14-Day Nepal Trek, Safari and Lakes Tour

14 Days from the Khumbu to Chitwan and Pokhara

Days 1 to 4 | Kathmandu and the Khumbu Approach

Arrive in Kathmandu and take the 35-minute mountain flight to Lukla the next morning. The trail follows the Dudh Koshi River north through magnolia, giant fir, and rhododendron forest, over suspension bridges hung with prayer flags. Namche Bazaar (3,440 meters) is the Sherpa capital of the region, the last large town before the high peaks, and the first place you can see Everest on a clear morning, from the ridge above town.

Days 5 to 8 | Thyangboche and the Return

The acclimatization day in Namche includes the walk to Khumjung, one of the oldest Sherpa villages in the Khumbu, whose monastery keeps the famous Yeti scalp. Then climb through black juniper and rhododendron forest to Thyangboche Monastery (3,860 meters), with Everest above the ridgeline, Ama Dablam to the southeast, and the Imja Khola valley below. Retrace the route through Namche and Phakding to Lukla for a farewell evening with the Sherpa team, and fly to Kathmandu the next morning.

Days 9 to 10 | Chitwan

Drive south into the Terai lowlands and Chitwan National Park: 952 square kilometers of subtropical forest, tall grass, and rivers, and one of the best wildlife sanctuaries in Asia. Take a jeep safari through the grasslands where one-horned rhinoceroses graze in the early morning, and a dugout canoe on the Rapti River past gharial crocodiles and marsh muggers. Royal Bengal tigers live in the park, but sightings are never guaranteed; the forest is thick enough to hide a tiger twenty meters away.

Days 11 to 12 | Pokhara

Drive west to Pokhara, where the Annapurna massif and Machhapuchhre are reflected in Phewa Lake on clear evenings. The early morning walk to Sarangkot for sunrise over the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri ranges is one of the best-known views in Nepal.

Days 13 to 14 | Nagarkot and Departure

Drive east to the hill resort of Nagarkot (2,175 meters) for a last-morning 360-degree panorama of the central Himalaya, from Manaslu in the west to Gauri Shankar in the east. Then return to Kathmandu for your international departure.

Day by Day

Day 1 Arrival in Kathmandu

Arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport, where we give you a traditional Sherpa welcome and take you to your hotel. The orientation covers the full itinerary, how we manage altitude in the Khumbu, what to expect at each stage, and what to have ready for tomorrow morning's Lukla flight. At 1,400 meters, Kathmandu is a useful night at modest altitude before the quick climb to Namche. Rest, eat well, and get to bed early.

Stay: Kathmandu Hotel

Days 2 to 4 Kathmandu to Namche Bazaar The Khumbu Begins

The Lukla flight leaves early. The 35-minute flight to Tenzing-Hillary Airport crosses the Himalayan foothills at low altitude, threading between ridges before the runway appears on a ledge above the valley: 527 meters of uphill slope ending at a stone wall, with a 600-meter drop off the departure end. You land, collect your gear, and start walking within the hour.

The trail drops from Lukla to the Dudh Koshi River at Phakding and follows it north. The forests here are among the best in the Khumbu: magnolia, giant fir, and rhododendron with trunks as wide as a person's armspan, their branches hung with old-man's-beard lichen. As the valley narrows, the trail crosses the river again and again on suspension bridges hung with prayer flags that snap in the valley wind. The last two hours to Namche climb over 600 meters to the rim of the natural amphitheater that holds the town. Most trekkers remember the first view of Namche from above, spread around the curve of the hillside with the ridges of Kongde Ri rising behind it.

Namche Bazaar, at 3,440 meters, is the Sherpa capital and the last hub before the high peaks. The acclimatization day takes in the village and the trail to Khumjung, an older, quieter Sherpa village above Namche whose monastery keeps what the local community presents as a Yeti scalp, brought here in the 1950s. On a clear morning the viewpoint above Namche shows Everest above the Lhotse-Nuptse wall, your first sure sighting of it on the route.

