Kathmandu, temple city and mountain gateway.
Everest treks, the seven UNESCO squares, a sunrise over the range, a momo class in Thamel. What each one is really like, what it costs, and where to book it.
Seven that carry the trip.
First visit or fifth, these anchor the itinerary: the walk to Everest Base Camp, a full day round the seven UNESCO squares, the dawn flight that puts the whole range in your window, momos folded by hand in a Thamel kitchen.
Everest Base Camp Trek
A private, guided Everest Base Camp trek with Lukla flights, full-board meals, permits, and acclimatization days. Tough, worth it.
From $1,790 per person
Read the review →
★ 5.0Most bookedEverest Base Camp Helicopter Tour landing at Everest View HotelFrom $1,575668 reviews
★ 5.0Sells out earlyEverest Base Camp TrekkingFrom $1,350485 reviews
★ 5.0Traveller favouriteFull Day 7 UNESCO Tour with Lunch – Private/GroupFrom $10415 reviews
★ 5.0Worth the airfareAnnapurna Circuit Trek with Tilicho LakeFrom $1,093368 reviews
★ 5.0Easy to slot inEverest Base Camp Trekking – 13 DayFrom $1,399365 reviews
★ 4.9Local favouriteLocal Women-Led Nepali Cooking & Momo ClassFrom $4360 reviews
The walk to the foot of Everest.
Lukla’s cliff-edge landing, the swaying bridges strung with prayer flags, Namche’s stone streets, then the slow climb past Tengboche to Base Camp and the dawn haul up Kala Patthar for first light on the peak. Give it two weeks and acclimatise properly. Every itinerary here is reviewed and priced.
Which way to Everest?
Everyone wants to see it; how you get there is the real choice. Walk in over two weeks, fly past it in an hour, or land near it for the afternoon. Three ways up, each already reviewed and priced.
On foot
The full trek
from $1,800 · 1,499 reviews
The classic twelve to fourteen days: fly into Lukla, walk up through Namche and Tengboche, sleep in teahouses, then stand at Base Camp and climb Kala Patthar for sunrise on the peak. The hardest and the most complete way to do it. Build in rest days and let your body catch up with the altitude.
Compare the treks →
By window seat
The mountain flight
2 hours · from $100 · 216 reviews
One hour out of Kathmandu at first light, the whole eastern range off the wing, Everest pointed out as it slides past. Every seat is a window seat, so nobody misses it, and you are back on the ground before breakfast. The quickest way to see the giants.
See the scenic flights →
Land up high
The helicopter day
from $1,575 · 668 reviews
Lift off from Kathmandu, follow the valleys up into the Khumbu, and set down near Base Camp or at Everest View Hotel for coffee with Ama Dablam across the table. Back the same afternoon. For travellers short on days but not on budget.
See the helicopter tours →
The temples come alive at dusk.
As the light goes, the butter lamps come out. The evening aarti at Pashupatinath draws its circle of fire down to the river, Boudhanath’s great white dome glows under a thousand flames, and the old courtyards fill with bells and incense. Go with someone who can tell you what you are watching.
Learn to fold a momo.
Kathmandu eats best in its kitchens and its backstreets: momos pleated at a home table, dal bhat the way families make it, Newari plates in the old town, sweet milk tea between stops. If you book three food hours in the valley, make them these.
The mountains, minus the trek.
Not everyone has two weeks. Take a dawn flight along the range, a helicopter up to a Base Camp breakfast, or the short drive to Nagarkot for sunrise over the whole eastern skyline. The big peaks, in a single morning.
Three kingdoms, one afternoon apart.
Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur were once three rival kingdoms, each with its own palace square and its own gods carved into the woodwork. The seven UNESCO monument zones sit within an hour of each other: courtyards, pagodas, the living goddess, brick lanes worn smooth over centuries. A good guide turns the stone back into story.
The old towns are minutes apart.
Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur almost touch, and each earns a morning. Durbar squares for the palaces. Boudhanath for the great stupa. Swayambhunath for the climb and the view. Thamel for dinner.
Know the trip you want?
Twelve ways into Nepal from Kathmandu. Pick the one that sounds like your kind of day, and every option behind it is already reviewed and priced.
A day beyond the valley.
The road out of Kathmandu climbs fast. A sunrise ridge at Nagarkot, the medieval brick of Bhaktapur, a cable car up Chandragiri, rhinos in the Chitwan grass, lakeside Pokhara under the Annapurnas. Some are a morning, some are worth a night.
The first three days, mapped.
You cannot see all of Nepal from Kathmandu in one trip, but you can spend three good days in the valley and the hills around it. Here is how those days fit together, in the order that makes the most of each one.
Day 1
The heritage day
Kathmandu Durbar Square while it is still quiet, Swayambhunath’s steps for the view over the rooftops, then Patan’s courtyards in the afternoon. Ease into the altitude and the noise.
Plan day one →
Day 2
Sunrise and old brick
Up early for first light on the range from Nagarkot, then down through Bhaktapur to wander the potters’ square and the tall pagodas before the coaches arrive.
Plan day two →
Day 3
The mountain morning
Book the dawn Everest flight and keep the day flexible for weather. If the skies are clear, this is the morning the whole trip points toward.
Plan the mountain day →
The latest Kathmandu reviews.
★ 5.0Kathmandu Food & Drink Walking Tour Taste Local DelicaciesFrom $157 reviews
★ 5.0Bhaktapur Heritage City TourFrom $408 reviews
★ 5.0Kathmandu to Pokhara Car Rent – Vehicle HireFrom $2508 reviews
★ 5.0Annapurna Base Camp TrekFrom $1,3008 reviews
★ 5.0Mera Peak ClimbingFrom $1,1998 reviews
★ 5.0Annapurna – Poon Hill TrekFrom $9388 reviews
★ 5.0Kathmandu Valley Sightseeing Day TourFrom $1158 reviews
★ 5.0Nagarkot Changu Narayan Temple Day HikingFrom $1108 reviews