweets, and cool drinks.
• Bus stop – no, there is no bus to Panchase

Happy Heart Hotel facilities

The room is very basic and cold. The previous night our sleeping bags were too warm, at Panchase it was great to have sleeping bags for below 0°C. Price NRP 300/US$2,7 for two people.

• Shower – yes
• Hot water – no
• Toilet – yes, a local hole toilet
• Blankets – yes
• Electricity – yes
• Outlets in the room – yes and there is a multi plug in the dining room
• Food – yes, they have quite a diverse menu from local food (dal, chapati etc.) to pasta and omelets.

Day 3. Panchase – Kande, 17 km

Panchase (2080m) – Panchase peak (2500m) – Panchase (2080m) – Bhadaure – Kande (1716), 17,2 km/10,6 mi. Bus Kande – Pokhara, 27 km/16,7 mi, 1h30min.

Climb to Panchase peak for the sunrise

• Distance – 4,2 km/2,6 mi, return
• Starting/finishing point – Panchase village
• Ascend – 422m
• Descend – 422m
• Time – 1h30min., return

The peak is the highest point of the trek, 2500m. The trail starts at the hotel but I’d suggest to find out where it starts the night before. We got a little bit lost luckily the lady that runs the place was awake she showed us the way. The ascent is very steep, it takes between 45 min. and 1 hour to get to the top. I’d suggest starting the ascend an hour before to make sure you won’t miss it. You can leave all your luggage at the hotel, the rooms have locks just take water and headlamp with.

Walk from Panchase to Kande

• Distance – 13km/8 mi
• Starting point – Panchase
• Finishing point – Kande, bus to Pokhara
• Total ascent – 476m
• Total descent – 808m
• Walking time – 4 hours

After the climb, we got back to the hotel, packed our stuff, ate breakfast and started walking. The first part of the route goes through the forest it’s a very quiet and beautiful route with some great views over the snow peaks and mountains all the way to Bhadaure. The route goes uphill in the beginning and then down to the village. Note! The stairs are quite slippery, walk down carefully.

From Bhadaure it’s the last up to the dirt road that is under construction, the last 5 km are on the road, there are not many vehicles occasional trucks and motorbikes.

Challenges

• Early wake-up, at 5.15am, to make it to the top for the sunrise.
• Steep and long ascend to the viewpoint with subsequent descend back to the village.
• Walking on the dirt road under construction for the last 5 km to Kande.

Highlights

• Sunrise from the top of Panchase Hille
• Beautiful views of the snow peaks on the way to Bhadaure

Stops on the route

Bhadaure – a small local village. There is no bus from Bhadaure but there is a jeep to Kande that leaves in the morning. Not many people stop here.   

• Tea house – yes
• Shops – yes
• Food places – yes
• Water tap – yes

Kande – a starting/finishing point for several hiking routes. 

• Tea house – yes
• Shops – yes
• Food places – yes
• Water tap – no

How to get from Kande to Pokhara?

It was quite easy to find a bus we just walked into Kande (a small village) and jumped on the bus. It’s only 27 km/16,7 mi from there to Pokhara but the journey took 1h30min., the road is super bumpy and the bus makes many stops. It drops you 2 km away from Lakeside to get to your hotel you can catch a taxi (NRP 200-300/US$2) or a local bus for NRP 20 or just walk. 

What to pack for the trek?

It’s a relatively short trek with staying in tea houses so try to pack light to make the walk easier. 

Backpack – a 40L backpack will be enough for this trek, we used our normal backpack 50L and 60L and they were pretty empty.

Smartphone – it’s one of the most important items to take on this hike the best and easiest way of finding the route is to use Maps.me navigation app, make sure to pack a phone charger as well.

LifeStraw or any other water filter or purifying pills – it’ll save you some money there are several water taps on the route where you can refill water plus it’s environmentally friendly. 

Headlamp – all tea houses we stayed had electricity but you’ll need a torch or headlamp to go up Panchase peak for the sunrise as you start walking in the dark.

Sleeping bag – all tea houses we stayed had blankets, it was really chilly only in Panchase so we used our summer sleeping bags with blankets but you’ll be fine just sleeping in warm clothing.

Hiking shoes – you don’t need heavy hiking boots for Panchase but a pair of proper hiking shoes, I walk in my Salomon Ellipse 2 (we’ve already walked more than 1500 km in these shoes) and Campbell wore Merrell Chameleon.

Hiking socks – we always wear merino wool socks for hiking, they work great; last long, don’t absorb odors, protect your feet from blisters, etc.

Hiking poles – they will be quite handy especially on the downhills at some places the trail was quite slippery.

Trekking pants – Campbell always hikes in trekking pants I prefer wearing yoga pants for hiking.

Hiking shirt – Colombia hiking shirts are Campbell’s favorite, I like hiking in long sleeve running shirts and sports bras.

• Rain jacket
• Fleece
• Cap
• Sunglasses
• Beanie
• Buff
• Sleeping clothes
• Hiking towel

• Kindle – Campbell always takes his Kindle Paperwhite with on hikes. Most of the time you finish your hiking day quite early it’s nice to relax and read a good book. If you’re a happy owner of a Kindle don’t hesitate joining Kindle unlimited program by Amazon you get access to hundreds of thousands of Ebooks and audiobooks with it.

• GoPro HERO7 we used it a lot for taking photos and videos we had our camera with as well but ended up almost never using it.

• Garmin Fenix 5X thanks to this watch we could add elevation profiles, distances, maps etc. to our post so for us it was really worth buying it.

• Annapurna trekking map (updated version to avoid the road, we bought one in Pokhara at one of the book shops and used it a lot for all our hikes. There is a more detailed map of Panchase trek only as well.

• First Aid kit – we always advise to take it with on hikes you never know what can happen from a blister to a sudden stomach problem or a headache.
• Sunscreen
• Lip balm with UV protection
• Soap/shower gel
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Deodorant
• Humid tissues
• Hand sanitizer
• Toilet paper
• Tea, cookies, chocolate, nuts or any other snack you usually pack for hiking. You’ll be able to buy it on the trek as well but it’ll be 2-3 times more expensive than in Pokhara.

Accommodation in Pokhara

We really like Pokhara it’s definitely our favorite city in Nepal and in this part of Asia. Pokhara offers a lot of different activities from short sunrise hikes to paragliding, visiting waterfalls, rafting, etc. Lakeside is the main touristy area of Pokhara. There are many hotels, guest houses, restaurants, bars, etc. You can find here accommodation on any budget from cheap homestays to fancy spa hotels. We stayed at OYO 11460 Hotel Romantica a couple of times and stored our extra luggage and laptop there when we went hiking and Hotel Lake Shore but there are more places for different budgets in Pokhara.

• Budget options | Pokhara Youth Hostel | OYO 128 Hotel Dream Pokhara | Gauri Shankar backpackers hostel |

• Middle price | Pokhara Boutique Hotel | Pokhara Choice Inn | Pokhara Batika | Hotel Middle Path & Spa |
• Luxury | Temple Tree Resort & Spa | Glacier Hotel & Spa | Hotel White Pearl |