Most village tours take you to one place and let it stand in for the rest of hill Nepal. This one deliberately does not. It strings together three very different communities — the Gurung ridge at Ghalegaun, the restored Newar trading town of Bandipur, and the Magar homestay village of Sirubari in Syangja — so that you see how varied the middle hills actually are.
Each is a night or two in local houses with the family you eat with, and between them the drives run through terraced country most visitors only see from a tourist bus window.
The mountains are constant: Manaslu and Annapurna from the Lamjung ridge, the Marsyangdi and Seti valleys from Bandipur's clifftop, and the Annapurna wall again from Sirubari's pine forest.
The Tour at a Glance
| Duration | 6 days, 5 nights |
| Route | Kathmandu — Ghalegaun — Bandipur — Sirubari — Pokhara |
| Highest point | Ghalegaun, 2,100 m |
| Difficulty | Easy — short optional walks in each village |
| Best season | October to April |
| Accommodation | Two homestays, a Bandipur heritage inn, a Pokhara hotel |
| Cultures | Gurung, Newar and Magar |
| Price | From USD 495 per person |
We run it as a 6-day tour from Kathmandu to Pokhara. The individual villages are also available on their own as the Ghalegaun tour and the Sirubari tour.
The Three Villages
Ghalegaun — Gurung, 2,100 m
A ridge village in Lamjung facing the whole Annapurna range across the Marsyangdi, and the community that made homestay tourism a national programme in Nepal. A rota of around forty households, a community fund, and no hotels. The sunrise from the ridge is the single best moment of the tour.
Bandipur — Newar, 1,030 m
A Newar trading town on a clifftop above the Marsyangdi, bypassed when the highway was built and therefore never modernised away. The main street is closed to vehicles, the shopfronts and carved windows are intact, and it has been restored rather than rebuilt. You stay in a heritage inn here rather than a homestay.
Sirubari — Magar, 1,700 m
The first organised homestay village in Nepal, from 1997, on a ridge in Syangja with a protected community forest above it. Paved lanes, flowers at every doorway, a formal welcome and send-off, and a great many retired Gurkha soldiers to talk to.
The Itinerary
| Day | Where |
|---|---|
| 1 | Drive Kathmandu to Ghalegaun (2,100 m) via Besisahar |
| 2 | Sunrise at Ghalegaun, then drive to Bandipur (1,030 m) |
| 3 | Bandipur in the morning, then on to Sirubari (1,700 m) |
| 4 | A full day in Sirubari — community forest and ridge walks |
| 5 | Drive to Pokhara (822 m) |
| 6 | Sarangkot sunrise and departure |
The pacing is deliberately unhurried — the drives are short and the walking is optional, so most of each day is spent in the village rather than getting to it.
What It Costs
| Group size | Price per person |
|---|---|
| 1 traveller | USD 695 |
| 2 to 4 | USD 615 |
| 5 to 7 | USD 565 |
| 8 to 10 | USD 535 |
| 11 to 14 | USD 515 |
| 15 and over | USD 495 |
What Is Included
- Private transportation throughout — a vehicle and driver reserved for your party alone, from Kathmandu through Lamjung, Bandipur and Syangja to Pokhara.
- Two nights in community homestays at Ghalegaun and Sirubari.
- One night at a heritage inn in Bandipur with breakfast.
- One night at a hotel in Pokhara with breakfast.
- All meals in the homestay villages, cooked by your host families.
- Village entry contributions and museum fees along the route.
- A professional English-speaking licensed tour guide.
- Gurung and Magar cultural evenings in the villages.
- Guided walks in each village.
- All government taxes and service charges.
What Is Not Included
- International flights and the Nepal entry visa fee.
- Travel insurance covering medical treatment and emergency evacuation.
- Lunch and dinner in Bandipur and Pokhara — the homestay meals are included, the hotel nights are breakfast only.
- Locally brewed raksi and other alcoholic drinks.
- Luxury vehicle upgrade — private transport is included as standard.
- Drinks, snacks, laundry, phone calls and souvenirs.
- Tips for the guide and driver.
- Any additional cost caused by roadblocks, weather or other circumstances beyond our control.
Bandipur has genuinely good restaurants on the main street, which is why dinner there is left to you.
Homestay Etiquette
Two of the three nights are in family houses, and a few things make the difference between being a guest and being a paying visitor.
- Do not enter the kitchen hearth area unless you are invited.
- Do not step over food or someone's legs.
- Use your right hand for eating and for passing things.
- Ask before photographing anyone, and accept a refusal.
- Offer to help. Families are usually delighted if you ask to join the farm work, whatever the month's job happens to be.
Your guide briefs the group on arrival and translates throughout. See our responsible travel guide for more.
