Solo Trekkers Can Now Get Nepal Restricted Area Permits Alone — Here's What Changed

What the new rule actually says

The DoI notice is specific about the conditions. Here's what the new framework looks like, translated directly from the official Nepali text:

What changed:

• Solo foreign trekkers can apply for and receive restricted area trekking permits individually.
• Foreign nationals can use their visa application submission ID, not just an approved visa number, to apply for permits while still in their home country. This matters for advance planning: you no longer have to wait until your Nepal visa is formally approved before sorting your permit.

What stayed exactly the same:

• All applications must go through a registered Nepali trekking agency. Cannot apply directly.
• A licensed trekking guide is a must. This is non-negotiable.
• The agency bears full legal and logistical responsibility for emergency rescue. For instance, if something goes wrong above Samagaon or in Upper Dolpo's region, your agency has formally accepted accountability.

What's new beyond the solo rule:

• A maximum of 7 trekkers per licensed guide per group is now enforced. Previously there was no formal cap, which sometimes led to situations where a single guide was supervising 15 or 20 people, genuinely unsafe on technical terrain at altitude.

One thing worth being clear about: this is not "fully independent" solo trekking. You still need a guide, and your trip still has to be arranged through an agency. What's gone is the requirement to find another paying trekker to share your permit. For most solo travelers, that was the actual problem and it's now solved.

Which restricted areas does this cover?

The policy applies to all 15 restricted trekking zones across 13 districts bordering China. For anyone researching the best restricted area treks in Nepal, this is the full list — and all of them now accept solo permit applications:

In Gorkha District of Manaslu Region

• Manaslu Circuit (including the Nubri and Tsum Valley sections)
• Tsum Valley

In Mustang District

• Upper Mustang (Lo Manthang and beyond)

In Dolpa District

• Upper Dolpo (Shey Phoksundo region)
• Lower Dolpo

In Manang District

• Nar-Phu Valley

In Taplejung District

• Kanchenjunga Conservation Area (north and south base camp routes)

Other affected districts: Sankhuwasabha, Solukhumbu (restricted section near Rolwaling), Dolakha (Tsum corridor approach), Rasuwa (Langtang restricted border zone), Mugu, Humla, Bajhang, and Darchula.

A few of these areas see relatively few foreign trekkers, Humla, Bajhang, and Darchula are genuinely remote even by Nepal's standards, requiring additional permits and sometimes special authorisation. The solo rule change applies to all of them, but the infrastructure, teahouse networks, and logistical complexity vary enormously between a well-trodden route like Upper Mustang and a rarely-visited district like Bajhang.

What this means for the most popular restricted area treks

Manaslu Circuit Trek: Growing Popularity among Trekkers

This is where the solo permit change will be felt most immediately. The Manaslu Circuit recorded 12,512 foreign trekkers in the 2024–25 fiscal year, an all-time record — and solo travelers accounted for a meaningful slice of the inquiries that never converted to bookings because of the two-person rule.

Photo: Guessts from United Kingdom walking on the wide meadow and snowy peak of Manaslu region in the mid Dec.

The route circles Mt. Manaslu (8,163 m, the world's eighth highest peak) via the Budhi Gandaki valley, covers roughly 177 km, and typically takes 12–16 days from Kathmandu to Kathmandu. The highest point is Larkya La Pass at 5,106 m. That crossing, usually starting at 3 AM from Dharmasala — is the section that ends most objections to calling Manaslu "moderate." It's a long, cold, physically demanding day with a 1,400-metre descent to Bimthang on the other side, and it comes after a week of already hard walking.

The Nepal trekking permit costs for 2026 remain unchanged from last season. Here's the full permit stack for a peak season (September–November) solo Manaslu Circuit trek:

Note: USD may changes according to the current exchange rate of Nepal.

Off-peak (December to August), the RAP drops to $75 for the first week. TIMS is no longer required for Manaslu to the RAP covers permit tracking.

Getting to the trailhead: the route from Kathmandu follows the Prithvi Highway (Kathmandu–Pokhara road) to the Dhading junction, then continues to Dhading Besi and Arughat Bazaar. A private jeep to Soti Khola or Machha Khola runs 7–8 hours and costs $180–285 for the whole vehicle, or $20–30 per person in a shared jeep. Note: the Nagdhunga–Malekhu section of the Prithvi Highway is under expansion work, with partial closures 10:30 AM–3:30 PM. Leave Kathmandu early.

