Pokhara sits at about 820 meters in a broad valley in central Nepal, beside Phewa Lake, with roughly half a million people. What makes it remarkable is the view: the Annapurna massif rises to over 8,000 meters barely thirty kilometres north, and Machhapuchhre, Fishtail, stands at 6,993 meters directly above the town.
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That is one of the steepest elevation gains over a short horizontal distance anywhere on earth, and it is why the mountains look impossibly large from a lakeside café.
Pokhara is Nepal's second city and its adventure capital, and for most visitors it is a gateway rather than a destination: the staging town for the Annapurna treks, where you buy permits, hire gear, meet guides and porters, and come back to eat properly afterwards.
The packing problem follows directly from that dual role.
Pokhara itself is warm. At 820 meters in a subtropical valley it runs 20 to 33 degrees for most of the year, humid, and you will be in a t-shirt by the lake.
Everything you walk to from here is cold. Poon Hill is 3,210 meters. Annapurna Base Camp is 4,130. Thorong La on the Circuit is 5,416. Night temperatures at ABC in trekking season are below freezing.
So you are packing for two climates in one bag, and the good news is that Pokhara solves half of it for you: gear hire in town is cheap, plentiful and good.
What Pokhara Does For You Before You Walk
Permits are bought here
Two documents are required for the Annapurna region and both are obtained in Pokhara at the Nepal Tourism Board office, or in Kathmandu.
The ACAP, Annapurna Conservation Area Permit, and the TIMS card, Trekkers' Information Management System. Bring passport photographs and your passport. The rules and fees change periodically, and as of recent changes Nepal has required guides for some trekking regions, so confirm the current requirement for your specific route at the tourism board rather than relying on older accounts.
Budget half a morning. There are separate desks and a queue.
Gear hire is the reason you do not need to carry everything
Lakeside is lined with hire shops. A down jacket, a sleeping bag rated for the altitude, trekking poles, a duffel and a rain cover can all be hired for a few dollars a day each, and the quality is generally adequate to good. Deposits are taken and returns are straightforward.
What you should bring rather than hire: boots, which must be broken in to your own feet; socks; base layers, for hygiene reasons over a ten-day trek; and any technical item you are particular about.
What is genuinely worth hiring: the down jacket and the sleeping bag, both bulky and both only needed above 3,000 meters.
Guides and porters
Arranged here, through agencies or the tourism board. A guide is roughly $25 to $35 a day and a porter $20 to $25, and where a guide is now mandatory for your route this becomes a cost rather than a choice. For a woman trekking alone, female guides are available and increasingly common, and several Nepali agencies are run by and staffed with women specifically for that reason. It is worth asking for explicitly.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
The Pokhara Packing List
Base layers
Three Roman Trail Women's Merino Wool Base Layers ($49-59) in long sleeve, plus merino bottoms if you are trekking.
These are the items to bring rather than hire, and merino is the right fibre for a specific reason here: on a ten-day trek there is no laundry, you sweat heavily climbing in humid subtropical forest at low altitude, and then you are cold and still at altitude. Merino at 17.5 micron and 160 gsm keeps insulating damp and does not develop the smell synthetics acquire within two days, which in a shared teahouse dormitory is a genuine consideration.
Mid layer
A Columbia Women's Fast Trek II Jacket ($65). Bring this. The down jacket you hire in Pokhara goes over it above 3,000 meters.
Outer layer
A Marmot Women's PreCip Eco Rain Jacket ($110), hooded. Essential in the pre and post-monsoon shoulder weeks and as a windproof layer on any ridge. Rain covers for packs are hired or bought cheaply in town.
Footwear, which you must bring
The Merrell Women's Moab 3 Waterproof Hiking Boot ($140), thoroughly broken in before you fly. Annapurna trails are stone staircases, root, mud and river crossings, and the descents are long. Hired boots are the one category where the local shops genuinely cannot help you, because blisters from someone else's boots will end a trek.
