The whole country in ten days without a trek: the medieval cities of the valley, a rhino in the Chitwan grass, and the Annapurnas from a ridge above Pokhara.

What the trip is

Ten days that cross the whole of Nepal from the subtropical plains to the edge of the Himalaya, without a single night in a tent. The valley cities, Chitwan National Park and the Pokhara ridges, in the order that works, with two mornings set aside for the mountains so that one cloudy dawn does not cost you the range.

Why the jungle is in it

Because most people arrive thinking Nepal is mountains and leave surprised that a fifth of it is hot flat grassland with rhino in it. Chitwan is four hundred square miles of sal forest and elephant grass on the Indian border, and two days there changes what visitors think the country is.

Why the ridge walk is in it

Sarangkot at sunrise is a viewpoint with a car park. Walking west along the ridge from it for three hours, through villages where people are getting on with the morning, is the difference between seeing the Annapurnas and being somewhere underneath them. It is the best three hours of the trip and it costs almost nothing to include.

Who it suits

First visits to Nepal, families, couples, and travellers with ten days who want the country rather than one corner of it. It works from one traveller upward, and it is the trip we suggest most often to people who write and say they are not sure what they want.

Trip highlights

The three royal squares of the Kathmandu valley, with a guide who can read them
Two full days in Chitwan, with dugout canoes on the Rapti at first light and rhino in the grassland
Sunrise from Sarangkot, with Machhapuchhre and the Annapurnas across the lake
The ridge walk from Sarangkot to Naudanda, three hours with the range on your right the whole way
A night on the Nagarkot rim at the end, which is the quietest place in the valley

Ten days, three climates

Medieval cities at 1,400 m, subtropical jungle at 150 m, and the Annapurnas from a ridge at 1,600 m. The distances are short and the changes are not.

Day	Route	Walking	Altitude
Day 1	Arrive Kathmandu	-	1,400 m (4,590 ft)
Day 2	Swayambhunath, Durbar Square, Boudhanath	3 to 4	1,400 m (4,590 ft)
Day 3	Patan and Pashupatinath	4	1,400 m (4,590 ft)
Day 4	Kathmandu to Chitwan	5 to 6, 165 km	150 m (490 ft)
Day 5	Chitwan: canoe, walk and jeep	3 to 4	150 m (490 ft)
Day 6	Chitwan to Pokhara	5, 150 km	820 m (2,690 ft)
Day 7	Sarangkot sunrise and the Naudanda ridge	3, 9 km	1,600 m (5,250 ft)
Day 8	Pokhara, the lake and the pagoda	2	820 m (2,690 ft)
Day 9	Fly to Kathmandu, drive to Nagarkot	25 min	2,175 m (7,140 ft)
Day 10	Nagarkot sunrise, Bhaktapur, and out	2	1,400 m (4,590 ft)

Day 1
Route
Arrive Kathmandu
Walking
-
Altitude
1,400 m (4,590 ft)
Day 2
Route
Swayambhunath, Durbar Square, Boudhanath
Walking
3 to 4
Altitude
1,400 m (4,590 ft)
Day 3
Route
Patan and Pashupatinath
Walking
4
Altitude
1,400 m (4,590 ft)
Day 4
Route
Kathmandu to Chitwan
Walking
5 to 6, 165 km
Altitude
150 m (490 ft)
Day 5
Route
Chitwan: canoe, walk and jeep
Walking
3 to 4
Altitude
150 m (490 ft)
Day 6
Route
Chitwan to Pokhara
Walking
5, 150 km
Altitude
820 m (2,690 ft)
Day 7
Route
Sarangkot sunrise and the Naudanda ridge
Walking
3, 9 km
Altitude
1,600 m (5,250 ft)
Day 8
Route
Pokhara, the lake and the pagoda
Walking
2
Altitude
820 m (2,690 ft)
Day 9
Route
Fly to Kathmandu, drive to Nagarkot
Walking
25 min
Altitude
2,175 m (7,140 ft)
Day 10
Route
Nagarkot sunrise, Bhaktapur, and out
Walking
2
Altitude
1,400 m (4,590 ft)

Itinerary

Day by day, with where you sleep and how far you walk.

