Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan Tour

You will be met in the arrivals hall at Tribhuvan International Airport and driven to your hotel, usually 30 to 45 minutes depending on traffic. Nepal issues visas on arrival: fill in the form at the electronic kiosks before the payment desk, and bring a passport photograph and cash in a major currency to speed it up.

Your guide comes to the hotel for a briefing on the days ahead. Kathmandu sits at about 1,400 m so there is no altitude concern tonight.

Altitude: 1,350 m  |  Overnight: 3-5 Stars  |  Meals: Breakfast

A full day across Kathmandu's UNESCO monument zones with a licensed cultural guide and a private vehicle.

Kathmandu Durbar Square is the old royal complex of the Malla kings and later the Shah dynasty, a dense cluster of pagoda temples, courtyards and palace wings built between the twelfth and eighteenth centuries. The Kumari Ghar here houses Nepal's living goddess, a young girl chosen from the Newar Shakya community who appears at her carved window most afternoons. Much of the square was damaged in the 2015 earthquake and the restoration, done with traditional joinery and reused timber, is itself worth watching.

Pashupatinath is the most important Hindu temple in Nepal and one of the great Shiva shrines of the subcontinent, a UNESCO site on the banks of the Bagmati. Non-Hindus cannot enter the main temple, but the far bank gives an open view across the ghats where open-air cremations take place through the day. It is confronting the first time and also completely ordinary here, a public part of life rather than something hidden.

Swayambhunath sits on a hill west of the city, reached by 365 stone steps through a forest full of rhesus macaques, which is where the nickname Monkey Temple comes from. The stupa is one of the oldest religious sites in the valley, with the Buddha's eyes painted on all four sides and a spire of thirteen gilded rings. The terrace gives the best single view over Kathmandu.

Boudhanath is one of the largest stupas in the world and the centre of Tibetan Buddhist life in Nepal, particularly since 1959 when refugees settled around it. The white dome is 36 m across, ringed by prayer wheels and surrounded by more than fifty gompas. Walk the kora clockwise at dusk with the local crowd as the monks come out of evening puja: it is the most atmospheric hour in Kathmandu.

Altitude: 1,350 m  |  Overnight: 3-5 Stars  |  Meals: Breakfast

West out of the valley towards Pokhara, with a stop at Manakamana on the way.

The Manakamana temple sits on a ridge above the Trishuli and is reached by a cable car that climbs 1,300 m in ten minutes, one of the most-used pilgrimage routes in Nepal. The goddess is said to grant the wishes of those who make the journey, and the queue of Nepali families waiting to do so is as much of the experience as the temple itself.

Note that following the September 2026 collapse of the Prithvi Highway at Krishnabhir, this drive is currently routed via a diversion and takes considerably longer than usual. Where that is the case we will either restructure the day or switch you to the 25 minute flight, and we confirm which before you travel.

Altitude: 827 m  |  Overnight: 3-5 Stars  |  Meals: Breakfast

A full day in and around Pokhara.

Pokhara sits at 820 m beside Phewa Lake with the Annapurna range rising 7,000 m above it, the largest relief from lake to summit anywhere in the world. The Tal Barahi temple on its island, Devi's Fall, the Gupteshwor cave, the International Mountain Museum and the World Peace Pagoda on the southern ridge fill an easy day, and a boat on the lake at dawn with Machhapuchhre reflected in it is why people stay longer than they planned.

If the sky is clear we start with the pre-dawn drive up to Sarangkot at about 1,600 m for the Annapurna sunrise: Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South, Machhapuchhre and Manaslu lighting up in sequence over the lake. Paragliding from Sarangkot can be added to the morning, and a boat across Phewa Lake with the walk up to the World Peace Pagoda fills the afternoon.

Altitude: 827 m  |  Overnight: 3-5 Stars  |  Meals: Breakfast

South and east out of the hills to the Terai and the edge of Chitwan National Park, dropping from 820 m to around 415 m and into a completely different climate.

Chitwan National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Terai and one of the best places in Asia to see greater one-horned rhinoceros, of which there are over six hundred here. Jeep safaris, guided walks with an armed naturalist, canoe trips on the Rapti and the elephant breeding centre fill the days. Bengal tiger, leopard, sloth bear, gharial and more than five hundred bird species are all resident.

The afternoon is for the lodge briefing, a walk along the Rapti and sunset from the river bank, which is when the rhino often come down to water.

Altitude: 415 m  |  Overnight: Lodge  |  Meals: Breakfast

A full day in the park with a licensed naturalist. Depending on conditions the day combines a jeep safari, a guided walk and a dugout canoe trip down the Rapti at first light, drifting past gharial and mugger crocodile with kingfishers going off the bow.

Walking is done with two armed naturalists and the briefing on what to do if you meet a rhino at close quarters is not a formality. Follow it and the walk is safe, and it is a completely different experience from a vehicle.

We do not book elephant-back safaris. The training practices behind them are not defensible and the viewing is no better than from a jeep or on foot. The government elephant breeding centre is a separate matter and is worth visiting.

Altitude: 415 m  |  Overnight: Lodge  |  Meals: Breakfast

Short flight from Bharatpur back to Kathmandu, then east across the valley.

Bhaktapur is the best preserved of the valley's three medieval cities and the one where the old town still functions as a town rather than a monument. Brick lanes open into Durbar Square, Taumadhi Square with the five-tiered Nyatapola temple, and Dattatreya Square with the Peacock Window. Pottery Square is a working pottery. Try the juju dhau, the local king curd served in a clay bowl.

Continue up to the Nagarkot ridge for the evening.

Nagarkot is a ridge village at about 2,175 m on the eastern rim of the valley, an hour and a half from Kathmandu, and it is where people go for the Himalayan sunrise. On a clear morning the view runs from Ganesh Himal and Langtang across to Gauri Shankar and, on the best days, Everest on the far eastern horizon. October to March are the clear months.

Altitude: 2,175 m  |  Overnight: Hotel  |  Meals: Breakfast

Sunrise from Nagarkot, then the drive north-east to The Last Resort for the afternoon's canyoning programme.

The Last Resort sits on a ridge above the river, reached across a 160 m suspension bridge that is itself the introduction to the place. Canyoning takes you down a side gorge on rope, abseiling waterfalls and sliding through pools, with full instruction and equipment supplied. No previous experience is needed.

River and access conditions in this valley are checked before every departure and we will substitute an alternative activity if the water is not safe. That call is ours to make and we make it conservatively.

Altitude: 1,215 m  |  Overnight: The Last Resort  |  Meals: Breakfast

Rafting in the morning, then the drive back to Kathmandu.

This is grade three to four whitewater in the autumn high water and gentler in spring, run with a safety kayaker alongside and a full briefing on the bank before you get in. Helmets, buoyancy aids and wetsuits are provided.

Back in Kathmandu by the afternoon, with the evening free and a farewell dinner with the team if you would like one.

Altitude: 1,350 m  |  Overnight: 3-5 Stars  |  Meals: Breakfast

Transfer to the airport about three hours before your international flight. If you have a late departure we will hold a day room rather than leave you sitting in the terminal.

If you would rather not go home yet, this is the easy point to extend: Pokhara, a wildlife stay in Chitwan or Bardiya, or a short trek. Tell us before you travel and we will build it in at cost.

Altitude: 1,350 m  |  Meals: Breakfast