Kathmandu and Pokhara Itinerary, 7 Nights

In short

Is Kathmandu, Pokhara and the Annapurnas right for you?

Kathmandu, Pokhara and the Annapurnas is a private seven-night walking journey from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan airport. You spend three nights at The Dwarika's in Kathmandu, fly 25 minutes west to three nights at Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge facing Machhapuchhre, and return to Kathmandu for a last night.

Made forcouples who like to walk, a first visit to Nepal, families with children over ten and travellers who want the Annapurnas without a trek.

Not for you ifyou want the high Annapurna trails themselves, a teahouse trek of a week or more is a different trip, and if three nights of Kathmandu's old cities is all you have time for, choose Three Royal Cities.

Most people meet Pokhara from a lakeside balcony, between a bus and a trek. This journey gives it three quiet nights instead, on a ridge 300 m above the valley where the only sounds at dawn are birds and a knock at the door with tea. Machhapuchhre rises straight ahead of the cottage verandas. On a clear morning Dhaulagiri, Annapurna and Manaslu, three of the fourteen peaks on earth above 8,000 m, line up across the northern sky.

The Kathmandu days are walked the same way. You join Boudha's kora at 06:30 with the families who live around it, stand over Vishnu asleep in his stone pool at Budhanilkantha, and come down from Nagarkot on foot through Tamang villages to Changu Narayan, where a pillar carries one of the oldest inscriptions in Nepal. All the walking is village walking: paths that farmers and schoolchildren use, three to five hours, with a guide who knows every junction. No trekking permits, no camps and no altitude to manage. The highest you sleep is 1,340 m.

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

Length: 7 nights, 8 days
Starts and ends: Kathmandu airport (KTM) to Kathmandu airport (KTM)
Best months: October to early December, February to April
Avoid: Mid June to mid September (monsoon cloud hides the range, and the Pokhara lodge closes from mid June)
Pace: Moderate
Longest drive: About 2.5 hours, 200 km in all
Highest point: Nagarkot, 2,195 m
Group: Private, 2 to 6 guests

The route

Why Kathmandu comes first

Kathmandu first, because international flights land there and three nights let you settle before any more flying. Pokhara next, on a morning flight, when the Annapurnas are clearest from the right-hand windows. Three nights on the ridge give you two full days: one on foot along the old Kaski forts, one on the lake. Then back to Kathmandu for the final night rather than flying home from Pokhara, because mountain weather can ground flights there, and a spare night between the two flights gives a cloudy morning room to clear.

your bases, in orderby roadby airborders not drawn

Where the nights go

3Kathmandu3Pokhara1Kathmandu

Read the place guidesNepal

The shape of the journey

From 1,220 m to 2,195 m, day by day

You sleep between 1,220 m and 1,340 m. The highest you go is 2,195 m, on day 3 at Nagarkot, and you come down again to sleep.

500 m1,000 m1,500 m2,000 m 2,195 m

Arrive1,338 m
Day 11,340 m
Day 21,340 m
Day 31,340 m
Day 41,220 m
Day 51,220 m
Day 61,220 m
Day 71,340 m
Day 81,338 m

Built around

Kathmandu and Pokhara at their best

Boudha's kora at 06:30 with its neighbours, then Vishnu asleep in his pool at Budhanilkantha
A morning on foot from Nagarkot at 2,195 m, down through Tamang villages to Changu Narayan
Three nights at a ridge lodge opened by Sir Edmund Hillary in 1998, facing Machhapuchhre
Bed tea at your cottage door at first light, with three peaks over 8,000 m from the veranda
A boatman rowing you across a still Phewa at 06:45, then a forest climb to the Peace Pagoda
Tea on Kirtipur's hill with the valley below, bara and choila served by the town's own women

Day by day

Day by day, Kathmandu to Pokhara

The longest drive is day 3, a round trip from Kathmandu, about 2.5 hours with stops, and 1 day has no drive at all.

