A small trip combining Bhutan and the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. On the one hand, the impressive dzongs and monasteries of Bhutan with their nature and traditions almost intact. On the other, the three royal cities of Nepal, one of the areas with the greatest historical heritage in the world, immersed in the vitality of its population.
This itinerary to Bhutan offers a broad view of a remote and relatively unknown country that managed to enter the 20th century preserving its traditions and way of life, a country with spectacular nature at the foot of the Himalayas. Although it is a somewhat exclusive destination, Bhutan leaves no one indifferent in the so-called last Shangri-la.
One of the classics that stands out for the great variation in human, cultural and landscape environment as you advance and gain height to the 5416m Thorung-la first, continuing as you descend through Kali Gandaki. Despite being affected by the construction of rough roads, it is still impressive while now it has more options.
The most common itinerary today when talking about the Annapurna Circuit, starting in Besi Sahar surrounded by terraced rice fields and small farms, to change the landscape, entering pine forests and alpine areas to reach the white peaks of the Himalayas while also changing the human and cultural environment to enter fully Tibetan lands until Jomsom where we finish.
Adding the excursion to Tilicho Lake to the famous Annapurna Circuit makes this trek even more spectacular than it already is. From terraced rice fields and small farms, the landscape gradually changes to the solitary valley of Tilicho-Tal, and finally to the lands of Mustang with its typically Tibetan culture.
You have in your hands a proposal that varies the Annapurna Circuit, turning it into a deeper and much more interesting experience, especially for its route into Nar Phu valleys, but no less, through the Tilicho Tal (lake). A very different dimension from the famous Annapurna Circuit.
Although it is so close to the busy Annapurna Circuit, Nar-Phu is a valley apart. When you enter the Nar-Phu area you are immersed in an ancient culture with deep Buddhist and Tibetan roots and spectacular scenery. In Nar-Phu, you will find yourself in the experience of a more authentic and also more challenging trek.
Linking the cities of Lhasa and Kathmandu, this itinerary follows one of the classic routes between Tibet and Nepal, crossing the Himalayas at the foot of Everest. Although the itinerary focuses on Tibet, it also explores the Kathmandu Valley with its beautiful royal cities, which you can easily extend adding more days to know Nepal deeper.
Linking the cities of Lhasa and Kathmandu, this itinerary follows one of the classic routes between Tibet and Nepal, crossing the Himalayas at the foot of Everest. Although the itinerary focuses on Tibet, it also explores the Kathmandu Valley with its beautiful royal cities, which you can easily extend adding more days to know Nepal deeper.
A trek to enjoy quietly, first going through the interesting Gurung areas of Ghandruk to enter later into the deep valley that marks our main route, surrounded by thick forest and high walls where long waterfalls fall, to reach the beautiful circus that forms the south face of Annapurna, where we can enjoy its colour change as the sun tint it with the first lights of dawn.
Walking through the deep valley of the Modi Khola, surrounded by thick jungle and high walls where long waterfalls are dropped, to finally reach the impressive circus that forms the south face of Annapurna, with the first light of the sun dyeing it with color. This is the direct route of the Annapurna Base Camp Trek, which ends with a well-deserved bath in hot springs in Jhinu.
There are no tourists here. Three days, or as many as you want, in a rural area full of traditional villages where you can share tea with its shy but friendly inhabitants. Terraced fields, subtropical forests and deep valleys, with the bonus of staying in a small, but very comfortable hotel with locally produced organic food.
The Australian Camp is an idyllic place with easy access, ideal to disconnect for a couple of days and also ideal for those who travel with children. It can be reached from Pokhara by hiking up a trail for an hour and a half and the views over Annapurna South and Machhapuchhre are spectacular. Relax and chill out.
A small tour that runs through a rural environment of small villages, farms and terraced crops, where you can see the typical traditional houses so common throughout the geography of Nepal. Here you will meet no other tourists, almost no phone connection, no bars or restaurants, but you will live a genuine experience that will bring you closer to a part of the reality of the country without filters.
