Things to do in Pokhara: the honest list

Watch sunrise from Sarangkot (once)

Sarangkot is the ridge north of the lake, about 1,592 m high, and its viewpoint is the classic Pokhara morning: the Annapurna range from Dhaulagiri in the west to Manaslu in the east, with Machhapuchhre — the Fishtail — dead centre and closest. In autumn and winter you get the full pink-to-gold sequence on the snow.

You need to be at the top before first light, which means leaving Lakeside around 4:30–5:00 in autumn. Taxis do this run every morning and know exactly where to drop you. There is also the Annapurna Cable Car from Sedi Bagar up to the ridge, which turns a winding drive into a few minutes — though check its first departure works for sunrise, because it often doesn't.

The crowd is real. Go anyway, then stay: by 8:30 most people have left, the paragliders start launching from the slope below the viewpoint, and the light on the lake is better than it was at dawn. Full detail in the viewpoints guide.

Row across Phewa Lake to the Peace Pagoda

Phewa is the second-largest lake in Nepal and the reason Pokhara exists as a tourist town. The best thing to do on it is also the simplest: hire a wooden doonga from one of the ghats on Lakeside, row (or be rowed) to the far shore below the World Peace Pagoda, and walk up.

The path from the lakeshore to the pagoda climbs steadily through forest for roughly 30–45 minutes. The stupa itself — white, built by the Japanese Nipponzan-Myōhōji order — sits on Anadu hill at around 1,100 m, and from its terrace you see the whole of Pokhara laid out with the Annapurnas behind. It's a late-afternoon place: the lake goes gold, and you can be back at the boat before dark.

On the way over, most boatmen will pass Tal Barahi, the small island temple in the middle of the lake. It's a working temple, busiest on Saturdays. Boat hire, prices and the sensible route are in the lake guide.

Fly tandem from Sarangkot

Pokhara is one of the world's best-known paragliding sites, and it earned that: reliable thermals, a launch on the Sarangkot slope, and a landing on the lakeshore at Pame with the mountains in front of you the entire way down. A tandem flight is typically 20–30 minutes; you do nothing but sit and look.

Season matters — roughly late September to May, with the crispest air in October–November. Monsoon flying is limited or off. Choose an operator registered with the Nepal Air Sports Association and don't shop purely on price. The full run-down, plus zip-lining, ultralight flights and bungee, is in the adventure guide.

Walk the old bazaar and Bindhyabasini

Lakeside is a tourist strip. Pokhara — the actual city — is a couple of kilometres north-east, and the old bazaar around Bagar and Bindhyabasini is where it feels like a Nepali town: Newari brick houses, spice and brass shops, and the Bindhyabasini temple on its low hill, a Durga shrine that is the city's most important Hindu site. Go mid-morning on a weekday. Combine with the Seti River gorge, which cuts a startlingly narrow slot right through the city; the viewing spot near K.I. Singh bridge is a two-minute stop.

The caves and Davis Falls

On the south side of town, across the road from each other, are Davis Falls (Patale Chhango, "underworld waterfall") and Gupteshwor Mahadev Cave. The falls are where the Pardi Khola — the stream draining Phewa Lake — drops into a sinkhole and vanishes underground. They are spectacular in monsoon and a trickle in spring; the name comes from a Swiss visitor swept away here in 1961. Gupteshwor is a cave shrine to Shiva; the lower gallery lets you see the same waterfall from underneath, which is the part worth the ticket.

Further north, Mahendra Cave and the neighbouring Bat Cave in Batulechaur are natural limestone caves. They're a half-hour excursion, fine with kids, not essential.

International Mountain Museum

Run by the Nepal Mountaineering Association and opened in 2004, this is a genuinely good museum: the history of the 8,000-metre climbs, the peoples of the Himalaya, the geology of how the mountains rose, and a sober section on the mountaineers who didn't come back. It's south of the city near the airport. Allow two hours; it's the best thing to do on a hazy or rainy afternoon.

Do nothing on the lakeshore

I mean this seriously. The best Pokhara afternoon is a table facing the water, a pot of tea, and the light changing. Lakeside's northern end (past Hallan Chowk towards Khahare and Pame) is quieter and closer to the water; the central strip is louder and better for eating. The where to eat guide has my lakeside picks.

Then go beyond the lake

Two or three days covers the above. After that Pokhara becomes a base: Begnas Lake, the Gurung village of Ghandruk, the Australian Camp ridge — see the day trips guide. And if you have a week, the reason most people are here at all: the Annapurna treks.

In pictures