If I told you that travelling in Nepal with kids was easy, I’d be lying. Nepal has been the most challenging place we’ve ever taken the children, and that includes India, but it’s been worth it many times over. They got sick less in India and didn’t have to hike up any mountains. So whether you’d like to take your kids to Nepal for culture, adventure, beautiful places, wildlife safaris and spiritual experiences, or just for fun, here’s our complete guide to Nepal with kids.
Kids in Nepal, enjoying a playground high in the Himalayas under the watchful eye of our guide, Nima Sherpa. Yes, you can visit Nepal with kids.
So here for you, in case you’re as crazy as us, is our rundown on why Nepal with kids is the best of ideas and the worst of ideas. Is Nepal family-friendly for a holiday or vacation, and what should you do and see in Nepal with your children? We cover things to do in Nepal with kids, and the practicalities of visiting Nepal with kids.
Kathmandu, after dark. Exploring the backstreets, temples and Durbar Square. Lighting a candle to Bhairab. The Nepali people welcomed our kids everywhere.
You will never find another country as rich in culture, history, adventure, and natural beauty, as Nepal. It’s a stunning place to visit.
This country deserves our support and I would encourage everyone to get out there and spend your tourist dollar if you can. Put your money in the hands of the little guys, not the big international chains.
You don’t have to visit Nepal to trek. If sightseeing is more your style there are many interesting places of cultural and historical significance to explore. This is Bhaktapur, near Kathmandu. This was the kids’ second time in Nepal, when we took them all the way to Everest Base Camp.
This is Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha. It’s in the south of Nepal near the Indian border. We took the kids here. There are incredible religious buildings here and the International Peace Pagoda. Read our blog post for how to get there and more photos and information.
There is a lot of information and first-hand experience in this post to help you get your kids to Nepal, safely, and have an incredible trip.
The index below should help you find what you need. We have dozens of posts on Nepal here at World Travel Family. If you can’t find what you need, just ask.
This is the village of Khumjung, above Namche Bazaar in the Everest region. Here we entered the monastery with an old lama to see a yeti skull relic. The kids loved it! What child wouldn’t?
People take their kids to Nepal in various ways, so whether you’re going for a two week family holiday or vacation, a month, or to make the most of a three-month visa, we’ve done that and we can help you with that.
We’ll cover as many aspects of Nepal with kids as we can in this post.
We are particularly keen on family trekking in Nepal. Our kids have been to Everest Base Camp and we’ve completed the Annapurna Circuit Trek, which includes the short Pune Hill hike.
The Annapurna Region, along with the Everest Region, are hugely popular. In peak season, expect crowds. Maybe in the trekking season of late 2024 and 2025, this won’t be so bad. The floods in Kathmandu may have reduced tourist numbers significantly. We haven’t been to Kathmandu since the flooding, but we’re aiming to go soon to share what we find.
Things To Do in Nepal With Kids
Hanging out with the sadhus in Kathmandu. You’ll spot plenty of holy men at Pashupatinath, an important Shiva temple and home to Kathmandu’s cremation ghats. Some kids may find all this too much and the small from the funeral pyres isn’t great.
Ideas for things to do in Nepal with kids. Nepal is best for an active, outdoors, family holiday, with plenty of cultural interest and sightseeing. Bring non-fussy eaters with curiosity and a love of adventure.
See the spot where Buddha was born and explore the International Peace Park at Lumbini
Marvel at the ancient temples, stupas, and squares in the Kathmandu valley.
Trekking & Touring Nepal
“Tourist Class” buses in Nepal. This is Pokhara bus station. The bus ride between Pokhara and Kathmandu is a full-day trip, with a stop for lunch. The alternative is to fly. Neither is very safe but I prefer the scenic, but hair-raising, bus ride. You can book private drivers, I doubt it’s any safer.
A month in Nepal gave us the chance to walk or hike in the Everest region, not all the way to Base Camp, which took us three weeks. But a month will give you time to get a good walk up there, with kids.
Visiting Pokhara for enough time to see it properly and fully exploring Kathmandu was possible in one month. We also visited Bhaktapur, not far from Kathmandu.
There wasn’t time for us to fit in Lumbini or Chitwan into a one-month Nepal itinerary. You could also easily arrange a shorter trek in the Annapurna Range, from Pokhara in one month.
Chitwan National Park, in the south of Nepal, would be a great place to take kids. That’s if you see the tigers! We didn’t and the kids found our jeep safari pretty boring. The rhino that wandered into our hotel’s garden one night was very cool though!
If you want to see tigers and rhino in Chitwan, know that the peak trekking season (October) is not the best time to see wildlife. The best time of year to visit Nepal with kids will depend on what you plan to include in your itinerary. If you’re heading to the mountains I wouldn’t take kids in winter.
