Nepal
Stupas, royal squares and Everest at dawn
Private journeys into Nepal, whether you fly to Kathmandu or cross from the Darjeeling hills: the old Newar cities, the mountains at dawn, Lumbini, and slow days on the valley rim.
- 8private journeys
In short
What is the best Nepal itinerary from India?
For a first visit, Kathmandu, Pokhara and the Annapurnas. A week gives the valley's old cities and stupas, then three nights on a ridge above Pokhara facing Machhapuchhre, with walks but no trek and no night above 1,400 m. With three nights, choose Three Royal Cities; for Everest itself, Everest by Air; from Darjeeling, Across the Mechi; for the Buddha's birthplace, Footsteps of the Buddha.
Choose first by where you land. No airline flies Bagdogra to Kathmandu without a change, so a journey that starts in the hills crosses the Mechi bridge by car and finishes with a short flight from Bhadrapur, while one from Delhi, Mumbai or Bengaluru flies straight in. The table below sets out which journey belongs to which arrival, and which one carries on to Bhutan.
Then choose by what you came for. Temples and courtyards need no weather and three nights do them justice. The mountains need clear mornings, so the Everest flight and the Pokhara sunrises sit early in any stay, with a spare morning behind them. Lumbini is flat, low and hot from April, and late December and January can bring morning fog to the Terai that delays its flights.
October and November give the longest views and the festivals, which also make them the busiest weeks of the year. February to April is warm, with spring haze on the peaks.
Indian nationals need no visa but must carry a passport or an original voter ID for every flight in Nepal; Aadhaar is refused. Most other passports take a visa on arrival, US$30 for 15 days. On an Indian e-Visa, read the last question below before you choose a route that comes back over the Mechi.
The valley and the lake
Brick, butter lamps and a lake at dawn
Three hours that decide which Nepal journey is yours: a Newar courtyard, the stupa at dusk and the Annapurnas over Phewa.
Patan in early light: brick, bronze and carved wood around a Newar courtyardAman Shrestha / Unsplash Boudhanath at dusk, when the lamps are lit and the kora slowsSushanta Rokka / Unsplash 
Phewa at dawn on an autumn morning, with Machhapuchhre clear above the lakeNishess Shakya / Pexels
Choose by
Eight journeys, side by side
| Starts in | Best months | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three Royal Cities | 3 | Kathmandu | About 2 h | October to April | ₹1,30,000 |
| Everest by Air | 4 | Kathmandu | About 2 h | October to early December, March to April | ₹1,35,000 |
| Kathmandu, Pokhara and the Annapurnas | 7 | Kathmandu | About 2.5 h | October to early December, February to April | ₹2,50,000 |
| Stillness at Dhulikhel | 4 | Dhulikhel | About 2 h | October to April | ₹1,95,000 |
| Across the Mechi: Darjeeling to Kathmandu | 8 | Darjeeling | About 4.5 h | October to mid December, March to April | ₹2,95,000 |
| Three Kingdoms | 14 | Kathmandu | About 7 h | October to mid December, March to April | ₹5,70,000 |
| Footsteps of the Buddha | 5 | Kathmandu (Boudha) | About 2.5 h | October to November, February to March | ₹1,55,000 |
| Two Himalayan Capitals | 8 | Kathmandu | About 4 h | October to December, March to May | ₹3,80,000 |
Short break, Nepal
3 nights
Three Royal Cities
Kathmandu3
Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur, each at its own hour, with lamps at Boudha and a Newar feast on the floor.
Short break, mountain flight
4 nights
Everest by Air
Kathmandu2Dhulikhel2
Everest at your window at dawn, breakfast at 3,880 m if you choose it, then two slow nights on a ridge.
Walking journey, Nepal
7 nights
Kathmandu, Pokhara and the Annapurnas
Kathmandu3Pokhara3Kathmandu1
Kathmandu's courtyards, then three nights on a Pokhara ridge where tea arrives at sunrise with Machhapuchhre.
Wellness short break
4 nights
Stillness at Dhulikhel
Dhulikhel3Kathmandu1
Three unhurried nights on the rim of the Kathmandu valley, then one evening on the grounds of a Rana palace.
Two countries, one language
8 nights
Across the Mechi: Darjeeling to Kathmandu
Darjeeling3Kathmandu3Dhulikhel2
Darjeeling's tea ridge, a walk over the Mechi bridge and Kathmandu's royal cities, joined by one language.
Grand journey
14 nights
Three Kingdoms
Kathmandu3Darjeeling3Gangtok2Phuentsholing1Thimphu2Paro3
Kathmandu to the Tiger's Nest by way of Darjeeling and Gangtok: three old kingdoms, three borders, one team.
Pilgrimage journey
5 nights
Footsteps of the Buddha
Kathmandu (Boudha)2Lumbini2Kathmandu1
Boudha at dawn, the stone that marks the Buddha's birth, and the walls of the city where he grew up.
Culture journey, by air
8 nights
Two Himalayan Capitals
Kathmandu3Thimphu2Punakha1Paro2
Kathmandu's royal squares and Bhutan's dzongs, joined by an hour's flight with Everest off the left wing.
