The development of disturbances (two-dimensional non-linear and three-dimensional linear) in the entrance region of a circular pipe is studied in the limit of Reynolds number R → ∞ in the framework of triple-deck theory. It is found that lower-branch axisymmetric disturbances can interact in the resonant manner. Numerical calculations show that a two-dimensional nonlinear wave packet grows much more rapidly than that in the boundary layer on a flat plate, producing a spike-like solution which seems to become singular at a finite time. Large-sized, short-scaled disturbances are also studied. In this case the development of axisymmetric disturbances is governed by single one-dimensional equation in the form of the Korteweg-de Vries and Benjamin-Ono equations in the long- and short-wave limits respectively. The nonlinear interactions of these disturbances lead to the formation of solitons which can run both upstream and downstream. Linear three-dimensional wave packets are also calculated.