Experiences > > Asia > Annapurna Sanctuary

A trip to the Annapurna Sanctuary is one of the world's classic treks, offering perhaps the most breathtaking and awe-inspiring mountain vista on earth. From a base at Pokhara, you walk to the village of Ghorepani (2855m) where you catch the first glimpse of the peaks of the Annapurna Himal and Dhaulaghiri (8167m) to the west. The ascent of the nearby Poon Hill (3193m) at dawn offers spectacular views of the mountains at sunrise. From here, you head north-east along the Modi Khola Valley through forests, then above the treeline until you reach the gates of the sanctuary - passing between the peaks of Hiunchuli and Machhapuchhare to reach Machhapuchhare Base Camp (3700m). The sanctuary is a natural amphitheatre where you are encircled by the soaring peaks of Hiunchuli (6441m), Annapurna South (7273m), Annapurna Fang (7647m), Annapurna 1 (8091m) and 3 (7855m), Gangapurna (7454m) and Machhapuchhare (6993m). Making your way to Annapurna base camp (4150m), the scenery is stunning, especially at sunrise and sunset. The sanctuary is exited by the same route as you make your way back to Pokhara.


Location: Nepal


Frontiers of Travel Articles

The Best of Nepal Trekking

Travel to Annapurna Sanctuary

Organised group tours: The following tours for Annapurna Sanctuary are available:


Details and Booking

Tour Map of Annapurna Sanctuary

Annapurna Sanctuary

£639

excl. flights

15 days

Excellent value, amazing prices, quality experiences. Simple and clean hotels, guesthouses and hostels chosen for location and character. Affordable public and private transport for maximum cultural interaction. Plenty of optional activities tailored to your interests and budget.

Designed for outdoor adventurers. Hungry to walk, hike, trek, bike, raft and kayak your way across the world's greatest destinations? You don't have to be a decathlete to take an Active trip, just someone with a healthy love for getting active and the outdoors.

Annapurna Sanctuary

Don't just visit the roof of the world – climb all over it. Take a ten-day trek through the remote and imposing mountains of the Annapurna Range. Begin and end the journey in Kathmandu with its colourful temples, city squares, and great shopping. With the support of a team of expert Sherpas, the challenging trails of Annapurna will reward you with a stunning combination of towering peaks and dramatic valleys. Rest and relax overnight in teahouses, where you’ll reconnect with ancient ways long forgotten by the modern world.


Details and Booking

Tour Map of Annapurna Sanctuary

Annapurna Sanctuary

£995

excl. flights

15 days

Over more than 30 years Explore has developed a diverse and exciting range of more than 100 walking and trekking holidays. Whether you’re new to walking holidays, a casual hiker or a seasoned trekker you will find plenty of expertly planned walks and treks to choose from. We specialise in small group walking and trekking holidays. On these you will be in a group of up to 16 along with an experienced tour leader. Depending on the trek you may also have guides, porters, muleteers, cooks and camping crew with you too. For many trekkers the camaraderie with the crew is one of the highlights of the holiday.

Annapurna Sanctuary

Discover a world of breathtaking mountain peaks on this exciting expedition to the vast natural amphitheatre of the Annapurna Sanctuary. Leaving the foothills we pass under the great bulk of Machhapuchhre and spend two nights at base camp. After the trek take time to explore the lakeside town of Pokhara and the busy streets of Kathmandu.


Details and Booking

Annapurna Sanctuary Lodge Trek

£1445

excl. flights

14 days

With over 200 holidays to choose from, KE Adventure Travel has one of the very best collections of trekking and walking holidays worldwide. Graded on a scale from 1 to 12, we have holidays to suit everyone. Our tougher treks are likely to involve multi-day hikes through wilderness regions, with porter support and tented accommodation. Whilst at the other end of the scale, our softer walking holidays are more likely to be hotel or lodge-based with a day-walk format and an emphasis on uncovering the area's history, culture and cuisine. From our earliest days we've developed a range of treks that include celebrated classics such as Peru's Inca Trail trek, the ascent of Tanzania's Kilimanjaro and the ever popular Everest Base Camp trek in Nepal. Alongside these, we have always made it a priority to seek out distinctive and unique itineraries in less familiar areas such as Armenia, Cameroon, Madagascar and Burma. Whichever of our trekking or walking holidays you choose to undertake, you can be sure you'll enjoy breaking out of your day-to-day routine and exploring exotic landscapes on foot, with the chance to experience different cultures.

