The Himalaya and Everest, legendary treks, temples and monasteries: Nepal is the roof of the world and a spiritual destination.
Nepal is the roof of the world: a small country wedged between India and Tibet where eight of the fourteen highest mountains on the planet stand, with Everest at their head. It is the trekking destination par excellence, but also a deeply spiritual place, with Hindu temples and Buddhist monasteries side by side, prayer flags in the wind and a human warmth that wins people over. It is an adventure on another scale: cheap, intense and transformative.
Geographically it runs from the subtropical lowlands of the Terai in the south to the Himalaya in the north, by way of the middle valleys where the cities are. The classic circuit combines Kathmandu (chaotic, with its Durbar squares and thousand-year-old stupas), Pokhara (the relaxed lakeside city and base for the Annapurna treks), Chitwan national park for rhinos and tigers, and then almost everyone's great objective: a trek in the Himalaya, whether to Everest base camp, in the Annapurnas or in quieter areas.
What surprises most is how much you can experience for how little: Nepal is among the cheapest countries in the world to travel, and a two-week walk among giant mountains, sleeping in teahouses and eating dal bhat, costs a fraction of what it would elsewhere. The best of it is that unique mix of mountain adventure and spiritual calm.
The local currency is the Nepalese rupee (NPR), usually pegged to the Indian rupee. Carry cash, because outside Kathmandu and Pokhara ATMs and card payment are scarce; change at official offices, keep the receipts and tell your bank before travelling. Note: the Nepalese rupee cannot be exchanged outside the country, so spend or convert whatever you have left before you leave.
Full converter for NPR →The gateway is Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu (KTM), almost always with a connection in the Middle East (Doha, Dubai, Istanbul), India or Southeast Asia; you can also enter overland from India or Tibet. To travel within the country there are the tourist buses (Kathmandu-Pokhara-Chitwan) and the spectacular mountain flights to airstrips like Lukla, the gateway to Everest. Almost all treks require permits: the TIMS card and, depending on the area, the ACAP for Annapurna or the Sagarmatha park permit for Everest, obtained in Kathmandu or Pokhara.
The two best windows, above all for trekking, are autumn (October and November) and spring (March to May). Autumn is the star season: after the monsoon the air is clean, the skies clear and the mountain views sharp, with pleasant temperatures; it is the peak of trekkers on the Everest and Annapurna routes. Spring is the second best, a little warmer and with the rhododendrons in flower colouring the slopes, though with a little more haze.
Summer (June to September) brings the monsoon: heavy rain, leeches on the trails, cloud covering the mountains and flights to Lukla frequently cancelled; except for rain-shadow areas like Mustang or Dolpo, it is not a good time for trekking. Winter (December to February) is dry with clear skies but very cold at altitude, with snow closing the high passes; it works for lower treks and for the cities. If your aim is the mountains, aim for October-November or April.
The national dish is dal bhat: rice with lentil soup, curried vegetables and pickles, served on a tray and — crucially for the trekker — with unlimited free refills ('dal bhat power, 24 hour', as the local saying goes). It is the food that sustains anyone walking in the mountains. The other essentials are momos (steamed or fried dumplings of Tibetan origin), thukpa (noodle soups), chow mein and, to go with it, chai, tea with milk and spices. The cooking reflects the Indian and Tibetan mix.
Eating is extremely cheap: a full dal bhat at a local place or teahouse costs between USD 2.50 and 8 depending on whether you are in the city or at altitude, where everything rises because it is carried up by mule or porter, and a plate of momos barely a couple of dollars, verified July 2026. One important health tip: on the trek, vegetarian dal bhat is the safest bet, because meat is carried up without refrigeration; and always drink purified or boiled water. Tipping is not obligatory but is appreciated by guides and porters.