Poon Hill is a popular short trek, but it’s not an easy one. If you go up to Poon Hill from Pokhara there are a lot of steps and they may not suit little legs. Coming down those steps is hard on your knees too.
Everest Base Camp With Kids
My younger child on his way to Everest Base Camp. This was his second family trek in the Himalayas of Nepal. My tween and teen did great on this trek and both made it to Base Camp. It’s so beautiful up there and there is so much to learn.
If your trip to Nepal is all about the mountains, The Everest Base Camp trek has to be the ultimate experience. Our kids have been to Everest Base Camp. They were 13 and 11 when they completed the trek and they did well.
We faced hardships but it’s possible with some common sense and plenty of time. Altitude, dangers from yaks, and getting sick are real issues. See our full post on Everest Base Camp Difficulty here.
I would strongly suggest not doing this with small kids but tweens and teens did fine.
Long-term travel like this is impossible for most families, we know. We’re in the fortunate position of being professional travel bloggers. We need, and love, these long trips to discover everything piece of information we are able to give you here.
Onward Travel From Nepal
If you have time, it’s possible to take a tour of Tibet from Kathmandu. We highly recommend it but it was tough on the kids and, of course, hugely expensive, Our Tibet blog is here. You can travel by road from Kathmandu to Lhasa, it takes several days, you can then fly back.
Bhutan is also fairly accessible from Nepal. We’ve been, but not via Kathmandu. Bhutan is an incredible place but we all know how expensive it is!
You can easily (usually) travel south into India from Nepal. We’ve done it by road, but not with the kids.
Best Things To Do in Nepal With Kids
If I were taking my kids to Nepal for the first time, I would be sure to do at least some of the following. A list of things to do in Nepal with kids is below.
Aside from trekking, adventure, and wildlife, allow plenty of time in Kathmandu. This city is buzzing and full of ancient, religious, and cultural attractions. The must-sees are Swayambhunath (The Monkey Temple), Pashupatinath (you will likely see cremations here and the smell isn’t good, not for sensitive kids), and The Durbar Squares. You will most likely be staying in Thamel, the backpacker area of Kathmandu. It’s a good base. If you want to spend more there are child-friendly, more luxurious hotels, in the city.
Chitwan has got to be on your list for kids. We had a wild rhino in our hotel garden and there are elephants walking the streets. You stand a chance of seeing a tiger, unfortunately we didn’t. A long, fruitless safari could be boring for kids, but there are plenty of crocodiles on the river banks and we saw the tame rhino daily. He’s a feature in Sauraha.
Trekking is OK for some kids, not for others. Our kids have been to Everest Base Camp. We’ve also trekked in the Annapurnas and Poon Hill. Himalayan trekking can be dangerous and I wouldn’t take small kids, however, you can take a porter to actually carry your child if you see the need. We took a Sherpa guide first time to increase the adult to child ratio. Second time we went alone to Base Camp. Our guide to trekking in Nepal is here.
Pokhara is a sleepy, relaxed, beautiful lakeside town. If your teens want to try adventure sports like paragliding or parachuting, you can do it here. Likewise, rafting and river camps are nearby. We just like to enjoy the Pokhara vibe and maybe take a boat out on Phewa Lake. I’ve not let my kids jump off mountains strapped to kites yet, but we have friends who have.
Take a class of some sort. Cooking classes are suitable for even younger kids, my teen opted to make a kukri (a traditional knife) with a master craftsman. Check sites like Back Street Academy to see what’s available in Kathmandu or Pokhara. A cooking class is a great family vacation activity, but momos are hard to make.
White water rafting is popular in Nepal and some operators will accept older kids on less demanding trips. This activity can be dangerous.
Kids Getting Sick in Nepal
In one month in Nepal, we had night-time vomiting 5 times. Once both children were sick on the same night giving us a constant bathroom relay of Dettol and buckets, all night. This has never happened to us before in our 3 years of travel.
At home in London, yes, but never on the road. There has also been diarrhoea, regularly, with some extreme emergencies. This has never happened to us before either.
My husband was a little off-colour, but thankfully, I was fine. Maybe this is because I’m the family clean freak and won’t put anything near my mouth unless it’s been incinerated, washed, wiped, and coated in hand sanitiser gel.
We never managed to pinpoint what made the kids sick, but the problem was at its worst in Kathmandu, a city globally notorious for tummy trouble. (Don’t even think about visiting this part of the world without Travel Insurance, this is the one we use)
We would never leave home without travel insurance, in our first few months on the road my husband suddenly needed a surprise medical surgery on Ko Phangan. We wouldn’t be on the road now if we hadn’t had insurance to cover it. Every day you will see people helicoptered out of the mountains, altitude, accidents, GI problems, you don’t want to have to pay for it. This picture, from that crazy airport in the Himalayas, what an adventure!
When we first arrived in Nepal we were pretty relaxed about food, the boys ate the things they normally eat in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, or anywhere in Asia.
