Day 1:Arrive & Drive to Nagarkot 2100m.

As you arrive - we will meet you at the airport with your name on board & drive to Nagarkot - 25KM - 1hrs drive. Upon arrival at the hotel - check in and relax. Enjoy the views of the Himalayas & valleys. Overnight at Club Himalaya Nagarkot.

Day 2:Sunrise & Himalaya views. Bhaktapur, Pashupati & Bouddhanath Sighseeing. Overnight in Kathmandu.

Morning Sunrise views & views of the Himalayas from your hotel. Nagarkot offers great views of the Himalayas and sun rising over the Himalayas. The View of the Himalayas with the first rays of the sun - they are just beautiful to behold! Enjoy the morning. Breakfast & drive to Bhaktapur - 20KM -45min drive. Explore Bhaktapur which includes four squares in the best cultural town in the country. A guided walking tour starting at Duttatraya square through local bazaars - Taumadhi square - Pottery square and finally arriving at main 55- window Palace durbar square.

From Bhaktapur - drive to Pashupatinath Temple - 45min drive. A guided walk through Pashupatinath temple vicinity starting at Tilganga through funeral ghats - view point - main temple complex and finally to the car park on the northern side. At Thamel Travels we always put effort to make it a linear walk through the sightseeing places - you will enjoy it and do not require a boring walk back just to reach the car!

From Pashupatinath temple - drive to Bouddhanath stupa - 15min short drive. Explore Bouddhanath stupa complex. Our guide will tell all the good stories about the Tibetan buddhist temple in Kathmandu. Bouddhanath is one of the most visited tourist site in Kathmandu. Enjoy spinning the prayers wheels, explore few monasteries located right at the complex and visit one of the monasteries roof top to take spectacular photograph of the Stupa. Our guide will make sure you have best rooftop location for photograph depending of the time of day to avoid anti light. Visiting Bouddhanath Stupa sometimes requires crossing a busy road - and our guide and driver will try their best to avoid crossing road for you!! One of the rooftop restaurant could also be the best spot for your lunch this afternoon.

From Bouddhanath - drive to Hotel at Thamel. Enjoy the neighborhood of main tourist hub bazaars & restaurant in Kathmandu. Overnight at Thamel in Kathmandu.

Day 3:Rafting in Trishuli & overnight at Bandipur.

Morning breakfast at the hotel & at 730am - drive to Trishuli river rafting point - 90KM - 3hrs mountain drive. A light lunch before rafting & it is time to jump into the river! An experienced rafting guide will handle your boat and escorts the bots through rapids and plains. It will be about 2 hour exciting adventure in the water. You will get wet during the rafting - so t-shirt and half pant with flipflop would be the perfect costumes on boat. A basic cloth changing facility will be available at the end of the rafting trip. A short coffee rest & drive to Bandipur - 2hrs drive.

Bandipur is a beautiful mountain village at 1030m altitude. The village offers great views of the Mt Manaslu and Annapurna Himalayan ranges. Check in at Hotel & rest a while. After lunch time - a guided walk through the village, Tundikhe - the playing ground, local monastery and local bazaar. Free and easy late afternoon. Overnight at Bandipur.

Day 4:Drive to Pokhara - 100KM. Begnas lake, Mountain museum & Phewa Lake.

Early morning hiking excursion - 45min up & down - to Bandipur hill to see the sunrise and Himalayan views. The Bandipur hill top is some 30min uphill hike and 15min back to hotel after the sunrise!

Our next destination is Pokhara and it is only 80KM from Bandipur. At 10am, check out at Old Inn and drive to Pokhara with a short stop at Begnas lake (15min side trip from highway). Check in at Hotel Batika Pokhara. Coffee and relax at and around Hotel. In the Afternoon at 3pm, A visit to International Mountain museum -15min drive. International Mountain museum in Pokhara is home to the information on human victory of mighty Himalayas. It is also insightful trip to know about the different 14 peaks over 8 thousand meters. Different cultural and ethnic information are also display.