We meet you at the airport and take you to your hotel. Nothing is asked of you today. In the evening we go through the ten days over dinner and answer the questions that always come up: how hot is Chitwan, what will you see, and whether you need anything you have not brought.
Altitude
1,400 m (4,590 ft)
On foot
—
Night in
Hotel, Kathmandu
Meals
Dinner
Up the stairway to Swayambhunath early, while the pilgrims are still going round. Kathmandu Durbar Square in the late morning. Boudhanath at the end of the afternoon, when several thousand people walk the kora at lamp lighting and the whole thing turns golden, which is the moment most people remember from the valley.
Altitude
1,400 m (4,590 ft)
On foot
3 to 4 hours on foot
Night in
Hotel, Kathmandu
Meals
Breakfast
A morning in Patan Durbar Square, the finest of the three and the least crowded, and then the back lanes where families still cast bronze by lost wax in their own courtyards. Pashupatinath in the afternoon, where cremations happen in the open on the ghats and the guide will have told you what to expect before you arrive.
Altitude
1,400 m (4,590 ft)
On foot
4 hours on foot
Night in
Hotel, Kathmandu
Meals
Breakfast
South and west out of the valley, five to six hours by road along the Trishuli, losing a thousand metres and gaining fifteen degrees. Chitwan is flat, hot and green and smells of nothing like Kathmandu. We arrive in time for a walk to the Tharu village and the sunset on the Rapti riverbank.
Altitude
150 m (490 ft)−1,250 m
On foot
1 hour
Night in
Jungle lodge, Sauraha
Meals
Breakfast, lunch, dinner
A dugout canoe down the Rapti at first light, with gharial on the sandbanks and a great deal of birdlife, then a guided walk in the park with two naturalists, one in front and one behind, which is how it is done here. A jeep drive in the afternoon into the grassland where the rhino are, and a Tharu stick dance in the evening.
Altitude
150 m (490 ft)
On foot
3 to 4 hours
Night in
Jungle lodge, Sauraha
Meals
Breakfast, lunch, dinner
An early walk or a second canoe if the group wants one, then five hours north west to Pokhara along the Seti. The road climbs steadily and the air cools. We reach the lake in the afternoon, and the first thing everybody does is look north to see whether the mountains are out.
Altitude
820 m (2,690 ft)+670 m
On foot
1 hour
Night in
Hotel by the lake, Pokhara
Meals
Breakfast, lunch
Up to the Sarangkot ridge at 1,600 m before six, which is worth the alarm because the light comes onto Machhapuchhre and Annapurna South first and the lake is still under mist below. After breakfast we walk west along the ridge to Naudanda, three hours on a village path with the range on your right the whole way, and drive back down.
Altitude
1,600 m (5,250 ft)+780 m
On foot
3 hours
Night in
Hotel by the lake, Pokhara
Meals
Breakfast
A boat across Phewa Tal to the Tal Barahi temple and up the steps to the World Peace Pagoda, or the Tibetan settlement at Tashiling, or Devi's Fall and the Gupteshwor cave, or nothing at all on a hotel terrace. Paragliding off Sarangkot is the popular extra and we can arrange it in the morning.
Altitude
820 m (2,690 ft)−780 m
On foot
2 hours
Night in
Hotel by the lake, Pokhara
Meals
Breakfast
Twenty five minutes by air with the range out of the left windows, or six hours by road if the weather is against it. Rather than going back into the city we drive straight up to the Nagarkot ridge at 2,175 m, which is an hour beyond Bhaktapur, and spend the evening watching the light leave the Himalaya.
Altitude
2,175 m (7,140 ft)+1,355 m
On foot
—
Night in
Hotel, Nagarkot
Meals
Breakfast, dinner
Up before six for the last mountain view, which on a clear winter morning runs from Ganesh Himal to Everest. Down to Bhaktapur for the morning, which is the best preserved of the three cities and the right place to end. To the airport in the afternoon, or back to Kathmandu if you are staying on.
Altitude
1,400 m (4,590 ft)−775 m
On foot
2 hours on foot
Night in
—
Meals
Breakfast

