10 Days Kathmandu Chitwan Lumbini Pokhara Nagarkot Overland Tour

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

Meet and greet at Tribhuvan International Airport, then drive to your hotel. After check-in, enjoy a half-day tour of Boudhanath Stupa – the largest stupa in Nepal, the holiest Tibetan Buddhist temple outside Tibet and the centre of Tibetan culture in Kathmandu – and Pashupatinath Temple, the supreme shrine of Lord Shiva on the sacred Bagmati River, with its golden roofs, ghats and wandering sadhus.

• Taste of Nepal: momos or Tibetan butter tea near the stupa.

Full-day guided sightseeing by private vehicle | Overnight: Kathmandu

Kathmandu Durbar Square – a complex of palaces, courtyards and temples including Hanuman Dhoka Palace, the Kumari Ghar (abode of the living goddess) and the Taleju Temple, built between the 12th and 18th centuries as the seat of the Malla kings. Continue to Swayambhunath, the 2,000-year-old hilltop stupa where Buddhist and Hindu shrines stand side by side and monkeys play among the prayer flags. In the afternoon visit Patan, the oldest of the valley's royal cities, famous for its stone Krishna Mandir, Golden Temple and the Patan Museum's bronze masterpieces.

• Taste of Nepal: a Newari lunch of samay baji.

Drive: 157 km / about 5 hours | Altitude: about 150 m | Overnight: Chitwan resort with all meals

Today you trade mountains for jungle. The highway winds down through river gorges to the plains of the Inner Terai and the riverside village of Sauraha. Your naturalist guide meets you at the resort, explains the programme over lunch and introduces you to Chitwan National Park, the best place in Asia outside India to see the greater one-horned rhinoceros and a stronghold of the Bengal tiger.

Later, stroll through a traditional Tharu village to learn how this forest people farm, fish and build their homes, and visit the small Tharu cultural museum. As the light softens, sit on the sandy banks of the Rapti River – rhinos and deer sometimes come down to drink on the far side. A Tharu cultural dance programme rounds off the evening.

• Insider tip: the evening sun over the Rapti is one of the most photographed views in Chitwan – keep your camera ready.

Canoe, walk and jeep safari with naturalist guide | Overnight: Chitwan resort with all meals

Mist often hangs over the river at dawn as you set off on a dugout canoe ride down the Rapti – look out for crocodiles, otters and more than a dozen kinds of water birds. A short nature walk through riverine forest brings you to the government Elephant Breeding Centre, where you learn about Nepal's efforts to protect its elephants and see playful calves.

In the afternoon a jeep safari takes you into the core of Chitwan National Park, past oxbow lakes and grassland where one-horned rhinos, gaur (Indian bison), deer and wild boar roam. Chitwan is one of the best places in the world to see the rhinoceros in the wild – most visitors see several. Return to the resort for dinner and a briefing on the next day's journey.

• Insider tip: binoculars make a big difference for birding – Chitwan has more than 540 recorded species.

Drive: 159 km / about 5 hours | Altitude: about 100 m | Overnight: Lumbini (full board)

Drive west along the East–West Highway to Lumbini, the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. His birth here in 623 BC is confirmed by the inscribed pillar erected by the great Buddhist emperor Ashoka, who visited Lumbini in 249 BC. After check-in, visit the Sacred Garden with the Maya Devi Temple, built over the exact spot of the birth, the Ashoka Pillar and the holy Puskarini pond, then explore the Monastic Zone, where Buddhist nations from Thailand and Myanmar to Germany and China have built temples in their own styles, and the World Peace Pagoda.

• Insider tip: hire a bicycle or rickshaw to move between the monasteries – the zone is large and flat.

Drive: 206 km / about 7 hours via the Siddhartha Highway | Altitude: 822 m | Overnight: Pokhara

Leave the plains and climb the scenic hill road through Butwal and Tansen (1,371 m), the headquarters of Palpa district, a charming Newar trading town with cobbled lanes, the Rani Mahal "Taj Mahal of Nepal" palace and famous dhaka weaving. Continue past Waling and Syangja, cross the Kali Gandaki at Ramdi Bridge and arrive in Pokhara in the late afternoon for a relaxing evening at Lakeside.

Sightseeing by private vehicle; Sarangkot pick-up between 5:00 and 5:30 am (confirmed the day before) | Overnight: Pokhara

The village of Sarangkot, 11 km from Pokhara at about 1,600 m, is famous for its panoramic sunrise views of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna and Manaslu, with Pokhara and Phewa Lake below – and it is Nepal's best-known paragliding launch site. After breakfast, visit the white World Peace Pagoda on the ridge above the lake, Devi's Falls, Gupteshwor Cave and the International Mountain Museum.

End the day with a boat ride across Phewa Lake to the island temple of Tal Barahi.

Drive: 232 km / about 7 hours | Altitude: 2,175 m | Overnight: Nagarkot (dinner included)

Drive east back through the hills to Nagarkot, one of the nearest and most famous mountain viewpoints from Kathmandu, 32 km east of the city at 2,175 m. From here the panorama of the eastern Nepal Himalaya – including Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) if the weather permits – stretches across the horizon. Enjoy the sunset and dinner at your hotel.

Drive: 32 km / about 1.5 hours with sightseeing | Overnight: Kathmandu

Enjoy sunrise and the mountain view from your hotel. After breakfast, drive down to Bhaktapur Durbar Square (1,401 m), the plaza in front of the royal palace of the old Bhaktapur kingdom and one of the three Durbar Squares of the valley on the UNESCO list. See the Golden Gate, Palace of 55 Windows, Nyatapola Temple and the potters of Pottery Square, then continue to Kathmandu for a free evening.

Airport transfer: about 30 minutes

After breakfast, our office representative escorts you to the airport about three hours before your scheduled flight. Namaste and safe travels – we hope to see you again in Nepal!