KATHMANDU · NEPAL
Prayer flags, old temples, and the road to Everest.
Everest and Annapurna treks, dawn mountain flights, the seven UNESCO temples of the Kathmandu Valley, momo classes in Thamel and the rhino jungle at Chitwan. Nearly everything in Nepal starts here.
Only in Nepal
The mountain, the valley, and the trail.
Flights and day tours exist everywhere. The highest mountain on earth, a valley of seven living World Heritage sites, and three weeks of teahouses on the Annapurna trail belong to Nepal alone.
The roof of the world
Walk to the foot of Everest
Everyone knows the name. Far fewer stand at 5,364m with the Khumbu Icefall above them and Base Camp underfoot. The trek in from Lukla runs two weeks through Sherpa villages, swing bridges and thinning air, and it changes people. Solo trekkers join a guided group and never walk it alone.
- 1 Everest Base Camp Trek – 14 Days
- 2 Everest Base Camp Helicopter Tour landing at Everest View Hotel
- 3 Everest Base Camp Trekking
Living heritage
Seven World Heritage sites, one valley
No other capital packs seven UNESCO World Heritage sites into a single valley. Three medieval Durbar squares, the great stupas of Boudhanath and Swayambhunath, the cremation ghats of Pashupatinath and the hill temple of Changu Narayan, all an afternoon apart, all still in daily use.
- 1 Private Kathmandu Sightseeing Tour | UNESCO World Heritage sites
- 2 Kathmandu: Full Day 7 UNESCO Tour with Lunch – Private/Group
- 3 Kathmandu: Full Day Top 4 UNESCO Tour with Lunch – Private/Group
The teahouse trail
Sleep your way around Annapurna
The Annapurna routes invented teahouse trekking: walk all day through rhododendron forest and terraced hills, eat and sleep in a village lodge each night, no tent required. Base Camp ends in a glacial amphitheatre ringed by 7,000m walls. The circuit crosses the 5,416m Thorong La.
- 1 Annapurna base camp trek 5 Days
- 2 Annapurna Base Camp Trek
- 3 Kathmandu to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) 5-Day Trek
If you only do one
The trip most people come to Nepal for.
For a lot of travellers this is the dream that books the flight. The one the whole trip ends up built around.
The classics
Nepal's Most Popular Trips
Everest treks, the seven-temple valley tour, the Nagarkot sunrise, a cooking class in Thamel. The trips travellers reach for first.
Where to begin
Start with what Nepal is known for.
Everest and Annapurna, the seven-temple valley, the Himalayan flights, the Thamel cooking classes and the Chitwan jungle. The handful of experiences most trips are planned around, and the best way to do each.
The big question
How to see Everest.
It is the reason a lot of people come to Nepal, and there are three very different ways to do it, depending on the time you have, the budget you bring, and how close you want to get.
The valley
Three medieval cities, one valley.
Before Nepal was one country, the Kathmandu Valley held three rival kingdoms: Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur. Each raised its own Durbar square of tiered pagodas, palace courtyards and carved windows, and each still stands a short ride apart. Patan is the artisans’ city, Bhaktapur the best preserved, Kathmandu the loudest of the three.
Read the guide: the temple cities of the valley →At the table
Learn to fold a momo.
Every Nepali meal is dal bhat, and every traveller leaves wanting to make momos. Half-day classes in Thamel and family kitchens around the valley teach both, from the spice-market shop to the steamer, ending in the meal you just cooked. The most social thing a solo traveller can book.
See the cooking classes →The high Himalaya
Eight of the fourteen highest mountains on earth.
Nepal holds eight of the world’s fourteen peaks above 8,000 metres, Everest among them. They wall the country’s northern edge in an 800km arc of ice and rock, and on a clear dawn you can pick them out from a Kathmandu rooftop. Walk in among them, or fly the length of the range.
Himalayan treks & flights →The lowlands
Down from the mountains, into the jungle.
Drop south to the Terai and Nepal turns subtropical. Chitwan National Park is dawn safaris by jeep and dugout canoe through grassland and sal forest, looking for one-horned rhino, gharial crocodile, sloth bear and, on a good day, a wild tiger. The other Nepal, down at sea level.
- 1 3-Day Chitwan National Park Jungle Safari Tour Package with Pick Up
- 2 From Kathmandu/Pokhara: 3-Day All-Inclusive Chitwan Safari
- 3 Kathmandu: 3-Day Chitwan Safari Tour with Hotel Transfers
By effort
Pick your altitude.
Nepal answers every level. A flat afternoon among temple courtyards, a dawn hike up a valley ridge, or three weeks on a high trail. Choose how hard you want to work for the view.
Take it easy
Temple courtyards and city walks.The seven UNESCO sites, the old bazaars, a rickshaw through Durbar Square. Big days for the eyes, easy on the legs.
A proper day out
Sunrises and valley ridges.A dawn run to Nagarkot for the Himalayan skyline, a day hike between hill villages, the Chandragiri cable car for the view without the climb.
The real thing
Weeks on the high trails.Everest, Annapurna, Langtang, Manaslu. Suspension bridges, teahouse nights, 5,000-metre passes and the thin bright air at the top.
The sacred city
Where the prayer flags never stop.
Kathmandu prays out loud. At Boudhanath, pilgrims circle the great white stupa under the Buddha’s painted eyes from first light; at Pashupatinath, Hindu cremations burn on the riverbank ghats while sadhus look on; at Swayambhunath the monkeys and the butter lamps share the hill. Two faiths, one skyline, every single day.
See all 16 temple & stupa tours →By place
Six ways into Nepal.
The valley for the temples. Everest for the big walk. Annapurna for the teahouse trail. Nagarkot for the sunrise. Chitwan for the rhinos. Bhaktapur and Patan for the medieval streets.
By activity
Or choose how to spend a day.
Trek if you have two weeks. Fly if you have two hours. Temples for the history, a cooking class for the evening, a jungle safari for something completely different.
Plan it
Three days to start.
First time in Nepal? Here is a long weekend in and around Kathmandu that hits the essentials before you head for the hills.
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