Nepal travel tips

Is Nepal safe?

1 guide, each rated 1 to 5 with the reason — and two lists per place, where you are comfortable and where to pay attention. Nowhere is called dangerous; the specific thing is what helps.

3.0 average across 1 guide · Reasonably safe
Kathmandu & Pokhara, Nepal

Kathmandu & Pokhara Reasonably safe

Crime against visitors is low and mostly touts and overcharging. What is genuinely dangerous is altitude on a trek — acclimatise on the schedule, not faster — and the roads, which are mountainous and driven hard. Domestic aviation has a poor record and the EU bans Nepali carriers from its airspace, which is a fact worth knowing when choosing the bus.

Comfortable: Thamel · Patan · Boudhanath · Lakeside, Pokhara

  • Trekking above 3,000m without acclimatising, which kills people every year and is entirely preventable
  • Domestic aviation, which has a poor record — Nepali carriers are banned from EU airspace
  • Road travel in the mountains, driven hard on roads that are still being built
  • Helicopter evacuation fraud, in which operators exaggerate a case to claim on insurance

The ratings are this site's own, from the guides' authors and the corrections readers send in; they are not an index. Read the general advice in travel safety tips.

The guides in Nepal

The white dome and gold spire of Boudhanath stupa in KathmanduKathmandu & PokharaNepalA medieval valley of temples, and the lake town where every Himalayan trek begins