Stay: Best Available Mountain Lodges

Days 5 to 8 Thyangboche and the Return The Sacred Monastery

From Namche to Thyangboche the vegetation changes with the altitude. Blue pine and juniper give way to rhododendron as the path rises above 3,500 meters, the branches thick with moss and lichen. The Tengboche ridge comes into view well before the monastery does, with the clean profile of Ama Dablam filling the southeast sky above the valley. Thyangboche Monastery sits at 3,860 meters on the crest of the ridge, where the Imja Khola and Dudh Koshi valleys meet.

The monastery was founded in 1916 and rebuilt after a fire in 1989. It is still the most important Buddhist monastery in the Khumbu region, home of the annual Mani Rimdu festival and the spiritual center of Sherpa religious life. The 5-meter figure of Shakyamuni Buddha in the main prayer hall is one of the largest in the Khumbu. On a clear morning the monastery grounds look out on Everest (8,849 meters), Lhotse (8,516 meters), Nuptse (7,861 meters), and Ama Dablam (6,812 meters), all above the ridgeline at once. It is one of the best open views of the high Himalaya you can reach on foot without technical equipment.

Retrace the route through Namche and Phakding back to Lukla over two days. The farewell evening in Lukla with the Sherpa team is a real celebration: Lukla's small lodges have been the starting and finishing point for Himalayan expeditions since the airstrip was built in 1964, and the mood at the end of a good trek is warm. Fly back to Kathmandu in the morning and rest in the city in the afternoon.

Stay: Thyangboche Lodge then Mountain Lodges then Kathmandu Hotel

Days 9 to 10 Chitwan National Park Jungle Safari

Drive south from Kathmandu through the hills to the Terai, dropping from 1,400 meters to roughly 150 meters above sea level over five hours. The air warms as you go down, and the flat, subtropical plains feel like a different country from the alpine valley you left the day before. Chitwan National Park covers 952 square kilometers of riverine forest, tall grassland, and wetland along the Rapti and Narayani rivers. It holds one of the largest populations of the greater one-horned rhinoceros in Asia, along with Bengal tigers, leopards, sloth bears, gharial crocodiles, marsh mugger crocodiles, four species of deer, and over 500 recorded bird species.

The jeep safari goes out through the tall grass in the early morning, when rhinos are most active and the light is still low and golden. The one-horned rhino is a large animal, and adult males can weigh over 2,000 kilograms. The dugout canoe glides quietly down the Rapti River past the sandbanks where gharial crocodiles bask in the morning sun. The gharial is one of the most endangered crocodilians in the world, and the Rapti is one of the few rivers where it survives. Royal Bengal tigers live in the park. Sightings depend on the season, the part of the forest, and luck, and the forest is thick enough that a tiger can be twenty meters away and completely invisible.

Stay: Jungle Safari Resort, Sauraha

Day 11 Pokhara Lakeside Serenity

Drive west from Chitwan to Pokhara, about four hours on the highway that runs beside the Narayani River before climbing back into the Himalayan foothills. Pokhara sits at 800 meters beside Phewa Lake, with the Annapurna massif and Machhapuchhre rising directly above the water on clear days. The Fish Tail peak is sacred and has never been climbed by any recorded expedition, and its double summit reflected in the lake on a still evening is the image most people connect with Pokhara. Spend the afternoon on the lake: a rowing boat, the small Barahi Temple on its island, and the light changing on the water toward evening.

Stay: Pokhara Lakeside Hotel

Day 12 Sarangkot Sunrise and Pokhara

Get up before dawn for the walk to Sarangkot hill above Pokhara. The viewpoint looks northwest and north across the full Annapurna massif and west to Dhaulagiri at 8,167 meters, the world's seventh-highest peak. At sunrise on a clear morning the light reaches the upper faces of the mountains before the valley below, turning them from deep blue to orange to white over about twenty minutes. It is one of the best-known sunrise views in Nepal, and at around 1,600 meters the viewpoint is close enough to pick out individual ridges and faces on the peaks. The rest of the day is free in Pokhara.

