Darjeeling to Kathmandu Tour, 8 Nights

In short

Is Across the Mechi: Darjeeling to Kathmandu right for you?

Across the Mechi is an eight-night private journey from Darjeeling to Kathmandu that follows the Nepali language over the border. You land at Bagdogra for three nights in Darjeeling, walk the Mechi bridge at Panitanki into Nepal, fly 45 minutes from Bhadrapur to Kathmandu for three nights, and finish with two on the valley rim at Dhulikhel.

Made forcouples who like history with their mountains, families with children over ten, travellers with roots in the Nepali-speaking hills and returning guests who know Darjeeling and want the next country.

Not for you ifa border, a drive and a flight in one day sound like too much, choose Three Royal Cities for Kathmandu alone, or Kanchenjunga at First Light for the Darjeeling hills.

Darjeeling speaks Nepali. So do its drivers, its tea pluckers and the poet on a pedestal in Chowrasta, Bhanubhakta Acharya, born in 1814 in Tanahun, Nepal, and the first to put the Ramayana into the language. Tenzing Norgay grew up in Nepal's Khumbu and settled in Darjeeling at 19. The Gorkha name these hills carry comes from a hill kingdom west of Kathmandu, and since 31 August 1992 Nepali has been one of India's scheduled languages. Between the two places runs the Mechi, a river you cross on foot.

This journey follows that thread and keeps discoveries of its own: Simana, where the road is India's and the grass beside it Nepal's; a bridge whose far end is kilometre zero of a highway that runs 1,028 km across Nepal's Terai; a Gorkha king's tower above Kathmandu's old square; and, in Patan's lanes, a second language, Nepal Bhasa, which reminds you that the valley has a voice of its own. The rim at Dhulikhel gives you two quiet nights to put it together.

Designed in the Darjeeling hills by the Darjeeling Trips team · Updated September 2026

Length: 8 nights, 9 days
Starts and ends: Bagdogra airport (IXB) to Kathmandu airport (KTM)
Best months: October to mid December, March to April
Avoid: Mid June to mid September (monsoon rain closes the hill roads and hides the peaks)
Pace: Moderate
Longest drive: About 4.5 hours, 446 km in all
Highest point: Tiger Hill, 2,590 m
Group: Private, 2 to 6 guests

The route

Why Darjeeling comes first

Darjeeling comes first because Bagdogra is where most Indian flights land, and three nights at 2,045 m give Tiger Hill two chances at a clear dawn. The crossing works best downhill and early, with a mid-afternoon flight from Bhadrapur that leaves slack for a slow border. Kathmandu follows, with the Everest flight on your first full morning and a spare dawn behind it. Dhulikhel ends the journey because it is quiet, and the house at Patlekhet is only 35 km from the international terminal.

your bases, in orderby roadby airborders not drawn

Where the nights go

3Darjeeling3Kathmandu2Dhulikhel

Read the place guidesDarjeeling Nepal

The shape of the journey

From 126 m to 2,590 m, day by day

You sleep between 1,400 m and 2,045 m. The highest you go is 2,590 m, on day 2 at Tiger Hill, and you come down again to sleep.

500 m1,000 m1,500 m2,000 m2,500 m 2,590 m2,045 m

Arrive126 m
Day 12,045 m
Day 22,045 m
Day 32,045 m
Day 41,400 m
Day 51,400 m
Day 61,400 m
Day 71,550 m
Day 81,550 m
Day 91,338 m

Built around

Darjeeling, Kathmandu and Dhulikhel at their best

Everest, a white point on the western rim from Tiger Hill, seen from the town Tenzing chose
Simana, where India's road runs along Nepal's hillside and the Sandakphu trail drops away below
On foot over the Mechi bridge, our Darjeeling driver behind you and our Kathmandu guide beside you
Bungamati and Khokana, Newar villages where a rain god's chariot is built and mustard oil is still pressed by hand
Namo Buddha on foot from the valley rim, then Panauti, where a third river is said to show only to the devout

Day by day

Day by day, Darjeeling to Dhulikhel

The longest drive is day 4, Darjeeling to Kathmandu, about 4.5 hours with stops.

