Hikes Around Kathmandu

Hikes around Kathmandu Valley

Kathmandu valley is one of the best places to go for a hike. Hiking around the hills of Kathmandu valley offers you the opportunity to explore Nepalese lifestyle, culture and its natural beauty from the hilltops that surround this bowl-shaped city. You can explore the pristine beauty of nature, sky touching Himalayas, lush green hills, wild life and birds, which are all major attractions of hiking around Kathmandu. The hills surrounding Kathmandu valley are accessible after maximum of two-hour drive from any part of the city.

Usually day trips, these hikes can be the best option to enjoy Nepal’s natural beauty, especially if you do not have enough time for a multiple days adventure in the Himalayas. The trips involve 4-6 hours of walk in one of the lush green hills of Kathmandu. Starting from about 1350 meters from sea level you can go as high as 2750m in 4 hours and enjoy the panoramic view of the valley and beyond, including high mountains such as Mount Everest.

Panauti Namobuddha Day Hike

• Hike to the Traditional town.
• Visit the peaceful Monastery.
• Visit and explore Panauti village.
• Hiking trail passing through forests.

Panauti Namobuddha day hike is a holy site for the Buddhist and located at Panauti. It is a beautiful town situated at Kavre District and lies to the southeast side of Kathmandu District. It is about an hour drive on a local bus. Even though being very close to the capital city, the people here in Panauti have been able to protect their traditional culture here. If you visit Panauti, you will get to observe that people here are still living a typically traditional lifestyle. Mostly the people of Newar community reside in this area since the ancestral time. Apart from that, there are other community people like Tamang, Magar and few Aryan communities as well. People mostly cultivate potatoes, corn, and soybean in this locality. People make a special type of liquor at their house. If you want to try the homemade liquor then, you can try it. Mostly, the Tamang people make it.

The most unique thing about this town is that people strongly believe the town stands on one single rock and thus, is not affected even when there was the occurrence of a disaster like an earthquake.

People here have preserved the culture and tradition in a very sensitive way. In every 12 years, there occurs Fair (Nepali word Mela). This happens in the temple and the devotees from almost every part come here. They take a bath in the river, which flows in between the temple. All in all, Panauti is a very beautiful place to visit and look at the culture as well.

Namo Buddha, the name itself says that there must be something related to Lord Buddha. And, certainly, there is, a well preserved and beautiful Monastery situated on the top of the hill. The monastery area is such a peaceful area that, you even feel the positive vibes flowing all around the monastery area. The monks here pray and chant Mantras and devote themselves fully. It feels so reviving to see the monks. If you listen carefully through your soul then, you might get some kind of spark hit on your head. It fulfills the empty soul. Thus, most people love to visit Namo Buddha.

Trip Outline

• Pick-up from Hotel after breakfast
• Drive to Panauti
• Hike starts from Panauti
• Reach Namo Buddha
• Spend some time and Drive back to Kathmandu

What's included?

• Transfer by private vehicle (Kathmandu- Panauti)
• Transfer (Namo Buddha- Kathmandu)
• Lunch during Hike

What's not included?

• All personal expense (like phone bills, beverage, etc.)
• Hiking materials (if any)

Detail itinerary

Day 1: Panauti to Namo Buddha Hike 

You will be picked and driven to Panauti after your breakfast at Hotel. It will take about an hour to reach Panauti. After you reach there, you start your hike towards Namo Buddha. On the way, you will get to see traditional villages, beautiful temples, meet local people, and enjoy amazing landscapes, scenic views, trail passing through the forest, and many more. It will take about 4 to 5 hours to reach Namo Buddha.

After you reach Namo Buddha, you are not allowed to make noise in the area. It is a monastery where the Buddhists monks pray. It is a very holy place, especially for Buddhists. You can click photos outside the monastery area but are not allowed to take cameras inside the monastery. After spending a few moments in this beautiful and peaceful monastery, you now take the route back to Panauti. Our vehicle will drive you back to Kathmandu and drop you at your hotel.