Once the first round of vomiting started we cut right back to heavily cooked foods, pre-bottled, chemically treated or boiled water and big brand name soft drinks only.
We bought Dettol soap, hand gel, and wipes and used them regularly. This is something we hardly ever do, yet they still got sick. It seemed that no matter what they did, these kids of mine were intent on putting the wrong things in their mouths.
Even after prolific warnings my son still ate a bowl of complimentary peanuts towards the end of our month, he was up all night.
They would still drink directly from cans without wiping them thoroughly. They would just have to order a hamburger rather than dal.
It was incredibly difficult to keep them away from everything that might make them ill again, but they wanted to take the risk to order foods they love. They’re old enough to make their own choices and learn from them, sometimes. But even with the intermittent sickness, they were OK, still cheerful and not massively under the weather.
They still saw the beauty in their surroundings, marvelled at Nepal’s wonders and played and chattered between themselves. The sickness didn’t destroy the trip.
Air Pollution in Kathmandu and Kids
Cycle rickshaws are the eco-friendly way to go, but every large bus and truck throws out black fumes in heavy traffic around Kathmandu.
The air pollution in Kathmandu is pretty bad. Around Thamel, the backpacker area of the city, it seems OK, it’s only in traffic that you really notice it.
You can easily buy masks from local shops or the huge Thamel “Supermarket” and trekkers’ provisions shop. I wouldn’t visit Nepal with kids if they had respiratory problems, certainly not Kathmandu.
We had a few bad air days in Pokhara too, before the air cleared. The mountain air, by contrast, is incredible.
No Power, No Water, No Heat
You can experience high-altitude snows, rhododendron-clad slopes and tropical valleys, all in one day. Himalayan flat is a little bit up, a little bit down.
Power cuts or outages can happen every day in Nepal. Things were better the last time we visited, but previously they happened to fairly predictable schedules.
It was more the case that sometimes the power was on, rather than sometimes it went off. Most bigger shops, guest houses, and restaurants had variably good backup in the form of generators and solar power.
Our guest house in Kathmandu ( Stupa Guest House, click through to get rates) did a good job of keeping us lit and in power. Sometimes we used battery packs and torches, but we managed.
The fuel embargo was officially over at the time of our one month visit, it didn’t impact us in any way other than sharing public buses with large fuel containers occasionally. There were still fuel queues for locals.
Hot showers were hard to find, the above guest house had a back-up gas shower that always worked even when the lights went out. On the treks, you can buy a hot shower from about $3 US each in most guesthouses.
The higher you go the more expensive that gets. None of us had more than half a dozen showers in a month, we’re not dirty, that’s normal for trekking.
Typical bathroom facilities at tea houses or lodges in the Himalayas of Nepal. Occasionally you will find a room with en-suite showers or a toilet, but shared is normal. You usually have to pay for hot water, be it a shower or a bucket.
Similarly, you can’t freely charge your electrical equipment in most trekking guest houses. Some charge $2 per charge, others $2-$5 per hour. It was free to charge in our Kathmandu guest house and in Pokhara we found a café that was happy for us to stay and charge devices so long as we ate there.
Time for a break. This is a typical low-altitude village in Nepal. All of these buildings are tea houses or lodges. At high altitude everything gets more basic and there’s next to no greenery.
In the mountains there is usually no heating in bedrooms and almost zero insulation. The restaurant/kitchen of your tea house will have a wood burner, but at bedtime you just dive under the blankets. The kids had sleeping bags, we didn’t, we all managed fine, we weren’t cold in bed.
Taking Kids to Altitude in the Himalayas
Flying into altitude, all smiles on arrival at Lukla airport, high in the Himalayas on the way to Everest. You’ll notice that we don’t buy fancy trekking gear. We have a blog post about that in the related posts, at the bottom of the page.
We flew from Kathmandu to Lukla at 2,843m. Flying into altitude isn’t a great idea and I was worried that the children would be affected when we got off the plane. Even though Lukla isn’t massively high, I was still concerned.
When we got off in Lukla, D and I had slight headaches but as we descended during that afternoon of trekking through woods and fluttering prayer flags, they went away never to return.
One the first day of your trek towards Everest from Lukla, you descend in altitude. This is a good thing.
We had no further altitude issues at all on our short walk above Lukla. My older son eventually made it to 3,800m and stood at Tangboche Monastery triumphantly regarding Everest with me.
Kids seem just as likely as adults to develop altitude sickness, although research is hard to find. The first response to altitude sickness is to descend. Always have that option and know the symptoms to look for.
There is no way I would take very young children, who couldn’t communicate their physical experiences to altitude. But why listen to me right? Who am I, just a mum with a deep interest in mountains, a few high altitude treks under my belt and a background in hospital medical science. I’m not an authority.