What's included

Included in the price

Airport transfers and all land transport in a private vehicle with a driver
The Pokhara to Kathmandu flight on day 9, with road as the fallback
Nine nights: three in Kathmandu, two at a Chitwan jungle lodge, three in Pokhara, one at Nagarkot
A licensed cultural guide for the valley days, and a naturalist throughout Chitwan
Full board in Chitwan, breakfast everywhere else, and dinner on the first and ninth nights
All monument entry fees in the valley, and the Chitwan National Park permit
Canoe, guided jungle walk, jeep drive and the Tharu cultural evening in Chitwan
The Sarangkot sunrise trip and the ridge walk to Naudanda with a guide
The Phewa Tal boat on day 8

Not included

International flights and the Nepal visa
Lunch and dinner outside Chitwan, which is most days and is cheap
Drinks, tips and anything personal
Travel insurance
Optional extras: paragliding, the Everest scenic flight, an elephant breeding centre visit, a second jeep drive

What to bring

You are packing for three climates

A Kathmandu January morning is two degrees. A Chitwan afternoon in the same week is twenty six. Sarangkot before sunrise is colder than either and you will be standing still in it. Layers rather than one warm coat, and repellent for the lowlands, which is the item most people leave at home and then buy badly in Sauraha.

On your head

A sun hat with a brim, which matters more in Chitwan than in the hills
Sunglasses
A warm hat for the two sunrise mornings, which are genuinely cold from November to February

On your body

Light long sleeves and long trousers in neutral colours for the jungle walk, which is about insects rather than fashion
Clothes that cover shoulders and knees for the temples
One proper warm layer for Sarangkot and Nagarkot at dawn
A light waterproof, in any month
Swimming things for the Chitwan pool

On your feet

Shoes with a grip that come off easily, for the temples and the cobbles
Trainers or light boots for the Naudanda ridge walk and the jungle walk
Sandals for Chitwan, where it is hot

Health

Insect repellent with DEET for Chitwan, which is the one thing people forget
Sun cream, factor 30 or above
A dust mask or buff for the Kathmandu traffic
Rehydration salts and whatever you personally take for a bad stomach
Your own prescriptions in their original boxes

Bags

One suitcase or duffel, carried by the vehicle, and a daypack you carry
A refillable water bottle
Binoculars, which transform Chitwan and cost nothing to pack
Spare camera batteries for the two sunrise mornings

Papers

Passport with six months left on it, and two passport photographs
Dollars in clean notes for the visa counter
Travel insurance details, on paper as well as on your phone

Getting there and back

The flights and the long drives this itinerary is built around, and what happens when one of them does not go.

Getting to Kathmandu

Tribhuvan International is the only realistic way in, via Delhi, Doha, Dubai, Istanbul, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or Singapore. There is no direct flight from Europe or North America. Land the day before if you can, though day 1 asks nothing of you.

The visa on arrival

Fill the form at the kiosk, pay $30 cash for 15 days at the bank counter, then join immigration. Clean dollar notes. Indian nationals need no visa. Allow anything from forty minutes to two hours depending on what else has landed.

The Pokhara flight on day 9

Twenty five minutes, with the whole Annapurna range out of the left hand windows, which is worth asking for at check in. It is a small aircraft and 15 kg of checked luggage is the allowance. If cloud grounds it we drive, which takes most of the day and costs us the Nagarkot evening, so we would rather fly.

