Two weeks is the sweet spot for Nepal: enough time for the three experiences the country does better than anywhere else, living medieval culture, Himalayan trekking and jungle wildlife, without the trip turning into a logistics race. This route is the proven version: three nights in the Kathmandu Valley, a four-day trek to Poon Hill, two days to recover in Pokhara, two nights of safari in Chitwan, and a buffer day at the end. It names where to sleep on each leg, because a fortnight is long enough to get the hotels wrong twice.
Overview
| Days | Base | What |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | Kathmandu | Valley UNESCO sites, Bhaktapur |
| 4 | Pokhara | Travel, Lakeside |
| 5 to 8 | Annapurna foothills | Poon Hill trek, four days |
| 9 to 10 | Pokhara | Recover, Sarangkot, adventure day |
| 11 to 12 | Chitwan | Jungle safari, Tharu culture |
| 13 to 14 | Kathmandu | Return, Patan, departure buffer |
Where to sleep
| Nights | Area | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | Lazimpat or Thamel | Garden calm or walk-to-everything; both reach the sights |
| 4 | Lakeside Centre, Pokhara | Agency pickups and gear on foot; leave the big bag here |
| 5 to 7 | Trail lodges: Ulleri, Ghorepani, Tadapani | Twin rooms, shared bathrooms, the best lodges on any short trek |
| 8 to 10 | Lakeside, Pokhara | Hot shower, pool, sleep |
| 11 to 12 | Sauraha or Meghauli, Chitwan | Lodge packages include the safari |
| 13 | Patan or Kathmandu | Last afternoon in the artisans' city |
Area-by-area detail is in where to stay in Kathmandu and where to stay in Pokhara.
Days 1 to 3: The Kathmandu Valley
Follow the city days from our 7-day itinerary: Boudhanath and Pashupatinath, Kathmandu Durbar Square and Thamel, and a full day in medieval Bhaktapur. Use day 1 lightly; you want energy banked for the trek. While in Kathmandu, collect your trekking permits (ACAP and TIMS, one office visit, see the permits guide) or have your agency handle them, and rent anything the packing list says you lack; Thamel rents sleeping bags and down jackets by the day.
With three nights and a trek ahead, Lazimpat's garden hotels are the better sleep, fifteen minutes on foot from Thamel's agencies.
Day 4: To Pokhara
Fly (25 minutes, about USD 100 to 130, sit on the right) or take the tourist bus (six to eight hours along the Trishuli valley, USD 10 to 25 depending on the bus). Afternoon on Phewa Lake, early dinner, pack a small trekking bag and leave the rest at your hotel; every Lakeside hotel stores luggage free. Confirm the pickup time with your guide tonight.
Days 5 to 8: The Poon Hill trek
The classic short trek, and the best effort-to-reward ratio in the Himalaya. The four-day loop via Ghandruk is the version here; the three-day out-and-back saves a day and loses the best village.
Day 5: Drive to Nayapul and Birethanti (90 minutes), trek to Tikhedhunga or Ulleri; the famous 3,000-odd stone steps begin here. Four to five hours.
Day 6: Climb through oak and rhododendron forest to Ghorepani (2,860 m). In spring the hillside blooms red. Five to six hours.
Day 7: Pre-dawn climb to Poon Hill (3,210 m) for sunrise over Dhaulagiri, Annapurna I and Machhapuchhre, one of the great mountain panoramas, earned with 45 minutes of walking. Descend for breakfast and continue along the ridge to Tadapani. Six to seven hours.
Day 8: Descend through forest and terraced villages to Ghandruk, the large Gurung village with its stone lanes and museum, then drive back to Pokhara. Four to five hours walking.
The last mountain morning of the trek: the range above the Ghandruk ridges before the descent to the road
Maximum altitude stays barely above 3,200 metres, so altitude sickness risk is minimal; this is the trek to choose if it is your first. Lodges have hot showers, bakeries and charging for a fee; rooms cost a few dollars and food USD 25 to 35 a day. A licensed guide is required for independent trekkers in the Annapurna area and costs USD 25 to 35 a day; how packages compare with hiring one yourself is in how to book a trek, and the full route tables are in the Poon Hill guide.
Days 9 to 10: Pokhara
Day 9 is deliberately empty: sleep, eat, get a massage, sit by the lake. Trekking legs appreciate it more than another activity. Day 10: Sarangkot sunrise, then paragliding, the World Peace Pagoda hike or the International Mountain Museum. The full list is in things to do in Pokhara. The first night back is about a hot shower that works, a bed you trust and a breakfast you do not have to think about, which is what the chain hotels are for.
Days 11 to 12: Chitwan National Park
The tourist bus to Sauraha takes four to five hours. Chitwan is a different Nepal: subtropical, flat, slow rivers and sal forest sheltering one-horned rhinos, gharial crocodiles, more than 500 bird species and a healthy tiger population (seen rarely, tracked often). A standard two-night package includes a jeep safari deep into the park, a dawn canoe drift past basking crocodiles, a guided jungle walk and a Tharu cultural performance. Rhino sightings are near-certain; everything else is a lottery that keeps the jeep quiet.
Stay in Sauraha for the village, the budget resorts with pools and the walk to the river, or on the Meghauli side for the lodges that face the park across the Rapti and cost several times as much. The Chitwan guide and Chitwan vs Bardia cover both.
The near-certain sighting: a one-horned rhino grazing by the Narayani in Chitwan
Days 13 to 14: Back to Kathmandu
The drive back takes five to six hours, or fly from Bharatpur in 25 minutes. Spend your final afternoon in Patan, the third royal city, with the valley's finest museum and lanes of metalwork workshops, then give the last morning to souvenir shopping in Thamel before the airport. Day 14 doubles as your weather buffer: never stack a long Nepal road journey directly against an international departure.
Budget snapshot
- Backpacker: about USD 650 to 900 per person (buses everywhere, basic teahouses and guesthouses).
- Mid-range: about USD 1,200 to 1,800 per person (one or two flights, three-star hotels, guided trek, good safari lodge).
- Comfort: USD 2,500 and up (all flights, boutique hotels, private guide and driver).
Full daily breakdown in the Nepal travel budget guide, and gear in the packing list. Only have ten days? The 10-day itinerary keeps the trek and the safari by trimming the valley days. Only a week? The 7-day itinerary drops the trek and the jungle for the two cities done properly.