Altitude Causes Bad Dreams and Nightmares
Most people tend to have very vivid dreams at altitude and this is something most bloggers writing “Nepal with kids” posts won’t tell you. It affected us badly when my son was younger.
One of my children suffers from night terrors intermittently, this was certainly amplified at altitude. The dreams have been improving with age and I couldn’t remember the last time he had a night terror, but he had 2 while we were in the Himalayas.
The rest of the family had strange dreams too. If you’re planning Nepal with kids, particularly going to altitude, this is something to really consider.
Trekking in The Himalayas with Kids, Why It’s Great
You meet the most interesting people in the mountains, the local Sherpa people of the Everest region and fellow trekkers and climbers.
The only way to see this part of the world, the high Himalayas, is to walk. It is without doubt, totally, indescribably, breath-taking. Both visually and spiritually.
Your children will witness unique cultures that few people experience or understand along with abundant local animals and plants.
So many animals for kids to meet on the Nepalese treks, from yaks, to donkeys, to goats.
They will come away with a new idea of what is humanly possible as they witness porters carrying loads of up to 100Kg at altitude for many days and see how locals scratch a living from the soil and livestock.
They will develop a new idea of what they are physically and mentally capable of.
Respecting the local religion and culture, learning how it works and what the local people believe and practice.
Walking can either be a silent meditation or an opportunity to talk, with family, with other trekkers from diverse backgrounds, or with locals. You meet the most interesting people up mountains.
You will never see anything as beautiful as sunrise in the snows of the Himalayas.
Heights, Scary Bridges, Precipitous Drops, Landslides, Yaks and Other Dangers of Trekking in Nepal With Kids
Yaks are fantastic, but dangerous. Listen out for approaching yak bells.
There are dangers in the mountains, probably the biggest are yak and donkey caravans. If you’re standing on the cliff edge side of the path when they come through, you’ll more than likely be pushed off.
We crossed precarious bridges hundreds of meters above the valley floor, sometimes in high winds, rain and snow. There were landslides where the path had been taken out, some easy to cross, some very frightening.
There was wet, deep mud, full of donkey droppings that went on for hours and hours. No turning back, no alternate route, you just keep going.
My kids never showed any fear. They crossed the bridges with way more ease than I.
Our Sherpa guide, Nima, kept a very watchful eye on them, grabbing them, keeping up with them, protecting them. He was calm and confident and I don’t think I could have done it without him.
The bus rides go on and on, snaking around mountains on precarious paths. The bus journey back from Everest to Kathmandu was 13 hours and the most frightening of my life. The kids had no fear at all.
The buses, public and tourist, have plenty of leg-room, are pretty comfortable, but the risk of motion sickness is huge.
I dosed the boys with an antihistamine travel sickness medication before departure and had no trouble at all while those around us vomited into blue plastic bags.
After that first mega road trip, the bus from Kathmandu to Pokhara is a breeze, nothing frightening and only 8 hours. The tourist buses on this route leave in convoys and stop regularly for food and toilet breaks, some of the best food we’ve eaten in Nepal was on these road-side breaks.
Earplugs are a good idea on bus trips, and a good book. We’ll be posting about these buses soon.
Food for Kids in Nepal
Flask after flask of hot black tea keeps trekkers going at altitude.
Menus in Kathmandu and Pokhara are extensive and diverse. If you have a mind to, you can order just about anything you like, but I’d urge caution.
Sticking to well-cooked Nepalese foods is a good idea. Nepalese food isn’t very hot (spicy), momos, thukpa, and dal baht are normally fairly bland and contain plenty of vegetables.
Vegetable curries are available and, low down, chicken curries should be OK to eat.
On treks, your diet will become more limited, don’t touch meat up there as it all has to be carried up. Protein comes from eggs and dal soup as part of dal baht.
Other than those staples, my boys ate a lot of fried potatoes with veg, you eat what they can grow locally and once you’re up high in the mountains, that’s mostly potatoes.
Trekkers drink flask after flask of hot tea, black, milk or variations on lemon, ginger, and honey. Tea should be safe, warms you up, and keeps you hydrated at altitude.
Soft drinks, chocolate and biscuits are available, but cost more and more the higher you go. Find a full posts on Nepalese food and food for treks here.
I Don’t Want to Scare You Off Taking Kids to Nepal
A fairly flat day, above Namche Bazar. Talking, walking, wildlife spotting. All in sight of Everest.
This last month has been one of the most wonderful of my life, being in those mountains with the kids has been magical but it has been hard. I think in many ways harder on me than on the kids.
I’m the stress head around here, I suffer from anxiety and obviously, I worry about the boys more than I worry for myself, I’m a mum.
Their father has been cool the whole time so my view IS an exaggerated one. But as always, I tell it like it is, for me and for them.
If I say that I’d do it all over again tomorrow with them, but the kids would hate me for it, does that give you a better idea? Now, years later, they’d love to return.