01
Day 1 · Kathmandu airport (KTM) Kathmandu

Into Kathmandu, and a first evening in the courtyards
- 10 km, about 1 h
- High point 1,340 m
- Sleep at 1,340 m
- Easy
Whenever your flight lands at Tribhuvan, your Kathmandu guide waits at the arrivals exit with the car, and The Dwarika's is 6 km away in Battisputali, about half an hour in traffic. We asked for your room from noon, so the key is ready when you walk in. Look at the walls before you unpack: the bricks in your room carry the stamped names of Rana ministers. Lunch at Toran if you are hungry, then sleep, or swim in the pool modelled on the Malla kings' royal baths. At 17:30 your guide joins you for tea in the courtyard to walk through the week: which paths, which boat, and what goes into the one soft bag that flies to Pokhara on day four. If you still have energy, Pashupatinath's evening aarti is 2 km away, and your guide will take you to the east bank for it. Dinner is in the lamplit courtyard, and bed is early.

The momentFinding a Rana minister's name stamped into an old brick in the wall beside your bed.

InsiderUnpack only what you need for three nights. On day three the larger cases go to the hotel's luggage room, and a single soft bag flies to Pokhara.

If the weather turnsIf your flight lands after 16:00, the week's briefing moves to breakfast, and dinner comes to your room or the courtyard, as you prefer.

Tonight
The Dwarika's Hotel, Kathmandu

Meals
Dinner
02
Day 2 · Kathmandu

Boudha's morning circuit, then Vishnu asleep at Budhanilkantha
- 30 km, about 1.5 h
- High point 1,340 m
- Sleep at 1,340 m
- Easy
The car leaves at 06:30 for Boudhanath, 4 km and a quarter of an hour at this time of day. Grandmothers with prayer beads, monks and shopkeepers are already walking the kora clockwise, turning the wheels set into the base of the dome. Walk two rounds with them, then climb to a rooftop cafe we chose for its line of sight to the painted eyes. Breakfast back at the hotel at 08:30. At 10:00 the car heads about 10 km north to Budhanilkantha, at the foot of the Shivapuri hills. In a pool 13 m long, Vishnu lies asleep on the coils of the cosmic serpent, carved more than 1,400 years ago from a single block of black basalt about 5 m long. Legend says Nepal's kings would die young if they came to look on him, so after Pratap Malla's time none did. Lunch is back at Toran by 13:00, and the afternoon goes to the pool, because tomorrow starts at 06:15.

The momentVishnu asleep on the serpent's coils in his long stone pool, carved from one black stone more than fourteen centuries ago.

InsiderHaribodhini Ekadashi, on the eleventh day of Kartik in October or November, is the day Vishnu is woken, and Budhanilkantha fills with pilgrims. If your dates meet it, we go another morning.

If the weather turnsIf rain sets in, the Boudha rooftop gives way to a covered cafe on the square, and Budhanilkantha moves to the afternoon.

Tonight
The Dwarika's Hotel, Kathmandu

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch
03
Day 3 · Kathmandu

Down from Nagarkot on foot to Changu Narayan
- 45 km, about 2.5 h
- High point 2,195 m
- Sleep at 1,340 m
- Active
We do not chase the sunrise today: in the dry months the range usually holds clear through the early morning, so the car leaves at 06:15. The road climbs 27 km east, about an hour and a half, to Nagarkot at 2,195 m. Breakfast is on a hotel terrace we reserved facing north, the Langtang peaks ahead and, on the clearest days, Everest a small point far to the east. At 08:30 you start down on foot with your guide from the road south of the view tower. Tusal, a Tamang village with a tea stall, comes after 45 minutes; Telkot and its pine and rhododendron forest after about two hours. Our car shadows you by road and waits at Telkot with water, in case you would rather stop there. The last 20 minutes climb to Changu Narayan at 1,541 m, about 15 km and some 650 m lower than where you began. Lunch in the village, then the temple: in its courtyard a stone pillar carries King Manadeva's inscription of 464 CE, the oldest dated inscription in Nepal, and the 7th-century carving of Vishnu riding Garuda is the one printed on Nepal's ten-rupee note. The pool by 15:30.

