Walking for the stars: night skies above Pokhara

Get an hour above the town lights in winter and the sky is extraordinary. Where to go, when, and how not to break an ankle getting down.

By Dawa Gurung · 5 min read · Updated 1 August 2026

Nobody comes to Nepal for the night sky and a surprising number of people go home talking about it. Get above the valley haze on a clear winter night and the Milky Way is startling.

It requires almost nothing — an hour of climbing, a headtorch and a warm jacket — and almost nobody does it because the standard plan is to be in a restaurant by seven. Here is where and when.

When the sky is good

Late autumn through winter, October to February. The air is at its clearest after the monsoon has washed it and before the spring dust arrives, and the nights are long.

Around the new moon. A full moon is beautiful and it wipes out everything faint — if the Milky Way is what you want, check the moon phase before you plan the night. After a cold front or a rain event, when the valley inversion has been broken up. A hazy evening in the valley usually means a hazy sky.

Where to go

Australian Camp, if you sleep there. Simple lodges at 2,060 m, an open meadow, and no light within kilometres. Walk up in the afternoon, eat, and go outside at nine. This is the best option by a distance.

Sarangkot, which has a road so you can drive up. There are lights on the ridge but you can walk five minutes away from them, and you are already positioned for sunrise.

Panchase, if you are doing the overnight anyway — 2,500 m, forest, and properly dark.

The Peace Pagoda ridge for a short version, though the town glow is closer.

Doing it safely

Walk up in daylight and come down in daylight. Descending a stone staircase at midnight by headtorch is how people twist ankles, and there is no reason to do it — sleep up there.

If you are going down at night anyway, a proper headtorch with fresh batteries, not a phone. Phone lights are useless on uneven ground and flatten fast in the cold.

It gets very cold. At 2,000 m in January, standing still at ten at night is several layers colder than walking at four in the afternoon.

Dogs and livestock are around on the ridges at night. Neither is a real problem; both are startling if you are not expecting them.

What you will see

In winter the Milky Way runs across the sky and the mountains sit black against it, which is the composition worth carrying a tripod for.

Orion is high in winter evenings, and the sky is dark enough at altitude that the fainter stars fill in the constellations in a way most visitors have never seen from home.

A moonlit night is a different and also excellent thing — the snow on the Annapurnas takes the moonlight and the whole range glows faintly. Worth going up for even when the stars are washed out.

Walk it with us

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

Australian Camp Sunrise HikeFull day · 2,060 mRs 7,900 · See dates →Sarangkot Sunrise HikeHalf day · 1,600 mRs 4,700 · See dates →Panchase Hill Overnight Hike2 days · 2,500 mRs 17,300 · See dates →World Peace Pagoda LoopHalf day · 1,113 mRs 3,900 · See dates →

Questions we get asked

Do I need a telescope?

No. The naked-eye sky is the point. Binoculars add a lot for very little weight if you have them.

Can I photograph it?

Yes, with a tripod and a camera that handles long exposures. Australian Camp with the Annapurnas as a foreground is the shot people come away with.

Is it safe to walk down at night?

We would not. Sleep at the top instead — the lodges are cheap and the descent by headtorch on stone steps is the main risk in the whole exercise.

Best single night?

A clear, moonless night in December or January, from Australian Camp. Cold, and worth it.

Four Pokhara day hikes, ranked by how little effort they needYou do not need a week and a permit to stand in front of the Annapurnas. Here are the four walks we send people on when they have one free morning.6 min read →Sunrise or sunset? Which Pokhara viewpoint for which lightEveryone gets up at half past four for Sarangkot. Half of them would have had a better time going out at five in the afternoon instead.5 min read →Six more walks around Pokhara, including ones we do not sellDhampus, Kalikasthan, Naudanda, the Begnas–Rupa ridge, Astam and Pumdikot. No package, no guide needed for most — just go.7 min read →Walking around Pokhara when it is rainingMonsoon and the shoulder weeks are not a write-off. The mountains hide, the forest comes alive, and half the good walking here does not need a view.6 min read →

Still deciding?

Tell us your dates and how much walking you have actually done, and we will tell you honestly whether this trek is the right one for you.

Ask a guide