Two weeks touring Nepal off the beaten tourist itineraries. While we didn’t leave out anything that you must see on a trip to Nepal, this itinerary covers less usual, more enriching places that represent an additional experience to the Nepal reality. Here you have it, the highlights but visited in a different way and spaces and experiences that are a great challenge.
Un pequeño y fácil itinerario al norte de Pokhara pasando por aldeas, granjas, campos de cultivo, pequeños estanques, templos y escuelas, que nos acerca de una manera sencilla a la vida rural de Nepal y que cuenta con una buena vista sobre el Himalaya. El itinerario es apto para todo el mundo, ideal para niñas y niños y se puede hacer de diferentes maneras, ya sea ocupando todo un día, como hacer una corta salida de mediodía.
Nepal is a very interesting country, but as everywhere, there are many Nepal and many ways to approach it. On this website, you have travel itineraries through Nepal, but maybe they don’t fit exactly what you want, whether it’s a matter of days, objectives, way of travelling or whatever. You want to make a tailor-made trip, but you don’t want to travel on your own. Well, nothing could be easier!
The experience of walking through the jungle together with elephants -and not over them in their backs- allows you to feel much closer to the ground, the trees, and to have the animals at your same level. There is a lot of difference in the welfare of the elephants that do not walk tourists all day on their backs and those that have to do it day in and day out as well, that is why at Plan Himalaya we do NOT do jungle safaris on the backs of elephants.
While it can also be a one-day option, ideal for a break on the way from Kathmandu to Pokhara, you can sleep in a comfortable camp beside the river, making it a very interesting and fun two-day rafting activity. It remains an ideal extension to do on the way from Kathmandu to Pokhara, to Bandipur, or even to Chitwan.
Although it is gaining popularity in recent years, this incredible trek still offers a much more authentic experience and is more challenging than the more famous routes, going through spectacular terrain with its own culture. You will find yourself on paths that are a little rough in some places, rivers and waterfalls, valleys of all kinds, the Larkya-La pass at 5106 metres and the presence of the beautiful Manaslu.
The Kanchenjunga trek is one of the most impressive in Nepal, located in a remote area in the northeast, right on the border with Sikkim, in the middle of a huge territory and where it is difficult to reach. From the first days we will see the Kanchenjunga in the distance, beyond the line of the many valleys that we will have to cross. Some incredible days await us through all kinds of landscapes and far from the comforts of other treks.
The most famous of all Nepal’s treks, but if seeing the highest peak in the world is its great attraction, it is no less so that any Khumbu tour involves walking surrounded by great mountains and an overwhelming landscape. However, we have changed the classic itinerary to make it more interesting and avoid as much as possible to go and back by the same route.
Perhaps the most classic and accessible of all the treks in the southern part of the Annapurna Valley. It is notable for the pretty village of Ghandruk, overlooked by Annapurna South and Machhapuchhre, and for the splendid views of several peaks over 8000m from Poon Hill.
With the wide panorama of Poon Hill in the heart of the Himalayas, its short but interesting trek through Tolka and Ghandruk, and a few days in Kathmandu and Pokhara, this program offers a good immersion for those who are not lucky enough to have many days, but want the most complete experience possible of Nepal and its treks.
A medium-length trek that will take you very close to the huge massif of the Kanchendzonga, the third highest mountain in the world with its 8586 meters of altitude. You will walk among quite unaltered nature, among thick forests, pastures, alpine meadows, transparent rivers and lakes and glacier moraines, guarded by the white peaks of the Himalayas.
The beginning of this trek is quite close to Kathmandu and progresses towards the north, starting from the area of Helambu between fields, forests, low mountains and Sherpas and Tamang populations, to cross the Laurebina-la pass and enter Gosainkund, with its set of small sacred lakes, and the Langtang valleys, very close to Tibet.
A small but very nice trek, which passes through areas not too crowded and where we can enjoy much more tranquillity than in other itineraries. The itinerary ends with a well-deserved hot spring bath next to the river that flows powerfully down next to us.
