Which month for which adventure: a calendar

Flying, rafting, trekking and jungle each have a different best season, and they do not overlap neatly. Month by month, what is at its best.

By Dawa Gurung · 6 min read · Updated 1 August 2026

Nepal's seasons are usually explained as 'come in October or April', which is true for trekking and wrong for several other things.

Rafting is at its biggest just after the monsoon. Chitwan is best when the grass has been cut. Upper Mustang works in July when everywhere else is under cloud. Paragliding is a dry-season activity that peaks in autumn.

So if your dates are fixed, this is what those dates are actually good for.

October and November — the peak of nearly everything

Trekking at its best: stable weather, the clearest air of the year, and every route open. Also the busiest, with lodges filling by mid-afternoon on the popular trails.

Rafting at its biggest and most exciting, straight after the monsoon while the rivers are still high.

Paragliding excellent and reliable. Mountain flights excellent.

Chitwan good and improving as it cools. Dashain and Tihar both fall in here, which affects transport and permit offices.

If you can come in these two months, do. Book everything early.

December to February — clear, cold and empty

The sharpest mountain views of the year on the clear days, and by far the quietest trails. Low routes — the Royal Trek, Ghandruk, Pokhara day walks — are close to perfect.

High passes can close with snow. Thorong La and Kang La are not reliable winter propositions.

Chitwan is at its best: cool, dry, and the grass cut short after the winter harvest, which transforms visibility for wildlife. February and March are the pick of the year for the jungle.

Rafting is lower and colder, more technical and less big. Paragliding runs but morning fog in the valley can delay it.

March to May — rhododendron, haze and heat

Trekking's second season. Rhododendron through the middle-altitude forests from late March, warmer nights, and longer days than autumn.

The trade is haze — spring air is dustier and long-distance clarity is noticeably worse than October. For photography of distant peaks, autumn wins; for foreground and colour, spring does.

Rafting is friendly and low, which makes it the best window for families and nervous first-timers. Canyoning is gentler for the same reason.

By May the Terai is very hot and Chitwan becomes a heat endurance exercise, though animals concentrate at water and sightings can be superb.

Tiji at Lo Manthang falls in May and is worth planning a trip around.

June to September — the monsoon, and what still works

Upper Mustang and the upper Kali Gandaki sit in the rain shadow and are properly good. This is the answer for anyone with a fixed northern summer holiday.

Everything green and luminous, flooded rice terraces, waterfalls, and very few visitors. Photographers who come specifically now are after the valleys, not the peaks.

Flying is unreliable and cancels often. Rafting runs high and many commercial trips stop. Roads suffer landslides.

Janai Purnima on the August full moon fills Gosaikunda and Khayer Lake with pilgrims, which is an extraordinary thing to witness.

Come with buffer days and low expectations of mountain views and it is a rewarding time to be here.

If you can only pick one month

November for the widest range of things at their best simultaneously — trekking, flying, rafting and clear air, with the festival rush just past.

February if you want the mountains clear and empty and the jungle at its best, and you do not need a high pass.

April if you want warmth, colour and long days and can accept haze.

July only if you are going to Mustang, in which case it is a fine choice and almost nobody will tell you so.

Walk it with us

Private departures on your dates, guided by the people who wrote this page.

Sarangkot Tandem Paragliding30–40 min flightRs 11,900 · See dates →Upper Seti White-water RaftingHalf day · Grade IIIRs 6,600 · See dates →Chitwan Safari Break3 days · full boardRs 40,100 · See dates →Annapurna Base Camp7 days · 4,130 mRs 100,400 · See dates →Upper Mustang — Lo Manthang10 days · 3,840 mRs 253,300 · See dates →

Questions we get asked

What is the single best month?

November, for the most things at their best at once. February is the connoisseur's answer if you do not need a high pass.

Is monsoon really worth considering?

For Upper Mustang and Jomsom, yes, without hedging. For anything south of the main range, only if green landscape rather than mountains is what you want.

When is Chitwan best?

January to March, after the grass is cut. Visibility for wildlife is transformed and the heat is manageable.

When should I book?

Four to six weeks ahead for October and November. A few days is usually enough for the rest of the year, and walking into our office and leaving the next morning is entirely normal outside peak season.