Steps to Choose the Best Trekking and Tour Agencies in Nepal

Before going for treks and tours during your upcoming holiday, the first question that comes to mind is how should we choose the best trekking agency. In Nepal, there are more than 2000 trekking agencies which will give you surety about many aspects. But still choosing the best trekking agency is difficult as it depends on the travel agency, their management and maintenance, guides provided to you, and overall facilities they provide to you. To assist you with choosing the best trekking agencies in Nepal, we have cataloged some helpful techniques to aid you to make the best decision.

1. What You Want And Expect

Before going on a trek with travel agencies it is a must to know what you expect from them. It will include your budget, level of comfort, types of hotels you select to live in the cities, fitness level, language spoken by guides and helpers, number of days you can proffer for Trek or Tour, either you want to be involved in philanthropic activities or not, and so on. Making clear about your needs and requirements will surely help you make an ideal decision.

Do you know which trek to choose?

Here is our list of the Top 10 treks in Nepal. This may give you some idea about the Treks and Tour that may fit your needs an exception.

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Tell us about your trip to Nepal and what you expect from it. We will answer your questions as fast as we can and help you decide on a trip with a comfortable itinerary to best meet your desire and exception.

• Group Size
• Travel Dates
• Trip Details
• Contact Details

2. Registration, Licenses and Associations

It is very important for you to know whether the trekking agency that you have selected is an authorized trekking agency with proper licenses and registration from authorities or not. The registrations are provided by Authorities like Nepal Government, NTB (Nepal Tourism Board) and TAAN (Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal). If these agencies are selling climbing packages then registration from NAM is also very important. The list of TAAN registered trekking agencies are made available in TAAN’s website to assist you in searching right company. You can also observe their alliance with recognized organizations that will expound the dependability of the company.

3. Client Reviews and Testimonials

Although it is highly unlikely for a travel agency to post any negative testimonials on their websites, the testimonials may help you get the basic idea and information about their business, their facilities, and their strengths. Some of the testimonials may include the client’s email address, which may be useful if you wish to get more information about the agency. The websites like Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor may be a good way to get the reviews of various travel agencies and their service.

4. Cost And Facilities

Although the trekking route, the mountains and the views of the trek may be the same the prices between the agencies may be different. Do not go searching for the cheapest cost for the trek and do not pay more. Cheapest may not always give you the best value for the money. To find the reasonable cost it is necessary to compare your needs with the facilities provided by the agency. Extra facilities like Pick-up and drop services, greater accommodation throughout the journey, responsible guides, potters, rescue operation in case of emergencies etc. may come with a greater price.

5. Years of Experience

The years of Experience may be a very important factor to determine the service of the Agencies. Since most of the agencies run their trade with the reviews and recommendations of the clients, it is more likely that the one with the better services stays in the business. Although older the company doesn’t mean the better the services, a considerable year of experience will assure the reliable expertise of the agency. Some new trekking agencies opened by experienced guides may also be a good option.

6. Send an Inquiry Email

Doing an inquiry about multiple trekking companies help you know more about the services and facilities provided by them, and the best way to do that is sending an inquiry emails. This will increase the communication level between companies and clients, and let you know more about facilities and services provided by them. It will also assist you to transparent your doubts and understand the company more closely.

7. Safety standards of the Agency

We all think that trekking is a very difficult activity but hey, it’s not. It may be strenuous but not that dangerous and harmful if proper and necessary precautions are taken. But taking a chance with life is not what we do, so it’s very essential to make sure that the trekking agencies have considerable safety standards and fine safety records. It is good to know about various services they provide during the case of the emergency like paramedic services, helicopter rescue operations etc.

8. Agencies and their Guides

Guides are one of the most important components that determine your experience while you are on a trek or Tours. Make sure that the agency you chose provides you with a guide with valid guide certificates. This will make sure that the guide provided to you has been trained to guide you and assist you while you trek. Check whether your guides are properly insured and provided with proper gears. This parameter is applicable to ensure that safety is prioritized not only for you. Some trekking agencies also provide guides who speak languages other than English. You may need to look for the agencies with multi-linguistic guides if you wish your guide to speak to you in the language you are comfortable with.

9. Interview with the guides

If you have few days to spare to choose “the one” then you may even interview various guides from different travel agencies. This will help you find which of them will match your personality to you for your adventure. Guides are very important people while you trek, your trekking experience highly depends on their knowledge and your comfort level with them. It is good to know the guide’s language cogency, years of experience and personality type before you set up on the week-long adventurous journey with them.