Shivapuri & Nagi Gumba day hike

• Budhanilkantha Temple.
• Shivapuri conservation area.
• Monastery.
• More than 500 species of vegetation.

Shivapuri is situated at an altitude of the 2563m north of Kathmandu is second highest hill around Kathmandu valley, after the famous Phulchowki hill. Bagdwar, source of Holy River Bagmati, is located in this hill and is the biggest water supply to the Kathmandu valley. We drive for about 45 minutes to Budhanilkantha Temple, one of the temples with the biggest statue of Lord Vishnu sleeping in the pond bed which lies 8 km north of Kathmandu. From Budhanilkantha, we walk through Shivapuri conservation area. This is the Government protected forest where over 500 species of vegetation are found. We start our Shivapuri & Nagi Gumba day hike from the southern boundary of the area where the army check post is located.

Nagi Gumpa situated at an altitude of 2330m north of Kathmandu is the only Monastery for the Nuns where about 200 Nuns practice Buddhism and foreigners often come there for meditation.

It is a steep uphill hike through the narrow and dusty trail for about half an hour and two hours gradual uphill trail to Shivapuri.

After lunch and strolling around for sometimes, we take a shortcut downhill trail to Budhanilkantha for about one and half hours and drive back to Kathmandu.

Day Hike Kakani to Bhanjayang

• Oak, rhododendron and pine forest.

This is an interesting one day hike through oak, rhododendron and pine forest.

Hike to Kakani & Bhanjayang starts with a drive to Kakani (2073m). It is an hour’s drive 35 km north west of Kathmandu. From Kakani, the trail leads towards the east with the graveled motorable road. The trail is almost flat and there are numerous picnic spots and a small village in route. We hike for about three/four hours to Bhanjyang with about 20 minutes steep climb before we reach Bhanjyang.

After lunch and strolling around for some time, we hike down to Kakani for about two and a half hours and drive back to Kathmandu.

Phulchoki Day Hike

• Botanical Garden
• Superb panoramic mountain views
• Landscape, birds and historical places

Phulchoki is the highest hill surrounding Kathmandu valley with an altitude of 2750m from Sea level. This is one of the beautiful hiking in terms of vegetation in Kathmandu valley. After breakfast at the hotel, we drive 14kms for about 45mnutes to place called Godavari (Botanical Garden) with packed lunch Box. From the Godavari, we start our hiking gradually uphill all the way through the sub-tropical thick forest for few hours. The magnificent view from the eastern part of Annapurna range to Gaurishankar in the east can be seen from here on a clear day apart from the breathtaking view of Kathmandu valley. After lunch and strolling around for some time, we hike down following the same trail to the Godavari for about 2 and half hours.

Champadevi Day Hike

• Buddhist Stupa
• Magnificent view of the Himalayan ranges, especially Langtang and Annapurna.
• Pine forests.

A 2300 meters high peak, Champadevi acts as the border in the southeastern corner of the valley separating it from the Makawanpur district. Besides the hiking experience, this hill has a Buddhist Stupa and people visit this place especially on the day of the full moon to pay homage to the lord. This Champadevi day hike starts from a place called Pharping which lies 16 Km south of the Kathmandu. From here we hike up following the trail, covered by pine forest for about another 3 hours to Champadevi. The hilltop offers a magnificent view of the Himalayan ranges, especially Langtang and Annapurna. After Lunch and strolling around for some time, we hike down following the same trail for about 1 and half hours.

Namobuddha- Panauti- Balthali- Khopasi Trip

• Bhaktapur Durbar Square (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
• Traditional yet beautiful villages (Panauti, Balthali, and Khopasi)
• Namobuddha and the peaceful Monastery

Namobuddha is a famous place for having one of the most peaceful monasteries. The monastery is situated on the top of the hill. Namobuddha falls in the Kavre District. It takes about 3 hours hike time from Panauti village and 2 hours of drive from Kathmandu. Even though it is just 2 hours of driving distance from Kathmandu, the monastery area is very peaceful and far from the hustle-bustle of Kathmandu valley. There are about 2 to 3 routes to hike to Namobuddha Monastery from Panauti, but it is not exactly the hiking route. While hiking, you pass through the lush green forest and a graveled road. It is a moderate level hike for those who are hiking for the first time.