They found the walking less than fun, sometimes, but they did it and have incredible memories and self-esteem to hold onto for the rest of their lives.
Other times they ran on ahead, chatting, skipping, and hopping from rock to rock in a crazy Himalayan parkour. At those times we thought tackling Nepal with kids was our best idea ever.
The biggest challenge for them was being away from their computers for 12 days straight, and I think that would be their biggest issue about doing it again.
For Pinterest
I will be back in Nepal and the Himalayas just as soon as I can.
Thanks for doing it with me kids, particularly D on our tough day trek to Tangboche Monastery and back, you were great company and huge encouragement when I found the going hard.
Please remember that the people of Nepal are some of the best in the world, they need the tourists to come back now, after the earthquake and after the pandemic. Nepal will be open soon, we hope, and absolutely fine to visit but climate change is moving fast and Nepal is on the front line. Want to see what gear you really need for Nepal, with kids or without? We were not sponsored by Stupa Guest Housewe just loved staying with Ram and his family and stayed with them again for our EBC trek. Ram has closed his guesthouse in 2024, we’re still in touch. Visiting Nepal with kids is potentially wonderful, but Nepal can be a tricky country to visit, even for adults. I hope I’ve been able to explain what issues you might face as parents, and at the same time encourage you to visit.
We also suggest you take a look at this company to get a quote for all kinds of the more tricky adventure or extended travel insurance.
Try Stayz / VRBO for an alternative way to find rentals on homes/apartments/condos in any country!
About the author
Alyson Long
Alyson Long is a British medical scientist who jumped ship to chase dreams. A former Chief Biomedical Scientist at London's West Middlesex Hospital she started in website creation and travel writing in 2011.
Alyson is a full-time blogger and travel writer, a published author, and owns several websites. World Travel Family is the biggest.
A lifetime of wanderlust and over 6 years of full-time travel, plus a separate 12 month gap year, has given Alyson and the family some travel expert smarts to share with you on this world travel site.
Today Alyson still travels extensively to update this site and continue her mission to visit every country, but she's often at home on her farm in Australia.
Look forward to reading more of your blog, we are free range learners too in Australia, and enthusiastically learning Nepali for our Annapurna circuit trek in April next year 🙂 our kids 11 and 13 have done lots of extended trekking, but not much at alttude, although we did Tiger Leaping Gorge in Yunnan earlier this year, kids had no probs. We plan to carry our own gear, mostly as we don’t have the budget for a guide/porter as we plan to do the whole circuit and have given ourselves 26 days to do it safely, a guide over that period would add up! We just don’t know whether to carry our tent though…some blogs say we won’t have a prob finding rooms even in April as there are so many, some say they’ve seen hikers piled in hallways, and teahouses auctioning rooms off! We think we should take our tent as like you I will just worry if we don’t, but would hate to carry the xtra 3kgs (it’s a 4 man hiking tent) for 26 days if we didn’t need it…what’ve you heard being there about availability in peak times?
Our finding on the EBC is that “main” towns, the ones the tour groups use on fixed itineraries, get full, “minor” towns and villages, don’t. Guides and tour groups book places out, it’s quite irritating. So if you organise your trek so that you sleep in the places where the tour groups stop for lunch, or just walk on to the next village at the end of the day, you’re OK. We found that these quieter places had better prices with rooms sometimes still being free, plus bigger portions and better food. They were also more likely to let you charge your phone and so on without charging. It was very full on the EBC, peak time, guides and porters were sleeping in dining rooms but I never heard of anyone unable to find a room. Personally, I wouldn’t even consider taking a tent, but I haven’t done the Annapurna Circuit in a long time, maybe it’s gone nuts up there. I have a friend up there right now, I’ll see what she says.
Yeah that would be my biggest dread at the moment! We did some swing bridges in New Zealand but I’m sure this is worse. I’m not watching your video because I don’t want to talk myself out of it 🙂
What a lovely post! I went on that trek with my parents and younger siblings when I Waac 20. My sister was 11 and my brother was 5. We all made it rob tengboche monastery but my brother developed altitude sickness after falling asleep during dinner. The Sherpas that we had took him straight down the mountains with my mother. I’m dying to go back and wondering whether I should take my kids 5 and 10…
We went to Kathmandu to live when my children were 6 and 3 they did have sickness but it was just part ofNepalese life we went trekking crossing landslides dangerous bridges rivers etc we met yaks and donkeys on the trail we lived there for 5 years and we all had the most amazing time it was a great experience for the children who made lots of life long friends if you have the opportunity to go there then definitely go
Hi! Thank you for this post! My 2 kids and I are planning on doing an EBC trek soon but was wondering how you organized your porters, guest houses along the route, plane tix, TIM cards and national park fees. Did you do this on your own somehow or use a travel agency? Also how did you get to and from Kathmandu airport and visit the different sites in Kathmandu Valley? Thanks in advance for your advice!
