Kathmandu keeps its temples close and its mountains in view. Book a morning with each.
Which Everest flight puts you on the window side. Whether Nagarkot is worth a pickup in the dark. What a full day around the Durbar squares costs with a guide and a driver. Reviews of the tours you can book from Kathmandu.
Four Kathmandu bookings a first visit can hang on.
A day among the stupas, a sunrise from the valley rim, a Thamel kitchen and an hour beside Everest, with prices and traveller verdicts.
01The first full dayPrivate Kathmandu Sightseeing Tour | UNESCO World Heritage sitesA private guide and car between the valley’s World Heritage sites. Choose two, four or all seven and skip the taxi haggling.
02The early alarmNagarkot Sunrise View and Day Hiking from KathmanduOut of the city around four for sunrise on the Nagarkot ridge, then a mostly downhill walk through farm villages to Changu Narayan.
03The kitchenLocal Women-Led Nepali Cooking & Momo ClassShop for the filling in Thamel, pleat the momos yourself, then sit down to them with dal bhat. About three hours.
04The hour in the airMountain Everest Scenic Flight with Hotel Pickup and DropoffA small plane along the eastern Himalaya at first light, with the crew naming Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam as they pass.
Seven World Heritage sites inside one valley. Pick how you see them.
The squares, stupas and temples of the Kathmandu Valley sit within an hour’s drive of each other. Do them all in one long day, slow down in the old royal towns, or follow the pilgrims.
★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · Private Kathmandu Sightseeing Tour | UNESCO World Heritage sites
All seven in a dayThree Durbar squares, two stupas, two temples and a driver who knows the shortcuts.
BhaktapurThe best-kept royal square, the five-tier Nyatapola and the potters at work.
PatanMetalworkers’ lanes, the Golden Temple and the museum on the square.
Stupas and the riverPrayer wheels at Boudhanath, the evening aarti by the Bagmati.
Compare all 58 heritage tours →
Fly past Everest, land beneath it, or walk to its foot.
Three very different bookings with the same mountain at the end. The difference is time and money, and the weather decides all three.
from $25Mountain flights
A small plane from Tribhuvan airport flies along the range and back, every passenger at a window.
- About an hour
- Back for breakfast
- 1Mountain Everest Scenic Flight with Hotel Pickup and Dropofffrom $75
- 21 hour Panoramic Everest Flightfrom $215
from $171Helicopter landings
Up through the Khumbu by helicopter, down onto a terrace facing the summit, home the same day.
- Weather first
- Shared or private
- 1Everest Base Camp Helicopter Tour landing at Everest View Hotelfrom $1,575
- 2Everest Base Camp Trek with Helicopter Return from Gorakshep to Luklafrom $3,000
from $408Base camp treks
Lukla to Namche Bazaar and on to the foot of the Khumbu Icefall, with guides, porters and teahouses.
- 12 to 15 days
- Starts with a Lukla flight
- 1Everest Base Camp Trek – 14 Daysfrom $1,800
- 2Everest Base Camp Trekkingfrom $1,350
Kathmandu sits in a bowl. The best mornings start on its edge.
Sunrise from the Nagarkot ridge, a cable car up Chandragiri, the stairs to Namobuddha’s monastery. Each one gets you above the city haze and, on a clear day, face to face with the snow peaks.
What travellers book most from Kathmandu.
Every Kathmandu tour we review →From a fortnight on the base camp trail to a three-hour momo class, these fill first. Here is what earns each one the slot.
1
Everest Base Camp Trek – 14 Days
Spend 14 days trekking from Lukla to Everest Base Camp and Kala Patthar, with acclimatization stops in Namche Bazaar and Dingboche. Ace the Himalaya provides a licensed English-speaking guide, porters, trail meals, permits, guesthouses, and domestic flights. Groups are capped at 14; guides on past trips have included Kishor, Maddy, Chris, and Rajendra.
From · $1,800
Read our review →
2
Private Kathmandu Sightseeing Tour | UNESCO World Heritage sites
from $17
3
Everest Base Camp Helicopter Tour landing at Everest View Hotel
from $1,575
4
Half day cooking class in Thamel kathmandu
from $28
5
Everest Base Camp Trekking
from $1,350
6
Nagarkot Sunrise View and Day Hiking from Kathmandu
from $45
7
Full Day 7 UNESCO Tour with Lunch – Private/Group
from $10
8
Local Women-Led Nepali Cooking & Momo Class
from $4
Three things you will only find in Kathmandu.
