The World Peace Pagoda, a boat and a forest walk to the postcard view
Row across Phewa Lake, walk up for forty minutes, and get the shot of Pokhara that everybody recognises. It's the easiest walk-up viewpoint in the valley.
By the Lakeshore team · 4 min read · Updated 5 October 2026
The white stupa on the ridge above Phewa Lake is the first thing most people notice from Lakeside and the last thing they get round to visiting. The round trip takes two hours, and half the pleasure is the way you get there, by boat and then on foot through the forest.
From the top you have the lake and the whole of Pokhara below you on one side, and on a clear morning the Annapurnas and Machhapuchhre on the other. That's the classic picture, and it works. The pagoda is a working religious site first and a viewpoint second, which is worth remembering when you arrive.
Getting there is the good bit
Take a boat from Lakeside across to the southern shore. It's twenty minutes, and you can row it yourself or pay a boatman. We'd pay, if only because they're very good at it and it's somebody's living.
From the far jetty a path climbs through the forest for thirty to forty minutes. Shaded and steep in places, it's short enough that almost anyone can manage it. You come out at the stupa on Anadu hill, at around 1,100 m.
Coming back, retrace the route or walk down the far side toward Damside and take a taxi, which makes it a gentle half day. Our guided loop goes home via Devi's Falls, with transport from your Lakeside hotel and a packed breakfast or lunch. Send us your date. Nothing to pay online.
What the pagoda is, and who built it
This is a Shanti Stupa, built by Nipponzan-Myōhōji, a Japanese Buddhist order that has put up peace pagodas around the world since the years after the Second World War. Pokhara's took decades to finish and had a difficult history along the way.
Four Buddha statues stand around the structure, each a gift from a different country and each showing a different stage of the Buddha's life. Walk the full circuit instead of stopping at the first one.
Monks live and practise on the site. Shoes off where the signs say, quiet voices, and no climbing on the structure for a photograph.
Combining it with the rest of your day
It fits well with a morning on the lake: Tal Barahi temple on its island, a slow row, then the pagoda in the afternoon.
It's also the right choice on a day when someone in the group isn't up for a long walk, or when you've just flown in and anything higher sounds unappealing. In the monsoon it's one of the few Pokhara viewpoints still worth visiting, because the lake and the forest are the point and the mountains are a bonus.
Walk it with us
Private departures on your dates, guided by the people who wrote this page.
Questions we get asked
How long does the whole thing take?
Two to three hours door to door from Lakeside, including the boat, or half a day if you walk down the far side and stop for lunch.
Can I drive up instead?
Yes, there's a road and taxis go up. You miss the boat and the forest, which are most of the appeal, but it's the right call if walking is difficult.
Is there an entry fee?
The stupa itself is free. You pay for the boat across, and the rates are posted at the jetty.
Best time of day?
Early morning for the clearest mountains, late afternoon for the nicest light and sunset over the lake. Midday is hot and hazy, and we'd skip it.
Still deciding?
Tell us your dates and how much walking you've done, and we'll tell you whether World Peace Pagoda 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