Panauti is one of the nearest villages from Kathmandu for the perfect home away from home experience. As there are many community homestays these days, one can surely experience a different environment. The local residents are mainly Newar, Tamang, and Magar community people. Therefore, you can experience different culture and tradition within the territory of a small village. There are many ancient temples and a holy river. Thus, the area is even popular from a cultural point of view. The landscapes and view of the village are very eye-catching. Moreover, it has the clean surrounding, scattered crowd yet very warm and welcoming environment. One very fascinating thing about this place is, people consider it as one of the safest villages as they believe that this village stands on a single rock. Thus, it is safer even during the earthquake. People cultivate potatoes, corn, soybeans, wheat, etc. They even prepare the homemade liquors out of it. So, we suggest you try it once.

Similarly, Balthali is also another popular hiking spot near Kathmandu valley. It is situated at a distance of just 28 kilometers from Kathmandu. Nowadays this place is a very popular destination for Homestay tour. It also falls in the Kavrepalanchowk district.

Likewise, Khopasi, a typical Newari community is a nearby destination from Kathmandu as well as from Panauti and Balthali. It is in a drive distance of 2 to 3 hours from Kathmandu. You get to see plenty of cultivated lands, terraced fields in some places and beautiful landscapes on your way.

Hike Itinerary

Day 01: Drive to Namobuddha. Hike to Panauti. Drive to Balthali. Overnight in Balthali

Day 02: Hike to Khopasi. Drive back to Kathmandu

For those who have one more day to explore the villages and hike.

Day 01: Drive to Bhaktapur. Sightseeing in Bhaktapur and drive to Panauti. Overnight stay at a home stay.

Day 02: Hike to Namobuddha. Drive to Balthali. Overnight stay at Balthali.

Day 03: Hike to Khopasi. Drive back to Kathmandu.

What's included?

• Transfer (Kathmandu—Namobuddha—Balthali & Khopasi- Kathmandu)
• Accommodation as per the itinerary
• Meals as per the itinerary
• Guide

What's Excluded?

• Personal expenses such as laundry, liquor, room service, phone bills, bar bills, etc.
• Tips to Guide
• Your Travel Insurance
• Any cost occurs from any unfavorable condition

Kathmandu – Bajrabarahi – Godavari - Kathmandu

The Bajrabarahi Godavari day hike is one of the most interesting short hiking nearby Kathmandu city. We start the hiking after a short drive of 30 minutes to the Bajrabarahi Temple in the Patan. Besides the Temple of Bajrabarahi, a temple without pinnacle, the village life and farming in the area is also quite interesting. You will see the highest hill surrounding Kathmandu, Phulchoki in from of you as you walk ahead from the famous temple. This area although not very far from the city has a traditional way of life and farming.

As you go down on the trail you can see the view of high mountains, Langtang Lirung, the Ganesh Himal range, and the 8 highest mountains. The trails are easy one with few ascents and half of it goes through the village and remaining half goes through the forest. After walking for around 3 hours in a gentle pace we reach the Botanical garden where we will provide you lunch.

Hike Itinerary

07:45 - Pickup at the hotel

08:30 - Drive 45 minutes to the Bajra Barahi Temple and sightseeing of the temple area and surrounding.

09:00 - Start hiking along the Bajra Barahi-Godavari Trail.

10.30 - Brief stop at the highest point at Badikhel for Mountain View and photographs

12:00 - Reach the Botanical garden and explore the area for a couple of hours.

02:00 - Lunch at hotel View Bhrikuti or packed lunch at the garden.

02:45 - Short hike around the foothill of Phulchoki.

16:00 - Drive back to Kathmandu

What's included?

• Pick up and drop at the hotel.
• Lunch
• English Speaking guide
• Entrance fees of Godavari Botanical garden.

What's Excluded?

• Drinks and personal expenses.
• Tips for guide and driver