01
Day 1 · Bagdogra airport (IXB) Darjeeling

Bagdogra to Darjeeling, a language ahead of Nepal
- 70 km, about 3 h
- High point 2,258 m
- Sleep at 2,045 m
- Easy
Most flights reach Bagdogra between 11:00 and 14:00, and your driver from the hills waits at the arrivals exit with cold water and the front seat kept free for anyone who minds the bends. The climb to Darjeeling takes about three hours, with tea at Kurseong on the way. Use it to start listening. The radio, the shop boards and the talk at the tea stall are in Nepali, written in Devanagari, the script Hindi uses, so a Hindi reader can sound out every sign above the road. It is the language you will hear on both banks of the Mechi on day four, and in Kathmandu that same evening. While you were flying, a colleague in Darjeeling queued at the traffic office for tomorrow's Tiger Hill vehicle token. You reach MAYFAIR around 17:00, where we asked for the fire in your Heritage Room to be laid. Dinner is early and simple, because the car leaves at 04:00.

The momentReading Nepali on every shop sign above Kurseong, three days before you cross into Nepal itself.

InsiderChiya is tea in Nepali, and the word works unchanged in Kathmandu. Order it at the Kurseong stop and you have your first word that serves in both countries.

If the weather turnsIf a slip closes Rohini Road, the driver climbs by Pankhabari Road or by NH110 through Tindharia, up to an hour longer, and dinner simply moves later.

Tonight
MAYFAIR Hill Resort, Darjeeling, Darjeeling

Meals
Dinner
02
Day 2 · Darjeeling

Tiger Hill in the dark, and the Sherpa who stayed
- 30 km, about 1.5 h
- High point 2,590 m
- Sleep at 2,045 m
- Moderate
Tiger Hill at first light: the token is on the dashboard and the car turns out of the gates at 04:00. On the clearest mornings, far to the west of Kanchenjunga, a small white point shows: Everest, the mountain you fly beside on day five. Breakfast at 07:30, then sleep. At 11:30 we drive to the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute for Tenzing Norgay's statue and memorial; his remains were cremated there in 1986, at the place he loved best. He grew up in Nepal's Khumbu, settled at 19 among the Sherpas of Too Song Busti, and on 29 May 1953 stood on Everest's summit with Edmund Hillary: a man from one side of the Mechi who made his life on the other. The institute closes on Thursdays; if today is one, we swap it with tomorrow's steam ride. Lunch in town and a slow afternoon. At 17:30 we walk to Chowrasta as the lamps come on, to meet Bhanubhakta Acharya in gold.

The momentA faint white point on the western horizon from Tiger Hill: Everest, the summit Tenzing climbed, seen from the town he chose.

InsiderNepali speakers call Bhanubhakta the Aadikavi, the first poet. His birthday, Bhanu Jayanti, on the 29th of the Nepali month of Ashadh in July, is kept by Nepali speakers on both sides of the border.

If the weather turnsIf the 03:30 forecast shows cloud, we let you sleep and try again at 04:00 tomorrow, before Simana. The institute and Chowrasta go ahead in any weather.

Tonight
MAYFAIR Hill Resort, Darjeeling, Darjeeling

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
03
Day 3 · Darjeeling

Simana's border road, estate tea and steam to Ghum
- 70 km, about 3 h
- High point 2,290 m
- Sleep at 2,045 m
- Easy
Away at 08:15, back through Ghum to the market town of Sukhiapokhri, then twenty minutes more to Simana, 24 km from Darjeeling at about 2,290 m. The road here belongs to India and the grassy lookout beside it to Nepal. Below lie Maneybhanjan and the narrow road that climbs to Sandakphu, and beyond them Nepal's hills fold away to the west. Tomorrow you enter that country at the Mechi, 90 km downhill. We follow the border road a few kilometres further, past the Pashupati crossing, to the stall facing Gopaldhara's pine-topped tea hillocks, where the garden's own leaf is brewed in glass cups so you judge the colour before you taste. Then we turn for home. Lunch in Darjeeling at 13:00. The afternoon belongs to the steam train, in first class, out to Ghum and home again. At 19:00 your guide briefs you over tea on tomorrow's crossing: who meets you on each bank, and what each of you needs in your hand.

The momentLooking west from Simana's border road into the hills of Nepal, the country you will enter by tomorrow afternoon.

InsiderAt Simana your phone may slip onto a Nepali network without asking. Turn data roaming off before you step onto the lookout, and back on in Darjeeling.

If the weather turnsIf cloud sits on Simana, we turn back at Jorpokhri's twin lakes. If the steam run is cancelled, we book the diesel ride or watch a train round Batasia.