Hi Oon. To /from the airport…taxi, easy. Sites in Kathmandu valley, well, we only explored Kathmandu itself, no further afield, again, taxi (or walking). If we were going further then public bus or tourist bus. Porters, you don’t need them, you can carry your own stuff. We took a Sherpa guide for the Everest trek, mostly because we wanted some help to organise the kids and keep them safe. You don’t need a guide, but it’s nice to have one. You can book one in Kathmandu or in Lukla, use an agency or find one yourself. We payed $20 per day for our guide and he was lovely. Next time we won’t take one, the cost was high compared to value, but we loved that we could give a guy a job. For Annapurna we didn’t take one, no problem. Book all of the rest yourself or through a local agent but educate yourself as to costs, particularly child prices, ours ripped us off because we trusted him and didn’t question his prices. We later found out he’d over charged us significantly. You can book the flights yourself, try the airline’s own websites, or through a Kathmandu agent, you’ll pay more for the agent. Guest houses, find one when you turn up, there was always heaps of availability, but in busy season you may want to book ( try Agoda). Hope that covers all your questions!
I have really enjoyed reading your posts! We want to visit Nepal and see Mt Everest by foot as close as is safely possible but the catch is we have two girls who will be 34 months and 16 months at the time we would like to visit (nov-dec for 8-10 days). I would love to hear your thoughts?! We have been all over SE Asia these past three years and live in Japan. Thank you!
There’s no way I’d take little ones to altitude Greyson. They can’t tell you if symptoms begin and it’s just too big a risk for me. People do. You can easily hire a porter to carry them up, it was about $20/day, each I think and you could trust them totally. But altitude…nope,I wouldn’t. You can do a scenic flight from Kathmandu to see the mountain, or, obviously you see her on the flight into Lukla IF the weather is good. We couldn’t see anything last time but years ago we did as we flew into Kathmandu from Bangladesh. When you start walking from Lukla there is no view until you’re almost in Namche Bazaar, there is a view point, it was cloudy for us both days, but that climb up to Namche is a killer, you cross the scary bridge and there’s a lot of up in one day. It’s tough. Also just beyond Namche, a 45 min or so walk, is another view point, it’s where the statue of Tenzing Norgay is. After that you can see her for most of the trail is you walk around, rather that over, the next bit. You’ll then be at the start of the hike up to Tangboche monastery. That’s another big climb but the view is great there. Only D and I did that last day, Boo had had enough and James stayed with him. I wish we’d carried on to base camp, it was only 2 days away, but there were 2 reasons we didn’t, they were 9 and 11 years old. BUT D has agreed to go back with me and the 2 of us will go to EBC. Whe we arrived in Kathmandu at the start of this trip we had zero intention of trekking, that wasn’t why we went, but mountain fever grabbed us and I just HAD to see my mountain again, I love it up there, it’s paradise. Good luck to you whatever you decide. Also, toilet and washing facilities up there would be very tricky with little ones and the food is limited, like I say, my kids were sick a lot and that’s really unusual for us.
What an amazing adventure. Nepal sounds tough but incredible, we hope to make it there one day – now that we’re returning to Asia in September hopefully we can make that happen!
‘Love the post. We’re thinking of going to India and Nepal next summer. It’s been 11 years since I’ve been back there and we’ll be going in the summer months ‘cos of school etc. I haven’t 100% decided yet ‘cos of the monsoon but I’m thinking it’s now or never especially with teenage son. He’s just turned 14 and by the time he’s at college and has more flexibility, he’ll probably won’t want to come with his mum and dad!
Wonderful pictures and onset about travelling with kids. It’s always so difficult to find info as either the kids with travelling families are really young and even though yours are too, it’s still better than university age or toddlers.
Thanks for sharing Alyson. 🙂
Hi Victoria! Yes, I know what you mean. Quite honestly, travel with my two ( tweens, I guess) is little different to travel with 2 extra adults these days. But I’ve never been in the “travel with children is hard” camp and I don’t call toddlers children, I call them toddlers, so yes, we’re a bit of an enigma in the family travel blog market. Take the boy! He’ll be grown up way too soon. That day trek to Tangboche, just my son and I, was magic, to be remembered always, even if I did have to bribe him with Pringles and Snickers 😉
What an experience for your family! Everest is something I dream of doing one day, im scared of heights and have anxiety issues too, so its something im going to have to build up to. You guys are so brave. Im off to read the other posts now!
Liz, I’m exactly the same, terrified of heights, swaying bridges, everything, but when you have no choice and your dream of seeing Everest and Tangboche Monastery is on the other side of that valley, you just get on with it.
If you want to go, just go Justyna, the sooner the better to put some cash back in the right pockets after the earthquake catastrophe. It’s the people who rely on tourist dollar that need you the most.
