Nepal is famous for its Himalayas. It has a special place in hearts for Hindus, with some of the most ancient temples revered across centuries. While Nepal is the trekking capital, we were more interested in visiting the ancient monuments, and admiring the mighty mountains. This is a non trekking guide for places to visit in Nepal
Best time to visit
Spring in March-May and Autumn between September- November are the best seasons for cultural visits. Avoid monsoons in June- September, since the area is prone to flash floods, road blocks and delays. Trekking places are closed during Winters. April- May is the climbing season for most mountains in Summer
Visa
Indians do not need a visa or passport to enter, but a valid ID is required to prove citizenship. Other nationalities can get visa on arrival costing $15-$125 for 15 days to 90 days respectively. You can find more information on the official site
Border crossing took 15 minutes, was smooth. Ids were not checked thorughly
Getting In
Kathmandu is the airport for flights from neighbouring countries. There are direct connections from Indian metros. We chose to travel by road vis Gorakhpur so that we could cover Lumbini, Lord Buddha’s birthplace and Janakpur, Sita’s birthplace on each leg of the journey
Currency
Indian rupee is accepted everywhere, pegged to 1.6 Nepali Rupee. Cards are accepted at large establishments. Carry cash for payments in remote areas
We exchanged INR for NPR at Tripathi Forex in Gorakhpur before departure. NPR was not a standard currency for them, but they helped arrange for it quickly in 10-15 minutes. They offered a rate of 1.62 NPR for 1 INR. We had also tried Unimoni, but they didn’t offer NPR
Getting around
Buses are available for intercity travel. You can book them on platforms like BusSewa, Touristbusnepal
Flights are also available between major cities, but with poor safety and punctuality records. Buddha Air is relatively safer, the provider we would choose for mountain flights
We didn’t want to risk delays and last minute scrambling for road transport, so chose to hire multi day taxi from Gorakhpur from Tirupathi Tours. Their car was good but driver was average. Ensure explicit alignment of inclusions and exclusions since we had some miscommunication which was sorted later on
Other good options we had shortlisted were Sai Baba and Siddhi travels. Many others refused to provide only car with driver without hotels since driver accommodation becomes an issue. We did have some problems since the allowance that drivers get for stays is not sufficient and they end up requesting you to sort it for them. We wanted to redeem loyalty points for hotels. Strongly recommend taking hotels from the provider in which case Tripathi seemed like the best option. All reviews indicated drivers were a hit or a miss, so better to choose based on price
Pathao is the Uber equivalent for intra city travel. There are other providers like inDrive, Tootle, Taximandu, Sasto. We couldn’t register with Indian number. Some options allowed Indian numbers but we never got OTP, so always asked hotels to book taxis for us
Places to visit in Nepal
Here’s our itinerary. We added a day to cover some places in Bihar since we were anyway departing through Patna. You can reduce a day if flying out from Darbhanga/ Patna after Janakpur
Day 1- Arrival in Gorakpur
Day 2- Gorakpur to Pokhara; Visit Lumbini on the way
Day 3- Pokhara to Muktinath; Visit Marpha for apple flowers, Dumba Taal, Kagbeni on the way
Day 4- Muktinath to Pokhara; Visit Muktinath temple
Day 5- Local Pokhara sightseeing including Sarangkot
Day 6- Pokhara to Kathmandu; Visit Manakamana temple on the way
Day 7- Mountain flight in the morning; Kathmandu local sightseeing
Day 8- Kathmandu to Nagarkot; Visit Patan, Bhaktapur durbar squares, Changu Narayan temple on the way
Day 9- Nagarkot to Janakpur; Visit Janaki temple, Vivaah Mandap, Ram temple and various ponds in the city
Day 10- Janakpur to Bodh Gaya; Visit Sitamarhi, Vaishali Stupa, Bodh Gaya on the way
Day11- Bodh Gaya to Patna; Visit Bodh Gaya, Gaya, Barabar- Nagarjuna caves, Nalanda ruins on the way
Day 12- Departure from Patna;
We cover guides separately
- Lumbini
- Pokhara
- Jomsom-Muktinath
- Kathmandu and Nagarkot
- Janakpur
- Vaishali, Bodh Gaya, Gaya in Bihar in case you want to combine your visit
Things to know before visiting Nepal
- Nepali food is similar, but simpler compared to Indian food. You can easily get rice, dal, rotis at any restaurant. Pokhara side has Thakali thali and Kathmadu side has Newari khaja set
- Indian currency is accepted everywhere, you need not bother changing currencies for large purchases
- The mountain flight is a wonderful experience to see Mt. Everest in Kathmandu, priced under $100 for Indians
- Roads are pretty bad/ non-existent, specially Kathmandu to Janakpur which sadly got washed away in floods after taking 19 years to build. Be prepared for very long journeys and bad back
- There is significant Buddhist influence in the country. Hindus and Buddhists visit same temples and call idols with different names. The stupas are unique vs. other countries. Closest would be the ones in Sri Lanka.
