You have just landed at Tribhuvan, Nepal's only international gateway, in a bowl of hills that hides the Himalaya until the air clears. This guide covers the visa on arrival queue and the cash it wants, the fixed-price taxi counter that beats the scrum outside, where to sleep, from a heritage hotel of rescued woodcarving to a garden guesthouse in Thamel, a first plate of dal bhat and momos, the seven UNESCO sites of the valley, and the fees and touts to expect in the first 48 hours.
You just landed in Kathmandu. Sort the visa on arrival first — US$30 for 15 days, paid in cash — then take the prepaid taxi from the counter inside arrivals, a fixed NPR 900 to Thamel, with an eSIM for data from the arrivals hall. Base yourself in Thamel, spend day one between Durbar Square and the Boudhanath kora at dusk, and book the days that sell out — the Nagarkot sunrise and the seven-site heritage sweep — ahead through GetYourGuide.
Find your arrival stop, hotel, and first meal. Stays, sights, and landmarks in Kathmandu — live hotel prices plus the key places from this guide.
Map not loading? Open the map directly ↗
Land at Tribhuvan and do the paperwork first. Most visitors get a visa on arrival: fill in the online form before you fly, pay at the counter in cash US dollars — US$30 for 15 days, US$50 for 30, US$125 for 90 — then clear the visa desks. At peak banks it can take over an hour, so keep water in your hand luggage.
Set up your data before you leave the terminal: an Airalo eSIM loads a Nepal data plan in minutes, so taxi bookings and maps work from the arrivals hall. For a longer Nepal trip, compare Saily and Yesim, or pick up a local SIM at the airport kiosks.
Run the arrival checklist in this order:
If a delayed or cancelled flight wrecked the arrival, AirHelp checks whether the airline owes you compensation — worth five minutes before you write the day off.
Journey times are approximate and refer to the listed stop — not necessarily your hotel. Allow extra time for waiting, walking, and connections.
Buy the voucher at the counter inside arrivals before you exit; the price is fixed, so there is nothing to negotiate, and it runs about NPR 100 more after 21:00
Most hotels send a driver with a name board; many Thamel properties include the ride free, so confirm when you book
Drivers outside arrivals open high, so agree the fare before you get in; Pathao and inDrive cars cannot enter the airport and pick up from the Ring Road
Route 5 from the airport gate to Ratna Park, then a 10 to 15 minute walk to Thamel; pay the conductor in cash, there is no fixed timetable, and the last bus leaves around 18:00
Central Kathmandu runs on foot, taxis and ride apps. Thamel takes 15 minutes end to end, Durbar Square is 20 minutes south on foot, and Boudha is a cross-town taxi ride. Drivers often refuse the meter — agree the fare first, or book through Pathao or inDrive, where the price is set in advance. The airport rides are these:
Choose the prepaid counter when you land tired — the fixed price kills the one negotiation every tout outside wants with you. The bus suits light, early arrivals; it stops around 18:00.
Compare a pre-booked transfer for late arrivals or groups — a Kiwitaxi transfer or Welcome Pickups puts a driver in arrivals at a fixed price. Visitors do not rent self-drive cars here; cars come with drivers.
Start at Kathmandu Durbar Square, 20 minutes' walk from Thamel. The royal square packs pagoda temples, the Hanuman Dhoka palace and the Kumari Ghar, home of the living goddess. Entry is NPR 1,000 and the ticket lasts the day — come back at dusk, when the tour groups leave.
Climb to Swayambhunath. The monkey temple crowns a hill west of the centre, up 365 steps, with the white dome, the gilded spire and the whole valley below. Entry is NPR 200. Go late for the best light and the emptiest stairs.
Cross the city to Boudhanath at dusk. The great stupa, ringed by monasteries and rooftop cafés, costs NPR 400 to enter. Walk the kora clockwise with the pilgrims as the butter lamps come on, then watch the dome turn gold from a rooftop table.
Give Pashupatinath its own morning. Nepal's holiest Hindu temple stands on the Bagmati, where cremation ghats burn all day. Non-Hindus cannot enter the main temple — the NPR 1,000 ticket buys the complex and the east bank view, the scene's best vantage.
Rest your feet at the Garden of Dreams, on Thamel's edge: a restored 1920s garden of lawns and fountains, NPR 400, open to 22:00, with the traffic shut out. Book the headline days before you arrive — the best small-group tours sell out in season. Browse the Kathmandu listings on GetYourGuide for the heritage days, and compare Klook when stacking activities into one pass.