Temples and dumplings exist all over Asia. A Tibetan kora round a white dome, fire on the Bagmati at dusk and the valley’s own way with a momo do not.
The Boudhanath kora
The great white dome east of the centre is one of the largest stupas in the world and the heart of the city’s Tibetan community. Pilgrims circle it clockwise from first light, spinning the prayer wheels set into its base, and at dusk the butter lamps are lit. Monasteries ring the square, and a rooftop table is the best seat for watching the circuit.
- 1Kathmandu Spiritual Sites: Bodhnath & Pashupatinath Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 185 reviews
- 2Sacred Pashupatinath: Aarati,Cremation Rites & Boudha Stupa★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 18 reviews
- 3PashupatiNath and BoudhaNath – Private/Small Group★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 18 reviews
Aarti at Pashupatinath
Nepal’s holiest Hindu temple stands over the Bagmati river, and only Hindus may enter the main shrine. Visitors watch from the far bank, where the cremation ghats are part of daily life and deserve a respectful distance. Every evening priests perform the aarti with fire, bells and chanting. A guide explains what you are seeing and where to stand.
- 1Kathmandu Spiritual Sites: Bodhnath & Pashupatinath Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 185 reviews
- 2Pashupatinath Temple Evening Aarati Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 36 reviews
- 3Pashupatinath Temple Aarti Night Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 29 reviews
Momo, pleated by hand
Steamed, fried, or swimming in a sesame and tomato broth as jhol momo, the dumpling came over from Tibet and became Kathmandu’s everyday food. Classes start at the market with the filling and finish with the pleat, which is harder than it looks. Then everyone sits down and eats the results with dal bhat.
- 1Half day cooking class in Thamel kathmandu★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 607 reviews
- 2Local Women-Led Nepali Cooking & Momo Class★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 360 reviews
- 3Local Lead Nepali Cooking & Momo-Making Class★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 212 reviews
What a day out of Kathmandu costs, from momo class to helicopter.
Every tour on the site, grouped by price. Nepal is kind to a budget: most of the valley’s best days cost less than dinner at home.
Heritage days with a driver, sunrise trips, momo classes and the cable car up Chandragiri.
Mountain flights, evening aarti with a private guide, rafting on the Trishuli and a morning at the khukuri forge.
Helicopter mornings, two weeks on the Everest trail and the long Himalayan circuits.
- 1Everest Base Camp Trek – 14 Daysfrom $1,800
- 2Everest Base Camp Helicopter Tour landing at Everest View Hotelfrom $1,575
- 3Everest Base Camp Trekkingfrom $1,350
Four Kathmandu bookings the weather and the calendar will not wait for.
Most of the city can be arranged the evening before over a plate of momos. These four run on dawn departures, small-plane timetables and mountain cloud, so they belong at the start of your stay with a spare day behind them.
- 01Mountain Everest Scenic Flight with Hotel Pickup and DropoffFlights leave at first light and stay on the ground when cloud covers the range. Book one for early in your stay so a cancelled morning can be flown again.
- 02Everest Base Camp Trek – 14 DaysEverything hangs on the small-plane hop to Lukla, which waits whenever the weather closes in. Leave spare days between the trek and your flight home.
- 033-Day All-Inclusive Chitwan SafariChitwan is a long, bumpy drive south into the lowlands, so it books as two or three nights with the lodge, meals and park activities bundled together.
- 04Nagarkot Sunrise View and Day Hiking from KathmanduPickups leave the city in the dark, around four, to reach the ridge before the sun. The view needs a clear morning, so go early in the trip and keep another morning in reserve.
When the monsoon hides the mountains, Kathmandu moves indoors.
From June to September cloud can sit on the Himalaya for days, mountain flights wait for a gap and the trails turn to mud and leeches. The valley’s kitchens, spas and workshops run to their own timetable. Book those for the wet afternoons and save the sunrise trips for October.
By place: the valley and beyond
By kind of day: temple, trail, kitchen or cockpit
Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Nagarkot, Pokhara, Chitwan: the loop most first trips to Nepal follow.
EverestNew Kathmandu tour reviews.
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Kathmandu Street Food Walking Tour – Eat Like a Local
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Walking tour of Kathmandu with awesome local guides
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Visit Swayambhunath and Bauddhanath Stupa with Guide
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Regular Yoga for all levels of practitioners in Kathmandu
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UNESCO Heritage Sightseeing in Kathmandu Private Tour
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Fixed Departure Tibet Overland Group Joining Tours.
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