After exploring the International Mountain Meseum - explore phewa lake and Tal Barahi temple on boat. After the lake and temple tour - the boat will drop us on the western - most point of the bazaar and now our walking tour of the bazaar begins here. A guided or free and easy walking exploration of the lakeside bazaar with hundreds of shops, restaurant, and other tourist attractions. Free and easy late afternoon and evening. Overnight in Pokhara.

Day 5:Sarangkot Sunrise & Himalaya Views. Stupa & Pumdikot Hiking & Pokhara Sightseeing.

Early morning Sarangkot excursions - 30min drive - to see the sunrise and views of the Annapurna Himalayan ranges. Sarangkot offers an amazing views of the long Himalayan ranges from Manaslu in the east to Mt Dhaulagiri in the west. Given the nearby location of Sarangkot from main city - it is one of the best location to see Himalayas and sunrise in Nepal.

Back from Sarangkot after sunrise - 30min drive - relaxing breakfast time at the Hotel. At 930am - take a boat across Phewa lake & hike to Peace Stupa and further to Pumdikot Shiva temple - a total of 2-3 hrs hiking. Optionally you can also drive to these attractions avoiding hiking. The hiking route offers great views of Pokhara valley and the Himalayas across the valley! The hike across Phewa lake is great experience specially with less efforts and majestic views. On the top of the hill, visit Peace Stupa - a white tall temple built by a Japanese monk in late 20th century. The temple complex offers great views of the the Annapurna ranges. Advance further to Pumdikot shiva temple hill - 1 hrs hike from Stupa. Enjoy being at the serene world famous Peace Stupa and newly built Shiva temple on Pudmikot hill top.

After the Hike and enjoying the temples - drive down to Tibetan camp village in city. Explore and observe the lives of Tibetan people living in refugees camps, visit Gupteshwar temple & also visit Devi’s falls. These three sights are located next to each other. After the sightseeing - drive back to the Hotel. Free and easy late afternoon and evening. Overnight at same Hotel.

Day 6:Drive to Lumbini - the birth place of Buddha via Tansen. Overnight in Lumbini.

Morning breakfast at hotel in Pokhara. Today you will take a scenic road trip to Lumbini with a stop at Tansen. At 8am drive to Tansen Palpa- 125Km - 4hrs drive. Coffee break and some sightseeing in Tansen Palpa. Explore the Tansen bazaar including palpa Durbar, and view point.

After the coffee/lunch and a short rest at Tansen, drive to Lumbini - 80KM 2hrs drive. You will drive through beautiful mountain roads with scenery of Himalayas, valleys and mountain village settlements. Upon arrival in Lumbini - check in at hotel relax.

Lumbini which is some 255KM west of Kathmandu and 200KM south-west from Pokhara is the birth place of Buddha. A marking stone and a Ashokan pillar from 3rd century BC has been excavated in the site. Thus the place is a UNESCO listed cultural heritage site and main tourist attraction in mid western Nepal.

At 5pm in the late afternoon - a guided walk inside the Lumbini Buddha garden. Dusk is the most interesting time to visit the sacred Mayadevi temple complex - the exact birth place of Buddha! Enjoy the serene environment of the temple vicinity and visit the temple. You will also sit for a short meditation break at the temple dedicated area. Walk back to the hotel and overnight in Lumbini.

Day 7:Breakfast - Lumbini temples tour & drive to Chitwan.

Morning breakfast at the hotel & explore Lumbini garden vicinity. The Lumbini garden is broader project of UNESCO (designed by a Japanese devotee) which includes Mayadevi temple and many other temples inside it. Most of the temples have been ready and open for tourists. Some monasteries are also open for tourists inside the garden. At 9am from hotel, you will visit you will take a guided rickshaw tour of the temples and monasteries. Different countries and Buddhist associations have built monasteries and temples in the garden which are very much welcoming to tourists and visitors.

