Nepal Nirvana: Himalaya, Heritage & Wilderness

The fullest version of Nepal we run: thirteen days that take you from the Kathmandu Valley’s carved courtyards down to the elephant grass of Chitwan, west to Phewa Tal and the Annapurna skyline, then…

Length: 13 days, 12 nights
From: ₹3,12,000 per person
Pace: Balanced
Stops: 5
Best months: February to April, October to December

The route

5 stops over 13 days

Kathmandu
Chitwan
Pokhara
Bandipur
Nagarkot

Bhaktapur at dawn, before the first coach arrives
Rhino on the Rapti floodplain from an open jeep
Sarangkot sunrise: Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South, then the fishtail
Bandipur’s Tundikhel ridge, traffic-free and lit by lantern
Everest visible from Nagarkot’s tower on a clear morning

Day by day

What actually happens

Length: 13 days
Stops: 5
Pace: Balanced
From: ₹3,12,000

1D

Kathmandu

Arrival in Kathmandu

Met at Tribhuvan International and driven to a converted Rana courtyard in Baber Mahal, twelve minutes from the terminal. The rest of the day is yours to lose to jet lag. Around six, the courtyard fills with the smell of woodsmoke from the kitchen; dinner is Newari, and there is no plan beyond it.

Night: Baber Mahal Vilas, Kathmandu
2B

Kathmandu

Three Stupas and a River

Swayambhunath at eight, the valley laid out below through prayer-flag lines. Pashupatinath next: the Bagmati ghats, the sadhus, the smoke. After lunch, Kathmandu Durbar Square and the Kumari Ghar, then Boudhanath at dusk, where the kora fills with Tibetan families and the whole circuit smells of juniper. Momo and thukpa in a rooftop cafe above the stupa.

Night: Baber Mahal Vilas, Kathmandu
3B L

Patan & Bhaktapur

Brick, Bronze and King Curd

Patan first: the Krishna Mandir, the Golden Temple’s gilded facade, and a museum that will change how you read every doorway afterwards. Bhaktapur after lunch, entered on foot at the Lion Gate. Nyatapola’s five tiers, the Peacock Window, potters turning bowls on Talako square. Buy juju dhau in its clay pot and eat it in the street.

Night: Baber Mahal Vilas, Kathmandu
4B L D

Chitwan

Down to the Grass

The 25-minute hop to Bharatpur drops 1,200 metres and about ten degrees. By early afternoon you are on a lodge verandah above the Rapti with a cold drink and a pair of binoculars. Out at four for the first drive: rhino in the khar grass, spotted deer at the treeline, and rose-ringed parakeets going home noisily.

Night: Barahi Jungle Lodge, Chitwan
5B L D

Chitwan

Rapti and Riverine Forest

Jeep out at 6.15 while the mist is still on the water. Chitwan’s rhino are the headline, but the riverine forest holds sloth bear, and a leopard occasionally crosses the Kasara road. Mid-morning at the Gharial Breeding Centre. Afternoon on the river in a dugout, then a walk on foot with two armed naturalists.

Night: Barahi Jungle Lodge, Chitwan
6B L D

Chitwan

Bishazari Tal and the Tharu

A change of scene: Bishazari Tal, the twenty-thousand lakes, an oxbow wetland on the Ramsar list. Bring the binoculars for bronze-winged jacana, cotton pygmy goose, and a good chance of Oriental pied hornbill in the fig trees. Late afternoon in a Tharu village near Bachhauli: mud-and-dung relief walls, a fish-and-rice meal, dhikri if you ask.

Night: Barahi Jungle Lodge, Chitwan
7B L

Pokhara

West Along the Trisuli

Five hours by road, following the Trisuli upstream through gorges where rafting parties put in, then over the ridge and down to Pokhara at 820 metres. Check in by the lake. A wooden doonga takes you to Tal Barahi in the late afternoon; from the water, Machhapuchhre stands almost directly above the town.

Night: Fish Tail Lodge, Pokhara
8B

Pokhara

Sarangkot Before Six

The car leaves at 5.15. Sarangkot’s viewing deck sits at 1,590 metres, and the sequence is always the same: Dhaulagiri catches first, then Annapurna South, then the fishtail. Breakfast afterwards. The rest of the morning goes to Devi’s Fall, the Gupteshwor Mahadev cave and the International Mountain Museum, which is better than it sounds.

Night: Fish Tail Lodge, Pokhara
9B L

Pokhara

A Day in the Foothills

Drive to Kande and walk up through rhododendron and oak to Australian Camp at 2,060 metres, about two hours, steady rather than steep, on stone steps laid centuries ago. Lunch at a teahouse with the Annapurna wall filling the north. Descend to Dhampus and drive back. Around four hours’ walking in total.

Night: Fish Tail Lodge, Pokhara
10B D

Bandipur

The Ridge Town

Two and a half hours east, then a switchback climb to Bandipur at 1,030 metres. Cars stop at the edge; the main street is flagstone and lantern-lit, lined with Newar houses whose shutters have not changed since the Tibet trade paid for them. Walk out to the Tundikhel promontory at five for the Manaslu and Ganesh ranges.

Night: The Old Inn, Bandipur
11B L D

Nagarkot

Across the Middle Hills

A long transfer, and we say so plainly: about six hours to Nagarkot, with the Prithvi Highway to Kathmandu and then the climb east to 2,175 metres. We break at Kurintar for lunch and, if you like, the cable car up to Manakamana. Arrive by five, in time for tea on the terrace as the light goes.

Night: The Fort Resort, Nagarkot
12B L

Nagarkot

Sunrise and Changu Narayan

Up at 5.30 for the view tower. On a clear winter morning the range runs from Dhaulagiri in the west to Everest’s dark wedge in the east, about 150 kilometres of it. After breakfast, walk down the ridge path to Changu Narayan, ninety minutes through pine and terraced millet, to Nepal’s oldest temple and its fifth-century Garuda.

Night: The Fort Resort, Nagarkot
13B

Kathmandu

Departure

One last look at the range from the terrace, then down to the valley floor. If your flight is late, we build in an hour at Patan’s Mahaboudha or the Thamel bookshops. Otherwise it is a straight run to Tribhuvan International, about ninety minutes, and assistance through check-in for your flight home.

Night: No overnight — departure day