The momentStepping out of the pines above Telkot to find the whole Bhaktapur valley laid out below you.

InsiderChangu Narayan's gate takes cash only, so your guide carries Nepali rupees. The tea shops by the entrance serve the best cup of the day after the descent.

If the weather turnsIf cloud sits on Nagarkot, we skip the terrace and start walking at 08:00 from Telkot, a shorter day. In steady rain the car drives you straight to Changu.

Tonight
The Dwarika's Hotel, Kathmandu

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch
04
Day 4 · Kathmandu Pokhara

Twenty-five minutes west to the Annapurnas
- 21 km, about 1 h
- High point 1,340 m
- Sleep at 1,220 m
- Easy
Away at 08:00 for the domestic terminal, a short run from Battisputali. Buddha Air flies this route more than 17 times a day, and we chose a morning departure because cloud tends to build over the hills later. Domestic fares allow 15 to 20 kg in the hold, by fare class, and 5 kg in the cabin, so last night we moved your larger cases into The Dwarika's luggage room, where they wait for day seven. Sit on the right: Manaslu, the Annapurnas and Machhapuchhre line that side for the 25 to 30 minutes in the air. You land at Pokhara International Airport, open to domestic flights since January 2023, where the lodge's driver meets you. Half an hour later you are on a ridge at 1,220 m. Lunch at 12:30 is a Nepali buffet of curries and rice, with roti and achaar. Afterwards take the pool or a short guided walk through the millet and mustard fields. Drinks at 18:30 on the candlelit terrace, dinner at about 19:45.

The momentManaslu, then the Annapurnas, sliding past the right-hand windows on the 25-minute hop west.

InsiderWi-Fi reaches the main lodge, not the cottages, and phones stay silent in shared rooms. Tell the office at home before you fly.

If the weather turnsIf cloud grounds the morning flights, you wait in The Dwarika's courtyard, not the terminal. If none fly, the car takes the 200 km road via Mugling, 5 to 7 hours.

Tonight
Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge, Pokhara

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
05
Day 5 · Pokhara

Bed tea at sunrise, then the old forts of Kaski
- High point 1,425 m
- Sleep at 1,220 m
- Active
At first light there is a knock at the door: bed tea with home-made biscuits, carried to your veranda, or coffee if you ordered it last night. The view runs from Machhapuchhre, 6,993 m, across the Annapurnas, and on clear mornings Dhaulagiri and Manaslu join in. Breakfast from 07:30; ask for masala rumble tumble, the Gurkha take on scrambled eggs. At 08:45 you set out with a lodge guide on the Thulakot and Ramchekot walk, about five hours. The path runs through Kalikasthan and climbs for two and a half hours through farms and villages to Thulakot, 1,250 m, a boundary fort of the Kaski rajas with a small Bhairav shrine in its ruins. An hour along the ridge brings you to Ramchekot, about 1,425 m, for the box lunch the guide carries. You come down by Deomadi and Chitepani, back by 14:00 for afternoon tea made with Ilam leaf, the pool, and the massage we booked this morning.

The momentThe box lunch on Ramchekot's ridge, the Pokhara valley on one side and Lamjung's Madi valley on the other.

InsiderColonel Jimmy's Library honours J.O.M. Roberts, whose 1957 team turned 46 m below Machhapuchhre's summit, which the king had barred. No permit has followed.

If the weather turnsIf the ridge is in cloud or the day turns hot, the guide switches to the three-hour Bijaypur river walk, good for birds, and you are back for lunch.