The Darn Tough Women's Hiker Micro Crew Merino Socks ($28), four pairs for a trek. Bring these too.
Sandals or light shoes for the teahouses and for Pokhara itself.
Health, which matters more than gear here
DEET Insect Repellent Spray ($12). The Pokhara valley is subtropical and mosquitoes carry dengue, with Nepal seeing significant outbreaks in recent years, and leeches are present on wet forest trails at lower altitudes in and after the monsoon.
A personal water filter, which is worth the weight because Nepal has been reducing plastic bottle use on the trails and teahouse boiled water costs money and fuel. Refilling and filtering is cheaper, better for the mountain, and reliable. Filters are also sold and hired in Pokhara if you would rather not carry one out.
Rehydration salts, a thorough stomach kit, sunscreen, and any altitude medication discussed with a doctor before travel if you are going above 3,000 meters.
Organisation and documents
The Eagle Creek Pack-It Cube Set ($59). Passport, Nepali visa which is available on arrival for most nationalities, several passport photographs for the permits, and cash in Nepali rupees, because the trails are cash-only and ATMs stop at the trailhead.
Pokhara Itself, Which Deserves More Than a Night
Most people treat it as a bookend, and it is worth two or three days on its own terms.
Phewa Lake, with hired rowboats and the Tal Barahi island temple, and the Annapurnas reflected in it on a still morning.
Sarangkot, a ridge above the town, for the classic dawn view of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna and Machhapuchhre. Reached by taxi before first light or walked up.
The World Peace Pagoda, across the lake, reached by boat and a short climb.
Paragliding, for which Pokhara is one of the best sites in the world, with tandem flights from Sarangkot over the lake and reliable thermals.
The International Mountain Museum, which is genuinely good on Himalayan climbing history and on Nepal's mountain peoples.
Devi's Fall, the Gupteshwor cave and the old bazaar for a half day, and the old town north of Lakeside, which is the actual Pokhara and almost untouristed.
The Treks, Ranked by Commitment
Australian Camp or Dhampus, one or two days, a gentle introduction at around 1,700 to 2,100 meters with mountain views and no altitude concern.
Poon Hill, four to five days via Ghorepani, topping out at 3,210 meters. The most popular short trek in Nepal, teahouse-supported throughout, famous for its sunrise panorama and famously busy. Involves a great many stone steps.
Annapurna Base Camp, seven to eleven days to 4,130 meters, walking into the Annapurna Sanctuary, a glacial amphitheatre ringed by peaks. Genuinely spectacular, teahouses throughout, and high enough that acclimatisation matters.
Mardi Himal, four to six days, a ridge trek to about 4,500 meters, quieter than the alternatives and increasingly popular for that reason.
The Annapurna Circuit, twelve to eighteen days, crossing Thorong La at 5,416 meters, which is a serious pass and the reason this trek requires proper acclimatisation and respect. Road building has shortened parts of the classic route.
Upper Mustang and Nar Phu, restricted areas requiring expensive special permits and a guide, culturally Tibetan and extraordinary.
When to Go
October and November: the best season. Clear skies after the monsoon, stable weather, the mountains visible daily, and 20 to 28 degrees in Pokhara. Also the busiest, with trails and teahouses full.
March to May: the second season. Warmer, rhododendrons flowering on the Poon Hill route in March and April, and increasing haze as the pre-monsoon builds, which can obscure the mountains from Pokhara entirely by May.
December to February: cold and clear. 8 to 20 degrees in Pokhara, freezing on the treks, with snow on the higher passes and Thorong La sometimes impassable. Quiet and cheap, and ABC and Poon Hill remain feasible with warm kit.
June to September, monsoon: heavy rain, leeches, landslides, cloud hiding the mountains, and flight cancellations. The Annapurna trails are wet and slippery. Upper Mustang, being in the rain shadow, is the exception and is at its best.