Start with your arrival
Which journey, by where you land
Nepal's internal flights and the Mechi crossing settle more of the plan than taste does. Read this before you fix nights.
| Where you start | The journey that fits | What decides it |
|---|---|---|
| Nonstop into Kathmandu | Three Royal Cities, or Footsteps of the Buddha | Neither needs the Mechi crossing; Footsteps adds two Buddha Air hops to the Terai, which January fog can hold up |
| Nonstop into Kathmandu, with mornings to spare | Everest by Air, or Kathmandu, Pokhara and the Annapurnas | Both want a clear dawn: one spare morning for the mountain flight, two full days on the Pokhara ridge |
| Nonstop into Kathmandu, and no flying after that | Stillness at Dhulikhel | Road only, on the valley's eastern rim; the wellness sanctuary takes bookings of three nights or more |
| From Bagdogra | Three Royal Cities, by the Mechi bridge and Bhadrapur | A car to Panitanki, a Nepali car on the far bank, then 45 minutes in the air; on an Indian e-Visa you fly home from Kathmandu instead |
| From Darjeeling, going on to Kathmandu | Across the Mechi | Three hill nights first, then the bridge on foot while a porter carries the bags; it flies home from Kathmandu |
| Kathmandu first, then Bhutan | Two Himalayan Capitals | Drukair's morning flight from Kathmandu to Paro is in the price, with the range along the left-hand windows |
| Two weeks, three countries | Three Kingdoms | Kathmandu, then into India at Panitanki on the fourth day, which needs a regular Indian visa |
Festivals, dated
Nepal by the calendar
The valley keeps its own year, and a lunar date can move by a day when the official almanac is out, so we confirm each one before we book. For Tihar 2026, 7 to 11 November, ask now: a designer replies within 24 hours with the houses that still have rooms.
- Sep
- Indra JatraKathmandu Durbar Square
The Kumari, the living goddess, is drawn through the old city in her chariot: 25 September in 2026, and listed for 14 September in 2027. Three Royal Cities moves its nights to meet it.
- Indra JatraKathmandu Durbar Square
- Oct
- DashainAcross Nepal
Nepal's longest festival, from Ghatasthapana on 11 October 2026 to the Tika on 21 October, when elders bless the family. With Tihar it fills the valley's hotels and flights first, so ask early.
- DashainAcross Nepal
- Nov
- Mha Puja and TiharKathmandu valley
Lamps along Asan and Indra Chowk on Laxmi Puja night, 8 November 2026, then Mha Puja, the Newar new year, on 10 November. The same lamps reach the Darjeeling hills, where Lights of Tihar keeps the five days.
- Mha Puja and TiharKathmandu valley
- Dec
- Yomari PunhiKathmandu valley
24 December 2026, the harvest full moon, when Newar kitchens steam yomari: rice-flour dumplings filled with chaku, the dark molasses of the valley. A good week for a winter visit, with the squares quiet again.
- Yomari PunhiKathmandu valley
- Apr
- Bisket JatraBhaktapur
Fixed to the solar new year in mid April, so it does not drift like the lunar dates above. Bhairav's chariot is pulled from both sides by the two halves of the town, and a pole about 25 m tall comes down on new year's eve. Spring haze softens the peaks, so come for the town, not the mountains.
- Bisket JatraBhaktapur
- May
- Rato MachhindranathPatan
Begins in April or May by the lunar calendar: a towering chariot built at Pulchowk is hauled across Patan to Jawalakhel, where Bhoto Jatra ends it with a black vest shown to the crowd. Lumbini is past 36 degrees by then, so keep Footsteps of the Buddha for autumn.
- Rato MachhindranathPatan
Questions
Three questions about nepal journeys
Kathmandu or Pokhara for a short break?
Kathmandu, if you have three or four nights. The old cities need no weather and begin the afternoon you land, while Pokhara needs a 25 to 30 minute flight each way and a clear morning or two, and a single cloudy dawn can cost you the Annapurnas. With four nights, Everest by Air brings the high range into a short stay without Pokhara. Keep Pokhara for a full week, and never from mid June to mid September, when the ridge lodge closes.
Which Nepal journeys involve the least flying?
Stillness at Dhulikhel. You land at Tribhuvan, drive an hour up to the valley's eastern rim and come down through Panauti and Bhaktapur to a last night 7 km from the airport, with no internal flight at all. Three Royal Cities needs none either if you fly straight into Kathmandu; from Bagdogra it adds a 45-minute hop from Bhadrapur. Pokhara costs 25 to 30 minutes each way, Lumbini a flight that January fog can delay, and Everest by Air is the flight itself.
We hold an Indian e-Visa: which Nepal journeys work?
Any journey that ends at an airport. An e-Visa lets you leave India over the Mechi bridge at Panitanki, but you may not come back in there; Jaigaon, on the Bhutan border, is an e-Visa port; Panitanki is not. So Across the Mechi suits an e-Visa, because it flies home from Kathmandu, and so does Three Royal Cities if you fly home from there rather than return over the bridge. Three Kingdoms enters India at Panitanki on day four, so it needs a regular Indian visa.
Plan my journey
Which of these eight fits your dates?
Four lines are enough to start: when, who, how to reach you, and the trip you picture.
- Journeys
- 8
- Length
- 3 to 14 nights
- From
- ₹1,30,000 per person