Leaving

Day 10 ends at the airport in the afternoon, having spent the morning in Bhaktapur. If your flight is late in the evening, take a day room rather than sitting in the terminal. If it is in the morning, we bring you back to a Kathmandu hotel on the night of day 9 instead of going up to Nagarkot, and we will say so when we see your flights.

Four places, four different kinds of night

A city hotel, a jungle lodge with a pool, a lakeside room in Pokhara and a north facing ridge hotel at Nagarkot.

9 nights, and what each one is

Where	Nights	Type	Room	Bathroom
Kathmandu	3	Three star hotel, in or near Thamel	Twin or double	Private, hot water
Chitwan, Sauraha	2	Jungle lodge with a garden and a pool	Twin or double cottage	Private, hot water
Pokhara	3	Hotel by Phewa Tal	Twin or double, lake facing where we can	Private, hot water
Nagarkot	1	Ridge hotel, north facing	Twin or double with a mountain view	Private, hot water

Kathmandu
Nights
3
Type
Three star hotel, in or near Thamel
Room
Twin or double
Bathroom
Private, hot water
Chitwan, Sauraha
Nights
2
Type
Jungle lodge with a garden and a pool
Room
Twin or double cottage
Bathroom
Private, hot water
Pokhara
Nights
3
Type
Hotel by Phewa Tal
Room
Twin or double, lake facing where we can
Bathroom
Private, hot water
Nagarkot
Nights
1
Type
Ridge hotel, north facing
Room
Twin or double with a mountain view
Bathroom
Private, hot water

Heat, hot water, power and signal

Hot shower: Every night, in your own bathroom, for the whole trip.
Wifi: Everywhere, and it is generally good. The Chitwan lodge is the slowest and Nagarkot the least reliable.
Swimming: A pool at the Chitwan lodge, which after a day in the grassland is the point of the afternoon.
Charging: Mains power throughout, on round pin sockets. Chitwan has occasional cuts and the lodge runs a generator.
Heating: Nagarkot has heaters in winter. Kathmandu and Pokhara mostly do not, and January indoors is colder than visitors expect. Chitwan needs a fan rather than a heater.
Drinking water: Filtered water at every hotel and lodge. Bring a bottle and refill it rather than buying plastic.
Luggage: Carried by the vehicle throughout. You never walk with more than a daypack. The Pokhara flight allows 15 kg checked.
Cash: Machines in Kathmandu and Pokhara. Sauraha has two that are sometimes empty, and Nagarkot has none. Draw before you go south.

What you eat

Meal	Time	Usually
Breakfast	7:00–9:00	Hotel buffet in the cities, and eggs, toast and fruit at the lodge. Earlier on the two sunrise mornings
Lunch	12:30–14:00	Included at the Chitwan lodge; elsewhere wherever the day has taken you, which the guide will steer
Dinner	19:00	Included at Chitwan and on the first and ninth nights. Otherwise yours, and both cities eat extremely well
Tea	16:00	At the lodge after the jeep drive, and on a Pokhara terrace at the hour when the range comes out

Breakfast
Time
7:00–9:00
Usually
Hotel buffet in the cities, and eggs, toast and fruit at the lodge. Earlier on the two sunrise mornings
Lunch
Time
12:30–14:00
Usually
Included at the Chitwan lodge; elsewhere wherever the day has taken you, which the guide will steer
Dinner
Time
19:00
Usually
Included at Chitwan and on the first and ninth nights. Otherwise yours, and both cities eat extremely well
Tea
Time
16:00
Usually
At the lodge after the jeep drive, and on a Pokhara terrace at the hour when the range comes out

If you eat differently

Diet	On this route
Vegetarian	Easy everywhere. A great deal of Nepali cooking is vegetarian by default and the Chitwan lodge caters for it without being asked.
Vegan	Straightforward in Kathmandu and Pokhara and manageable at the lodge with notice. Tell us at booking so the lodge knows before you arrive.
Gluten free	Manageable. Rice, dal, curry and grilled food are safe. Say it clearly, because wheat flour and soy sauce turn up in unexpected places.
Nut allergy	Tell us at booking. Nepali kitchens use peanut and cashew freely and the guide will say it at each restaurant for you.
Halal	Available in Kathmandu and Pokhara, and the Chitwan lodge will arrange it with notice.

