Day Tour of Annapurna Base Camp in Helicopter
Experience the Majesty of the Himalayas
A Day Tour to Annapurna Base Camp by Helicopter
The Day Tour of Annapurna Base Camp in Helicopter is a one-day helicopter day trip starting and finishing in Kathmandu. The high point is 4,130 m. We run it as a private trip on your own dates, or as a small group departure.
Gurung and Magar in the middle hills, Thakali in the Kali Gandaki, Tibetan Buddhist in Manang and Mustang. The Thakali dal bhat set through the Kali Gandaki is genuinely one of the best meals in Nepal. Apple products from Marpha.
No trekking fitness required. You are flying, and the walking is limited to short stops at the landing sites, though those stops are at altitude and you should tell us in advance about any heart or lung condition. The landings are brief but they are high, and you go from city altitude to over 3,800 m within the hour. Tell us in advance about any heart or lung condition, pregnancy, or recent surgery. Our pilots follow a strict weight and weather rule and will turn back rather than push it.
Best time to go. March to May and October to November. Spring is the rhododendron season in the middle hills; autumn gives the sharpest mountain views. The Annapurna region is also the most workable of the big treks in December and January below 3,500 m.
Permits and getting there. Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) permit and a TIMS card, both included and issued in Kathmandu or Pokhara before you start. Private or shared helicopter from Kathmandu or Pokhara, weather permitting. Flights leave at first light because the mountain valleys close in by late morning, and we hold a spare day in the plan for the days when they do not open at all.
Where you sleep. You are back in Kathmandu the same day on the short versions, so accommodation is your city hotel. On the longer combinations we use teahouse lodges on the trekking section.
Why book with us. Trekking Team is a family company in Gongabu, Kathmandu, running trips since 1991 under TAAN licence 1106. About ten thousand people have travelled with us and we hold more than 630 TripAdvisor reviews. Every departure runs with a government-licensed guide, permits arranged before you arrive, insured and equipped staff, and a fixed price. If the dates or the route do not suit you, write to us and we will rebuild the itinerary around what you want.
Trip Summary
Duration
Difficulty
Max Elevation
Start point
End point
Daily Activity
Group Size
Best Season
Included
- Hotel pick-up and drop-off in a private vehicle
- Helicopter seat with an experienced high-altitude pilot, on a shared or private basis as booked
- All landing fees and national park or municipality permits for the landing sites
- Breakfast at the mountain lodge where the itinerary includes it
- A pulse oximeter carried on board, with oxygen available on request
- All government taxes, VAT and company service charges
Not Included
- International flights, Nepal visa fee and hotel accommodation
- Travel insurance covering helicopter travel and high-altitude landings. Compulsory
- Supplementary oxygen, which is always an optional extra
- Any additional charge if your group is under the minimum weight or seat count for a shared flight
- Meals and drinks other than those listed
- Costs arising from a weather cancellation beyond the refund of the flight itself
- Tips for the ground crew
- Anything not listed under what is included
Get started on your journey
Detailed itinerary
Fly to Annapurna Base Camp and back to Kathmandu
Annapurna Base Camp sits in a natural amphitheatre at 4,130 m, ringed by a wall of peaks that includes Annapurna I, the tenth highest mountain in the world and the first 8,000 m summit ever climbed. Walking in takes seven days each way. This flight puts you there and back before lunch.
The flight. Departure is at first light from Pokhara, because the mountain valleys close in by late morning and the whole trip depends on flying while the air is still. The route runs north up the Modi Khola gorge, climbing between Hiunchuli and Machhapuchhre through the gap known as the Annapurna Sanctuary gate, a passage so narrow it feels like flying into a room.
On the ground. You land at base camp for roughly fifteen to twenty minutes. In front of you are Annapurna I at 8,091 m, Annapurna South, Hiunchuli, Gangapurna, Tharpu Chuli and Machhapuchhre, which has never been climbed and by decree never will be. The silence up there, once the rotors stop, is the thing people remember.
Depending on the package and the weather, the return leg includes a landing for breakfast at a lodge with a mountain view, or a pass over the Mardi Himal ridge on the way down.
Altitude, honestly. You go from 820 m in Pokhara to 4,130 m in under half an hour, which is the fastest ascent on anything we operate. For a short landing this is manageable for most healthy people, but it is not nothing: expect to feel light-headed and to be short of breath walking a few paces. Move slowly and do not run about taking photographs.
