Dashain 2026: What Closes in Nepal — Banks, Offices, Permit Desks and How to Plan Around It

If you are flying into Kathmandu in October 2026 for an autumn trek, you are arriving in the middle of Nepal's biggest event of the year. Dashain is the country's longest and most important festival — fifteen days built around families travelling home to be together — and for several days around it, a good deal of everyday Nepal simply pauses. Offices lock up, banks pull their shutters down, neighbourhood shops go dark, and the counters you might need for a permit or a bus ticket keep short, unpredictable hours.

None of this ruins an October trek — the mountains are at their clearest and the trails are alive with other trekkers. But it does reward a little planning. Here is what actually closes during Dashain 2026, and how to arrive prepared.

We have already published the full Dashain and Tihar 2026 date list, so we will not repeat the whole calendar here. And if your main worry is getting to the trailhead, our companion piece on what Dashain does to guides, flights and buses covers the transport crunch in detail. This article is the other half of the picture: the offices, banks and shops that shut, and how to work around them.

What closes — and what to do about it

Cash is the one that catches people out

The single most common Dashain surprise for a new arrival is money. Banks observe the holiday, and in the days around Tika the ATMs in Thamel, Pokhara's Lakeside and the trailhead towns are drained faster than they are refilled. Card payment is patchy once you leave the cities, and teahouses on the trail run on cash. Draw what you will need for the whole trek — permits, tips, meals and a margin — while banks and machines are still topped up, ideally before the holiday builds. It is the cheapest insurance you will buy in Nepal.

Permits and paperwork

Trekking permits — TIMS, plus the national-park or conservation-area entry fees — are issued by government and tourism-board offices that keep the public holiday. Around the main days those counters may close or run reduced hours, and the online options still do not cover everything (we broke down what you can and cannot do online separately). The simple fix is to have your permits in hand before Vijaya Dashami, or to book through an operator who arranges them for you, so a closed office on the wrong morning does not cost you a start date. Confirm anything time-sensitive locally — exact holiday dates for individual offices shift year to year.

It is a wonderful time to be here

Read the list above and Dashain can sound like an obstacle. It is the opposite. This is the warmest, most generous fortnight in the Nepali year — homes strung with lights, kites over the rooftops, marigolds and jamara everywhere, and an open-door hospitality you will not see in March. Arriving prepared simply means you spend the festival enjoying it rather than hunting for a working ATM.

Autumn is peak season for a reason: stable weather, big mountain views and long, clear mornings. If you are timing an Everest Base Camp, Annapurna Circuit or Poon Hill trek around Dashain, sort the paperwork and the cash first and the festival becomes one of the best parts of the trip. Talk to us and we will plan your dates around the holiday, not against it.

Cover photo: Safalphotos via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).