Teahouse Trekking in Nepal: Rooms, Food, Costs & Etiquette

Teahouses are family-run lodges along Nepal’s trekking routes — the reason you can walk for two weeks carrying only a daypack. Here is what a night on the trail actually looks like.

Rooms

Expect a simple twin room with thin mattresses, a pillow and a blanket. Walls are thin and it gets cold — bring a warm sleeping bag and earplugs. Lower down you may get attached bathrooms; higher up, toilets are usually shared and often squat-style.

Food

The menu is surprisingly long, but the trekker’s staple is dal bhat — lentil soup, rice, vegetable curry and pickle — usually with free refills. It is the best-value, freshest meal on the menu. Prices rise the higher you go, because everything is carried up by porters or mules.

Teahouse etiquette

Eat where you sleep. Rooms are priced cheaply on the expectation that you will have dinner and breakfast there.
Order dinner early, and order the same dishes as your group to help the kitchen.
Respect the dining-room stove — it is often the only heated space.
Carry out your rubbish and avoid buying single-use plastic bottles.

Showers, charging and Wi-Fi

Hot showers, device charging and Wi-Fi are often paid extras at higher teahouses, and may depend on solar power. A power bank and a willingness to skip a shower or two go a long way.

Do you need to book?

Outside peak season you can usually just turn up. In October–November and April, popular villages fill up — guides typically phone ahead a day in advance. Arriving early in the afternoon gives you the best choice of rooms.