Trekking in Nepal with children: what works, what to avoid

The routes that work

Ghandruk is our standard family recommendation. Three days, 2,012 m, short walking days, warm lodges with real food, a village full of animals and other children, and a road within reach if anything goes wrong. No family has come back wishing they had picked something bigger.

The Royal Trek is the other strong option — four days along a low ridge east of Pokhara at under 1,800 m, through farming villages, finishing at Begnas Lake where children can swim. No altitude at all and warm nights.

For a single day, Australian Camp. Ninety minutes uphill, an enormous view, and back for lunch before anyone has run out of patience.

Altitude and children

Children are affected by altitude much as adults are, but they are worse at describing it. A young child with acute mountain sickness may just be tired, quiet and off their food, which looks exactly like a child who has had a long day.

That ambiguity is the reason we are conservative. For under-tens we keep sleeping altitude below about 3,000 m unless there is a very good reason not to, and we build slower profiles than we would for adults. Anything above 3,500 m with a young child should be a considered decision with a proper conversation first, not a line on an itinerary. We will have that conversation honestly and sometimes it ends with us suggesting a different trek.

What actually goes wrong

Food, more than anything. Two weeks of dal bhat is a lot for a child who is used to something else. Lodges can do noodles, eggs, chips, pancakes and porridge — bring a stock of familiar snacks anyway, and do not underestimate how much a known biscuit is worth on a bad afternoon.

Cold at night, second. Lodge rooms are unheated and children lose heat faster than adults. Proper sleeping bags for everyone and a hot water bottle from the kitchen, which every lodge will fill for a few rupees.

Stomach upsets, third. Filtered or treated water without exception, no salads or raw vegetables on trail, peel fruit. Bring rehydration salts and the medicine your child will actually take.

Boredom on long descents, fourth and most underrated. Descents are where children get tired and miserable. Shorter days help more than anything else.

Beyond trekking

Chitwan is superb with children — canoes, jeeps, rhinos at close range and no walking required. It pairs well with a short trek as the reward half of the trip.

Bandipur is a car-free town on a ridge, which is a rare thing to hand a child in Nepal. They can run down the middle of the main street.

In Pokhara itself: boats on Phewa, the caves, the mountain museum, and the zipline for teenagers. A week here with day trips is a perfectly good Nepal holiday for a family with young children, and considerably better than a forced march.

Guides, and what we do differently

We put an experienced guide with families rather than whoever is next on the rota, because pacing a group around a seven-year-old is a skill. Most of our guides have children.

Days get built shorter, with more stops, and around where the interesting things are rather than where the efficient overnight stop is. A day that ends at two in the afternoon at a lodge with a dog and a view is worth more than an extra 300 m of altitude. And we will say plainly if we think a family is booking the wrong trek. That conversation costs us a booking sometimes. It costs less than a family having a miserable week.

Walk it with us

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

Questions we get asked

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