8-Day Nepal Highlights Tour from Kathmandu with Pokhara and Bandipur

• You will be picked up by your guide from Kathmandu International Airport and driven to your hotel for check-in.

• In the late afternoon, visit Kathmandu Durbar Square and stroll towards Thamel via Indrachowk and Ashan, where you will see the ancient houses and streets.

• In the evening, enjoy a welcome dinner along with a traditional cultural show.

Stay the night at the hotel in Kathmandu.

• After breakfast, drive to Bhaktapur and visit Datraya Temple Durbar Square, followed by visits to the Golden Gate, Nyatapole, and the 55 Windows Palace.

• Drive for an hour towards Namobuddha Monastery. Along the way, you can stop around scenic Dhulikhel.

• Explore the monastery for about 30 minutes.

Stay the night at Namobuddha Resort.

• In the morning, enjoy breakfast while watching the sunrise. Then hike to Balthali village (1650 m). At the beginning, descend slightly towards Namobuddha to reach Eklekhet, which offers a bird's-eye view of the green terraced fields and a glimpse of the mighty Himalayas. The gentle hike via Eklekhet takes about 3 hours over 5 km.

• Continue further until you reach the Roshi Khola Bridge, then follow the same trail for an hour to reach Balthali Village. Walk through the village, interact with the locals, and observe their traditions.

• In the afternoon, take a rest or go out to explore the nearby villages.

Stay the night at Balthali Village Resort.

• After breakfast, drive from Balthali to Bandipur (185 km / 6 hrs).

• Along the way, you can stop at different scenic spots. Bandipur is a living museum with a beautifully preserved village. Its winding narrow lanes are lined with tall 18th-century mansions, and the grand neoclassical facades and shuttered windows speak of its past glories. Cafes, lodges, and shops have been reborn from these derelict buildings. Here, you will notice the absence of motorized vehicles, children playing blissfully, and unhurried locals shopping, chatting, and drinking, giving you peace of mind.

• Stroll through the village, relax, and watch daily life unfold from your hotel room or veranda. If the weather is clear, walk a short distance to the hilltop, or you can do that the next day.

Stay the night at Gaunghar, Bandipur.

• In the morning, explore Bandipur village, including the Bandipur hilltop viewpoint, which takes about 30 minutes to reach. Then explore a typical village in Bandipur for about 2 hours.

• Drive from Bandipur to Sarangkot (1650 m) via Prithvi Highway and Pokhara city. On the way, you will explore the different landscapes and scenic spots of Nepali villages.

• Enjoy the sunset view from Sarangkot. You can observe splendid, picture-perfect scenery of beautiful green hills, rice terraces, and the breathtaking Pokhara Valley, surrounded by lakes.

• In the evening, you can rest and enjoy the views, or if you are looking for adventure, Sarangkot is a launching pad for paragliding, exhilarating zipline launches, bungee jumping, and reasonably priced micro ultralight flights around the Pokhara Valley.

Stay the night at Himalayan Front Hotel, Sarangkot.

• Enjoy breakfast with a mountain view. Later, walk down for about 2 hours towards the Phewa lakeside in Pokhara via Methlang village and other villages.

• Enjoy a ride on one of the brightly painted boats and visit the Barahi Island Temple. Phewa Tal is the focal point for visitors in Pokhara and is the second-largest lake in Nepal. On a clear day, the Annapurna mountains are perfectly reflected on its mirror-like surface. There are seven other smaller lakes in Pokhara. Stroll through Pokhara lakeside and browse the souvenir shops or check out the lakeside cafes.

• Walk uphill for an hour to Shanti Stupa, a world-famous pagoda on top of Ananda Hill overlooking Pokhara.

• Drive back to your hotel in Sarangkot and stay the night at Himalayan Front Hotel.

• After breakfast, transfer to the domestic airport for your flight back to Kathmandu, which takes about 20 minutes.

• Upon arrival, meet your guide and transfer to the hotel.

• This afternoon, visit Patan Durbar Square and Swayambhunath Stupa. In Patan, you will see the royal palaces and Durbar Square, Krishna Temple, Taleju Temple, Patan Museum, and Golden Temple. Learn about their beautiful wooden carvings and metal art, architecture, iconography, and historical development during the medieval period.

• Then drive to Swayambhunath Stupa, located on a hilltop from where you will see a bird's-eye view of the entire Kathmandu Valley. Swayambhu, meaning 'the self-existent', is popular among foreigners as the Monkey Temple, owing to the large monkey population residing in this area. It is said that Swayambhunath Stupa is more than 2,000 years old and is an important Buddhist pilgrimage place visited by pilgrims from all over the world. The painted eyes on all four sides symbolize the all-seeing power of Buddha.

Stay the night at Hotel Shambala or a similar category hotel in Kathmandu.

• Leave for Kathmandu Airport for departure.