This is our personnal point of view after 20 years in Nepal. We could have done a top 100 but we decided to stick on a top 15 in Nepal.
1) Learn Nepali Language: Even if most nepali have some basic knowledge of english, they feel so happy when a foreigner speak a little in nepali. An amazing language that the nepalese people are proud of. Learn now Nepali with this unique E-Book and recordings. You can order your PDF + mp3 files here (see top of this page). On May 1st 2021, we had over 5400 downloads.
2) Rafting and Kayaking in Nepal: In october and november, after the rainy season (monsoon), rivers are amazing for rafting and kayaing. Several companies offer trips of rafting and kayaking. www.paddlenepal.com offers several options: You can join them in Kathmandu by phone: (01) 4700239 and in Pokhara (06) 207077. This company is dedicated to nepal water sports and you may take lessons of rafting, kayaking or canoeing. Paddle Nepal is surely the best one in Nepal. Kelly the onwer is very friendly!
3) Visit Pokhara : located around 200km from Kathmandu (25 min by plane and 7h by bus), Pokhara is a beautiful and relaxing place perfect to rest few days after a trek around Annapurna. With plenty of hotels (over720 in july 2020) and restaurants, Pokhara is a tourist hub.
4) Paragliding in Nepal: Pokhara is surely the best place to book and to do a praglidding jump. We highly recommend to book with Karma Flight on Lake Side. Until the Pokhara International airport is built (2021), you can jump from Sarangkhot in Pokhara.
5) Trekking in Nepal: Trekking is surely the top 1 activity to do in Nepal. Nepal is a beautiful country where most travelers love to enjoy the mountains. You can either walk a few days to Mardi Himal, or live a great 21 days around Annapurna reaching Thorung La Pass, as high as 5416m. No matter the trek in Nepal, you will live a great adventure.
6) Visit temples of Nepal: Kathmandu is the biggest city in which there are numerous temples, both Buddhist and Hindu. The visit of stupas and temples is always an unforgettable experience. There are temples in several parts of the country.
7) Climbing in Nepal: With the great mountains of Himalaya, there are many places to climb. Be ready for a great adventure in Nepal.
8) Flights around Everest: For about $ 150, it is possible to take a tour of an aircraft to observe Everest (the highest mountain on the planet).
9) Washing an elephant: It is possible to live this experience in the Chitwan National Park. This is a much better option than the not-too friendly elephant safari.
10) Tour in the jungle (Chitwan National Park) : A walk in the jungle is always an incredible adventure where you can see exotic animals such as tigers (pretty rare!), unihorn rhinoceros or sloth bear. Nepal is the only place on the planet where guides don't carry any flares or weapons. But for lovers of adrenaline, the experience worths it! Please avoid « Elephant Back Riding in Chitwan »
11) Helicopter tour to Annapurna Base Camps: this exsperience begins at 8h00 in the morning and finish either at Pokhara airport or Kathmandu airport at 9h30-10h. You will enjoy a 15-30 minutes at the Annapurna Base Camp (4100m). Any time longer than that could be extremely dangerous for altitude sickness. The view and experience is breath-taking. The cost for this is about 300 US.
12) Climbing the Everest: reaching the top of Everest is not an adventure for everybody. If you want to make this dream a reality and conquer the top of the world, make sure that you are very healthy (you are an athlete) and you have a good experience of high mountain. If you think you fill the requirement, feel free to contact us to organise your trip climbing to the Everest Peak. With the coronavirus outbreak, no one was allowed to climb in most of 2020.
13) Visit Patan: located around 20 minutes south of Kathmandu, Patan is much more relax and you can visit some superb temples, ancient monasteries, and other old monuments. Begin with Durbar square in the morning (know as Mangah). This city was badly touched by the earthquake of 2015 and many temples are being rebuilt now (2021).
14) Visit Bhaktapur:
15) Visit Lumbini - Birthplace of Lord Buddha: Lumbini is not a must seen but if you have a real interest in buddhism, Lumbini is the place to go. Despite some temples, there is not much to see here. 1 day (one night) is more than enough.