Kathmandu Valley 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.

Once you have settled in, your guide will come to the hotel for a full briefing: the day by day plan, the gear check, what the weather is doing, and any questions you have been saving up. This is also when we collect passport details for permits if we do not already have them.

Kathmandu sits at about 1,400 m so there is no altitude concern tonight. If you arrive early enough, the walk from Thamel down to the Durbar Square area is a good first hour in the city.

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

Begin your exploration of Kathmandu with a visit to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Start at Kathmandu Durbar Square, then proceed to Pashupatinath Temple, one of the holiest Hindu temples. Visit Swayambhunath, also known as the Monkey Temple, and end the day at Bauddhanath Stupa, one of the largest stupas in the world. Overnight at a hotel in Kathmandu.

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 selected 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 work, 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 it is also completely ordinary here, a public part of life rather than something hidden. Sadhus in ochre sit along the terraces, and the evening aarti draws a crowd.

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 of the harmika and a spire of thirteen gilded rings. The terrace gives the best single view over Kathmandu, and it is at its best in the early morning when the kora is busy with local worshippers.

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

Visit the ancient city of Patan, renowned for its artistic heritage. Continue to Bhaktapur, another medieval city known for its well-preserved architecture and culture. Drive to Nagarkot for stunning sunrise or sunset views over the Himalayas. Overnight at a hotel in Nagarkot.

Patan, or Lalitpur, has the finest concentration of Newar architecture in Nepal. The Durbar Square holds the Krishna Mandir, carved from stone in 1637 in a distinctly north Indian shikhara style, the Golden Temple with its gilded facade and resident tortoises, and the Patan Museum, which is widely considered the best museum in the country and is housed in a restored palace wing. The surrounding lanes are still full of working metalworkers and thangka painters.

Bhaktapur is the best preserved of the three medieval cities in the valley 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 genuinely a working pottery, not a display. Give it a full half day rather than an hour, and try the juju dhau, the local king curd served in a clay bowl.

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 Dhaulagiri in the west through Ganesh Himal, Langtang and Gauri Shankar to Everest on the far eastern horizon. The clearest months are October to March; in summer you may see nothing at all.

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

Depart from Nagarkot and drive to Chitwan National Park. Upon arrival, check into your lodge and enjoy the surrounding nature. Overnight at a lodge in Chitwan.

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 Dhaulagiri in the west through Ganesh Himal, Langtang and Gauri Shankar to Everest on the far eastern horizon. The clearest months are October to March; in summer you may see nothing at all.

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

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

Spend the day exploring Chitwan National Park. Activities include a jungle safari, elephant ride, bird watching, and a visit to a Tharu village for a cultural program. Overnight at a lodge in Chitwan.

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

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

After breakfast, drive back to Kathmandu. Upon arrival, check into your hotel and spend the rest of the day at leisure. Overnight at a hotel in Kathmandu.

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

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 or arrange a final few hours in the city rather than leave you sitting in the terminal.

If you would rather not go home yet, this is the easy point to extend: a few days in Pokhara, a wildlife stay in Chitwan or Bardiya, a short Bhutan add-on, or a rest week somewhere quiet. Tell us before you travel and we will build it in at cost rather than as a late upgrade.

Altitude: 1,350 m  |  Meals: Breakfast