Tonight
MAYFAIR Hill Resort, Darjeeling, Darjeeling

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
04
Day 4 · Darjeeling Kathmandu

Down to the Mechi, over the bridge, up to Kathmandu
- 111 km, about 4.5 h
- High point 2,045 m
- Sleep at 1,400 m
- Moderate
Breakfast at 06:45, bags in the car by 07:30. About 90 km and three and a half hours lie between your room and the river: the road drops through Kurseong to the plains, skirts Bagdogra and runs the last 22 km west to Panitanki, which we aim to reach by 11:00. Indian guests have no formalities on the Indian bank. Foreign guests first take an exit stamp at the Raniganj immigration office, reopened to third-country travellers in 2024, and an e-Visa allows you to leave India here. A porter takes your bags, and you walk onto the Mechi bridge with our Nepal guide, who flew down from Kathmandu on the first flight to meet you. The river below rises in Nepal's Mahabharat Range and forms the border for this stretch, and the far end of the bridge is kilometre zero of the Mahendra Highway, which runs 1,028 km across the Terai to Bhim Datta in the far west. At Kakarbhitta, 142 m, foreign guests buy Nepal's visa on arrival with dollars in cash and a photograph, and phone clocks jump 15 minutes ahead. A Nepal-registered car covers the 21 km to Bhadrapur, where lunch is a hamper packed in Darjeeling at dawn. Buddha Air's 14:05, a turboprop, lands in Kathmandu at 14:50, and by 15:30 you are drinking tea in a brick courtyard at The Dwarika's. Dinner at the hotel, and bed early.

The momentWalking the Mechi bridge between two border posts, the river below you and the same language spoken on both banks.

InsiderTake a right-hand window on the Bhadrapur flight. Heading west, the snow peaks of eastern Nepal run along that side on a clear afternoon.

If the weather turnsIf the border is slow, we move you to Buddha Air's evening flight and The Dwarika's keeps dinner. If Rohini Road is shut, we leave at 07:00 by Pankhabari.

Tonight
The Dwarika's Hotel, Kathmandu

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
05
Day 5 · Kathmandu

Everest at the window, a second language in Patan
- 25 km, about 1.5 h
- High point 1,400 m
- Sleep at 1,400 m
- Easy
The car collects you at 05:15, a flask of coffee on the seat, for Buddha Air's Everest Experience from the domestic terminal; our Everest by Air journey tells the flight peak by peak. What this journey adds is the echo: three days ago Everest was a speck from Tiger Hill, and now it fills the glass. You are back by about 07:30 for breakfast in the courtyard. At 10:00 we cross the Bagmati to Patan, the valley's second royal city, for its Durbar Square and Tusha Hiti, the sunken royal bath. Then listen in the lanes behind the square, and you will hear a second language: Nepal Bhasa, the Newar tongue, which many Patan families speak at home. Your Darjeeling Nepali still works in every shop. Lunch in a lane of metalworkers, and back by 14:30 for a sleep.

The momentEverest filling the window, three mornings after it showed as a white speck from Tiger Hill.

InsiderJwajalapa is hello and subhay is thank you in Nepal Bhasa, the Newar greeting of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur. Carry both into Bhaktapur on day seven too.

If the weather turnsCloud may ground the flight: the airline then refunds or offers another dawn, and we use tomorrow's before Asan. Patan happens today, clear or not.

Tonight
The Dwarika's Hotel, Kathmandu

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
06
Day 6 · Kathmandu

Asan's stalls, the Gorkha tower, two Newar villages
- 40 km, about 2 h
- High point 1,400 m
- Sleep at 1,400 m
- Moderate
At 08:00 the car leaves you at Asan Tole, the old market crossroads, as grain, spice and brass sellers raise their shutters, and your guide walks you south through Indra Chowk to Kathmandu Durbar Square. Look up at the nine-storey Basantapur tower above Hanuman Dhoka, added in 1768 by Prithvi Narayan Shah, king of Gorkha. After his unification of Nepal the language of these hills was called Gorkha Bhasa, the speech of the Gorkhas, until the name Nepali was adopted in 1933, and Darjeeling's Nepali speakers still carry the Gorkha name. Lunch is at a Newar kitchen, with beaten rice and black soybeans for the curious. At 14:30 we drive south past Patan to Bungamati and Khokana, two Newar villages a short walk apart. Bungamati is where Rato Machhindranath, the valley's rain god, spends six months of each year, and every twelfth year his great chariot is built here. In Khokana, 8 km south of the city, oil has been pressed from the mustard of the surrounding fields for generations, and one mill still works by hand, 20 to 25 litres a day. If you would rather see the evening lamps on the Bagmati at Pashupatinath, we go there instead. Tonight Krishnarpan sends out Nepali dishes one small course at a time.