If the Kanchendzonga Trek on its normal route seems little to you, here you have a much more important route that takes you through more isolated and wild terrain, following the edge between Nepal and Sikkim, around 4000 meters high, with impressive views of the Kanchendzonga, as of Everest, Lhotse and Makalu.
If we can make a 4-day trip to New York or Paris, why not Kathmandu? Both the city and its surroundings offer a very different experience. We will find a society of great vitality and at the same time very different from our own, with many spectacular places, a place to travel with our eyes and spirit wide open. Do you dare to think differently?
Right next to Tibet, north of Kathmandu, the Langtang Valley is a good option for those who want to avoid the much-crowded areas of Everest and Annapurna. It is rich in landscape, with rushing rivers, forests and pastures and high mountains around 7000 meters of altitude. There are a good number of different itinerary options, including or not the Gosainkund lakes or linking with Helambu.
The Sagarmatha 3 Passes Trek is one of the most impressive treks that can be done in Nepal, in a circular route through the Solu-Khumbu, literally at the foot of the highest mountains in the world, surrounded by very high peaks covered with perpetual snow and crossing three passes over 5000 meters high. A trek that every mountaineer should do once in life.
The Makalu Base Camp Trek is a solitary and spectacular trek. It is one of the least frequented routes in Nepal, passing through subtropical forests to the foot of the Makalu pyramid, which appears over us more impressive than other 8000m peaks on other treks. A trek that will demand but also reward you.
This is perhaps the best option to do the Kanchendzonga Trek in Sikkim, since it avoids walking down the same uphill path, as is the case with the “normal” route (In the case you cannot do the Uttarey circuit). This route that goes up through the Dzongri valley, an interesting village with yak pastures, and ends at the important monastery of Tashiding, reaching, naturally, the Goecha-La pass, the balcony in front of the Kanchendzonga.
This tour takes us culturally to Tibet, amid a first-class landscape and cultural environment, where Tibetan Buddhism keeps still influence from the ancient animist religion Bön. Impressive, hard and arid landscapes with green oases, severe buildings stained with ochre, blood and black colours, and the group of Buddhist and Hindu temples of Muktinath.
A short but different trip proposal through the Kathmandu valley. Short, but with a lot to offer such as the historical buildings and temples of Bhaktapur and Kirtipur, the Buddhist monastery of Namo Buddha, the hidden temples of Chobhar and Teku, the grandeur of the Buddha and Swayambhu stupas, the peaceful city of Patan and the busier Kathmandu. City, nature and culture, spiced up with two bike routes and one hiking route (which can be done by vehicle).
Even considering that Manaslu trek it’s already impressive in itself and offers an authentic experience, can be further enriched with small side trips that will broaden our horizon, such as that of Kalchhuman Lake, or the Rui-la pass on the border with Tibet, in a trek where you will find paths a little bit challenging in some places, rivers and waterfalls, valleys of all kinds, the Larkya-la pass at 5106 meters and the presence of the beautiful Manaslu.
The Green Lake Trek is a wild and lonely trek through a majestic and unaltered environment that takes us, through the Zemu Valley first and through its glacier in the last journeys, close to the north-eastern face of Kanchendzonga, as it is known here, the third highest mountain in the world with 8586 meters. A camping trek for all those who want to recover the spirit of adventure.
A trek with an undeniable interest, in a very peculiar and special human, cultural and scenic environment, which still enjoys that spirit of discovery, of seeing new things, of participating in the life of its inhabitants and, perhaps, of having to adapt to the conditions of the route. A trek that we especially like because it is clearly much more than just walking.
This is an ideal small itinerary to do from Kathmandu. It runs through the typical low mountain landscape between forest, crops and farms, where people are busy with agricultural work rather than paying attention to the few hikers who walk these paths. A beautiful and interesting experience with the advantage of easy access.
The route that joins the beautiful Gokyo Valley and its lakes with the Everest Base Camp cross through the Cho-la pass, at 5420 meters of altitude. The Cho-la is a demanding but affordable pass, which joins the valleys surrounded by peaks from which impressive glaciers hang. It is a spectacular itinerary and much more interesting than that of the Everest Base Camp.
