Chitwan National Park is a world heritage site and also the first national park in Nepal which is located in the mid-south Terai of Nepal. It is a huge block of alluvial grasslands and subtropical moist deciduous forests. It was established in 1973 in order to protect the endangered animals which was found there. A total of 68 species of mammals, 544 species of birds, 56 species of herpetofauna and 126 species of fish have been recorded in this park. It is really popular forone horned rhino, tigers and gharials.

Chitwan National Park is also considered as the heart of the jungle found along the foot of the Himalayas. Several activities that can be done in Chitwan are;

Jungle walk:

• Jungle walk is the opportunity to explore and experience the beauty of the flora and fauna. It may be of 1 to 5 days depends upon curiosity of the guest.

Canoe trip:

• Canoeing is the typical handmade dugout canoe on either the Rapti or the Buddha Rapti River, which border the national park. There are chances to see two types of crocodiles, Gharial and Mugger basking on the riverbank.

Village tour/Cultural programme:

• The native people of Chitwan are Tharu who offers guided cultural tours to meet the people and experience their traditional self-sufficient way of life. They also perform traditional Tharu folk dance at hotels and invite guests to join them in their rhythmic display.

Elephant breeding center:

• This is recognized as the first elephant breeding center in Asia where baby elephants socialize with their parents and other babies owned by government on the purpose to raise the young elephants.

Jungle drive:

• To track rare species four wheel jeep drive is prefered in the less disturbed areas. And the facilities inside the park are not available during the monsoon.

Bird watching:

• Visitors will have great opportunity to see many species of birds in early morning. Elephant back safari,an elephant back ride is one of the safest ways to enter jungle and see the wild life as it is anexciting never to be forgotten experience.

Elephant bath:

• Riding on the bare back of elephant and go to the Rapti river for swimming and washing them is great fun to play.

Tower stay:

• There is a tower in the middle of the jungle where you can spend the whole night and feel real nature surroundings.

Crocodile breeding center:

•  Gharial crocodile is one of the endangered species of the world. To protect them, UN has established the crocodile breeding center where we product the large number of Gharials and release them in the River.

Bicycle tour:

• During the ride you will get to visit 20,000 lakes area, which afford a varied experience of birds and mammals.

There are three ways of transportation from Kathmandu to Chitwan; bus, car or flight. The road distance is 154.1 km. The cheapest way of transportation is by bus which costs  $5 – $7 and takes 5/6 hours approximately. There is a direct bus departing from Kathmandu and arriving at Chitwan Sauraha. The quickest way of transportation is to fly which costs approximately $110 and takes 30 mins.  It takes approximately 5/6 hours to drive from Kathmandu to Sauraha by car. There are 138+ hotels available in Sauraha. Prices start at $100 per night.

Wilds of Nepal are full of life, where the rule of nature decides the fate of inhabitants living inside it. A small Himalayan nation that houses 14 protected and conservation parks are the best suited homes to the many rare animals and plants.

Every adventurous soul who decides to penetrate these extensive wild playgrounds have come up with the best wildlife experiences because they sight the largest and the rarest species of animals living in the deepest jungle of Indian sub-continent.

At the moment, when world wants to know about the assessment of trekking trails of Nepal and cultural heritage sites, these wildlife parks have remained safe and sound; more than ready to cater the wildlife tours.

We cater wildlife tours in Nepal in the conserved parks of lowland plains i.e. Chitwan National Park, Bardia National Park and Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve.

Chitwan National Park the major hub of wildlife activities in Nepal, caters services to the largest chunk of wildlife lovers traveling to Nepal every year. The park has diverse activities.

Elephant Safari, Jeep Drive, Elephant bathing, Canoe Ride, Nature Walk and Bird-watching tours are the most popular wildlife activities of the park.

A little off the beaten wildlife park, Bardia National Park that lies in the far west region of Nepal caters greater opportunities to sight the wild species in the wilds.

Relatively peaceful and less frequented, Bardia National Park offers almost 50% chances of sighting the Royal Bengal Tiger, which is quite a chance to see this beautiful predator  playing freely in the jungle.

Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve is the best park for the birding activities and the bird watchers call it their paradise. Lying in the eastern lowland, the park is the home to more than 500 species of birds including the residential the migratory ones.

The most common thing of all these parks is the culture attached within them. The lowlands of Nepal that stretch from east to west is the home to Nepal’s one of the oldest ethnical tribes- the Tharus. Moreover, the river system that run through the parks are the ideal homes to the deadliest predators, crocodiles.

Nepal is not the destination for walking adventures or cultural tours. It is also the biggest hub for wildlife activities in entire Asia. Visit Nepal for any purpose but bother to peep into the rich wildlife of Nepal, which would undoubtedly give you an insightful exploration of the wilds that represents the wilds of the entire Indian Sub-Continent.

We would not hesitate to call this tour the Best of Nepal Tour because it incorporates the best of Nepal’s culture, wildlife, nature and adventure.

The country better known for Himalayas and the adventurous walking activities to the elevated landmarks closer to the Himalayas also caters equally fascinating culture, rich wildlife, matchless urban nature and the thrilling adventures. And the Best of Nepal is a blend all these wonderful highlights Nepal caters without trekking to the elevated regions.

Our Best of Nepal Tour takes you to three major cities of the country i.e. Kathmandu Pokhara and Chitwan. These cities of Nepal are the biggest tourist hubs known for the contrasting extraordinary treasures they house.

The tour is also considered the best of Nepal because travelers have plenty of options for lavish stay as three towns house the best hotels and restaurants of the country, with all the modern facilities and amenities.