My family spent 3 weeks in Nepal in January. I enjoy reading of your adventures. Nepal has been the most challenging yet beautiful country of our trip. Thankfully we did not experience any sickness from food.
I’d love to know how you managed that Karen! We just couldn’t figure it out. They were fine in Pokhara and on the trek ( bar 1 night) but as soon as we arrived in Kathmandu they were off again. Unfortunately Kathmandu is my favourite city on the planet, so we were there a while.
Awesome experience. Everest base camp trek is most famous.
It is. My kids are very proud of themselves for making it to Everest Base Camp.
Look forward to reading more of your blog, we are free range learners too in Australia, and enthusiastically learning Nepali for our Annapurna circuit trek in April next year 🙂 our kids 11 and 13 have done lots of extended trekking, but not much at alttude, although we did Tiger Leaping Gorge in Yunnan earlier this year, kids had no probs. We plan to carry our own gear, mostly as we don’t have the budget for a guide/porter as we plan to do the whole circuit and have given ourselves 26 days to do it safely, a guide over that period would add up! We just don’t know whether to carry our tent though…some blogs say we won’t have a prob finding rooms even in April as there are so many, some say they’ve seen hikers piled in hallways, and teahouses auctioning rooms off! We think we should take our tent as like you I will just worry if we don’t, but would hate to carry the xtra 3kgs (it’s a 4 man hiking tent) for 26 days if we didn’t need it…what’ve you heard being there about availability in peak times?
Our finding on the EBC is that “main” towns, the ones the tour groups use on fixed itineraries, get full, “minor” towns and villages, don’t. Guides and tour groups book places out, it’s quite irritating. So if you organise your trek so that you sleep in the places where the tour groups stop for lunch, or just walk on to the next village at the end of the day, you’re OK. We found that these quieter places had better prices with rooms sometimes still being free, plus bigger portions and better food. They were also more likely to let you charge your phone and so on without charging. It was very full on the EBC, peak time, guides and porters were sleeping in dining rooms but I never heard of anyone unable to find a room. Personally, I wouldn’t even consider taking a tent, but I haven’t done the Annapurna Circuit in a long time, maybe it’s gone nuts up there. I have a friend up there right now, I’ll see what she says.
Will be bringing our kids 9-13 to Namche this December. Looking forward to it after your posts!!
Best of luck Av. That walk up to Namche Bazaar, with the bridge and big ascent, is probably the hardest day.
Yeah that would be my biggest dread at the moment! We did some swing bridges in New Zealand but I’m sure this is worse. I’m not watching your video because I don’t want to talk myself out of it 🙂
Yeah…best not. I find chocolate helps, and singing. or swearing.
Hahahaah
What a lovely post! I went on that trek with my parents and younger siblings when I Waac 20. My sister was 11 and my brother was 5. We all made it rob tengboche monastery but my brother developed altitude sickness after falling asleep during dinner. The Sherpas that we had took him straight down the mountains with my mother. I’m dying to go back and wondering whether I should take my kids 5 and 10…
Best trip suggested for Nepal travel with kids. Thanks!
We went to Kathmandu to live when my children were 6 and 3 they did have sickness but it was just part ofNepalese life we went trekking crossing landslides dangerous bridges rivers etc we met yaks and donkeys on the trail we lived there for 5 years and we all had the most amazing time it was a great experience for the children who made lots of life long friends if you have the opportunity to go there then definitely go
Hi! Thank you for this post! My 2 kids and I are planning on doing an EBC trek soon but was wondering how you organized your porters, guest houses along the route, plane tix, TIM cards and national park fees. Did you do this on your own somehow or use a travel agency? Also how did you get to and from Kathmandu airport and visit the different sites in Kathmandu Valley? Thanks in advance for your advice!
Hi Oon. To /from the airport…taxi, easy. Sites in Kathmandu valley, well, we only explored Kathmandu itself, no further afield, again, taxi (or walking). If we were going further then public bus or tourist bus. Porters, you don’t need them, you can carry your own stuff. We took a Sherpa guide for the Everest trek, mostly because we wanted some help to organise the kids and keep them safe. You don’t need a guide, but it’s nice to have one. You can book one in Kathmandu or in Lukla, use an agency or find one yourself. We payed $20 per day for our guide and he was lovely. Next time we won’t take one, the cost was high compared to value, but we loved that we could give a guy a job. For Annapurna we didn’t take one, no problem. Book all of the rest yourself or through a local agent but educate yourself as to costs, particularly child prices, ours ripped us off because we trusted him and didn’t question his prices. We later found out he’d over charged us significantly. You can book the flights yourself, try the airline’s own websites, or through a Kathmandu agent, you’ll pay more for the agent. Guest houses, find one when you turn up, there was always heaps of availability, but in busy season you may want to book ( try Agoda). Hope that covers all your questions!
