Discovering Places to Travel and Visit in Nepal ```html
This guide will help you discover places to travel in Nepal.
If you’ve never been to Nepal before, or are wondering where you can travel to or what there is to see, then this page will help you. While Nepal is primarily known for its mountains and trekking, there are many other breathtaking places you can visit for a day or overnight.
One aspect of traveling to places in Nepal that you should keep in mind is infrastructure. Nepal is largely a rugged country, so just because something is 60 km away doesn’t mean it’s easy to reach. That 60 km could take all day if it’s in a mountainous zone or a place with bad roads.
Throughout this guide, you will discover places to travel in Nepal with individual links to the best travel guides to Nepal, which will help you further explore specific sites or destinations.
Did you know?
The best way to book a bus ticket to travel in Nepal is via a travel agent and not the bus company - agents get discounted rates!
Map of places to travel & visit throughout Nepal ```html
Nepal's map of the places to travel and its terrain shows you that the country is basically broken up into three terrain regions, each of which has places to travel.
Map extract from the best guidebook to Nepal:
Northern Nepal --- is the rich mountainous area filled with incredible trekking routes.
Central Nepal --- is an area filled with lush valleys, hills, and mountains filled with cultural heritage.
Southern Nepal --- is divided into dense tropical jungles and vast flat areas.
West and East Nepal are different due to Nepal's geographic position as a country. To the west, there are both mountains, jungles, and valleys. While to the east, there are mountains and flatlands along with valleys. For the purposes of keeping things easy, some of west and east Nepal will fall into north and south Nepal. Here is a larger map of places to visit in Nepal.
Places to travel & visit in Northern Nepal
Northern Nepal is filled with rugged Himalayan mountains. A fabled area for trekkers over the decades.
The most popular trek is in the northeast and known as the Everest Base Camp trek, then there’s the Langtang trekking area, followed by Manaslu, the epic Annapurna mountain range while finally in the northwest there’s Upper Mustang.
All of the above involve a combination of travel by local transport and flights. However, the only way to truly access trekking areas is by foot.
Another place to travel in northern Nepal is into Tibet via an overland route. There are also flights from Kathmandu to Lhasa, but by far the best way to make the journey is by land.
Near the border of Tibet is also a world-famous Bungy jump along with canyoning and tandem swings which people book in Kathmandu or Pokhara.
Travel Guides to Destinations in Northern Nepal
- Guide to trekking in Nepal
- List of treks in Nepal
- Guide to the Everest Base Camp trek
- Guide to the Annapurna Circuit trek
- Guide to Annapurna Base Camp trek
- Guide to the Mardi Himal trek
- Guide to Traveling overland to Tibet
- Trekking in Upper Mustang
Places to travel & visit in Central Nepal
Central Nepal is normally referred to as the Kathmandu Valley, however it does stretch out much further with many more places to travel and visit.
Places to travel in Kathmandu city
Kathmandu city is the capital of Nepal and the central travel hub for all Nepal due to the international/domestic airport and bus stations. It's very easy to travel around and visit places in the city during the dayThe ancient city itself is a maze of places to travel to for tourists in terms of heritage and souvenir shopping.
Most of Kathmandu city’s heritage can be accessed by foot via the heritage walks or by cycle rickshaw or taxi.
Outside the central city are places like Boudhanath, Pashupatinath, Kirtipur and Swayambhunath which are all short taxi rides away.
Travel Guides to Destinations in around the Kathmandu city- Guide to Kathmandu city
- Guide to Thamel
- Guide to shopping in Kathmandu city
- Guide to Heritage Walks
- Guide to Swayambhunath
- Guide to Boudhanath
- Guide to Pashupatinath
- Guide to Kirtipur
Places to Travel & Visit Around the Kathmandu Valley
Outside of Kathmandu city, you will be rewarded by more culture, day hikes, and activities in lush valleys. 
Places to travel around the Kathmandu Valley include Patan, Bhaktapur, Thimi, Panauti, Kailashnath Mahadev, and Gokarna. While some places like Bhaktapur make wonderful overnight stays, others like Patan could be done on a day trip.
Places with fewer tourists include Thimi, Panauti, and Gokarna. While popular destinations like Patan and Bhaktapur during peak season can get crowded.
Travel Guides to Places in Around the Kathmandu Valley
- Guide to The Kathmandu Valley
- Guide to Patan
- Guide to Thimi
- Guide to Bhaktapur
- Guide to Panauti
- Guide to Kailashnath Mahadev
- Guide to Gokarna
Places to Travel & Visit Outside the Kathmandu Valley
Outside of the immediate Kathmandu Valley, include places like Dhulikhel where days hikes are very possible along with mountain views.