The momentLooking up at the tower of the Gorkha king whose hill kingdom gave Darjeeling's Nepali speakers their name.

InsiderBuy a bottle of Khokana's hand-pressed mustard oil to carry home. The valley's cooks have long sworn by it, and the old mill is the proof that it is still made the slow way.

If the weather turnsIn steady rain the old-city walk shortens to Durbar Square's covered courtyards, and the villages wait for a dry hour after lunch.

Tonight
The Dwarika's Hotel, Kathmandu

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
07
Day 7 · Kathmandu Dhulikhel

Bhaktapur's Golden Gate, then up to the valley rim
- 35 km, about 1.5 h
- High point 1,550 m
- Sleep at 1,550 m
- Easy
Bags go in the car at 08:30, and Bhaktapur is half an hour east. Your guide walks you through its Durbar Square, past Nyatapola's five roofs, to Pottery Square, where you can take a turn at a potter's wheel before a Newar lunch that ends with juju dhau, Bhaktapur's curd of buffalo milk, served in the clay pot it set in. Listen outside the Vatsala temple for the bell locals call the barking bell: legend says every dog in the square howls when it rings. At 14:00 we drive on through Banepa to Patlekhet, near Dhulikhel, about an hour. Dusit Thani faces the snow range across the valley, and you take tea by the infinity pool as the peaks go pink. Dinner is at Thaan, its mountain-view restaurant, at a table we ask for facing north.

The momentThe barking bell outside the Vatsala temple, and every dog in Bhaktapur's square, by legend, answering it.

InsiderJuju dhau means king curd in Nepal Bhasa, the language you met in Patan. Order it by that name, and the curd seller will know you listened.

If the weather turnsIf rain sets in, Bhaktapur shortens to the square and the potters' workshops. If Banepa's road is jammed, we wait over tea in Bhaktapur and drive later.

Tonight
Dusit Thani Himalayan Resort Dhulikhel, Dhulikhel

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
08
Day 8 · Dhulikhel

A walk to Namo Buddha, and Panauti's three rivers
- 30 km, about 1.5 h
- High point 1,750 m
- Sleep at 1,550 m
- Moderate
At 07:00, with tea taken, you walk out of the gate with your guide on a farm path of about 45 minutes to Namo Buddha, 1,750 m. Tibetans call it Takmo Lujin, the tigress body-giving, and the monks of Thrangu Tashi Yangtse above the stupa keep the story; we ask the evening before whether you may sit in on prayers. On a clear morning the snow line runs from Ganesh Himal through Langtang to Gauri Shankar. The car brings you back for a late breakfast. At 14:00 we drive to Panauti, 1,442 m, a Newar town that grew rich on the old trade between Tibet and India, where the Indreshwar temple, first built over a lingam in 1294, stands at the meeting of the Roshi and the Punyamati. Devarana spa at 17:30, then a last dinner facing the range.

The momentPrayer flags strung above Namo Buddha, and the snow line from Ganesh Himal to Gauri Shankar clear behind them.

InsiderPanauti's third river, the Rudrawati, is said to be visible only to the truly devout. Stand at the confluence long enough and your guide will ask if you saw it.

If the weather turnsIn rain, or for tired knees, the car covers the 3 km to Namo Buddha. If Panauti's lanes are full for a festival, we stay on and watch rather than leave.

Tonight
Dusit Thani Himalayan Resort Dhulikhel, Dhulikhel

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
09
Day 9 · Dhulikhel Kathmandu airport (KTM)

From the rim to Tribhuvan, and the flight home
- 35 km, about 1.5 h
- High point 1,550 m
- Easy
Take breakfast on the terrace at 07:00, while the range is still sharp against the morning sky. For an international departure at about 13:00 we leave Patlekhet at 08:30, allowing about 35 km and an hour and a half down the Araniko Highway, through Banepa and past Bhaktapur, with room for traffic. Kathmandu has nonstop flights to Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, and onward connections from each. Your guide takes your bags to the terminal kerb and checks the departure board with you. Indian guests show the same passport or Voter ID they travelled in on; foreign guests keep the visa page ready for the exit desk. Before you part, your guide hands back what is left of the rupee float, counted, with the receipts. Our team in the Darjeeling hills follows your flight until you land, as it has followed every leg since Bagdogra, and you can call it at any hour.

