Two weeks in Nepal, the itinerary we recommend
See mountains, jungle, a medieval city and a hill town without spending four of your fourteen days in a vehicle.
By the Lakeshore team · 7 min read · Updated 5 October 2026
Two weeks is the most common length for a Nepal trip, and the easiest to waste. The usual mistake is treating the country as a checklist and spending a third of the holiday going back and forth on the Prithvi Highway.
The geography is simple. Kathmandu is in the east, Pokhara in the west, and Chitwan sits in the lowlands between them, so a good itinerary runs as a loop, with no out-and-backs.
This is the one we build most often, and the reason each piece sits where it does.
A loop, not a star
Fly into Kathmandu, work your way west and south, and fly out of Kathmandu. The order is Kathmandu, then Bandipur or Chitwan, then Pokhara and the trek, then back east through whichever of Bandipur or Chitwan you skipped.
Done that way you never drive the same road twice, and the drive from Kathmandu to Pokhara becomes two comfortable half-days instead of one seven-hour slog.
The alternative is Kathmandu, a flight to Pokhara, the trek, a flight back and then day trips. That works if your trek is long and your time short, but you see less country.
Days 1 to 3 in Kathmandu
Give the valley two full days, not one. Spend the first at Durbar Square and Swayambhunath, and the second at Boudhanath early and Patan in the afternoon. Go to Bhaktapur instead of Patan if you'd prefer one intact medieval town to two half-days.
Add Pashupatinath if you want it, knowing what you'll see there: an active cremation ghat. Use the third morning to move west. These days are also your jet-lag buffer, and they absorb a delayed international flight without touching the trek.
Days 3 to 5, Bandipur and then Pokhara
Break the drive at Bandipur, a Newari town on a ridge with a traffic-free main street and a Himalayan skyline off the end of it. Stay one night, or two if you can.
It turns the worst day of most Nepal itineraries into one of the better ones, and all it costs you is a day you'd otherwise have spent sitting in a vehicle.
Get to Pokhara with an afternoon spare to sort permits, rent gear and meet your guide. If you start trekking the morning after a long drive, you start the trek already tired.
Days 6 to 12 on the trek
Seven days on the trail is the right length for a two-week trip. Annapurna Base Camp fits it exactly, and it's the trek most people picture when they think of Nepal.
For something quieter over the same days, Khopra Ridge and Mohare Danda are community-run, with a similar panorama and a fraction of the traffic. If your hill fitness is lower, Ghandruk and Poon Hill in four or five days leaves room for other things. Whatever you choose, keep one spare day, because that day lets you wait for a weather window and still get the viewpoint.
Days 13 and 14 in Chitwan, then home
Drop down to the lowlands for a jungle day, with a dawn canoe on the Rapti, a walking or jeep safari and the elephant breeding centre. After a week at altitude the climate and the pace change completely, and it's a good way to wind down.
Then take the road or a short flight back to Kathmandu and spend a night in the city before you fly home. Don't try a same-day connection.
If the jungle doesn't appeal, spend the last two days in Pokhara instead. Paraglide off Sarangkot, take a boat out on Phewa and eat well. We've yet to meet anyone who regretted two slow days in Lakeside after a trek.
What we'd cut if you had ten days
Drop Chitwan first. With travel it takes a full three days, and it's the piece least connected to the rest.
Next, shorten the trek and leave the cities as they are. Five days on Mardi or Poon Hill still gives you the mountains.
Keep Bandipur. It costs one night, and it holds the whole itinerary together by breaking up the drive.
Walk it with us
Private departures on your dates, guided by the people who wrote this page.
Questions we get asked
Is two weeks enough for Everest Base Camp?
It's tight. EBC is fourteen days on the trail plus a buffer for flights, which fills the whole trip and leaves nothing for Kathmandu or anything else. If Everest is the goal, come for eighteen days or accept that it takes up the entire holiday.
Should I fly or drive between Kathmandu and Pokhara?
Drive one way with a stop at Bandipur, and fly the other. You see the country and still save a day.
When should I book the international flight home?
At least two days after your trek is due to finish. Domestic flights get cancelled and passes close, and a tight connection home is the most common way a Nepal trip goes wrong.
Can you build a custom two-week trip?
That's most of what we do. Send your dates, fitness and interests, and we'll reply with a plan, not a package, usually within a few hours and always within a day.
What is the best month for this itinerary?
Go in October, November, March or April. Chitwan is better in the cooler months, which makes February and March especially good for the full loop.
Still deciding?
Tell us your dates, and we'll tell you whether Kathmandu Heritage Loop is right for you. If it isn't, we'll say so.
Nothing to pay online. We confirm your dates first.
Or call the office +977 61-457830