In Nagarkot, forest walks are possible along with famous sunset and sunrise views.
To the east, the rugged terrain brings you to Sindhuli, and in the far east, the sacred caves of Kaliesh Mahadev.
Travel west along central Nepal, you can visit the heritage site of Nuwakot. There’s also a cable car to Chandragiri Hills and Manakamana Temple, which is on the way to Pokhara.
Travel Guides to Destinations Outside the Kathmandu Valley
For those who enjoy in-depth travel, do read Kathmandu Valley Heritage Walks.Places to Visit in Pokhara
Pokhara is in central west Nepal and is hugely popular tourist destination with many adventure and outdoor activities along with relaxing areas.
The central hub of activities in Pokhara are located around the Lakeside area beside Lake Phewa. A short bus journey away are the Lakes of Begnas and the pristine Rupa Lake.
From Pokhara's Lakeside, you can travel by foot to the World Peace Stupa which overlooks Phewa Lake or take to the skies in a paraglider or microplane to travel over the Annapurna Mountains.
Hill walkers and trekkers can do easy day hikes to Sarangkot for mountain views or taking on a full circuit of Lake Phewa. Pokhara is also the most popular starting and ending point for all treks in the Annapurna region and the Mustang region.
Travel Guides to Destinations in Pokhara
Places to Travel & Visit in Southern Nepal
The most popular places to travel in Nepal's south are mainly jungle-based, but there is much more to explore.
Chitwan National Park is hugely popular for tiger spotting, jungle and elephant safaris, along with some village visits.
Relatively near to Chitwan is Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, which is a huge flatland area in the Terai part of Nepal. There are over 20 Buddhist monasteries to visit in the development zone of Lumbini, which you can reach either by foot, bicycle, or rickshaw.
Far to the south near the Indian border is Janakpur, the birthplace of the Goddess Sita and a former royal capital.
To the southwest of Nepal is Bardia National Park, a far remoter jungle area where royal Bengal tigers can be spotted along with one-horned rhinos and other wildlife.
Travel Guides to Destinations in Southern Nepal
Places to Travel & Visit in Eastern Nepal
There's no secret to the fact that my guidebook to Nepal was the first to contain information about far eastern Nepal. It's no easy journey to make the journey to these destinations, but with improving infrastructure, it's now possible.
Halesi Mahadev cave in Nepal is one of the most important Buddhist and Hindu pilgrimage sites in all of Nepal. Many tourists go by helicopter, but you can also go by bus or private jeep. Once there, you can explore the large stupa and a complex of amazing caves filled with references to old monks and where Shiva did battle.
There's more in eastern Nepal too. Sindhuli Gadhi is an old fort that's been left to fall apart. It's worth a quick stopover as it's one of the sites that saw the beginning of the end for the Malla Kingdom and the unification of Nepal.
Where are the guides to these places, exclusively in my guidebook to Nepal.
How to Travel to These Places in Nepal?
With all these places to travel and visit on day trips in Nepal, it would be good to know how to get there. In each of the links on this page, you’ll find details on how to get to every individual place. However, it’s good to have a broad look at the best ways to get around Nepal to help you.
Domestic Flights: Nepal has several small domestic airports around the country. It’s not advisable to buy these tickets online. Credit card processing and online security along with infrastructure issues in Nepal mean that virtually everyone simply uses travel agents to book flights. Flights have timetables (in travel agents' offices) but rarely depart or arrive on time.
Foreigners pay a separate (higher) price compared to locals. There have been safety issues with domestic airlines in Nepal. People wishing to avoid long travel journeys across Nepal or are stuck for time usually avail of domestic flights.
Popular flights to shorten travel times to popular destinations include Kathmandu-Pokhara, Kathmandu-Lukla (Everest), and Kathmandu-Nepalganj.
National Bus Routes: Nepal’s bus services spread across the country and are the most popular method for tourists to get around. Daily tourist buses depart together at the same time from Kathmandu to Pokhara and Chitwan. Tickets are again obtainable through local travel agents and not directly from bus companies. Travel agents get a discount on tickets, so it's cheaper to go with them than directly with a company. However, do shop around as travel agents also add a commission which varies.
There are some premium bus services like Greenline; otherwise, tourist buses are old 32 seaters. Local buses are larger, older with small seats. There are also mini-vans which are newer that ply popular destinations day and night but have been involved in several accidents.
Private Cars/Jeeps: Hiring a car or jeep with a driver is a popular method to travel around Nepal quickly, safely, and in relative comfort. It can get expensive though. But for rough terrain found in places like eastern Nepal or even in reaching places with limited public transport like Nuwakot, they are invaluable.
Find out more about traveling around Nepal:
Transport and Getting Around Nepal
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