Let us see why we call this tour the Best of Nepal Tour

Kathmandu – where culture is older than the countries like USA & Australia

If you are entering Nepal via air, you need to tolerate Kathmandu. The first experience of Kathmandu for many is not good. The sights, sounds and smells of Kathmandu for most of westerners definitely give them the cultural shock. However, travelers slowly begin to like Kathmandu.

The metropolis choke full of traffics and pedestrians has so much to offer. The cobbled maze streets of Old Town Asan that lead to the site of artistic and cultural Heritage Square – the Kathmandu Durbar Square cater abundant opportunities to understand the culture of this ancient town. The city known as the melting point of Hinduism and Buddhism also houses the largest Hindu shrine of the country, Pashupatinath and two major Buddhist stupas – Boudhanath and Swayambhunath.

Moreover, the neighboring towns Bhaktapur and Lalitpur are not less fascinating culturally and artistically as all these towns went through tough Art War with each other for centuries. Additionally, the culture of native community of all three cities, Newars is wonderful aspect to observe in Kathmandu.

Newars are the families of artists, who designed every tiny creation of the valley bit by bit. They are the families of the celebrators, who throughout the year are involved in celebrating the most vibrant festivals of the country and they are the families of the indigenous cooks, who are admired for cooking the most delicious and traditional Newari cuisines.

Pokhara – from where 8000m+ Himalayan peak loom dramatically in 30 km radius

Pokhara is truly a dream town where everyone likes to settle down permanently. Perfect weather throughout the year, lush green hills that ring the valley and the spectacular views of the Himalayas dominated by Virgin Mountain Fishtail, Pokhara is unarguably a heaven on Earth.

This Lake Town that lies 200km west of Kathmandu is the most popular stopover point for trekkers to Annapurna and Mustang Region to spend significant amount of quality time before and after the trek. The tourist hub in Pokhara, Lakeside that lies in the shore of verdant Fewa Lake is full of life catering live music and colorful souvenir shops.

Apart from soft adventures like boating in Fewa Lake and excursion of caves and gorges of the town, Pokhara is the most popular adventurous hub of Nepal. Among several hilltops that cater the magnificent views of the Himalayas and Sarangkot is one of them. Sarangkot is the most special hilltop in Pokhara because it is from here the Aerial Adventure as if Paragliding takes place.

Besides, the city is also the home to Aadventures like zip-flying, bungee jumping, Ultra-light flights and skydiving. The soft adventures like Mountain Biking and day hiking are also the popular activities Of Pokhara.

Chitwan – where the endangered wild species are sheltered for generations to come

When it comes to the wildlife adventure in Nepal, Chitwan National Park is the first destination most people think of. UNESCO World Heritage, protected park spreads over 932 sq km with wetlands, grasslands and woodlands.

The park caters one of the best wildlife activities of entire Asia. If you are a wildlife lover, Chitwan National Park has plenty of wildlife activities for you. Elephant Safari, dugout canoe ride, Jeep drive, nature walk, elephant bathing and bird-watching tours are the most popular activities of Chitwan National Park. All these activities are full of fun catering you an opportunity to sight as much as species of mammals, reptiles and birds.

However, spotting a wild species in the wilds needs bit of luck. The home to one horned rhino and Royal Bengal Tiger, the park also houses rare gangetic dolphin and 544 species of birds.

Plus, the opportunity to enjoy glimpses of Tharu culture in the neighborhood of Chitwan National Park is an additional cultural activity attached with the incredible wildlife park of Nepal.

Best of Nepal that comprises the three major cities of Nepal- Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan is Nepal’s one of the best selling cultural tours. Kathmandu boasts on cultural heritages, Pokhara wows on natural delights and Chitwan is a wildlife paradise. Recently few of our clients had the Best of Nepal Tour. After the tour, they shared their experiences in Nepal.

The best memory of the trip was flying over the Himalayas, the stay at Bandipur & Tibetan Refugee Camp.

The meeting and handling of Explore Himalaya was excellent, effective and on time. Both the guides in Pokhara and Kathmandu were good. The transport was excellent. The driver who took us to Pokhara was excellent.

I highly recommend Explore Himalaya as a service that takes the hassle out of you. It’s been already an exceptional experience in Nepal.

-Mr. Kenneth Thomas Sutton, Austrailia

Every different place has been memorable for different reasons. We’ve loved the “hustle & bustle” of Kathmandu to the peacefulness of Bandipur and Pokhara and the breathtaking mountain views.

Explore Himalaya’s meeting and handling was great. They met us with smiles on their faces. It was a perfect way to start our trip. All the hotels were clean and fantastic. Our guides Nabu &Prakesh were amazing. They were funny, polite and never boring. Every member of staffs from the driver to manager has been great.  The transport was clean and safe.

100% YES! I will recommend Explore Himalaya to other travelers who are willing to visit Nepal. The whole experience has been mind blowing fun, informative. We loved every minute our stay in Nepal.

It has been an amazing and wonderful experience with great staff. A real credit to Explore Himalaya.

-Ms. Denise Appleton & Ms. Lauren Lidford from United Kingdom

Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), led the team of Nepalese Travel delegates while participating in the Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) held in Bangalore, India.

During India’s largest Travel Show TTF, nine Travel  Companies of Nepal accompanied NTB. The Travel Trade Fair was held from January 3 to 5. According to NTB visitors at TTF, made inquiries about Nepal´s prime touristic highlights as well as the pilgrimage destinations like Pasupatinath, Muktinath and Manakamana among others.

The statement of NTB says “Visitors also inquired about pilgrimage tour to Kailash Mansarovar via Nepal. The soft adventure holidays like trekking and rafting, leisure tour of Kathmandu, Pokhara, and Chitwan, and entertainment segments are also found popular among young travelers of India”, NTB statement adds.

News source: Republica