7 Days Kathmandu Chitwan Pokhara Overland Tour

Airport transfer and half-day sightseeing | Altitude: 1,350 m | Overnight: Kathmandu

Welcome to Nepal! Your guide meets you at Tribhuvan International Airport with a marigold garland, takes you to your hotel and explains your tour programme in detail. After a short rest, set out on a gentle afternoon tour. At Boudhanath, Tibetan pilgrims walk clockwise around the white dome, spinning prayer wheels beneath the Buddha's painted eyes. A short drive away, Pashupatinath sits on the banks of the holy Bagmati River, where you see sadhus with painted faces, riverside ghats and the rituals of daily Hindu life.

• Taste of Nepal: momos or Tibetan thukpa at a rooftop café overlooking the stupa.

Drive: 157 km / about 5 hours | Altitude: Sauraha about 150 m | Overnight: Chitwan jungle resort (full board)

After breakfast, leave the hills behind and descend to the flat, green Terai. The road passes the busy junction towns of Mugling and Narayangadh before reaching Sauraha, the village at the edge of Chitwan National Park, where your resort welcomes you with a cold drink and lunch. Established in 1973 as Nepal's first national park and listed by UNESCO, Chitwan protects 952 sq km of sal forest, tall elephant grass and river banks – home to the one-horned rhinoceros, the Royal Bengal tiger, sloth bear, four species of deer and more than 540 kinds of birds.

In the afternoon, a naturalist guides you through a Tharu village, where the indigenous people of the Terai live in cool mud-and-reed houses decorated with painted motifs, then on to the banks of the Rapti River to watch the sun sink behind the forest. In the evening, enjoy the lively Tharu stick dance performed by local villagers.

• Taste of Nepal: a Tharu-style dinner – fish curry, local greens and ghonghi (river snails) for the adventurous.
• Insider tip: wear neutral colours (green, khaki, brown) for the jungle activities and bring insect repellent.

Jungle activities with a naturalist guide | Overnight: Chitwan resort (full board)

The day starts early, when the animals are most active. Glide down the Rapti River in a dugout canoe, the most peaceful way to see mugger and rare gharial crocodiles basking on the sandbanks and kingfishers, storks and herons fishing along the shore. Leave the canoe for a guided jungle walk, learning to read tracks and signs, and continue to the Elephant Breeding Centre, established in 1985, where baby elephants stay close to their mothers.

After lunch and a rest through the midday heat, head deep into the park on a jeep safari. You drive through tall grassland and sal forest to lakes and watchtowers, looking for one-horned rhinos, spotted and sambar deer, wild boar, monkeys, peacocks and – if luck is on your side – a leopard, sloth bear or the elusive Bengal tiger.

• Main experience: a jeep safari into the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage park.
• Insider tip: keep quiet on the safari and scan the grassland edges – rhinos often graze in the open in the late afternoon.

Drive: 146 km / about 5 hours | Overnight: Pokhara

Wake early for a guided bird-watching walk along the river – Chitwan is the realm of more than 450 bird species and a paradise for birders, from hornbills and parakeets to the colourful Indian roller. After breakfast, say goodbye to the jungle for the drive to Pokhara.

The road climbs back into the hills along the Trishuli and Seti rivers, and by early afternoon you reach Pokhara, where the Annapurna range rises above the lake. After check-in, walk down to Lakeside and take a colourful wooden boat across Phewa Lake to Tal Barahi, a small pagoda temple on an island, as the lake turns gold in the setting sun.

• Taste of Nepal: a Thakali set meal of dal, rice, greens and pickles.

Sightseeing by private vehicle; pick-up 5:30 am | Overnight: Pokhara

Get up before dawn for the short drive to Sarangkot, a 1,600 m hill on the northern shore of Phewa Lake. As the sun rises, it lights up Dhaulagiri, Annapurna and the sharp summit of Machhapuchhre one by one, while the valley below is still in shadow. After breakfast, visit the World Peace Pagoda, a white stupa on a ridge above the lake, Devi's Falls, where the water disappears into an underground tunnel, and Gupteshwor Cave with its Shiva shrine. The afternoon is free for paragliding, a massage or simply relaxing at a café by the water.

Drive: 200 km / about 6 hours (or optional 25-minute flight) | Overnight: Kathmandu

Drive back to Kathmandu along the scenic highway, stopping for lunch at a riverside restaurant. On the way to your hotel, climb the steps to Swayambhunath, the oldest Buddhist shrine in the valley – looking east from here you see almost the entire Kathmandu Valley spread out below. Spend your last evening in Thamel shopping for pashmina, singing bowls and handicrafts, or enjoy an optional farewell dinner with a Nepali cultural show.

Airport transfer: about 30 minutes

Enjoy a final breakfast and, time permitting, a walk in the Garden of Dreams. Our office representative escorts you to the airport about three hours before your scheduled flight. Namaste – we hope to welcome you back to Nepal!