Tonight
Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge, Pokhara

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
06
Day 6 · Pokhara

Phewa at dawn and the stupa above the lake
- 40 km, about 1.5 h
- High point 1,220 m
- Sleep at 1,220 m
- Moderate
Away at 06:00 with a packed breakfast from the kitchen: a masala omelette rolled in roti and a flask of coffee. Half an hour later you are at Barahi Ghat, where the boatman we booked last evening waits with a painted wooden boat. At this hour Phewa, 742 m above the sea, is usually flat, and when the sky is clear Machhapuchhre lies on the water beside you. He rows first to Tal Barahi, the two-storey island shrine of the goddess Barahi, reached only by boat, then across to the forested south shore. A steady climb of about an hour through the Raniban, the old royal forest, brings you to the Shanti Stupa on Anadu Hill at 1,100 m, the first World Peace Pagoda in Nepal, inaugurated on 30 October 1999. The car waits on the ridge at 10:00. The International Mountain Museum follows, then lunch at a Thakali kitchen in Lakeside: rice, black lentils, greens and pickle. If you still have legs, the car drops you at 14:00 in Bhimsen Tole, the old bazaar, where Newar merchants from Bhaktapur settled in the 18th century to work the trade between Tibet and India. Their Bhimsen temple, about 200 years old and the oldest in Pokhara, honours the god of trade, and until the 1960s this was the town's main market. Back on the ridge by 15:30.

The momentOars dipping into a lake so flat that Machhapuchhre hangs upside down beside the boat.

InsiderIn spring the wind gets up over Phewa after midday and the row back turns into hard work, which is why the lake gets your morning.

If the weather turnsIf haze or rain hides the peaks, the boat still crosses to Tal Barahi, the climb becomes a drive to the stupa, and the Gurkha museum fills the late morning.

Tonight
Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge, Pokhara

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

Back to Kathmandu, and Kirtipur's hill in late light
- 50 km, about 2 h
- High point 1,340 m
- Sleep at 1,340 m
- Easy
Breakfast on the terrace, a last look at the range, and away at 08:30 for the airport. Take a left-hand window this time for the mountains. You land at Tribhuvan by about 10:30, and at The Dwarika's your stored cases are already in the room. Rest until 14:30, when the car crosses the city to Kirtipur, the Newar hill town 5 km south-west of the centre. Walk up past the three-roofed Bagh Bhairab temple, where Shiva is worshipped in the form of a tiger, to the Chilancho stupa on the southern hill, with the valley floor spread out below. Then tea at Newa Lahana, the community-run Newar kitchen past Bagh Bhairab, where women of the town in black haku patasi serve bara, the lentil cake, and choila, spiced buffalo, with Chandragiri rising beyond the top-floor terrace. The Annapurna you flew past this morning has a namesake in the old city, a small gilded shrine to the goddess of grain at Asan, and your guide can stop there on the way back if the traffic allows. At 19:30 Krishnarpan, the hotel's Nepali dining room, serves the dinner we booked when you confirmed.

The momentThe valley floor spread out below Kirtipur's hill in the late light, a plate of bara still warm on the table.

InsiderAt Krishnarpan the number of courses is fixed when you book, not at the table: 6, 9, 12, 16 or 22. After Kirtipur's bara we suggest nine.

If the weather turnsIf Pokhara's morning flights are grounded, you wait at the lodge and take the first seat that goes. If none fly, the car leaves by 11:00 on the road via Mugling.

Tonight
The Dwarika's Hotel, Kathmandu

Meals
Breakfast, Dinner
08
Day 8 · Kathmandu Kathmandu airport (KTM)

Morning puja in the courtyard, then home
- 6 km, about 0.5 h
- High point 1,340 m
- Easy
The day's first sound is conch shells: at 08:00 the priests begin Nitya Puja, the daily worship, in the east courtyard, and guests may stand at the edge while juniper and camphor smoke drift under the carved eaves. Breakfast at Toran follows, with sel roti, the ring-shaped rice bread, set out beside the pastries. The airport is only 6 km off, but for an international flight we leave three hours ahead, since the departure hall is small and the security queue slow. Pay bar and spa bills the evening before so the morning stays quiet. Your guide sees you to check-in with the same passport or original Voter ID you arrived on. Our office in the Darjeeling hills follows the flight until you land in Delhi, Mumbai or Bengaluru, and a few days later we write to ask how the Annapurnas treated you and what we should change for the next guests.