Trail condition note for 2026: Cyclone Montha (October 2025) left landslide damage on sections between Jagat and Prok, particularly near active road construction zones. The route is fully open and trekkers are moving through normally, but some sections between Nyak and Gap remain narrow with loose material underfoot. A licensed guide familiar with current conditions is genuinely useful here, not just a bureaucratic requirement.

Upper Mustang: No More Hidden Kingdom

Upper Mustang is the restricted area most directly associated with the two-person rule in the minds of long-term Nepal trekkers. With a new RAP fee of USD 50 per day scrapping old USD 500 per 10-day RAP, Mustang regions tourism sees a silver lining. This is expected to grow tourism commercially more than ever in the region despite some concerns for the “Kingdom beyond the mountain”.

Photo: View of Lo Manthang, agriculture filed, and dry hills in the Upper Mustang.

The region covers the ancient Lo Kingdom north of Kagbeni, culminating at Lo Manthang, a walled city at 3,840 m that has been inhabited continuously for over 600 years. The permit area begins at Kagbeni (where the Annapurna Circuit northern arm intersects) and extends to the Chinese border at Lo La Pass. Most treks reach Lo Manthang and return the same way, though a clockwise circuit via Ghami and Charang is possible with extra days.

The solo permit change combined with the via-Mustang routing option from Jomsom (direct flights from Pokhara) makes Upper Mustang one of the more logistically accessible restricted areas for solo trekkers who want altitude without the extreme remoteness of Dolpo or Humla.

Upper Dolpo: Remote Paradise of the West

Upper Dolpo is a different proposition entirely. The permit fee is the same $500 per 10 days as Upper Mustang, but the terrain, infrastructure, and rescue access are in a different category. The route to Shey Phoksundo Lake and the Shey Gompa takes most groups 3 weeks or more from the road. Teahouses are sparse and basic above Ringmo. There are no helicopter landing zones in much of the high country.

The solo permit change applies here too, but it's worth being direct about what "solo" means in Upper Dolpo in practice: you'll have a licensed guide, but you and your guide will be the only people on some of these trails for days at a time. That's not a warning against going, it's exactly what draws serious trekkers to Dolpo. It is, however, worth factoring into both your experience level assessment and your emergency planning.

Lower Dolpo, which centres on Phoksundo Lake and the Ringmo village area, sees more traffic and has better-established infrastructure. It's a natural starting point for trekkers considering the upper region.

Nar Phu Valley

Nar Phu is a two-valley detour off the Annapurna Circuit, connecting via Kang La Pass (5,320 m), higher than Thorong La and significantly less trodden. The villages of Nar and Phu sit at 4,150 m and 4,080 m respectively, and both have maintained a degree of cultural isolation that shows in everything from the architecture to the quality of the wall paintings in the gompas. Most trekkers combine Nar Phu with a section of the Annapurna Circuit, entering from the Chame or Koto junction and exiting via Thorong La to Muktinath.

Photo: Old Chortens (memorials) on the trail of Nar-Phu.

The restricted area permit here costs $90 per person per week (slightly less than Manaslu). The route is now accessible as a solo application for the first time.

Tsum Valley: Hidden Valley of Happiness 

Tsum Valley branches off the Manaslu Circuit approach at Lokpa, heading northeast into a high valley that stayed largely closed to outside visitors until 2008. The villages like Chhokangparo, Nile, Mu Gompa have a distinctly Tibetan Buddhist character that the lower Manaslu trail. Mu Gompa, at 3,700 m, is the religious and cultural centre of the valley.

Photo: Monastery in Tsum valley.

Most trekkers do Tsum as an extension of the Manaslu Circuit, adding 7–10 days to a base itinerary. The Tsum restricted area permit is separate from the Manaslu RAP and has its own cost structure. The road push from Soti Khola has not yet significantly affected the Tsum approach, so this section retains more of the walking character that the lower Manaslu trail is steadily losing.