The momentOne last look north from the terrace, the peaks you flew past on day five now a long white wall on the horizon.

InsiderOnly ticketed passengers may enter Tribhuvan's departure hall, so farewells happen at the kerb. We leave early because the Banepa road can jam without warning.

If the weather turnsIf your flight is delayed or cancelled, we book a day room near Tribhuvan, move your onward tickets and keep the car and guide with you until you fly.

Tonight
Homeward

Meals
Breakfast

Where you will stay

Where you sleep, three houses

MAYFAIR Hill Resort, Darjeeling, The Dwarika's Hotel and Dusit Thani Himalayan Resort Dhulikhel. Prefer a different house on any night? Say which and we re-price it.

The MAYFAIR at Darjeeling, above its garden opposite Raj Bhawan.Mr. Debapriya Hore, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

3 nights
MAYFAIR Hill Resort, Darjeeling

Darjeeling

A spa, a doctor on call and fireplaces, a short walk from Chowrasta: warm comfort around a 04:00 start and a long border day.

Ask for A Heritage Room, MAYFAIR's category with a fireplace, laid for the night before the 04:00 start
- WarmthHeritage Rooms come with fireplaces, described as keeping occupants warm and cosy.
- Getting inDoctor on call, described as a physician ready at all times.
A rescued Newar door at the Dwarika's, carved lattice, iron bolt and wooden lock.simonsimages, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

3 nights

The Dwarika's Hotel

Kathmandu

Brick courtyards and carved windows a short drive from the domestic terminal, where the Everest flight leaves at dawn.

Ask for A Heritage Deluxe Room on the inner courtyards; a Heritage Junior Suite for more space
A stupa on the Dhulikhel ridge, the quiet the resort keeps three kilometres from Namo Buddha.Stan Tuladhar / Unsplash

2 nights

Dusit Thani Himalayan Resort Dhulikhel

Dhulikhel

At Patlekhet, 3 km from Namo Buddha, with a pool facing the range. Dwarika's Sanctuary asks for three nights; this house takes two.

Ask for A Deluxe Himalayan View room of 47 sq m; a Junior Suite Himalayan View for a sitting area

Price and what it covers

from₹2,95,000

per person, two sharing, at Indian-national rates; other passports pay more for the Bhadrapur and Everest flights and for Nepal's monuments. How our prices are built

About £2,300 or US$3,070 at the rates of 19 September 2026.

Price my dates

Less time?Kanchenjunga at First Light7 nights More time?Three Kingdoms14 nights

Included

A car and driver from the hills from Bagdogra arrivals to the Indian bank of the Mechi, a Toyota Innova Crysta or similar
A Nepal-registered car from Kakarbhitta to Bhadrapur, and a private car with driver in the Kathmandu valley and Dhulikhel
A Darjeeling guide for three days, and a licensed Nepali guide from the Mechi bridge to your last morning
Buddha Air economy seats from Bhadrapur to Kathmandu, and the Everest Experience mountain flight
Eight nights for two sharing at MAYFAIR, The Dwarika's and the Dusit Thani, with every meal the day plan lists, the border hamper included
Tiger Hill's vehicle token and a floor in the viewing tower, and first-class steam seats to Ghum and back
Entry to the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, the Durbar Squares of Patan, Kathmandu and Bhaktapur, and Panauti
Border handling at Panitanki and Kakarbhitta: porters, our people on each bank, and help with Nepal's visa on arrival for foreign guests
Tea at the Gopaldhara garden's roadside stall on the Mirik road, and a turn at a potter's wheel in Bhaktapur
A starter float of Nepali rupees, counted back to you with receipts, and a Nepali SIM handed over at the border
Our Darjeeling team on call 24x7 from Bagdogra arrivals to the last kerb in Kathmandu

Not included

Flights into Bagdogra and home from Kathmandu
Nepal's visa on arrival for other passports, bought at Kakarbhitta with dollars in cash, and any Indian visa
Travel insurance, which should cover medical evacuation
Tips for drivers, guides, porters and hotel staff
Drinks, laundry and meals beyond the day plan
Spa treatments and the optional add-ons below

Make it more Arranged on request, priced in your quote

Your own steam train from DarjeelingA private B-class steam charter to Ghum and back, subject to the railway's approval and the engines free that week.
A third night on the rimStay three nights at Dhulikhel and move to Dwarika's Sanctuary, whose all-inclusive wellness stay begins at three.
Breakfast at Hotel Everest ViewA helicopter from Kathmandu to 3,880 m for breakfast facing Everest, if your doctor agrees and the sky allows.
Two nights at Glenburn firstBegin on the Glenburn tea estate above the Rangeet for two nights before Darjeeling town, with plucking walks in season.