Tell us in advance about any heart or lung condition, high blood pressure, recent surgery or pregnancy. There is no supplementary oxygen requirement for a landing this brief in normal circumstances, but the pilot carries it.
Weather and cancellations. The flight goes or it does not, and that decision is the pilot's. We hold a spare morning where the itinerary allows. If the weather closes for your whole window you are refunded rather than flown in marginal conditions, and no reputable operator in Nepal will do otherwise.
Sharing and private charter. The helicopter takes up to five passengers, and seats are usually sold on a shared basis with the cost split. A private charter is available if you want to set your own departure time or stay longer on the ground. Weight is calculated for every flight and we will ask for it, which is not rudeness but load planning at altitude.
Best season. October to December and March to May, with the clearest air in November and December. Bring a warm jacket, a hat and sunglasses: it is well below freezing at base camp in the early morning even when Pokhara is warm.
Altitude: 4,130 m
Travel duration
Elevation
Meal
Accommodation
Getting ready
No special training is needed. Comfortable shoes for uneven cobbles and stone steps at the heritage sites, and a light layer for early mornings, will cover it.
Altitude and acclimatisation
The high point on this trip is 4,130 m. The landings are brief but they are high, and you go from city altitude to over 3,800 m within the hour. Tell us in advance about any heart or lung condition, pregnancy, or recent surgery. Our pilots follow a strict weight and weather rule and will turn back rather than push it.
Rules we work to: gain no more than 400 to 500 m of sleeping altitude a day above 3,000 m, take a rest day roughly every 1,000 m, climb high and sleep low on those days, drink three to four litres daily, and skip alcohol and sleeping tablets above 3,500 m. Your guide carries a pulse oximeter and a first aid kit and records the group morning and evening.
Diamox (acetazolamide) is a legitimate aid, not a shortcut, and works best started 24 hours before you go high. Discuss it with your own doctor before you travel; we do not prescribe.
If anyone deteriorates, the answer is descent, immediately and without debate. Our guides have the authority to turn a client around and they use it.
Permits and paperwork
Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) permit and a TIMS card, both included and issued in Kathmandu or Pokhara before you start.
Nepal issues visas on arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport: 15, 30 or 90 days, payable in cash in most major currencies or by card. Bring two passport photographs and make sure your passport has at least six months validity.
Money, tipping and costs on the ground
Nepali rupees are the only currency accepted on the trail. Draw cash in Kathmandu or Pokhara before you leave; ATMs have a per-transaction limit of around NPR 35,000 and charge a fee, and above the roadhead there are no machines and no card terminals.
Budget for drinks, souvenirs and any meals not listed in the itinerary.
Tipping is customary and genuinely matters to the crew, but it is not compulsory and never demanded. As a guide to the guide: around USD 8 to 12 per day for your trekking guide and USD 6 to 8 for each porter, pooled by the group and handed over at the end.
Staying in touch
Wi-Fi in most lodges, mobile signal along much of the route, and mains charging at low cost.
Ncell and Nepal Telecom tourist SIM cards are sold at Kathmandu airport and take about ten minutes. Bring your passport.
Health and safety
No vaccinations are legally required for Nepal, but hepatitis A, typhoid and tetanus are sensible and a rabies course is worth discussing if you are travelling for a long time. Check with a travel clinic six to eight weeks before you fly.
Drink bottled or treated water and be sensible about street food in the first few days.
Our guides carry a comprehensive first aid kit, a pulse oximeter and, on the higher routes, supplementary oxygen. We hold a 24-hour operations line in Kathmandu throughout your trip, and we run rescue coordination ourselves rather than handing it to a third party.
Booking and cancellation
A deposit confirms your dates and the balance is due before departure. If your plans change we will move your booking to another date rather than treat it as a cancellation wherever the ground operators allow it.
Written quotes are fixed. We do not add fuel or permit surcharges after you have booked, and if a government fee rises between your booking and your departure we absorb it.
Questions before you commit are welcome and never rushed. Write to us with what you actually want and we will tell you plainly whether this trip is the right one, including when the answer is that a different route would suit you better.
Ready to start your journey?
Start planning your dream trip today. Enquire now for more information or customize this trip to tailor it to your needs and make it truly unforgettable.