Annapurna Sanctuary Lodge Trek

North of Pokhara, one of the greatest of Himalayan treks to the Annapurna Sanctuary, follows the valley of the Modi Khola into the heart of the Annapurnas. Here, giant peaks such as Annapurna 1, Gangapurna and Machhapuchhre encircle the natural amphitheatre known as the Annapurna Sanctuary. Starting out at Phedi, this excellent lodge-based adventure manages to cram the full range of Nepalese trekking experiences into 11 days of picturesque walking. We encounter sub-tropical heat, pretty villages and neatly terraced rice fields, followed by several days of pleasant ridge walking amongst forest and farmland. Finally, we pass a narrowing of the valley and reach the world of ice and snow that is the Annapurna Sanctuary. In common with all of our lodge treks, this trip provides great opportunities to meet and share experiences with like-minded travellers from around the world.


Details and Booking

The Ultimate Annapurna Trek

£1895

excl. flights

22 days

With over 200 holidays to choose from, KE Adventure Travel has one of the very best collections of trekking and walking holidays worldwide. Graded on a scale from 1 to 12, we have holidays to suit everyone. Our tougher treks are likely to involve multi-day hikes through wilderness regions, with porter support and tented accommodation. Whilst at the other end of the scale, our softer walking holidays are more likely to be hotel or lodge-based with a day-walk format and an emphasis on uncovering the area's history, culture and cuisine. From our earliest days we've developed a range of treks that include celebrated classics such as Peru's Inca Trail trek, the ascent of Tanzania's Kilimanjaro and the ever popular Everest Base Camp trek in Nepal. Alongside these, we have always made it a priority to seek out distinctive and unique itineraries in less familiar areas such as Armenia, Cameroon, Madagascar and Burma. Whichever of our trekking or walking holidays you choose to undertake, you can be sure you'll enjoy breaking out of your day-to-day routine and exploring exotic landscapes on foot, with the chance to experience different cultures.

The Ultimate Annapurna Trek

After Everest, the Annapurna range of mountains north of Pokhara are the most well known in Nepal and the highest peak, Annapurna I, has the distinction of being the first 8000-metre peak ever to be climbed. Four Annapurna peaks over 7500 metres together with Gangapurna form the main range, considered to be the most beautiful in the Himalaya and extending southwards, two encircling arms ending in Annapurna South and Machhapuchhre (the ‘Fishtail' peak), enclose a high cirque only penetrated by outsiders as recently as 1956. These are the locations for two of the Himalaya's classic treks, namely the Annapurna Circuit which circumnavigates the range and the Annapurna Sanctuary which visits the hidden cirque to view the incredible South Face of Annapurna. Previously these two treks were quite separate but taking advantage of new jeep roads which allow high access to the valleys of the Marsyangdi and Kali Gandaki we can combine the two most famous trails of the region into one classic 3-week trek. This Ultimate Annapurna trek combines spectacular mountain scenery with a wide diversity of ethnic and cultural experiences as we travel through very different ecological life zones. This is without doubt, the ultimate Annapurna experience and is justifiably placed among the world's top treks.

Further Exploration for Annapurna Sanctuary

Lonely_Planet Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya

Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya

Aug 2009 (9th ed.), 436 pages

Lonely_Planet

Trailblazer Trekking in the Annapurna Region

Trekking in the Annapurna Region

Jul 2011 (5th ed.), 288 pages

Trailblazer

Bradt Shangri-La: A Travel Guide to the Himalayan Dream

Shangri-La: A Travel Guide to the Himalayan Dream

Oct 2008 (1st ed.), 200 pages

Bradt

Trailblazer Nepal Trekking and the Great Himalaya Trail

Nepal Trekking and the Great Himalaya Trail

Nov 2014 (2nd ed.)

Trailblazer