Vegetarian
On this route
Easy everywhere. A great deal of Nepali cooking is vegetarian by default and the Chitwan lodge caters for it without being asked.
Vegan
On this route
Straightforward in Kathmandu and Pokhara and manageable at the lodge with notice. Tell us at booking so the lodge knows before you arrive.
Gluten free
On this route
Manageable. Rice, dal, curry and grilled food are safe. Say it clearly, because wheat flour and soy sauce turn up in unexpected places.
Nut allergy
On this route
Tell us at booking. Nepali kitchens use peanut and cashew freely and the guide will say it at each restaurant for you.
Halal
On this route
Available in Kathmandu and Pokhara, and the Chitwan lodge will arrange it with notice.

What a day is like

Early starts for the two mountain mornings and the Chitwan canoe, and long unhurried afternoons for everything else.

A day on the trail

5:30On the two sunrise mornings and for the Chitwan canoe, and on no other day
7:30Breakfast, at a civilised hour on the other eight
8:30Out, to the first site or into the park before the heat
12:30A long lunch, sitting down
14:30The afternoon: a square, a jeep drive, a boat or nothing at all
17:30Back, with an hour before dinner. In Chitwan this is the pool
19:00Dinner, and the next day explained

How hard it is, and getting ready

Easy. Two to four hours on foot on the busiest days, one three hour ridge walk with no real climb, and a vehicle for everything else. The only demands are two early mornings and two long road days.

1 of 5

Three to four hours on foot in the cities, on cobbles and temple steps
One three hour ridge walk on a village path, which can be skipped
A three hour guided walk in Chitwan, on flat ground and at a slow pace
Two road days of five to six hours, both broken with stops
Nothing above 2,175 m, so no altitude to think about at all

Twelve weeks, and what to do in each of them

Written for somebody who walks a bit and does not train. If you already run or cycle regularly, start at the eight-week block. Nothing here needs a gym.

1
Before you book
Know what this is
A touring holiday with one ridge walk in it, not a trek. If you want to walk for days, add Ghorepani at the Pokhara end and we will build it as one trip rather than two.
2
A month before
Your feet and the cobbles
The valley squares are uneven stone and there are several hundred temple steps at Swayambhunath. Wear the shoes you are bringing, a good deal, before you come.
3
A week before
The heat swing
You will go from a Kathmandu morning at eight degrees to a Chitwan afternoon at twenty eight in the same week, and back up to a cold ridge at the end. Pack for both and expect the lowland heat to be the bigger surprise.

Month by month

Two tables would be more honest than one, because Chitwan is fifteen degrees warmer than Nagarkot on the same afternoon. These are the valley figures, with the ridge alongside.

Month	Day in Kathmandu	Night in Kathmandu	Day at Nagarkot		What it is like
January	+18°C	+2°C	+9°C	Good	The clearest mountain views of the year and the coldest nights. Chitwan is foggy until nine and then perfect.
February	+20°C	+4°C	+11°C	Best	Our favourite month for this trip. Clear, warm enough, and the Chitwan birdlife is at its best.
March	+25°C	+8°C	+16°C	Best	Warm, the grass in Chitwan cut short so the rhino are easy to see, and rhododendron on the hills.
April	+28°C	+12°C	+19°C	Good	Hot in the lowlands and hazy in the hills, so the Sarangkot view becomes a lottery. Good wildlife, poorer mountains.
May	+30°C	+16°C	+21°C	Hard	Very hot in Chitwan, with pre monsoon storms. Not the month we would choose for you.
June	+30°C	+19°C	+22°C	Hard	The monsoon arrives and the mountains go. Green, cheap and humid.
July	+29°C	+20°C	+22°C	Hard	The wettest month. Chitwan floods in places and part of the park closes.
August	+29°C	+20°C	+22°C	Hard	Wet and empty. The valley cities under rain are lovely and the rest of the itinerary is not.
September	+28°C	+18°C	+21°C	Good	The monsoon clears through the month and the last week is often the cleanest air of the year.
October	+26°C	+13°C	+18°C	Best	The best month overall and the busiest. Washed air, warm days, and Dashain and Tihar in the cities.
November	+23°C	+7°C	+14°C	Best	Clear, cool and still. The mountains are out most mornings from both ridges.
December	+19°C	+3°C	+10°C	Good	Very clear and cold, with fog on the valley floor and in Chitwan until mid morning. Book early over Christmas.

