Nepal Essence: Valleys & Himalayan Vistas

Seven days that hold Nepal’s two great pleasures in balance: the wood-carved courtyards of the Kathmandu Valley, and the wall of white that appears above them at dawn. You will walk Patan’s brick lanes…

Length: 7 days, 6 nights
From: ₹1,65,000 per person
Pace: Balanced
Stops: 5
Best months: March to April, October to December

The route

5 stops over 7 days

Kathmandu
Patan
Bhaktapur
Pokhara
Nagarkot

Sunrise over Annapurna and Machhapuchhre from Sarangkot’s eastern ridge
Bhaktapur’s potters’ square at seven, before the coaches arrive
Butter lamps and monk chant at Boudhanath’s evening kora
A Newari platter of bara, choila and chatamari in Patan
Nagarkot dawn: Langtang, Ganesh and Dorje Lakpa in one sweep

Day by day

What actually happens

Length: 7 days
Stops: 5
Pace: Balanced
From: ₹1,65,000

1D

Kathmandu

Arrival in Kathmandu

Your journey begins at Tribhuvan International, where our representative meets you past customs for the twenty-minute transfer to Bauddha. The afternoon is deliberately loose. Sleep, or walk the kora at Boudhanath as the lamps go on and the pigeons settle. Dinner is Newari: yomari, sukuti, a glass of tongba if the evening is cool.

Night: Dwarika’s Hotel, Kathmandu
2B

Kathmandu

Stupas, Ghats and Woodcarving

Swayambhunath first, up the 365 east steps while the macaques are still slow. Then Pashupatinath, where the sadhus sit above the Bagmati ghats and cremation smoke drifts downriver. Afternoon in Kathmandu Durbar Square: the Kumari’s carved window, Kasthamandap rebuilt after 2015. Finish with black tea in a Thamel courtyard, away from the traffic.

Night: Dwarika’s Hotel, Kathmandu
3B L

Patan & Bhaktapur

Two Cities of Brick and Bronze

Patan Durbar Square opens the day. The Krishna Mandir’s stone shikhara, then the Patan Museum, the best-arranged collection in the country. Lunch of bara and choila nearby. Bhaktapur after: Nyatapola’s five plinths, the Peacock Window on Dattatreya’s lane, and juju dhau, the king curd, served in its unglazed clay pot.

Night: Dwarika’s Hotel, Kathmandu
4B

Pokhara

West to the Lake

A 25-minute flight over the middle hills to Pokhara, the Annapurnas filling the right-hand windows. Settle in, then a wooden doonga across Phewa Tal to Tal Barahi, the little island shrine. Late afternoon on the Lakeside: fish from the lake, grilled, and the ridge of Machhapuchhre turning apricot at about half past five.

Night: The Pavilions Himalayas, Pokhara
5B

Pokhara

Sarangkot and the Foothills

Leave at 5.15 for Sarangkot. From 1,590 metres the light comes up on Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South and the unclimbed fishtail of Machhapuchhre, in that order. Back for breakfast, then Devi’s Fall, the Gupteshwor cave and the Old Bazaar’s Newar shopfronts. Afternoon free to paraglide off Sarangkot, or read on the terrace.

Night: The Pavilions Himalayas, Pokhara
6B D

Nagarkot

Back East, Up to the Ridge

Morning flight to Kathmandu, then an hour and a half east and upward to Nagarkot at 2,175 metres. Stop at Changu Narayan on the way, the valley’s oldest working temple, its Garuda stele carved in the fifth century. Tea on the terrace; if the air is clear, Everest shows as a small dark tooth on the horizon.

Night: Club Himalaya, Nagarkot
7B

Nagarkot & Kathmandu

Dawn, then Departure

Set an alarm for 5.30. From the view tower the range unrolls east to west, Dorje Lakpa, Ganesh Himal, Langtang Lirung, and the valley below stays under cloud for another hour. Breakfast unhurried, then the drive down to Tribhuvan International, roughly ninety minutes, for your onward flight home.

Night: No overnight — departure day