Stay on Battisputali Road, 15 minutes' walk from Pashupatinath and a short taxi ride from the airport. Expect 86 rooms around courtyards built from rescued Newari woodcarving, a pool, a spa and Krishnarpan's multi-course Nepali dinners — a UNESCO Asia-Pacific heritage award winner that books out early in season.
Sleep at 29 Keshar Mahal Marg, on Thamel's quiet northern edge beside the Garden of Dreams. Expect a three star hotel with a terrace restaurant, breakfasts guests praise, and an airport pickup included on many rates — a calm base two minutes from the lanes.
Bed down on Chhusya Galli in Jyatha, Thamel's quieter lanes, 11 minutes' walk from Durbar Square. Expect 21 rooms around a garden and terrace, the Friends Cafe downstairs and staff Expedia reviewers rate 9.4 out of 10.
Stay in Thamel for a first visit — the lanes hold the hotels, restaurants and trekking shops, and Durbar Square is 20 minutes away. For sleep, choose the quieter northern edge by the Garden of Dreams, or Boudha for monastery mornings.
Book early for October, November and spring. Confirm whether the quoted total includes the 13% VAT and, at bigger hotels, the 2% luxury tax.
Eat close on day one — momos, dal bhat and a pizza room cover the essentials. Three first stops:
Sit down for the landing-day comfort table: wood-fired pizzas in the Sanchaya Kosh building on Thamel's edge, serving since 1995 and still packed nightly.
Order the vegetarian Middle Eastern plates — hummus, falafel and salads — on floor cushions in Thamel's best-known traveller room. It is the gentlest first night in the lanes.
Start the next day here instead: the original branch of the chain that built Nepal's coffee scene, pouring beans grown in-country, with a full breakfast menu.
Save room for the staples. A Thakali dal bhat set — rice, lentils, curries, greens and pickles, refilled until you surrender — is the valley's working lunch, and steamed momos with sesame chutney cost little more than the tea beside them. For food walks and evening experiences, browse the Kathmandu listings on GetYourGuide and book a slot for your first free evening.
Three escapes start at your hotel door: the valley rim at dawn, the two sister kingdoms, and all seven UNESCO sites in one day. All three include hotel pickup — compare times and group sizes on GetYourGuide.
Leave at 4:00 to 5:30 for the ridge village an hour east, and watch dawn light the peaks — Langtang and Ganesh in front, Everest on the clearest days. Take the full option and hike three to four hours down through terraced villages to Changu Narayan, the valley's oldest temple, packed lunch included. Check availability →
Spend six hours with a private guide in the valley's other royal cities: Patan's carved courtyards, Krishna Mandir and museum, then Bhaktapur's 55-Window Palace, Nyatapola temple and potters' square. Entry fees are extra — NPR 1,000 for Patan, NPR 1,800 for Bhaktapur — and worth every rupee. Check availability →
Tick off the Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur squares, Swayambhunath, Boudhanath, Pashupatinath and Changu Narayan in one guided sweep, lunch included, with a driver who knows the order that beats the crowds. Entry fees are extra, at roughly NPR 1,000 a site, so carry cash. Check availability →
Come in October and November for the full deck: the monsoon has scrubbed the air, the Himalaya stand over the city most mornings, and festival season — Dashain, then Tihar's lights — fills the streets. Book weeks ahead in high season.
Come in spring, March to May, for warmth and rhododendrons, accepting hazier views by May. Come in winter with your eyes open: December to February brings clear skies, cold nights and the year's worst air pollution.
Avoid the monsoon if the mountains are the point. From June to September the rain closes in, views vanish for days, and landslides slow roads out of the valley — though the city stays green, quiet and cheap.
Budget Kathmandu by the fixed costs. The visa runs US$30 to US$125 by length, the prepaid taxi is NPR 900, the airport bus NPR 20, and the four city sites — Durbar Square, Swayambhunath, Boudhanath and Pashupatinath — total NPR 2,600. A Thakali dal bhat set in Thamel runs about NPR 400 to 800, and a cross-town taxi, fare agreed first, about the same.
Tap items to check them off — your list is saved on this device.
Pack for a city of dust, steps and temperature drops — the valley sits at 1,400 metres, and a Nagarkot dawn is cold. This is the full list:
Add three Kathmandu extras: a dust mask for the streets, a warm mid-layer for dawn viewpoints, and clothes that cover shoulders and knees — the Durbar squares and Pashupatinath expect them.
