Kathmandu Chitwan Pokhara Tour

Begin your Nepal highlights tour in the jungle — arriving at Chitwan National Park by road (4 hours from Kathmandu) or by flight (20 minutes to Bharatpur, 1 hour by road). Check in to your jungle lodge and begin the wildlife experience with an afternoon jeep safari into the grasslands where one-horned rhinoceroses, spotted deer and an extraordinary variety of birds are reliably seen. Evening campfire dinner with a Tharu cultural programme. Meals: All included.

Full day safari: pre-dawn jeep drive into the core park area, elephant observation at the government stables, canoe float on the Rapti River for birds and crocodiles. Your naturalist guide explains Chitwan's remarkable conservation story — once hunted to near-extinction, the one-horned rhino population has grown from 95 individuals in 1964 to over 700 today. Meals: All included.

Morning elephant bathing session on the Rapti riverbank. Afternoon walking tour of a traditional Tharu village. The Tharu people have lived in the Terai jungle for centuries, developing a natural immunity to malaria that allowed them to inhabit an area inaccessible to others until the 1960s. Meals: All included.

Scenic drive from the Terai jungle through the mid-hills to Pokhara — Nepal's lakeside city. The transition from jungle to mountain city in a single 4-hour drive encapsulates Nepal's extraordinary geographic diversity. Arrive for a lakeside dinner. Meals: All included.

Pre-dawn drive to Sarangkot for the Annapurna sunrise — the peaks blazing gold above Phewa Lake. Return for breakfast, then a boat ride to the Tal Barahi Temple and afternoon visit to the International Mountain Museum. Evening at leisure on the lakeside. Meals: Breakfast.

Return to Kathmandu by road (7 hours, scenic Prithvi Highway through river gorges and terraced hillsides) or by air (25-minute flight). Check in to Thamel hotel. Evening free. Meals: All included.

Full day exploring Kathmandu Valley's UNESCO World Heritage Sites with your guide: Pashupatinath Temple (Hindu cremation ghats, sadhus), Boudhanath Stupa (one of the largest in Asia, surrounded by Tibetan monasteries), Patan Durbar Square (medieval Newari masterpiece) and Swayambhunath (the Monkey Temple with its panoramic city view). Meals: Breakfast.

Airport transfer for your international departure. In eight days you have experienced Nepal's full range: wildlife, mountains, lakes, temples, jungle and Himalayan culture. Meals: Breakfast.