How to Get Around Nepal

Roads are slow. Distances are short and journey times are not — the 200 kilometres from Kathmandu to Pokhara takes six to eight hours on a good day. Plan in hours, never in kilometres, and assume delays in the monsoon: many mountain and hill roads are intermittently impassable during the monsoon because of landslides, and they are hazardous even in the best weather.

Tourist coaches between Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan are comfortable, cheap and worth the small premium over local buses. Local buses go everywhere and are slow, crowded and an experience. Avoid public transport during or immediately before a general strike — a bandh — because tourists have been injured doing so, and transport to and from airports anywhere in Nepal can be affected.

Domestic flights save whole days and are how most people reach Lukla for the Everest region and the far west. They are also weather-dependent: Lukla routinely cancels for days at a time, and building a tight international connection onto a Lukla flight is how people miss flights home. Leave slack. See the safety note in the warnings section before booking.

In Kathmandu, ride-hailing apps work and are cheaper and less stressful than negotiating taxi fares. Elsewhere, agree a price before getting in. Army and police checkpoints are frequent, especially at night.

Beyond the roads, you walk — and you walk with paperwork. All foreign trekkers need a permit and a TIMS card, plus a national park entry permit for the Annapurna, Everest and Langtang regions, and independent trekkers are required to hire a local licensed guide. That is not a failure of infrastructure: large parts of Nepal have never had a road, and the trail network is the transport system.

Permits, and the guide requirement

All foreign trekkers must have a permit and must buy a Trekkers' Information Management System (TIMS) card, from the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal, the Nepal Tourism Board, or an authorised trekking company. Independent trekkers are required to hire a local licensed guide. Separately, trekkers must obtain a national park entry permit before entering official trekking regions or routes such as the Annapurna, Everest and Langtang regions — available from the Nepal Tourism Board in Kathmandu or Pokhara, or at park entry points. Checkpoints do check.

The helicopter-rescue scam

This is the one nobody warns you about. There have been documented cases of helicopter rescue and insurance scams in Nepal, involving unnecessary helicopter evacuations, pressure to be evacuated without a medical assessment, falsified medical or evacuation documents, and inflated billing to travellers and insurance companies.

The defences are specific. Deal only with registered and reputable helicopter companies and trekking agencies. Ask your agency for up-to-date information on conditions in the region. Avoid trekking packages that appear unusually inexpensive — the gap gets made up somewhere. And select insurance that covers high-altitude trekking and medical evacuation explicitly, because the genuine emergencies are the reason the fraudulent ones are plausible.

Working against you in a real emergency: helicopter rescue providers often are not paid immediately, insurers do not always respond quickly, and many trekking areas have limited access to regular phone service. Carry your policy number and your insurer's emergency line somewhere reachable without a signal.

Altitude on the trails

Many popular trekking trails ascend higher than 5,500 metres, and hikers and guides have been stranded, injured and killed while trekking. Never trek alone, hire an experienced guide from a reputable company, make sure your physical condition matches the route, and carry proper equipment and enough water. Trekkers may experience frostbite and high-altitude illness, and acute mountain sickness can be deadly — serious conditions often require medical evacuation to Bangkok, New Delhi or Singapore. Carry medical and first-aid kits.

Roads, strikes and the monsoon

General strikes — bandhs — are a popular form of political expression and can happen at short notice anywhere in the country. Avoid travelling on public transport during or immediately before a bandh: tourists have been injured doing so, and transport to and from airports anywhere in Nepal can be affected. Army and police checkpoints are frequent, especially at night. Even peaceful demonstrations can turn violent, and they can cut access to essential services and supplies.

Many mountain and hill roads, hazardous even in the best weather, are intermittently impassable during the monsoon because of landslides. In August 2026, major flooding in Rasuwa district and the Nepal–China border area caused widespread damage to buildings, roads and transport and communications infrastructure, with Gorkha, Nuwakot and Dhading also affected; areas hit by flooding and landslides may remain unstable, and further heavy rain or an earthquake could trigger more landslides and rockfalls.

Money on the move

The economy is largely cash-based, though cards work in major stores, hotels and restaurants, and ATMs are available in larger cities such as Kathmandu and Pokhara. Three rules that catch people out: Indian rupees are widely accepted but notes greater than 100 INR are prohibited, so convert larger notes before arriving; it is illegal to take Nepalese banknotes out of the country; and any amount over US$5,000 in cash must be declared at customs on arrival.