! Check visa requirements before you fly
Nepali runs the country and English runs the visitor economy — hotels, guides, restaurants and the heritage sites all work in it. Five words of Nepali change how the city treats you.
Four phrases do most of the work:
Sort your entry paperwork before you book anything non-refundable. Most nationalities get a visa on arrival at Tribhuvan: 15 days for US$30, 30 days for US$50, 90 days for US$125, all multiple entry. The online pre-arrival form speeds up the counter, your passport needs six months of validity, and the fee is safest in cash US dollars — the card machines are not reliable.
Know the exceptions before you fly. Indian citizens need no visa, and children under 10 are free. Travellers from a short list of countries — among them Nigeria, Ghana, Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq — must arrange a visa at a Nepali embassy in advance, so check the immigration site against your passport.
Do not pay a third-party site for the visa form. The official pre-arrival form is free on the immigration department's own site; lookalike sites charge for it. A visa on arrival is not quite a guarantee of entry — the desk officer makes the final call.
The airport exit and Durbar Square run on confident touts, and the city tour offered free at your hotel door is never free. Use the prepaid counter, fix taxi fares before the wheels move, and let a polite no stay a no.
Pavements vanish without warning in the old city, motorbikes use every gap, and nobody stops at crossings — cross with locals, looking both ways twice. Winter air pollution can be severe; wear the mask on bad days and save viewpoint climbs for clear mornings.
The 2015 Gorkha earthquake levelled parts of the old city, and rebuilding is still visible. Choose newer or retrofitted buildings where you can, note the open ground nearest your hotel, and keep your phone charged and shoes by the bed.
Drink only sealed or filtered water, eat where turnover is fast, and sanitise before meals. Nagarkot's 2,175 metres is gentle, but if you trek on from here, altitude sickness is the real risk — climb slowly. For anything medical, the CIWEC travel clinic in Lazimpat is the traveller standard; dial 102 for an ambulance, 1144 for the tourist police.
If you liked Kathmandu, try these next:
The things travellers ask in the first 48 hours: the visa counter, the fixed taxi fare and what the stupas cost to enter.
Visa fees against the Department of Immigration tariff, October 2026; taxi and heritage prices cross-checked against operator and tourism board listings.
US$30 for 15 days, US$50 for 30 days and US$125 for 90 days, all multiple entry. Fill in the online form before you fly, and pay at the airport counter in cash US dollars — the card machines are unreliable.
Take the prepaid taxi: buy the voucher at the counter inside arrivals for a fixed NPR 900 — about 25 minutes in light traffic. The Sajha Yatayat green bus is the budget alternative at NPR 20 to Ratna Park.
For foreigners: Durbar Square NPR 1,000, Swayambhunath NPR 200, Boudhanath NPR 400 and Pashupatinath NPR 1,000 — NPR 2,600 for all four. Patan is NPR 1,000 and Bhaktapur NPR 1,800 on day trips.
No. Drink sealed, filtered or boiled water only. Hotels and restaurants serve filtered water, and refill stations will top up a reusable bottle for a small fee.
Yes, with the usual city care. Violent crime against visitors is rare; the everyday risks are tout scams, chaotic traffic and winter air pollution. The tourist police answer on 1144, toll-free, in English.
October and November, when the monsoon has cleared the air and the Himalaya show most mornings. March to May is warm and good too. June to September is monsoon — green and quiet, but the mountain views vanish.
Fares change — the immigration department and the operators always win.
Landing soon? Get the printable PDF — the essentials from this guide, formatted for your phone:
One email with your Kathmandu PDF (guide version: Oct 2026). Fare changes and new guides after that. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Visa fees against the Department of Immigration's published tariff — the Tourism Board page still shows older figures. Taxi pricing against the Nest Adventure fare list (January 2026) and Welcome Pickups. Heritage fees cross-checked across three Tourism Board based listings. Hotel details against the properties' Expedia pages and own sites; The Dwarika's and Oasis Kathmandu Hotel await a confirmation pass on their Expedia URLs. Tours verified by opening each GetYourGuide product page. Photographs via Pexels; the Tribhuvan arrivals photograph is by Los viajeros 77 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0; hotel photographs from the properties' own sites. Last verified October 2026.
Affiliate disclosure: hotel names, transfers, experiences, and products linked in this guide may earn After You Land a commission at no extra cost to you. Prices and times were checked in Oct 2026 and change often — confirm before you book.
