The best way to explore Nepal, of course, is to use this guide to create your own itinerary, but below we offer three recommended routes. “The Best of Nepal” covers the highlights – deservedly popular destinations, but you’ll never be far off the beaten track. “Kathmandu and Everest” adds a few Kathmandu Valley sights onto the Everest Base Camp trek, while “Exploring the West” gives you a memorable trip well away from most tourist itineraries.
The best of Nepal
Kathmandu and Everest
Exploring the West
1 Kathmandu
The capital has boomed in recent years, becoming a busy, polluted, modern city, but it still preserves a stunning medieval heart and an easygoing restaurant and nightlife scene.
2 Pashupatinath and Boudha
At the holy riverbank of Pashupatinath, the Hindu dead are cremated in the open; just down the road lies the dizzyingly exotic Tibetan Buddhist community of Boudha.
3 Bhaktapur
The stunningly preserved micro-city of Bhaktapur offers a taste of what Kathmandu was like before the modern world arrived.
4 Bandipur
Poised on a precipitous ridge, the old-world bazaar town of Bandipur has become an easygoing haven, packed with gorgeous boutique hotels and friendly homestay lodges.
5 Pokhara
Set under the white peaks of the Annapurna range, lakeside Pokhara is Nepal’s biggest tourist centre. You can paraglide, meditate or just relax on a boat or in a bar.
6 Annapurna trekking
The Annapurna range rises above some of Nepal’s lushest, steepest and loveliest foothills – perfect for a shorter trek to the viewpoint of Poon Hill, or, with a few more days in hand, up to the uplifting Annapurna Sanctuary and then back to Pokhara.
7 Chitwan
From Pokhara, head off next to the jungle, grassland and rivers of Chitwan National Park. You’re almost guaranteed sightings of rhinos, deer, monkeys, crocodiles and countless species of birds. You might not spot the elusive tigers, but you can ride on an elephant.
1 Shivapuri and Budhanilkantha
Start acclimatizing with a day-hike from Kathmandu up to the valley rim at Shivapuri, taking in the Sleeping Vishnu at Budhanilkantha.
2 Lukla
Fly from Kathmandu to the world’s most insane airstrip, and in minutes you’re at the gates of Khumbu, the profoundly Buddhist Everest region, ready to start walking up to Namche.
3 Thame
A “rest” day at Namche Bazaar, the Sherpa capital, might involve a six-hour round-trip hike to Thame.
4 Buddhist monasteries
The slow ascent necessary for acclimatization above Namche allows time for monastery visits. On the trail between Namche and Base Camp, the serene gompa at Tengboche, Pangboche and Deboche are rich with gilded statues and thangka paintings.
5 Chhukhung
Another “rest day” takes you exploring off the main Base Camp trail up to the Imja Glacier or the peak of Chhukhung Ri, overnighting at the tiny settlement of Chhukung.
6 Kala Pattar
The high point of the Everest trek isn’t the relatively disappointing Base Camp itself (5300m) but the breathtaking (literally) viewpoint hillock of Kala Pattar (5545m).
7 Cho La
In good conditions, experienced walkers can cross the Cho La into the Gokyo valley, for more views and a descent to Lukla by the western trail.
8 Kathmandu
A post-trek day or two in Kathmandu could be happily wasted browsing for handicrafts, eating and drinking – or seeing the sights.
1 The Karnali from Dungeshwar
This remote rafting-and-camping trip begins with a flight to Nepalgunj, a bus or jeep ride via Birendra Nagar to the put-in point at Dungeshwar, then a raft descent through remote, far western hills for about eight days towards Bardia. What a way to begin.
2 Bardia National Park
The rafting trip can end at Bardia, which has all the spectacular wildlife of Chitwan, but a fraction of the visitors – and preserves its laidback mud-and-thatch lodges.
3 Lumbini
The birthplace of the Buddha sits in the burning hot plains, amid astounding monasteries and ancient archeological sites.
4 Tansen
A friendly town on the edge of the hills offering appealing homestays, a fine restaurant, a palace, Himalayan views and a great day-hike to Rani Ghat.
5 Biking the Tamghas Highway
You’ll see no other tourists on this rough, multi-day mountain-biking (or, if you must, bus and hitchhiking) route between Tansen and Pokhara. If it’s too much, the sinuous Siddhartha Highway is (relatively) fast and fabulous.
6 Pokhara
If you arrive in Pokhara from the west, you’ll deserve all that basking by the lake, and all those relaxed bars and restaurants.
7 Gorkha
An impressive royal palace looms on the ridge above the hill town of Gorkha.
8 Manaslu Circuit
You could make a two- to three-week detour from Gorkha around Nepal’s “teahouseable” trekking route – no camping required.