I have really enjoyed reading your posts! We want to visit Nepal and see Mt Everest by foot as close as is safely possible but the catch is we have two girls who will be 34 months and 16 months at the time we would like to visit (nov-dec for 8-10 days). I would love to hear your thoughts?! We have been all over SE Asia these past three years and live in Japan. Thank you!
There’s no way I’d take little ones to altitude Greyson. They can’t tell you if symptoms begin and it’s just too big a risk for me. People do. You can easily hire a porter to carry them up, it was about $20/day, each I think and you could trust them totally. But altitude…nope,I wouldn’t. You can do a scenic flight from Kathmandu to see the mountain, or, obviously you see her on the flight into Lukla IF the weather is good. We couldn’t see anything last time but years ago we did as we flew into Kathmandu from Bangladesh. When you start walking from Lukla there is no view until you’re almost in Namche Bazaar, there is a view point, it was cloudy for us both days, but that climb up to Namche is a killer, you cross the scary bridge and there’s a lot of up in one day. It’s tough. Also just beyond Namche, a 45 min or so walk, is another view point, it’s where the statue of Tenzing Norgay is. After that you can see her for most of the trail is you walk around, rather that over, the next bit. You’ll then be at the start of the hike up to Tangboche monastery. That’s another big climb but the view is great there. Only D and I did that last day, Boo had had enough and James stayed with him. I wish we’d carried on to base camp, it was only 2 days away, but there were 2 reasons we didn’t, they were 9 and 11 years old. BUT D has agreed to go back with me and the 2 of us will go to EBC. Whe we arrived in Kathmandu at the start of this trip we had zero intention of trekking, that wasn’t why we went, but mountain fever grabbed us and I just HAD to see my mountain again, I love it up there, it’s paradise. Good luck to you whatever you decide. Also, toilet and washing facilities up there would be very tricky with little ones and the food is limited, like I say, my kids were sick a lot and that’s really unusual for us.
Did you bring your toddler to EBC in the end? I’m thinking to bring my 32 months girl to trek to HEV and woule like some opinion
What an amazing adventure. Nepal sounds tough but incredible, we hope to make it there one day – now that we’re returning to Asia in September hopefully we can make that happen!
‘Love the post. We’re thinking of going to India and Nepal next summer. It’s been 11 years since I’ve been back there and we’ll be going in the summer months ‘cos of school etc. I haven’t 100% decided yet ‘cos of the monsoon but I’m thinking it’s now or never especially with teenage son. He’s just turned 14 and by the time he’s at college and has more flexibility, he’ll probably won’t want to come with his mum and dad!
Wonderful pictures and onset about travelling with kids. It’s always so difficult to find info as either the kids with travelling families are really young and even though yours are too, it’s still better than university age or toddlers.
Thanks for sharing Alyson. 🙂
Hi Victoria! Yes, I know what you mean. Quite honestly, travel with my two ( tweens, I guess) is little different to travel with 2 extra adults these days. But I’ve never been in the “travel with children is hard” camp and I don’t call toddlers children, I call them toddlers, so yes, we’re a bit of an enigma in the family travel blog market. Take the boy! He’ll be grown up way too soon. That day trek to Tangboche, just my son and I, was magic, to be remembered always, even if I did have to bribe him with Pringles and Snickers 😉
Gotcha! ‘Will do. Bribes coming up lol! 🙂 🙂
I have been here last year and the experience was very nice….Need to take care of food and water though…
Ultra care, nowhere else on the planet care!
What an experience for your family! Everest is something I dream of doing one day, im scared of heights and have anxiety issues too, so its something im going to have to build up to. You guys are so brave. Im off to read the other posts now!
Liz, I’m exactly the same, terrified of heights, swaying bridges, everything, but when you have no choice and your dream of seeing Everest and Tangboche Monastery is on the other side of that valley, you just get on with it.
Wow! Amazing! I’d love to go to Nepal with kids but I think I need to prepare myself and them first 🙂 Thank you for an amazing post!
If you want to go, just go Justyna, the sooner the better to put some cash back in the right pockets after the earthquake catastrophe. It’s the people who rely on tourist dollar that need you the most.
Awesome, emotional post. Imagine if my youngest came face to face with a yak….yeah, we’re we won’t be doing this any time soon. 😉 Well done guys.
Yes well, kids on the spectrum are a whole bundle of fun! Good luckMelanie.
My family spent 3 weeks in Nepal in January. I enjoy reading of your adventures. Nepal has been the most challenging yet beautiful country of our trip. Thankfully we did not experience any sickness from food.
I’d love to know how you managed that Karen! We just couldn’t figure it out. They were fine in Pokhara and on the trek ( bar 1 night) but as soon as we arrived in Kathmandu they were off again. Unfortunately Kathmandu is my favourite city on the planet, so we were there a while.