Where we had lunch
- Athithi resort Tansen between Lumbini and Pokhara – Tasty food and homely ambience with owners serving the dishes
- Pritika Inn, Lete between Pokara and Muktinath- Don’t recommend. Rice was hard and food was oily. The views from rooftop of Mt. Dhaulagiri were outstanding though
- Thakuri restaurant near Galeshwar temple between Muktinath and Pokhara- Tasty food with average cleanliness. They had yoghurt and many vegetable options in the Thali which was outstanding. They had turned us away the previous day for tea when they were busy with lunch orders. We had tea just next door
- Rajwadi Pokhara- Decent Indian option at good price. Rotis were hard. There was a sandstorm and we had all the mud reach our plates as we were seated on the edge
- Vaishnavi Marwadi Bhojanalay Manokamana- Average cleanliness, good taste, very good hospitality
- Habibi Chaye Mumbai Kathmandu, near Darbar square. We couldn’t find restaurants offering Thali near Darbar square, so settled with Pav Bhaji here which was nice. They make tea in sand!
- Newari Kitchen Bhaktapur, close to Lassi and Juju dhau centre– Location doesn’t seem to be tagged on Google maps. Heavily meat based. We just tasted Bari which was good nd Yomari which was average
- Taj Riverside resort Sindhuli between Nagarkot and Janakpur- Good taste, ambience, price. They had employed a local boy as waiter who seemed helpless and we ended up tipping him heavily. Hope he gets to have good education
- Welcome Family restaurant Lalganj between Janakpur and Bodh Gaya- slightly shady ambience, average cleanliness, very good taste, good price
- Mamta Baktiyarpur between Bodh Gaya and Patna; Shady ambience, tasty food but heavy, decent price slightly on higher side if you go beyond Thali
Where we stayed
Most hotels were booked on Smartbuy using 70% points. We chose hotels that were not bumped up on price just because we were using points
- Gorakhpur: Courtyard on Bonvoy redemption booking – The best option in Gorakhpur
Very good location beside Ram Tal. They offered suite upgrade and free breakfast for being elite member which was nice. Redemption value was not the best, but suite upgrade made up for it. We were very happy with the stay and highly recommend this property
There was a large sofa bed to accommodate third person in the suite
City Inn had good rooms, warm showers, buffet breakfast with options like pasta, sauteed veggies, crispy potatoes. There was no Indian breakfast option
Lakeshore had good rooms, lukewarm showers and made to order breakfast with Indian options. Breakfast took 30 mins to make. We got tasty aloo parathas, fruits and tea. Breakfast was not included in room rate, 400 NPR extra which seemed ok
Both hotels were close to Phewa Lake at good location
- Muktinath: Grand Shambala
One of the few options available for online booking in Muktinath. It was cheapest on booking.com, but we used Makemytrip linked to Smartbuy where the price was 1.5x of booking.com, just enough for Smartbuy to breakeven
Very good location, 5 min walk from entrance of the steps towards Muktinath temple. They offered large kind and single bed for 3 people at no extra cost although there was no option to select triple room during booking
One of the few hotels who offer heated floors, making it warm and comfortable inside. Hot water was a bit of problem- took too long and was luke warm only
Breakfast was made to order and came quickly since we placed order the previous night. Dinner had Indian options. We chose Nepali thali with rotis and prices seemed reasonable NPR 550 per person
- Kathmandu: Milestone Thamel
Location is not good, inside an alley which made our driver stop the vehicle afar from where we had to carry our bags
The room was nice, but bathroom was not. Refurbishment was evident, bathroom didn’t smell nice, water was lukewarm only in the showers
Breakfast rooftop location was nice, and they had many options including Indian, American, British. Breakfast came with juice and coffee
There was a kirana store opposite the hotel where we got yoghurt, coffee powder. The money exchange shop opposite the junction at the main road gave best rate in Thamel at 1.64 NPR to INR while exchanging extra NPR left (rest gave 1.65)
They arranged airport drop at 800 NPR which was reasonable, despite stating $15 on the sheet near the lift and $12 verbally wen we asked the previous night. Prepaid option from airport to hotel was 900 NPR at the airport
- Nagarkot: Peaceful Cottage and Café du Mont
The location is good to view the mountains from the restaurant, but the approach road was unpaved and muddy. Our driver made us walk for 2 mins with luggage since the car would slip on the slope
Rooms were spacious and clean. We had jungle facing room which was cheaper than mountain facing. Shower didn’t have warm water (not even lukewarm) despite explicit request and follow ups which was a pain in cold and rainy weather
Most hotels in Nagarkot don’t offer Indian options for breakfast. We had bread, potatoes and fruit.
