Nagarkot Sunrise Tour

• Sunrise over the Himalaya: Dhaulagiri to Everest from the valley rim at 2,175 m, on a clear morning.

• Changunarayan Temple: The oldest Hindu temple in the Kathmandu valley, a UNESCO site with fifth-century stone carving.

• Bhaktapur Durbar Square: The best-preserved Newar city in Nepal, with the five-storey Nyatapola temple and the pottery square.

• An Early Start, Not a Long Day: Pre-dawn departure and back at your hotel by late afternoon, with the traffic behind you.

• Private Vehicle Throughout: Your own car and driver, so the pace and the stops are yours to set.

Nagarkot sits on the eastern rim of the Kathmandu valley and looks north across the Indrawati and Sun Koshi basins at the main Himalayan chain. On a genuinely clear morning the visible span runs from Dhaulagiri (8,167 m) in the far west, through Manaslu, Ganesh Himal, Langtang Lirung, Dorje Lakpa and the Jugal Himal, to a small triangle of Everest (8,848 m) low on the eastern horizon.

Everest is the peak everyone asks about and the one most likely to disappoint: it is over a hundred and fifty kilometres away and shows as a modest dark pyramid rather than a dominant summit. The mountains that actually fill the view are Langtang and the Jugal, which are far closer. Your guide will point out what is what, and there is a view tower a short walk from the viewpoint if the crowd is heavy.

October to March is the season, and within it November to February gives by far the best odds. The air after the monsoon and through the winter is clear, cold and stable, and mountain visibility on any given morning in December is good more often than not. October is beautiful but hazier than people expect, and by late March the pre-monsoon dust has usually closed the view down.

We will be honest with you: this is a weather-dependent tour and the mountains are not guaranteed. From June to September the chance of a clear Himalayan sunrise is low and we would rather you spent the day elsewhere. If the forecast on the morning is hopeless, your guide will say so and we will happily switch the booking to another day or another tour.

Changunarayan is the oldest temple in the valley and, for most visitors, the one they wish they had known about. Founded in the fourth century and rebuilt in the seventeenth, it holds some of the finest stone sculpture in Nepal — a fifth-century Vishnu Vishwarup, a Garuda dated to around 464 AD and the oldest inscription in the country. It stands on a ridge above Bhaktapur with almost nobody there.

Bhaktapur is the third of the valley's royal cities and the best preserved. The Durbar Square, Taumadhi Square with the five-storey Nyatapola, and the working pottery square are all within a few minutes of each other, and the town is largely free of traffic. The entrance fee is included and the ticket can be extended if you decide to come back.

It is cold on the rim before dawn — considerably colder than Kathmandu, which sits 800 m lower. From November to February expect near freezing at the viewpoint, so bring a warm jacket, hat and gloves even if the day turns hot by ten. Comfortable shoes that come off easily are best, since you will remove them at the temples.

Bring a camera with a zoom if the mountains are the point; a phone will not do Everest justice at that distance. Modest clothing covering shoulders and knees is expected at Changunarayan and appreciated in Bhaktapur. Small notes are useful for offerings and tea, and sunscreen matters more than the temperature suggests once the sun is up.

• Nagarkot and the Sunrise Viewpoints Near Kathmandu — You can see the Himalaya from the Kathmandu valley rim on a clear winter morning without walking more than an hour.

• Dashain Swings and Kites: Linge Ping, Rote Ping and Changa — Two things tell you Dashain has arrived before a single ritual has taken place: bamboo swings rising in the village fields and kites over the rooftops.

• Chandragiri Cable Car Tour: The Complete Guide — Ten minutes from Thankot to a ridge at 2,551 m, with a clear-day view running from Dhaulagiri through Annapurna, Manaslu and Langtang to Everest.

• Dhulikhel to Namobuddha Hike: The Complete Guide — The best day walk within reach of Kathmandu — four hours on old village trails from a Newar hill town to one of the three holiest Buddhist sites in Nepal.

• Short Treks Near Kathmandu: Himalayan Walks in 2 to 6 Days — You do not need a flight or a fortnight to see the Himalaya from Kathmandu.

• Bhaktapur Travel Guide: The Best-Preserved City in the Valley — A walled medieval Newar city half an hour from Kathmandu, where the whole street plan survives rather than just the monuments.