From mountain peaks to rolling hills and humid jungles to high-altitude deserts, Nepal offers up a remarkable variety of landscapes for such a small country. This varied terrain is home to a remarkably diverse range of people and cultures, ensuring that the Nepali calendar is packed with festivals, celebrations, and special events.
Whether you’re here to trek through the Himalayas, spot rhinos on a jungle safari or explore the centuries-old temples of the Kathmandu Valley, it pays to get the timing right. Most travelers come to Nepal in the spring or fall, when the warm temperatures and clear skies are perfect for trekking and other adventure activities.
Smaller numbers head here in the winter, when the trails are icy and the hills are snowbound, and during the summer monsoon, when travel can be a challenge thanks to the rainy conditions, and views vanish behind dense rainclouds.
The high season (October–November) is the time to trek in perfect weather
Warm, dry weather and cloud-free skies make the October-November period the most popular time to visit Nepal, with ideal conditions for trekking and other outdoor thrills in the hills. The downside is you’ll also find hordes of other travelers, including thousands hiking the trails that snake through the Annapurna massif and the foothills around Mt Everest (Sagarmatha).The cost of accommodation spikes – particularly in traveler hangouts such as Kathmandu and Pokhara – and rooms get booked up well in advance. So do flights to trekking trailheads, so plan your transport well ahead at this time.
Shoulder season (March–April) is the best time for wildlife-watching
The spring is the second most popular time to visit Nepal, with warm weather and blooming rhododendron forests in the highlands. It’s increasingly hot in the southern Terai region, but the tall grasses that surround rivers and watering holes in Chitwan National Park and Bardia National Park have been hacked back by March, making it easier to spot one-horned rhinos, tigers and other wildlife.Nepal's trekking trails come into their own in the spring and fall – but they can get busy! © Bartosz Hadyniak / Getty Images
Low season (June–September and December–February) is the best time for cheap deals
Although the timing of the monsoon varies a bit each year, the skies typically fill with rain clouds from June to September. Expect transport disruption, landslides, cloudy skies that block the mountain views, and plenty of rain, mud, and leeches on the trails. But the lack of fellow travelers, sizable accommodation discounts and lush scenery also make the monsoon an interesting and inexpensive time to visit the country. Tourist numbers also plummet during the chilly Nepali winter, though some lower-altitude trekking routes remain open and the plains are warm and dry at this time of year.
Te:Lonely P.
From the high Himalayas to the lush green foothills, from arid plateaus to shimmering glaciers, Nepal offers an incomparable array of hiking trails. I...