Stay: Pokhara Lakeside Hotel

Days 13 to 14 Nagarkot and Departure The Final Panorama

Drive east from Pokhara toward Kathmandu and on past the capital to the hill resort of Nagarkot, at 2,175 meters on the eastern rim of the Kathmandu Valley. People come to Nagarkot for the view. On a clear morning the ridgeline to the north looks out on a 360-degree panorama that runs from Manaslu in the west to Gauri Shankar and the peaks above the Rolwaling Valley in the east, with Langtang, Dorje Lakpa, and Choba Bhamare in between and Everest at the eastern end of the arc. Few easy-to-reach viewpoints in Nepal show more of the central Himalayan range in a single sightline.

On the final morning, return to Kathmandu by way of Bhaktapur, the most intact of the medieval cities in the Kathmandu Valley, for a short stop before the transfer to Tribhuvan International Airport.

Stay: Nagarkot Resort then International Departure

The Sherpa Standard

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

Accommodation and Meals

• Kathmandu: 4 nights of hotel accommodation on a bed and breakfast basis.
• Mountain and Safari Lodges: 9 nights in lodges we choose ourselves: the best available teahouses in the Khumbu and a jungle resort in Chitwan.
• Full Board Trekking and Safari: All meals during the trekking and Chitwan sections: breakfast, lunch, and dinner throughout.
• Lukla Farewell: A farewell evening with the Sherpa team in Lukla on your last night in the mountains.

Leadership and Logistics

• Lead Guide: One English-speaking Sherpa trekking guide for the full 14 days.
• Sherpa Porters: Full porter team at a ratio of one porter per two guests for all heavy luggage on the trek.
• Altitude Monitoring: Continuous altitude monitoring through the Khumbu section, with the guide team managing acclimatization.

Transport and Logistics

• Internal Flights: Kathmandu to Lukla and return, for guests and the trekking guide.
• Private Transfers: All overland travel in private air-conditioned vehicles.
• Permits and Fees: Sagarmatha National Park and Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality entry permits, Chitwan National Park fees, and all sightseeing entrance fees covered.

What Is Not Included

• International airfare to and from Kathmandu
• Nepal entry visa fees
• Lunch and dinner while in Kathmandu
• Personal sleeping bags and specialized trekking clothing
• 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 Sherpa guides and porters
• Single supplement (for those taking a private room)

Five Highlights

Thyangboche and the Everest Panorama

From Thyangboche Monastery, at 3,860 meters, you see Everest (8,849 meters), Lhotse, Nuptse, and Ama Dablam all at once above the ridgeline, with the junction of two valleys below. The monastery has been the spiritual center of the Khumbu since 1916. Its grounds have one of the best views of the high Himalaya you can reach on foot without technical climbing.

Chitwan and the One-Horned Rhino

The greater one-horned rhinoceros can weigh over 2,000 kilograms and was once hunted almost to extinction across the subcontinent. Chitwan National Park holds one of the last healthy populations in Asia. An early-morning jeep safari takes you through the tall grass where they live. Royal Bengal tigers also live in the park; seeing one depends on the forest, the season, and the luck of the morning.

Sarangkot at Sunrise

From the viewpoint above Pokhara, the Annapurna massif and Dhaulagiri fill the northern horizon at dawn, turning orange and then white as the sun clears the ridges behind you. At around 1,600 meters, the viewpoint is high enough that you can pick out individual ridgelines on the upper faces of the peaks. It is one of the best-known sunrise views in Nepal.

Nagarkot and the Central Himalayan Arc

The ridge at Nagarkot, at 2,175 meters, looks out on a panorama that runs from Manaslu in the west to Gauri Shankar and the Rolwaling peaks in the east, with Langtang, Dorje Lakpa, and Everest along the arc. It takes in the whole central Himalayan range in one sightline. On a clear morning it is one of the widest views of the Himalaya you can get from any easy-to-reach point near Kathmandu.

The Khumbu Ecology

Between Lukla and Thyangboche the forest changes as you climb: magnolia and giant fir in the lower valley, blue pine and juniper above Namche, then rhododendron and moss-draped birch on the approach to the monastery. The Khumbu forest is protected within Sagarmatha National Park and is among the most intact high-altitude forest in the Himalayan region. The suspension bridges, the mani stone walls carved with centuries of prayers, and the smell of juniper smoke from the lodges along the trail are easy to miss on the way up and easy to notice on the way down.