The momentJuniper smoke drifting across the east courtyard as the priests begin the day's worship, the valley's rhythm one last time.

InsiderChange leftover Nepali rupees before you fly: they are awkward to exchange back in India. Going the other way, Indian notes of ₹100 and below pass freely in Nepal, ₹200 and ₹500 are taken up to ₹25,000, and ₹2,000 notes are refused.

If the weather turnsIf weather delays your flight, we ask the hotel for a late check-out and for the room until the car is called, and rebook onward connections from our desk.

Tonight
Homeward

Meals
Breakfast

Where you will stay

Where you sleep, two houses

The Dwarika's Hotel and Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge. Prefer a different house on any night? Say which and we re-price it.

A rescued Newar door at the Dwarika's, carved lattice, iron bolt and wooden lock.simonsimages, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

4 nights

The Dwarika's Hotel

Kathmandu

Built from carving rescued from Kathmandu's lost houses, 2 km from Pashupati and 6 km from the airport, with a daily puja guests may join.

Ask for A Heritage Deluxe room on the courtyard; a Heritage Junior Suite for more space
The Annapurna wall over the Pokhara valley, the horizon the ridge verandas face.Chhabiraj Adhikari / Pexels

3 nights

Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge

Pokhara

Stone cottages on a ridge 300 m above the valley, full board, lodge guides on every walk, and Colonel Jimmy's library of mountain books.

Ask for A cottage room with a private veranda; ask for one looking straight at Machhapuchhre

Price and what it covers

from₹2,50,000

per person, twin share, for Indian nationals, with both Nepal domestic flights; other passports pay foreigner air fares and entry fees, about ₹18,000 more, and a Nepal visa. How our prices are built

About £1,950 or US$2,600 at the rates of 19 September 2026.

Price my dates

Less time?Footsteps of the Buddha5 nights More time?Across the Mechi: Darjeeling to Kathmandu8 nights

Included

Buddha Air economy flights Kathmandu to Pokhara and back, with right-hand windows requested going and left-hand windows returning
Private car and driver in the Kathmandu valley on days 1, 2, 3, 7 and 8, and airport transfers in Pokhara
A licensed Kathmandu valley guide on the Kathmandu days, and Tiger Mountain's own guides on every Pokhara walk
4 nights at The Dwarika's Hotel with breakfast, and 3 nights at Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge on full board
Dinner on day 1, lunches on days 2, 3 and 6, the Nagarkot terrace breakfast, tea at Newa Lahana and the Krishnarpan dinner on day 7
Entry fees at Boudhanath, Changu Narayan, Kirtipur's temples and the International Mountain Museum, and at Pashupatinath where charged
The Phewa boatman, the Tal Barahi crossing, and the car waiting at the Peace Pagoda
A support car shadowing the Nagarkot to Changu Narayan walk
Storage of your larger bags at The Dwarika's while you are in Pokhara
One in-room massage per guest at Tiger Mountain
Support from our office in the Darjeeling hills, 24x7, from the day you land to the day you fly home

Not included

International flights into and out of Kathmandu
Nepal's visa on arrival for foreign nationals
Travel insurance with medical evacuation cover
Tips for guides, drivers, boatmen and lodge staff
Drinks and bar bills, and meals not listed day by day
Paragliding, the Everest flight and other optional add-ons

Make it more Arranged on request, priced in your quote

The Everest Experience flightBuddha Air's dawn hour beside Everest on day two, with Boudha's kora after it; day eight's dawn is the reserve for afternoon flights home.
First light from SarangkotA 05:00 start for the view tower at about 1,600 m, where Dhaulagiri, Annapurna and Manaslu rise in one sweep.
Begnas instead of PhewaA row on Begnas, the second largest of the Pokhara valley's seven lakes and the quieter one, with the Annapurna and Manaslu ranges clear from the water on fine mornings.
A tandem paraglide over PhewaA licensed pilot, a launch from the Sarangkot ridge and a landing by the lake, on day six's free afternoon.
A fourth night on the ridgeTime for the lodge's 6 to 7 hour walk east along the ridge through Kalikasthan to Thuloswara, a Gurung village.