Dinner was made to order- nice and tasty, but most expensive in Nepal since there are no other options nearby
- Janakpur: Mithila Yatri Niwas
Direct website had the best rates, but didn’t have triple room option
Surprisingly our worst stay in Nepal despite good rooms, mainly due to front desk staff. There was no option to choose triple occupancy on the website. When we enquired on whatsapp, they mentioned extra charges of INR 1500 for extra person and INR 500 for breakfast. We explicitly checked if 3 people can be accommodated if we upgraded to a suite which they agreed was ok, so we paid extra for the suite
During checkin, they tried selling a different triple occupancy room at 1.5x- 2x the price of original booking. When we disagreed, they agreed to honor the original booking at online rates, but insisted on charging extra for third person despite showing the message trail where their sales team had agreed on triple occupancy in suite. We agreed to pay more only for breakfast which was highlighted originally to us
They escalated to their manager who in turn tried to upsell by confusing us with NPR instead of INR. We decided not to budge to avoid confusion during checkout. They billed breakfast for 3rd person despite not having breakfast at their place justifying nightly billing and no reversal possible technically in their system
Constant haggling and upselling efforts in addition to resistance to listen to us to complete what we are trying to say left a sour taste. The final dialogue was also pay if you wish or walk away in a stern tone as if we are disagreeing with paying for services we have taken. This was the only place where we decided to pay only the room rate mentioned in the confirmation and walk away
The room was the only thing which was good- full marks to that. It was clean and had hot water. Toilet was after the bathroom which made entry and exit messy after the first person had a shower. There was no lift in the building.
Breakfast was decent (2 people out of 3 in our group tried it) with only one Indian option
The location is 6-7 mins away from Janaki mandir. The roads to the temple as shown on Google maps were unpaved in a poor income locality. We went at night and felt a bit uncomfortable
- Bodh Gaya: Fern Residency on Bonvoy redemption booking. We were charged INR 1k + taxes for extra bed. Our driver was given free accommodation, which was great
Rooms were slightly old-fashioned with refurbishments evident. Room and breakfast area had mosquitoes. They offred free breakfast although it was a redemption booking which was nice. Breakfast spread was decent with Indian and continental options, but cleanliness on cutlery was questionable.
Staff at front desk were not the best trained, given talent pool in small towns, rightly the lowest tier on Bonvoy rung
We had asked for twin beds, but were offered king bed during check in. When we insisted on twin beds, they showed us a room which was not cleaned and would take time for full cleaning. We decided to stick with original room. Extra bed took ages to be sent and set up. We felt bad for the staff here, they deserve lot more training and handholding
Redemption value was overpriced for location and service, but there are limited options at this price point in Bodh Gaya
- Patna: Gargee Grand
On a busy road near Gandhi Maidan. Rooms were clean and good. Service took time and follow ups but was good when delivered. We had to call thrice to get wifi OTP password and twice to get a faulty TV remote replaced. The good part is all the service existed and were delivered well finally
There were hotel options at INR 3k or 6k none in between in Patna. Reviews for 3k hotel were bad, so we decided to spend a little more and ensure family friendly hotel
Breakfast spread was vast. They upgraded our room, offered free cookies during check-in and check out
The rooms were spacious but looked slightly old-fashioned, with large archaic bathtub. The shower had water sprinkling in odd directions. They had extra sofa bed to accommodate third person in an adjacent room to the main one
Overall, a good option in Patna
How much does it cost
We spent INR 80k/ $800 per person for about 10 days
- Flights: INR 15k/ $150 Mangalore – Gorakhpur, Patna- Mangalore on Indigo
- Mountain flight: INR 11.3k/ $110. It was INR 8.3k few days ago before Iran war. We usually book early but had waited to book this since there is no surge pricing usually and wanted to see the weather before deciding on the day. There was a monthly revision just 2 days before we booked the flight- the price we paid for booking too late
- Tour: INR 27k/ $250. This included separate Nepali vehicle from Pokhara to Muktinath and return for 2 days which typically costs INR 20k/ $200. Indian vehicles are not allowed in Mustang
- Hotels: INR 15k/ $150
- Entry fee: INR 3k/ $30
- Food: INR 5k/ $50
- Others- Insurance, Phone roaming: INR 2k/ $20