13-Day Langtang Valley Trek Nepal

13 Days in the Langtang Valley

Days 1 to 2  |  Kathmandu

Arrive in Kathmandu and spend two full days in the valley: Swayambhunath, Pashupatinath, Boudhanath, the Durbar Squares, and the medieval town of Kirtipur, a good cultural grounding before the mountains.

Days 3 to 6  |  The Forest Ascent

Drive north through the Trisuli Valley to Dhunche, the last town before the Langtang National Park boundary. The trek drops to the Trisuli River, then climbs through dense bamboo and oak forest into the park, over suspension bridges above fast-moving rivers and past the water-driven prayer wheels that mark your entry into the Tamang and Tibetan Buddhist world of the upper valley. Watch for yellow-throated martens in the oak canopy, langur monkeys at the forest edges, and, with luck, a red panda in the bamboo thickets above the trail.

Days 7 to 8  |  Kyanjin Gompa

Reach Kyanjin Gompa at 3,870 meters, the last permanent settlement in the Langtang Valley and the monastery community at the heart of the trek. The monastery dates to about 1300 AD, and the cheese factory beside it has made hard mountain cheese from yak milk since the 1950s. An optional full-day climb of Tserko Ri, at 5,000 meters, gives you a 360-degree view of Langtang Lirung, Ganchhenpo, and the Langshisha range, with the Lirung Glacier spread below.

Days 9 to 11  |  The Descent

Retrace the valley trail through the forest to Syabru Besi and Dhunche. Going downhill, the views face the other way, the afternoon light falls differently, and the forest you climbed through with effort on the way up is easier to see properly.

Days 12 to 13  |  Kathmandu and Departure

Drive back to Kathmandu. The last day is for the medieval cities of Patan and Bhaktapur, the Thamel market, and a final dinner. International departure on Day 13 or the morning after.

Day by Day

Days 1 to 2  Kathmandu  Ancient Traditions and the Briefing

Arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport, where we meet you with a traditional Sherpa welcome and take you to your hotel. The pre-trek briefing covers the route, the altitude gain, the gear you need, and how to prepare for the Langtang Valley in particular. Two days in the Kathmandu Valley follow.

Swayambhunath stands on its hilltop above the city, the stupa's painted eyes looking out over the valley in all four directions. Pashupatinath, on the Bagmati River, is the most sacred Hindu site in Nepal, and its cremation ghats have been in use on the same riverbank for centuries. Boudhanath, the great stupa at the center of Nepal's Tibetan Buddhist community, is ringed with prayer wheels that pilgrims spin as they walk around the base. Patan Durbar Square has medieval Newari palace courtyards, bronze statues, and one of the finest collections of traditional Newari architecture in the valley. The historic town of Kirtipur, on a ridge southwest of Kathmandu, has kept much of its medieval character.

Stay: Kathmandu Hotel

Days 3 to 6  Dhunche to Langtang Village  The Forest Ascent

Drive north from Kathmandu through the Trisuli Valley, below the peaks of the Ganesh Himal, as the road climbs through the middle hills to the Langtang National Park boundary at Dhunche, about 120 km and a day's drive from the capital. Dhunche, at approximately 2,030 meters, is the administrative center of the Rasuwa district and the last town before the forest and the high valley.

From Dhunche the trek drops to the Trisuli River and then climbs straight into Langtang National Park through dense bamboo and oak forest. This is one of the richest wildlife habitats in the Himalayan region: the park, established in 1976, has snow leopard, red panda, yellow-throated marten, Himalayan black bear, langur monkey, and over 250 species of birds. The red panda is the animal most people hope to see and the hardest to spot; it forages in the bamboo thickets in the early morning and at dusk. Along the trail, water-driven prayer wheels sit over the streams, kept turning by the same water that fed them when the first Tamang families settled the valley.

The suspension bridges over the torrents coming off the valley walls are long and swaying, hung with prayer flags, with the river loud far below the deck. The trail climbs steadily through the forest over three to four days, gaining height in the oak and rhododendron above Lama Hotel, and reaches Langtang Village at approximately 3,430 meters. Langtang Village was largely destroyed in the 2015 earthquake, and the community has rebuilt it in the years since.

Stay: Best Available Mountain Lodges

Days 7 to 8  Kyanjin Gompa  The Valley of Glaciers

The climb from Langtang Village to Kyanjin Gompa at 3,870 meters passes huge mani walls, stones carved over generations with the Buddhist mantra Om Mani Padme Hum and stacked along the trail for hundreds of meters. The mani walls in Langtang are among the largest in Nepal, a record of the devotion and labor of the Tamang community over many generations. The monastery at Kyanjin Gompa was founded around 1300 AD, which makes it one of the oldest continuously active monastic sites in the Langtang region, and its monks keep a daily routine that has changed little since then.

The cheese factory beside the monastery has made hard mountain cheese from local yak milk since the 1950s, when it was set up with Swiss technical help as a development project. It is one of the few places in Nepal where high-altitude dairy farming has become a steady supply of a single product, eaten on the spot by trekkers and local people alike. The cheese and the curd are good, and eating them with peaks on all four sides makes them better.

