🏔️ Nepal

Official government travel advice

Advice changes quickly. Check it before you travel and again before you leave.

Costs

Prices here are about 24% of US prices (World Bank, 2025). This compares a country's overall prices, not the cost of a trip.

Practical information

Entry

The visa rules that apply are set by your passport, and the official site below is the place to check them. Guides mention an online application made in advance or a tourist visa granted on arrival at Kathmandu airport, yet none of these sources is official. For this reason, passport rules, allowed stay and the current fee should be confirmed with the nearest Nepali embassy, or on the Nepal immigration site, prior to booking. Pack passport photos, a return ticket, cash for any fee and a passport with at least 6 months of validity. It is strongly advised to take insurance that includes cover for trekking and helicopter rescue.

Nepal Immigration online services OfficialOfficial online visa application.

Culture and trekking - take note

Hindus and Buddhists make up most of Nepal. Remove your shoes at temples and in homes, dress modestly, and keep leather items out of some temples. Circle stupas and prayer wheels in a clockwise direction. Heads should not be touched. Give and receive with the right hand, and greet people by saying 'Namaste' with palms pressed together. Non-Hindus may not enter the inner area of some Hindu temples, Pashupatinath among them. Seek permission before taking photos of people or religious ceremonies. Trekking in many areas requires permits, so go through a registered agency for them. Hire a licensed guide, choose the dry seasons of spring and autumn, and ascend slowly so as to avoid altitude sickness. Only bottled or treated water should be drunk. Halal food is limited beyond Kathmandu, so ask in advance.

Emergency

Police 100. Fire 101. Ambulance 102. (Confirm with your hotel or guide on arrival.)

Good to know

Plugs and voltage

Nepal Tourism Board pages give the electricity supply as 230 volts at 50 hertz in one place, and say in another that major towns have 220-volt power. Sockets accept only round two- or three-pin plugs, so devices with flat pins need a universal adaptor, and a device that does not accept the local voltage needs a converter.

Source: Nepal Tourism Board: Trekkers' Information Management System FAQ (checked 4 Nov 2026)
Source: Nepal Tourism Board: Other amenities (checked 4 Nov 2026)

Cash-based economy

The currency is the Nepalese rupee, and Canadian advice describes the economy as largely cash-based. Cards are accepted at major shops, hotels and restaurants, and cash machines are found in larger cities such as Kathmandu and Pokhara. Taking Nepalese rupee banknotes out of the country is illegal.

Source: Government of Canada travel advice: Nepal (checked 4 Nov 2026)

Local laws and customs

Drugs, dress, trekking and religion

UK advice says drug penalties are severe, with even small amounts of marijuana able to bring more than five years in prison, and that cannabidiol products, including some skincare items, are illegal. It advises covering up in temples and notes that foreign trekkers need a permit and a TIMS card, and must use a local guide or porter in national parks. Canadian advice says converting people to another religion is illegal.

Source: UK FCDO travel advice: Nepal, safety and security (checked 4 Nov 2026)
Source: Government of Canada travel advice: Nepal (checked 4 Nov 2026)

Taxis and scams

Metered taxis

You can recognise a metered taxi by the taxi sign on top and a black licence plate, and no tip is expected, according to the Nepal Tourism Board's trade site. Private taxis may charge slightly more than metered ones. Major hotels can arrange a night taxi service at a fare slightly higher than a metered taxi's.

Source: Nepal Tourism Board trade site: Transportation (checked 4 Nov 2026)

Trekking and rescue scams

Helicopter rescue and insurance scams in Nepal are documented in Canadian travel advice, with cases involving unnecessary evacuations, pressure to evacuate without a medical assessment, falsified documents and inflated billing. It advises steering clear of trekking packages that look unusually inexpensive. UK advice also says very cheap trekking deals may be scams, and mentions isolated cases of guides taking inexperienced trekkers to high altitude too quickly.

Source: Government of Canada travel advice: Nepal (checked 4 Nov 2026)
Source: UK FCDO travel advice: Nepal, safety and security (checked 4 Nov 2026)

Police emergency number 100

Helps with: Reaches the police. UK government travel advice lists this number.

Who qualifies: Anyone in the country, including visitors.

Phone: 100

Source · checked 2026-11-04

local government

Ambulance emergency number 102

Helps with: Reaches the ambulance service. UK government travel advice lists this number.

Who qualifies: Anyone in the country, including visitors.

Phone: 102

Source · checked 2026-11-04

local government

Fire emergency number 101

Helps with: Reaches the fire service. UK government travel advice lists this number.

Who qualifies: Anyone in the country, including visitors.

Phone: 101

Source · checked 2026-11-04

Cities and places

KathmanduHistoric Durbar Squares share this capital valley with temples and stupas, Swayambhunath, Boudhanath and Pashupatinath among them.Photo: Gerd Eichmann, CC BY-SA 4.0

Chitwan National ParkJeep and canoe safaris in this lowland jungle park search for many bird species, deer and one-horned rhinos.Photo: Vadim Tolbatov, CC BY-SA 4.0

LumbiniThe Buddha was born here, and the Maya Devi Temple stands alongside monasteries that many Buddhist countries have built.Photo: Bibek Raj Pandeya, CC BY-SA 4.0

BhaktapurClose to Kathmandu, this well-kept medieval town is known for pottery squares, wood carving, brick temples and local yoghurt.Photo: Saroj Pandey, CC BY-SA 3.0

Everest region (Lukla, Namche Bazaar)Trails towards Everest Base Camp, Sherpa villages and monasteries make up this high Himalayan trekking area, which starts from Lukla.Photo: Rdevany, CC BY-SA 3.0

City selection based on: Nepal Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation statistics reports, Department of Tourism site pages, Nepal Tourism Board

Festivals and events

festival

Tihar (festival of lights)

around Nov 2026 · Kathmandu

Over five days, lights and flowers are used, and animals are honoured.

religious

Dashain

around Sep-Oct 2027 · Kathmandu

During Nepal's biggest festival, buses fill up and offices stay shut for roughly a week.

culture

Indra Jatra

around Sep 2027 · Kathmandu

Kathmandu Durbar Square hosts masked dances and Kumari's chariot; Kumari is the living goddess.

festival

Tihar (festival of lights)

around Oct 2027 · Kathmandu

Over five days, lights and flowers are used, and animals are honoured.