January
Day in Kathmandu
+18°C
Night in Kathmandu
+2°C
Day at Nagarkot
+9°C
What it is like
The clearest mountain views of the year and the coldest nights. Chitwan is foggy until nine and then perfect.
Good
February
Day in Kathmandu
+20°C
Night in Kathmandu
+4°C
Day at Nagarkot
+11°C
What it is like
Our favourite month for this trip. Clear, warm enough, and the Chitwan birdlife is at its best.
Best
March
Day in Kathmandu
+25°C
Night in Kathmandu
+8°C
Day at Nagarkot
+16°C
What it is like
Warm, the grass in Chitwan cut short so the rhino are easy to see, and rhododendron on the hills.
Best
April
Day in Kathmandu
+28°C
Night in Kathmandu
+12°C
Day at Nagarkot
+19°C
What it is like
Hot in the lowlands and hazy in the hills, so the Sarangkot view becomes a lottery. Good wildlife, poorer mountains.
Good
May
Day in Kathmandu
+30°C
Night in Kathmandu
+16°C
Day at Nagarkot
+21°C
What it is like
Very hot in Chitwan, with pre monsoon storms. Not the month we would choose for you.
Hard
June
Day in Kathmandu
+30°C
Night in Kathmandu
+19°C
Day at Nagarkot
+22°C
What it is like
The monsoon arrives and the mountains go. Green, cheap and humid.
Hard
July
Day in Kathmandu
+29°C
Night in Kathmandu
+20°C
Day at Nagarkot
+22°C
What it is like
The wettest month. Chitwan floods in places and part of the park closes.
Hard
August
Day in Kathmandu
+29°C
Night in Kathmandu
+20°C
Day at Nagarkot
+22°C
What it is like
Wet and empty. The valley cities under rain are lovely and the rest of the itinerary is not.
Hard
September
Day in Kathmandu
+28°C
Night in Kathmandu
+18°C
Day at Nagarkot
+21°C
What it is like
The monsoon clears through the month and the last week is often the cleanest air of the year.
Good
October
Day in Kathmandu
+26°C
Night in Kathmandu
+13°C
Day at Nagarkot
+18°C
What it is like
The best month overall and the busiest. Washed air, warm days, and Dashain and Tihar in the cities.
Best
November
Day in Kathmandu
+23°C
Night in Kathmandu
+7°C
Day at Nagarkot
+14°C
What it is like
Clear, cool and still. The mountains are out most mornings from both ridges.
Best
December
Day in Kathmandu
+19°C
Night in Kathmandu
+3°C
Day at Nagarkot
+10°C
What it is like
Very clear and cold, with fog on the valley floor and in Chitwan until mid morning. Book early over Christmas.
Good

Averages for the Kathmandu valley at 1,400 m, with the Nagarkot ridge alongside. Chitwan runs about eight degrees warmer than the valley figures all year.

Who walks with you

Who is with you

A licensed cultural guide for the valley days and the Pokhara ridge, a driver with a private vehicle throughout, and in Chitwan the lodge's own naturalists, who are the people who know where the rhino were yesterday. From eight travellers we add a second guide.

