How to plan the perfect Pokhara adventure

Pokhara rewards a little planning. The light is best early, the lake is calmest in the morning, and the best evenings are the unhurried ones. Here is how we would shape a few days, with our travel desk arranging the details.

Day one: the lake

Begin with breakfast on the terrace, then walk down to Lakeside, about five minutes from the resort, and take a private wooden boat across Phewa Lake. Stop at Tal Barahi, the two-tiered pagoda temple on its own island, then cross to the far shore and climb through the forest to the World Peace Pagoda. The white stupa you see from our pool looks back over the whole valley.

Return in time for a swim as the sun drops behind the hills, then dinner at Chautari Restro & Bar.

Day two: the mountains

Leave before dawn for Sarangkot, where the sun rises over Machhapuchhre and the Annapurna range. We'll send you off with a breakfast box and have coffee waiting when you return. For the adventurous, Sarangkot is also Pokhara's paragliding launch, and the flight lands back on the shore of the lake.

Spend the afternoon at the International Mountain Museum, then finish with a massage at our AVEDA Wellness spa.

Day three: the valley

Visit Davis Falls, where the river disappears into a narrow gorge, and the sacred Gupteshwor Cave beneath it. Continue to the hilltop Bindhyabasini Temple in the old bazaar, one of the oldest in Pokhara, and walk the brick-fronted streets around it. If you have time, the limestone Mahendra Cave lies in the north of the valley.

Leave room to do nothing

The best moments in Pokhara are often unplanned: a long breakfast as the clouds lift off the hills, an hour with a book on your balcony, or the valley turning gold from the pool deck. Build in an afternoon with no plans at all.

How far everything is

Straight-line distances. See each place on our map, or ask our travel desk to arrange the boat, the car or a guide.