Nepal is a safe country as regards crime: people are very friendly and the risk of violent theft against tourists is low, though the usual care with belongings applies in the chaos of Thamel and on the buses. The real risks are of another kind: altitude sickness (the great danger of trekking, which can be serious if you do not ascend slowly and acclimatise properly), the winding mountain roads with aggressive driving, and the domestic flights to airstrips like Lukla, which are at the mercy of the weather. For any trek, hiring a registered guide adds a great deal of safety.
On health, Nepal requires precautions: tap water is not drinkable (always purify, boil or use tablets, including in the mountains), and you should see a travel medicine clinic before you go; hepatitis A and typhoid are usually recommended, tetanus up to date, and depending on the area, care over dengue in the Terai. For high-altitude trekking, read up properly on acute mountain sickness and consider carrying acetazolamide (Diamox) on medical advice. Travel insurance covering high-altitude helicopter rescue is essential. Emergencies: 100 police, 102 ambulance, and 1144 for the tourist police, verified July 2026.
Nepal is one of the cheapest destinations in the world to travel. In the cities, a backpacker day — guesthouse, dal bhat and momos, local transport — comes in at USD 18 to 30; a mid-range trip runs USD 35 to 50 a day, verified July 2026. Trekking changes the equation a little because it adds permits and, if you hire them, a guide and porter.
Concrete references, July 2026: a guesthouse room or hostel bed in Kathmandu or Pokhara costs USD 5 to 12; a dal bhat USD 2.50 to 8 depending on altitude; and on the trek, accommodation and food in teahouses run USD 25 to 40 a day. The permits are separate: the TIMS card is around USD 15 to 17 and the Annapurna ACAP permit USD 22 to 25, higher for non-regional foreigners. The visa on arrival is paid in cash: USD 30 for 15 days, 50 for 30 days and 125 for 90 days. A guide costs USD 25 to 35 a day and a porter a little less; hiring them is cheap and highly recommended.
Nepali is the official language, but English is widely spoken in tourism, on the treks and in the cities, so you will manage comfortably. Nepal is deeply religious — Hinduism and Buddhism intertwined — and it is worth respecting the etiquette: take your shoes off entering temples and homes, walk around stupas and prayer wheels clockwise, ask permission before photographing people or ceremonies, and dress modestly at sacred sites. The traditional greeting is 'namaste' with the palms together.
The plug is type C, D and M, all round pins, and the voltage is 230 V, so European devices work directly while North American ones may need a converter; a universal adapter is worth carrying. Watch for power cuts, which have improved but still happen, so a power bank is gold on the trek. For internet, a local SIM (Ncell or Nepal Telecom) is cheap in Kathmandu, though at altitude the signal disappears; there is wifi in many teahouses but it is slow and sometimes charged for. Two pieces of advice from having been there: carry cash in rupees, because outside the two big cities there are no ATMs and no card payment; and keep clean US dollar notes to pay the visa on arrival.
Wedged between Asia's two great powers, India and China, Nepal occupies a strip of the Himalayas where, in barely 200 kilometres from north to south, the land leaps from the tropical plain of the Terai, less than a hundred metres above sea level, to the summit of Everest, the highest point on the planet. In this fold of the world one of humanity's great spiritual teachers was born, cities of pagodas carved in wood and bronze rose up, and a small mountain kingdom achieved something almost no one else in the region did: it was never anyone's colony.
The history of Nepal is the story of dozens of kingdoms that shared the valleys and hills for centuries, until in the 18th century a king from Gorkha united them, through bloodshed and strategy, into a single country. Then came a century of kings turned into puppets of a dynasty of prime ministers, a war against the British Empire that gave rise to the legend of the Gurkhas, a Maoist revolution that left tens of thousands dead, the fall of a 240-year-old monarchy and an earthquake that brought down much of its heritage in a single minute. This is that long history, told with names, dates and figures.
Read the full history of Nepal →Pick a region and open each destination to see what to do, prices and how to get there.
These are the sources we cite most across this country's guides, with how many times each appears. Hard data —tickets, opening hours, requirements, transport— comes from the official source and carries the date we checked it. Restaurant and hotel picks come from guides and reviews, and we say so on each page.