At 10am - drive to Chitwan - 4hrs drive. Local village & river exploration. Sunset excursion. Check in at hotel and lunch at the hotel. Next 2 days are on full board including all meals and selected activities. At 3pm - drive or walk thorough local villages to Rapti river bank to see the sunset. And We will definitely have an eye on world rare one-horned rhinos and crocodiles in the river and surrounding area. Dinner at the hotel and overnight.

Day 8:Full day safari in Chitwan. Jeep Safari & canoeing with Elephant breeding centre visit.

Breakfast at the Hotel & Jeep Safari inside Chitwan National Park. Chitwan is home houses the most number of Royal Bengal tigers & and one horned Rhinos in the country! The Jeep safari will take you deep inside the jungle and our experienced nature guide will accompany the trip.

Back to the hotel by Lunchtime. Lunch and bit of rest. At 3pm - take a beautiful canoeing trip on local river which offers to see different birds, crocodiles, rhinos, etc in general. At the end of the canoeing - visit Elephant breeding centre to see the baby elephants. Drive back to Hotel. Dinner & enjoy the local cultural shows. Overnight at Chitwan.

Day 9:Drive to Kathmandu. Kathmandu Sightseeing - Swayambhunath temple, & old Kathmandu.

Breakfast & at 8am drive to Kathmandu - 5hrs drive. Check in at the hotel & Sightseeing of Swayambhunath - the monkey temple & Old Kathmandu Durbar Square.

The Monkey Temple is some 20min drive from hotel. As we arrive at the bottom of the temple (Bhagwan Pau = feet of the God), It will be a great experience to walk to the top of the temple hill, as it also offers great views of the Kathmandu Valley on a clear day. And normally Kathmandu is. very clear in winter as Kathmandu is located at 1350 meters altitude. Monkey temple is a Buddha temple, some 20min drive away from hotel and about 10min walk to the top. It is an ancient Buddha period temple in north-western Kathmandu. We will pay visit to the main Stupa and other temples in the temple complexes. Four of many stupas are dated from ancient period. Alongside also enjoy the panoramic view of Kathmandu Valley and himalayas in the northern side. The tour will be about 1and half hour to explore the temples and visiting monasteries (where children monks live and study). After the Monkey temple tour, drive to Kathmandu Durbar Square. Kathmandu Durbar Square is the medieval Palace square and home to dozens of temples including living goddess Kumari Temple, an Old Nepali style Palace and a classical palace. It is the main centre of cultural and financial activities in Nepal since the ancient time. At Kathmandu Durbar Square also called Basantapur Durbar Square we will visit Kasthamandap Temple (temple of wood and recently restored after 2015 earthquake), Maru Ganesh, Kumari Temple, Shiva and Vishnu temple (under renovation after earthquake), Classical Palace, Kalbhairav Statue and Akash Vairab Statue, Hanuman Dhaka Palace courtyards (main palace with Newari wooden archiitectures), Taleju Temple (distant sight since it very sacred temple and open only one day in a year), a small museum portraying earthquake devastations and other temples. Kathmandu Durbar Square also offers great Coffee places. It will be about 2-3 hours of walking around the Palace square.

From Kathmandu Durbar Square, a new tour experience will start - that is rickshaw tour to Hotel through the oldest markets of Ason and IndraChowk. The iconic rickshaw tour (the main means of transport for tourists around Kathmandu Durbar Square and Thamel since 1960s) will take about 30min and will go through old market. Ason and Indrachowk are the places where Nepalis find everything they need from Noon to Soon (literally salt to gold). Finally arrive at the hotel and relax. Overnight in Kathmandu.

Day 10:Fly back home.

Breakfast & 3 hours before your flight time - we will drive you to the airport . End of the trip!!


1 - 20 pax	US$699
2 - 4 pax	US$675
5 - 12 pax	US$625
13 - 20 pax	US$599

Nepal Highlights Tour

Kathmandu Valley

Bandpur

Pokhara Valley

Lumbini

Chitwan

Transfers

Itinerary in Brief