Kathmandu Walking Trips

This holiday was a dream come true for me. Our guides throughout the tour were brilliant at giving information regarding a wide variety of visits. Our main guide, Santosh, was amazing from our first meeting until the taxi collecting us on the last day. His knowledge, concern, caring friendly nature and humour made the holiday....nothing was too much trouble for him. The variety on the tour was very well balanced; I would highly recommend it. The only challenge was sorting the visa; I paid on line and was charged again at tbe airport after being told the first payment was a scam! However this didn't impact on the holiday as I enjoyed every minute of it.

I loved that The Annapurna Foothills trip was like three trips in one: the temples, colour and bustle of Kathmandu, the peace and green beauty of the foothills and the interest and serenity of Chitwan National Park. Our leader Santosh was efficient, caring and funny.

This trip was amazing, from flying into Kathmandu with the view of the Annapurna Range visible over the tops of the cloud to experiencing the bustling city of Kathmandu, with its temples, palaces and bazaars! We loved the trekking, the fantastic scenery with early morning views of the Annapurna mountains and the stays in the Teahouses. A highlight for us was a walk through a village where we met local people working their own land and keeping livestock, meeting the retired Gurkha and his wife who led it. We loved our time in Chitwan, seeing the one-horned rhinoceros at the National Park, enjoying walks in the village and a very peaceful canoe boat trip on the river which were all great after the long treks of the previous days. The food was fantastic, exceeding our expectations especially in the Teahouses where we were surprised by the quality and quantity of food. We definitely did not go hungry on this trip! Our tour leader Su was brilliant, very organised and with lots of knowledge that he was happy to share. His love and enthusiasm for Nepal was evident. We thoroughly enjoyed our time talking to him, his catch phrase “anything is possible” was a constant when we asked questions. The other members of our support crew were fantastic too, very attentive, always there with a smile and amazingly produced tea even at the earliest hours when we were viewing sunrise over the mountains.

Walking, wildlife, food and culture: this tour ticked a lot of boxes for me. It is true that the poor visibility at this time of year (March) meant that the Annupurna mountains weren't visible during much of the trek, but the landscape with its flora, fauna and small farms still made the walking interesting and enjoyable. A special highlight was seeing the one-horned rhinoceros at the Chitwan National Park, and the cultural events staged at the Green Chwadi Retreat at Chitwan were an unexpected bonus. There was a wealth of birds to see throughout the tour, and our tour leader, Su, was very knowledgeable in identifying them. As someone who is unable to eat gluten, I had been worried about how I would cope with the food; and I am extremely grateful to Su for helping me to navigate this, as well as ensuring that there were always things available for me to eat.

The discover Nepal trip was amazing. Our tour leader, Su, was also amazing - attentive, informative, super friendly, always there to help. The highlight for me was Chitwan and if I was to make any recommendation it would be to try and squeeze in 3 nights there so another game drive would be possible.

A very enjoyable trip, with a lot of variety. Our tour leader, Su, was absolutely excellent. I particularly enjoyed the hikes and our time in Chitwan National Park, and the Nepalese people are very friendly. The roads in Nepal are currently very poor, although there are infrastructure works underway to improve the major routes. However, the scenery and interesting settlements we passed through made up for the bumpy ride. The only disappointment was the haziness during the first half of the trip, which meant that we couldn't see the high mountains, but this was outside Explore's control! A December or January trip may be a better option for clearer views.