The naturalists in Chitwan

Two of them on the jungle walk, one leading and one behind, both licensed by the park and both armed with a stick and a good deal of experience. They give a proper briefing before you set off and it is worth listening to rather than nodding through.

No commission shopping

Our guides do not take you to shops that pay them a percentage, because we do not work with the ones that do. If you want to buy something, say so and you will be taken to a workshop where you can watch it being made and the maker keeps the money.

Walking it responsibly

No elephant rides

We stopped selling them. The park still permits them and most lodges still offer them, and the argument about chaining, training and back injury is not a close one. You will see elephants, from a jeep and at the breeding centre, and we will explain our reasoning to anybody who wants to hear it.

Where the park fee goes

Half of Chitwan's revenue is returned to the buffer zone communities that live around the park and lose crops to its animals. That is the whole basis of the rhino recovery, which took the population from a hundred in the 1960s to more than six hundred now. Pay it gladly.

Buy from the workshop

Patan still has families casting bronze and carving wood in their own courtyards. The tourist streets mostly sell imports. The guide knows the difference and will take you to the courtyards.

Water and plastic

Every hotel and lodge on this trip has filtered water you can refill from. Across ten days that is thirty fewer bottles, in a country with no real way of dealing with them.

Booking and paying

How to start

Write to us or send a message on WhatsApp with your arrival date and how many of you there are. We reply within a day with a confirmed itinerary and a price, not a brochure.

The deposit

Twenty per cent to hold the hotels and the lodge, the balance two weeks before you arrive or on arrival in Kathmandu. Christmas and new year at Chitwan wants confirming several months ahead.

If you cancel

More than thirty days out, the deposit transfers to another date within a year. Inside thirty days the lodge and the flight are paid and we retain the deposit. Inside seven days we retain half the total.

Changing it while you are here

This is a private trip, so the itinerary is a proposal. If Chitwan has you and you want a third night, or the Pokhara weather turns and you would rather be in the valley, the guide rearranges it over breakfast.

If you are adding a trek

Say so at booking. Permits, guides and porters all want a few days of notice, and one itinerary built together comes out cheaper than a tour and a trek bought separately.

Things you can add

Priced per person, arranged before you travel, and none of them included in the price above.

Paragliding from Sarangkot
$90
1 morning
Tandem, twenty to thirty minutes, launching from the ridge you watched the sunrise from and landing by the lake. Added to the morning of day 8. It needs stable air, so autumn and winter are best, and it is refunded if it does not fly.
Everest scenic flight
$220
1 morning
An hour along the range from Kathmandu with a guaranteed window seat, back before eight. It slots onto day 2 or day 10. Weather dependent and refunded in full if it is cancelled.
A third night in Chitwan
$170
1 extra day
The one addition we suggest most. Two days in Chitwan is enough to see a rhino; three is enough to stop rushing, and the second jeep drive at dawn is usually the best wildlife of the trip.
Ghorepani and Poon Hill trek
$897
adds 5 days
Joined to the Pokhara end rather than sold separately. Five days on a teahouse trail, sunrise at 3,210 m over ten peaks, and back to the lake. One itinerary, one price, and the permits handled together.
A Newari cooking afternoon in Patan
$45
half a day
In a family kitchen rather than a hotel demonstration room. You shop in the market first and eat what you cook with the family. Added to day 3.
Upgrade to four and five star throughout
from $640
same length
Dwarika's or the Hyatt in Kathmandu, a five star lodge at Chitwan, a lakeside resort in Pokhara and the best of the Nagarkot ridge. Same itinerary, different beds.

Other ways to see the country

4 versions of this journey. They use the same guides and the same lodges; what changes is the length, the comfort and how much of it you walk.