Before you go

Before you go on this route

Choose another journey ifIf you want the high Annapurna trails themselves, a teahouse trek of a week or more is a different trip, and if three nights of Kathmandu's old cities is all you have time for, choose Three Royal Cities.

Carry the same ID on both Pokhara flights as on the flight in: a passport or original Voter ID for Indian guests. Who needs what is on /plan/permits-and-visas/#documents.
Pack one soft bag for Pokhara: domestic fares allow 15 to 20 kg checked, depending on the fare class, and 5 kg in the cabin. Everything else waits for you at The Dwarika's.
Clothes: light layers for October days of 24 to 27 °C, a fleece for ridge evenings and Nagarkot mornings, walking shoes with grip, a sun hat, and clothes covering shoulders and knees for temples and villages.
Fitness: the longest walk is about 15 km, mostly downhill, from Nagarkot; the Kaski forts walk is five hours with climbs. Knees matter more than lungs, and the highest bed is only 1,340 m.
Changu Narayan's gate takes Nepali cash only, and your guide carries it. Indian notes, UPI and SIM cards are covered on /plan/before-you-travel/#money-and-phones.
Nepal's clocks run 15 minutes ahead of India's. At the lodge, Wi-Fi reaches the main building only.
Children: the lodge pool is unheated and unsupervised, and under-16s swim only with a parent. The kitchen keeps a children's menu.
Tipping is personal; suggested amounts for guides, drivers, the boatman and the lodge team are on /plan/before-you-travel/#tipping.

Questions

Five questions about Kathmandu, Pokhara and the Annapurnas

Ask on WhatsApp

Can you see the Annapurna range without trekking?

Yes. From the veranda at Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge, at 1,220 m on a ridge above the valley, you face Machhapuchhre with the Annapurnas, Dhaulagiri and Manaslu on clear mornings. Sarangkot at about 1,600 m and the Peace Pagoda above Phewa Lake give other angles, and the flight from Kathmandu passes the range on its right side. None of it needs a permit or a night above 1,400 m.

How fit do you need to be for the walks on this journey?

Reasonably fit, not trained. The longest walk runs about 15 km from Nagarkot to Changu Narayan in 3 to 4 hours, mostly downhill, with a car waiting halfway. The Kaski forts walk is five hours with steady climbs to about 1,425 m. Every walk has an easier alternative, such as the level three-hour Bhimirepani loop, and your guide sets the pace to the slowest walker.

What happens if cloud grounds the Pokhara flights?

You wait in comfort, not in a terminal. Going out on day four you stay in The Dwarika's courtyard until a seat flies, and coming back on day seven you stay at the lodge. Buddha Air runs more than 17 flights a day on this route, so there are later seats to move to. If none fly, the car takes the road via Mugling, about 200 km and 5 to 7 hours, and the last Kathmandu night leaves a day between the mountains and your flight home.

Why seven nights, and not five?

Seven nights give Pokhara two full days, one on foot to the Kaski forts and one on the lake, and still leave a last Kathmandu night between the mountain flights and your flight home. Five nights is possible, but Pokhara then has one full day, and a single cloudy morning could cost you the mountains. If three nights is all you have, Three Royal Cities fits Kathmandu's old cities into them.

Does this journey suit children?

From about ten, yes. Every walk has an easier version, the lodge kitchen keeps a children's menu, and the row across Phewa to the island shrine breaks up the Peace Pagoda climb. The lodge pool is unheated and unsupervised, and under-16s swim only with a parent. The Nagarkot descent is long for younger legs, so the car waits at Telkot to make it a shorter morning.

Sources we checked for this itinerary (46)