On the second day at Kyanjin Gompa, the optional climb of Tserko Ri gains over 1,200 meters from the lodge to the summit at 5,000 meters and gives one of the best panoramas in the Langtang region. Langtang Lirung (7,227 meters) fills the view to the northwest, with the Lirung Glacier coming down its flanks into the valley. Ganchhenpo, Langshisha Ri, and the eastern peaks of the Langshisha range complete the arc, the Ganesh Himal is visible to the west, and the valley below looks small and far away.

Stay: Kyanjin Gompa Lodge

Days 9 to 11  The Descent  Kyanjin to Dhunche

The return trail retraces the route up through Langtang Village and the forest to Syabru Besi and Dhunche. Coming down through the Langtang forest over two days is different from the climb: the light comes from another angle, the views face the other way, and with less effort needed you notice other things, like the prayer wheels, the suspension bridges, and the oak forest at middle altitude in the late afternoon.

Stay: Mountain Lodges en Route

Days 12 to 13  Return to Kathmandu

Drive from Dhunche back to Kathmandu through the Trisuli Valley. Use the last day in the capital for the medieval cities of Patan and Bhaktapur, both Durbar Square UNESCO sites within easy reach of Kathmandu. Patan has a dense cluster of Newari temples and the Patan Museum, one of the finest collections of Himalayan art and metalwork in the country. Bhaktapur has its 55-window palace and the pottery square, where traditional wheel-thrown pots are still made and dried on the street beside the kilns. Spend your last evening in Thamel. International departure is on the morning of Day 13 or the following day.

Stay: Kathmandu Hotel then International Departure

The Sherpa Standard

Every SherpaHolidays trip is fully supported. Here is what that means on this one.

Accommodation and Meals

• Kathmandu: Hotel at the start and end of the trip.
• Mountain Lodges: 8 nights in lodges and guesthouses in the Langtang Valley.
• Full Board on Trek: All meals on the trek: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
• City Breakfasts: Hearty breakfasts during your Kathmandu stays.

Leadership and Logistics

• Lead Guide: A dedicated English-speaking Sherpa trekking guide with specialist knowledge of the Langtang Valley, its ecology, and its Tamang and Tibetan Buddhist traditions.
• Sherpa Support Team: A full team of local porters to carry all luggage throughout the trek.
• Cultural Briefings: An in-depth introduction to the Tamang and Sherpa traditions and the history of the valley.

Transport and Logistics

• Private Transfers: All airport pickups and drop-offs, and transfers within Kathmandu.
• Dhunche Drive: Private coach between Kathmandu and Dhunche in both directions.
• Permits and Fees: Langtang National Park entry permits and all trekking registrations, fully arranged.

What Is Not Included

• International airfare to and from Kathmandu
• Nepal entry visa fees
• Lunch and dinner while in Kathmandu
• Specialized trekking clothing, boots, and personal medications
• Comprehensive travel insurance, which is a condition of every booking. Your policy must cover emergency medical treatment, emergency evacuation, trip cancellation and interruption, and repatriation. We can recommend providers.
• Tips for guides and porters
• Single supplement (for those taking a private room)

Five Highlights

Kyanjin Gompa: Monastery and Cheese Factory

The monastery at Kyanjin Gompa was founded around 1300 AD, seven centuries before the first trekking groups reached the valley, and its monks still perform the same daily rituals in the same building, on the same schedule as always. The cheese factory beside it has made hard yak-milk cheese since the 1950s. A 700-year-old monastery and a mid-century Swiss-assisted dairy project in the same courtyard at 3,870 meters, with glaciers on three sides, make this one of the more unusual places in Nepal to spend a morning.

Tserko Ri at 5,000 Meters

The optional climb above Kyanjin Gompa gains over 1,200 meters from the lodge in a single day and reaches a viewpoint with Langtang Lirung (7,227 meters) to the northwest, the Lirung Glacier below it, Ganchhenpo and the Langshisha range to the east, and the Ganesh Himal to the west. The valley far below looks small. Up here it is easy to see why the Tamang people, who have lived in the valley for centuries, hold this landscape sacred.

The Forest and the Red Panda

Langtang National Park protects some of the richest wildlife habitat in the central Himalaya: snow leopard, Himalayan black bear, yellow-throated marten, langur monkey, and the red panda, one of the most endangered mammals in Asia. The bamboo thickets and oak forest of the lower valley are the habitat the red panda needs, and a quiet walk through the forest early in the morning gives you the best chance of seeing one. Sightings are never guaranteed, but the forest is worth the walk either way.

The Mani Walls of the Upper Valley

The mani walls along the trail to Kyanjin Gompa are among the largest in Nepal: stones carved over generations with the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum in Tibetan script, stacked several meters high, and running beside the trail for hundreds of meters at a time. They are a record of the devotion and labor of Tamang communities over many lifetimes.

Close to Kathmandu, Without the Crowds

Langtang is the closest major trekking region to Kathmandu and one of the least visited. The trailhead at Dhunche is about 120 km from the capital, a day's drive. With far less traffic than the Annapurna and Everest circuits, the lodges are quieter, the trails are emptier in the early morning, and you meet the Tamang communities of the valley directly, without a large tourist industry in between.