What Not to Bring
A down jacket and a sleeping bag. Hire both in Pokhara for a few dollars a day.
New boots. Bring your own broken-in pair.
Only cards. Trails are cash-only and ATMs end at the trailhead.
Single-use plastic bottles. Filter and refill instead.
An assumption you can trek without a guide. Requirements have changed; confirm locally.
Shorts and vests for villages. Nepal is conservative outside Lakeside.
A drone without a permit, which is restricted in Nepal and around the conservation area.
Essential Resources for Women in Pokhara
Emergency numbers in Nepal: 100 police, 102 ambulance, 101 fire. The Tourist Police in Pokhara are on 061 465751 and are based at Lakeside, specifically to handle visitor matters.
Trekking rescue: the Himalayan Rescue Association operates aid posts on the main trekking routes and publishes altitude guidance, and is the authoritative Nepali source on acute mountain sickness. Helicopter evacuation is available and expensive, and your insurance must explicitly cover helicopter rescue and trekking to your maximum altitude, because standard policies routinely cap at 3,000 meters. Be aware there has been a documented problem with unnecessary helicopter evacuations arranged for insurance fraud on Nepali trails, so use a reputable operator and query any pressure to fly out when you feel able to walk.
Hospitals: Manipal Teaching Hospital in Pokhara is the main referral facility and is well regarded, with Western Regional Hospital also serving the city. For anything serious, Kathmandu is the onward referral, and international-standard care means the Norvic or CIWEC hospitals there. Private care requires payment up front.
US consular services: the US Embassy in Kathmandu covers Nepal, about 25 minutes by air or six to eight hours by road. There is no post in Pokhara. Contact details and the after-hours emergency number are at np.usembassy.gov.
Official health authority: the Nepali Ministry of Health and Population at mohp.gov.np. Discuss altitude medication, and typhoid and hepatitis vaccination, with a travel clinic before you go.
Official tourism authority: the Nepal Tourism Board at ntb.gov.np, which issues TIMS cards and publishes current permit and guide requirements. This is the place to verify the rules, which have changed more than once recently.
US State Department travel advisory for Nepal: current advisory level and detail, which includes specific notes on trekking safety and domestic aviation.
UK FCDO travel advice for Nepal: entry requirements, safety and health guidance. One point both carry: Nepal's domestic aviation safety record is poor and several airlines are banned from EU airspace, which is worth weighing when choosing between the Kathmandu flight and the road.
Solo women safety assessment: Pokhara is a comfortable and easy place for a woman travelling alone, and Nepal generally is welcoming, with Lakeside long established as a traveller quarter where solo women are unremarkable. Violent crime against visitors is rare. On the trails, the recurring concerns are worth naming plainly. There have been incidents involving guides and lone female trekkers, which is the main reason to book through a reputable agency rather than an individual met casually, to ask for a female guide, which several Nepali agencies now specialise in providing, and to tell your guesthouse your route and expected return. Trekking with at least one other person on quieter routes is sensible. Beyond that: the physical risks are altitude, which needs respect above 3,000 meters, and the trails themselves, which are stone steps and landslide-prone slopes rather than technical ground. Confirm your insurance covers helicopter rescue and your maximum altitude, be wary of pressure to be evacuated unnecessarily, carry cash, filter your water, and dress modestly away from Lakeside.
Reading On
Pokhara is where Himalayan treks begin and where you eat properly afterwards, and it is worth days rather than a night. The Nepal travel guide for women covers the country, with the Kathmandu travel guide for women the usual arrival and the Everest Base Camp guide for women covering the other great trek. Across the border, the Ladakh travel guide for women and the India travel guide for women cover the western Himalaya, with Bhutan to the east. The Pokhara travel guide for women goes deeper on the town and the treks. For why merino base layers are the items to bring rather than hire, the merino wool base layer guide explains it, and the full collection is at Roman Trail women's merino base layers.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