Spirit of NepalYou are here
The trip on this page. Cities, jungle and mountains, with one ridge walk.
10 days$1,187
Nepal Soft Adventure
The same country with a day of rafting and five days of trekking added, for people who want to move more.
12 days$1,087
Kathmandu Valley Cultural Tour
The valley alone, done slowly. The right trip if you have less than a week.
5 days$447
Chitwan Luxury Safari
Chitwan on its own, from a better lodge, added to whatever else you are doing.
4 days$367

Photos

A look at the trail, the villages and the mountains.

Reviews

4.9 31 reviews

The trip of a lifetime

Everything was handled for us from the moment we landed. Our guide read the group perfectly, slowed the pace when we needed it, and knew every village along the way. I never once worried about logistics.

Sarah M. AustraliaOctober 2025

Felt looked after the whole way

We travelled as a couple and the small group made all the difference. Comfortable lodges, honest advice about the altitude, and a team who clearly loved the mountains. Booking on our own dates was easy.

James & Kate United KingdomMay 2025

Well organised and genuinely local

You can tell this is run by people from here, not a call centre abroad. The itinerary had proper rest days built in, the food was better than I expected, and the whole thing ran to time.

Daniel R. CanadaMarch 2025

Common questions

12 of them, and they are the ones people actually send us. If yours is not here, ask and we will answer it and add it.

One three hour ridge walk on day 7, on a village path with no climb worth the name, and three or four hours a day on foot in the cities. That is the whole of it. If you want a trek, add the Ghorepani circuit on the end and we will build it as one itinerary.

Two long days: five to six hours to Chitwan on day 4 and five hours to Pokhara on day 6. The flight on day 9 saves the third one. Nepali roads are slow rather than long, and both drives are broken with stops. If the road days worry you, we can fly Kathmandu to Pokhara as well and reverse the order.

Almost certainly. Chitwan holds something over six hundred greater one horned rhino and the grassland near Sauraha is where they graze. Across a canoe trip, a walk and a jeep drive most groups see several. Nobody promises a tiger, and if a guide promises you one, do not believe them.

No. We stopped. The park still permits them and plenty of lodges sell them, and we would rather put you in a jeep or on your feet. You will see elephants, at the breeding centre and occasionally working, and we will explain the argument honestly if you want to have it.

It is done with two armed naturalists, one leading and one at the back, on a briefing that covers what to do if you meet a rhino, which is get behind a tree. It is taken seriously and it is the best three hours of Chitwan. If you would rather not, the jeep covers the same ground.

From October to April, most mornings, and in December and January nearly every one. In the monsoon it is a lottery you will usually lose. We build in two mountain mornings, at Sarangkot and at Nagarkot, precisely so that one cloudy dawn does not cost you the range.

Yes, on the morning of day 8, and it is the thing people most often add. Twenty to thirty minutes tandem, landing by the lake. About $90 and it needs a day's notice. It flies in clear stable air, so autumn and winter mornings are best.

Comfortable three star in Kathmandu and Pokhara, a jungle lodge with a garden and a pool at Chitwan, and a north facing ridge hotel at Nagarkot. All with private bathrooms and hot water. If you want the four and five star versions, say so and we will price it.

Very well, and it is the trip we suggest most often for families. Canoes, jeeps, rhino and a boat on a lake do the work. Children under ten go free at the valley monuments and pay half at the park. Tell us their ages and the pace changes.

Private, on your own dates, unless you ask to join a set departure. Two travellers is the usual booking. The price per person falls quite sharply with numbers, because the vehicle and the guide cost the same either way.

October and November for washed air and warmth, February and March for the mountain views and the birds in Chitwan. December and January are the clearest and the coldest, and Chitwan mornings are foggy until nine. April is hot in the lowlands and hazy in the hills.

Yes, and Kathmandu is the natural hinge for both. Bhutan needs the daily fee and a flight booked well ahead; Tibet needs a group visa and about three weeks of lead time. Tell us at booking rather than while you are here.

Spirit of Nepal

Overview