Before you go

Before you go on this route

Choose another journey ifIf a border, a drive and a flight in one day sound like too much, choose Three Royal Cities for Kathmandu alone, or Kanchenjunga at First Light for the Darjeeling hills.

Papers: Indian guests need a passport or an original Voter ID for the Bhadrapur flight, though the bridge itself asks for nothing. Each passport's full list is kept on the Permits and visas page of our planning guide.
Foreign passports: an Indian e-Visa lets you land at Bagdogra and leave India at Panitanki, but not come back in there, and Nepal's visa at Kakarbhitta takes US dollars in cash and one photograph.
Clothing: December nights in Darjeeling average about 3.5 °C and Tiger Hill before dawn is colder, while October afternoons in Kathmandu reach 27 °C. Pack layers, a warm jacket, gloves and shoes with grip for the Namo Buddha path.
Money: divide any Nepali price by 1.6 for rupees. Which Indian notes and apps work in Nepal is set out under Before you travel in the planning guide.
Phones: Indian SIMs roam patchily in Nepal. We hand you a Nepali SIM at the border, registered with the passport details you send ahead.
Luggage: the Bhadrapur flight is a turboprop with a smaller hold than a jet. Soft bags travel best, and we confirm your allowance on the ticket.
Time: Nepal runs 15 minutes ahead of India. Every flight time we give you inside Nepal is Nepal time.
Health: you never sleep above 2,045 m. Anyone with a heart or lung condition should ask their doctor about the pre-dawn cold at Tiger Hill, and Dhulikhel has a university hospital close by.

Questions

Five questions about Across the Mechi: Darjeeling to Kathmandu

Ask on WhatsApp

Is a border, a drive and a flight in one day too much?

It is long rather than hard: about 07:30 to 15:30 door to door. You drive about 90 km down from the hills, reach Panitanki by 11:00, walk the bridge while a porter carries the bags, and have a 21 km run to Bhadrapur for the 14:05 flight. Nothing is rushed, and a slow border moves you to the evening flight, not into a panic. If you would rather skip the hills, Three Royal Cities makes the same crossing straight from Bagdogra.

Can we do it the other way round, from Kathmandu to Darjeeling?

Indian guests can, and Three Kingdoms runs that way before going on to Sikkim and Bhutan. Foreign guests need care: Panitanki is not an e-Visa entry port, so coming into India over the Mechi needs a regular Indian tourist visa. On an e-Visa, enter India by air, at Bagdogra for instance, or at an e-Visa land port such as Jaigaon, and make the crossing in this journey's direction.

Can we time this journey for Tihar?

Yes. In 2026 Tihar falls from 7 to 11 November, in the clearest weeks of the year, and Nepali-speaking families on both sides of the Mechi keep it, so you meet the same festival in Darjeeling and in Kathmandu. Tell us early, because autumn rooms go first. If you want Tihar at the centre of a journey rather than in passing, Lights of Tihar is built around it.

Can you see Everest on this journey?

Two good chances, weather allowing: Tiger Hill and the mountain flight. On the clearest mornings Everest shows as a small peak far to the west from Tiger Hill on day two, and on day five Buddha Air's Everest Experience flies close to the summit, with a spare morning behind it if cloud grounds the first attempt. From the rim at Dhulikhel, on a clear day, the range runs from Ganesh Himal through Langtang to Gauri Shankar.

Why end at Dhulikhel rather than in Kathmandu?

Because the last two nights should be quiet. Dhulikhel sits at 1,550 m on the valley's eastern rim, with the snow range to the north and far less traffic than the city. From the Dusit Thani at Patlekhet you walk to Namo Buddha and drive down to Panauti, and the international terminal is about 35 km and an hour and a half away, so the last morning is unhurried.

Sources we checked for this itinerary (49)