How to get Off The Beaten Track in Nepal
Snowcat
“We’d like to visit Nepal but for only a short amount of time and want to get off the beaten track”.
We get quite a few emails similar to this on a regular basis and it’s not actually that straightforward.
For a start getting off the beaten track in Nepal takes time by default. That’s what going off the beaten track is. So, to reach the more remote and lesser visited parts of Nepal involves both lengthy and sometimes complex, time consuming travel logistics.
If it was quick and easy to get off the beaten track in Nepal, then more and more people would probably be doing it and you’d end up not off the beaten track at all.
So, if you have only a short amount of time available then visiting off the beaten track places isn’t ideal, not least as the more remote areas of Nepal still (but not all) need to be reached on foot and often mean high altitudes too.
So, to get properly off the beaten track in Nepal means you need to allow for many days of travel and quite often many days of trekking too.
Then again, what actually is off the beaten track and what is by default on the beaten track too.
How do you define and distinguish what is and what isn’t?
What is on and off the beaten track in Nepal ?
In Nepal, it’s perhaps easier to define what could be considered as on the beaten track.
In fact it’s very straightforward.
It’s estimated that around 85% of people coming to Nepal and to go trekking head for the three “open” regions…..
Everest
Annapurna
Langtang
That leaves a huge amount of Himalayas for the other 15% of trekkers to choose from!
It’s almost as simple as that. If you want to go trekking off the beaten track just don’t go trekking to Everest Base Camp, or follow the even busier Annapurna Sanctuary trek (aka Annapurna Base Camp Trek) and the still very popular (but not anything like as authentic as it used to be) Annapurna Circuit route and if you want a classic Himalayan vantage point without the crowds avoid the Poon Hill Trek too.
In other words to avoid the crowds on trek just head for one of the areas that require a restricted area permit.
You can find out which areas require a restricted area permit in our Nepal Trekking Permits Guide
And for our Top Five pick of off the beaten track treks in Nepal see our Off Grid Trekking in Nepal guide.
Then again, before you discount the more popular treks, please bear in mind that they are popular for very good reasons too. But, popular they are.
There are parts of Nepal way over in the far, far west that only a handful of intrepid travellers venture to and indeed places there we’ve never been to ourselves!
I don’t want to trek, but still want feel off the beaten track!
If trekking isn’t your thing and you still want to avoid the more touristy, busy places then you can.
By a long mile the three busiest tourist hotspots in Nepal are:
Kathmandu
Pokhara
Chitwan
And to a lesser extent, although more popular with domestic and neighbouring South Asian tourists you could add Nagarkot to that list.
If you look at the thousands of “pretty much all the same” fixed itinerary group tours they are pretty much all doing a basic “Nepal Triangle”….Kathmandu to Pokhara to Chitwan and then back to Kathmandu.
And it’s the same for all the many fixed itinerary group treks. You arrive in Nepal and before you know it you’re whisked off on a trek, then back and almost straight on the plane home.
Most never venture further than the “gateways” of either Kathmandu or Pokhara other than to trek.
So, you could say that anything or anywhere other than Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan, Nagarkot, and the previously mentioned treks above is venturing off the beaten track.
Of course both Kathmandu and Pokhara are “gateways” and before you move elsewhere you might just need to be in one of either or both. But, there are close by alternative locations too for both that might not exactly qualify for being remote, off the beaten track locations precisely, but are most certainly less busy in terms of the volume of tourists.
An alternative to Kathmandu is the “next door” medieval city of Bhaktapur.
An alternative to Pokhara is near by Begnas Lake.
Or just keep out of the main tourist areas of Pokhara i.e. Lakeside and Damside and stay at The Pavilions Lake View or even more so, The Pavilions- The Farm can feel like you’re away from it all.
The alternative to Chitwan is and always has been Bardia National Park and few venture east to Koshi Tappu, which is renowned internationally for its bird life in particular.
It also depends just how pedantic you want to be as to what is/what isn’t considered off the beaten track. If no one goes to a place at all there’s probably no good reason to go there.
If there’s decent (or half decent) tourist accommodation in places are they off the beaten track as tourists obviously go there?
But, using the “majority stick with Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan” statistics only a minority in comparison venture into the Kathmandu Valley itself and never discover the delights of places like Namobuddha and Panauti.
Heading far out of the valley on the road north to Tibet and Langtang travellers rarely notice there’s a side road at Trisuli Bazaar that winds it’s way up through hillside pine forests to experience the authentic charm of dreamy Nuwakot.
And, we…..there is Mustang. Perhaps one of the least visited places in Nepal that most have actually heard of. Tourists weren’t even allowed in to Mustang until 1992 and even then it was the domain of hardy trekkers prepared to endure the hardships of relentless high altitude and pay the exorbitant permit cost.
Even now there’s a road (of sorts) all the way to fabled Lo Manthang from Pokhara only a few thousand tourists a year make this adventurous road trip. A trickle when compared to the masses that throng the Everest and Annapurna regions, as Mustang is still an expensive if not connoisseur part of Nepal to visit.
See our: Illustrated Travel Guide to Mustang for more on this unique part of Nepal and the land that lies behind the Himalayas.
Take a jeep road out of Pokhara up through the Kali Gandaki Valley and then take a detour on a dirt track that winds its way sharply up and away from the main road that follows the valley floor and by the afternoon you’ll arrive at a dramatic vantage point at Thasang and right above you rises the behemoth of Dhaulagiri. Across the valley are spectacular views of the Nilgiri Peaks and Annapurna 1. The village up here is hidden away as it’s high above the road that was built over the Annapurna Circuit trail, so if you didn’t know this place existed you’d drive right past it.
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