Kanchenjunga Trek: Jewel of the East Nepal

The Kanchenjunga area in Taplejung district covers two base camp routes, north and south that can be combined into a full circuit over Mirgin La (4,663 m) and Sinelapcha La (4,646 m). Mt. Kanchenjunga at 8,586 m is the world's third-highest peak, and unlike Everest or Manaslu, the approaches to its base camps involve weeks of walking from the nearest road with almost no other trekkers on the trail.

Photo: Kanchenjunga Conservation Area

The Kanchenjunga circuit takes most groups 20–25 days and requires a level of logistical self-sufficiency, camping gear, sufficient porter support, emergency contingencies, that makes solo trekking here genuinely demanding in a way that Manaslu or Upper Mustang are not. The guide requirement is especially relevant here: a guide with Kanchenjunga-specific experience knows the trails at a time when GPS tracks alone aren't sufficient.

The one thing that hasn't changed: the guide requirement

It's worth repeating this clearly because the headlines about this policy change have sometimes framed it as "Nepal opens trekking to solo travelers" in a way that implies full independent access.

You still need a licensed guide. Your application still goes through a registered agency. Your agency is still legally responsible for your rescue if something goes wrong.

For some trekkers, that's a frustration. I understand that. There are experienced high-altitude walkers who would genuinely prefer to move at their own pace without a guide, and they're right that the presence of a guide changes the experience.

But the guide requirement in these specific areas is not bureaucratic padding. Restricted areas are restricted because they sit along the Chinese border, in terrain where the difference between the right trail and a 600-metre drop is sometimes a single cairn in a whiteout. The DoI's requirement that agencies accept formal rescue responsibility is the mechanism that pays for helicopters when trekkers need them. Removing the two-person rule while keeping the safety infrastructure in place is a reasonable balance.

For trekkers planning 2026 trips: the practical timeline

Spring 2026 (March–May) is already underway. Autumn 2026 (late September–November) is when permit demand peaks, and quality licensed guides for restricted area routes tend to get booked out by July, sometimes earlier.

A few specifics that matter for planning:

Apply early. The digital permit system, accessible via Nepal's immigration portal, now accepts applications using your visa submission ID. You can initiate the process before your Nepal visa is approved, which means you can lock in permit dates further in advance than was previously possible.

Confirm checkpoint requirements before departure. The Jagat checkpoint, which serves as the main RAP registration point on the Manaslu Circuit, reopened in April 2025 after pandemic-era closure (permits had been checked at Philim instead). Digital tracking is now in place at Jagat and Namrung. You need your physical permit documents at each checkpoint, carrying copies on your phone is fine as backup but won't substitute for paper at some posts.

Get travel insurance that explicitly covers helicopter evacuation. This matters everywhere in Nepal, but it matters most in restricted areas where the nearest road head may be 4–5 days of walking from where an accident happens. Check the altitude ceiling on your policy: some standard adventure policies cap at 4,000 m. That's not adequate for Larkya La, Kang La, or the upper Dolpo routes.

The solo cost arithmetic has changed. Previously, many solo trekkers got their permits by having an agency add a "ghost" second person to the paperwork, an open secret in the industry. That workaround is now unnecessary, and the costs are straightforward: permits at the rates listed above, a licensed guide at NPR 3,500–5,000 per day depending on experience and destination, agency fee, and transport. For a standard Nepal solo trek itinerary on the Manaslu Circuit, 14 days with one guide and no porter, total costs outside of international flights sit between $1,400 and $2,200 USD depending on accommodation choices and guide rate. Upper Mustang and Dolpo solo itineraries run higher due to the $500 RAP and the greater logistical complexity of those routes.

A note on what comes next

This policy change was driven by industry lobbying and commercial logic, Nepal wants more trekkers in restricted areas, and the two-person rule was suppressing demand. The 7-trekker-per-guide cap introduced alongside it signals that the DoI is paying attention to safety ratios, not just permit revenue.

What the change doesn't address is the fee structure. At $500 for Upper Mustang and Upper Dolpo, the RAP remains one of the more expensive restricted area permits in Asia. Whether that changes in future years will depend on how the solo permit reform affects arrival numbers and whether the conservation-area funding model holds up under increased trekker load.

For now: if you've been researching a Manaslu Circuit solo trek, an Upper Mustang trip, or a Nar Phu extension and the two-person rule was the thing stopping you, that obstacle is gone. The permits are available. The routes are open. Autumn 2026 starts filling up in June.