Hiring a car with driver in Nepal is the most relaxed way to see the country. Nepal is a small country with slow roads. Kathmandu to Pokhara is 200 kilometres and takes seven hours. That is not a problem to solve, it is simply how the Prithvi Highway works, and knowing it in advance is the difference between a good trip and a frustrating one.
We have been driving guests through India and Nepal since 1996. You get a private vehicle, an English-speaking driver who has driven these roads for years, and a route you decide.
Tourists cannot rent a self-drive car in Nepal in any practical sense. Left-hand traffic, mountain switchbacks with no barrier, unmarked overtaking and monsoon landslides make it a poor place to learn. Almost every visitor who travels independently ends up hiring a car with a driver anyway.
Doing it directly, rather than through an agency, means you speak to the person who will actually be driving you.
The same day rates as our India routes. Per person, per day, covering the vehicle, the driver and everything it costs to keep both on the road.
| Travelling as | Vehicle | Per person, per day |
|---|---|---|
| On your own | Sedan | USD 92 |
| Two or three of you | Sedan | USD 49 |
| Family of four or five | SUV | USD 36 |
| Six to eight | Hiace minibus | USD 33 |
Two exceptions, stated plainly.
We are drivers. We earn nothing from your hotel, so we have no reason to put you in the wrong one.
A sedan for one to three people on the main highways. An SUV for families, or for anyone going up to Nagarkot or Bandipur where the last stretch is rough. A Hiace minibus for six to eight. A 4WD jeep for Mustang and the high roads, which is the only vehicle that can do them.
Before you book a car with driver in Nepal, check the visa rules with Nepal’s Department of Immigration; most nationalities get a visa on arrival. The Nepal Tourism Board lists festival dates along the way.
Kathmandu Valley. Pashupatinath, Boudhanath, Swayambhunath, and the old durbar squares at Patan and Bhaktapur. Two full days does it properly.
Pokhara. Seven hours from Kathmandu by road, or 25 minutes by air. Phewa Lake, Sarangkot for the Annapurna sunrise, and the start of most treks.
Chitwan. Jungle safari, canoe on the Rapti, and the Tharu villages. We do not book elephant-back safaris; the welfare record is poor and we would rather say so.
Lumbini. The Buddha’s birthplace, and the natural stop if you are crossing to or from India at Sunauli.
Nagarkot and Bandipur. Short drives from the valley, and the easiest Himalayan views in the country.
Upper Mustang. A separate kind of trip, by jeep or on foot, into old Tibetan Nepal behind the Annapurnas.
Overland from the Ganges to the Himalaya in your own car: Varanasi, Kushinagar where the Buddha died, Lumbini where he was born,…
Follow the life of the Buddha by private car: Sarnath, Bodh Gaya, Rajgir and Nalanda, Vaishali, Kushinagar and his birthplace at Lumbini…
Chitwan, Pokhara and the Kathmandu Valley over nine days, with your own vehicle and driver for every kilometre.
Ten days across Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan in a private vehicle, at a pace that lets you actually look at the place.
The classic route into the Annapurna Sanctuary — Poon Hill at sunrise, then up the Modi Khola gorge to Base Camp at…
Lo Manthang without the fourteen day walk — a private 4x4 up the Kali Gandaki to the walled city and back.
Twelve days across Nepal — the Kathmandu Valley's temples and Durbar Squares, the hill town of Bandipur, sunrise at Sarangkot, Lumbini and…
Fourteen days behind the Himalaya into Lo Manthang, the walled Tibetan capital that was closed to outsiders until 1992.
Fourteen days into the Khumbu — Lukla, Namche Bazaar, Tengboche monastery and Everest Base Camp itself, with two proper acclimatisation days built…
Three weeks overland from Delhi to Kathmandu — Jaipur, Agra, Orchha, Khajuraho and Varanasi, then Chitwan, Pokhara and the Kathmandu Valley, with…
From USD 33 to USD 92 per person per day depending on how many of you there are, covering the vehicle, the driver, fuel, tolls, parking and the driver’s own food and bed. The table above has the exact figures. Mustang and trekking are priced separately.
Legally you need an International Driving Permit, and practically it is a bad idea. The mountain roads are narrow, unlit and shared with buses that overtake on blind bends. Every experienced visitor we have carried says the same thing afterwards.
Six to eight hours for 200 kilometres, depending on traffic out of Kathmandu and roadworks on the Prithvi Highway. We leave early. If you would rather fly it is 25 minutes and we will meet you at the other end.
No. That is already in the price. You will never be asked for it on the road.
Yes, and it is one of the things we do best. The road crossing at Sunauli connects Varanasi and Lumbini. The same driver cannot cross the border, so we hand you over to our own vehicle on the other side and your trip continues without a break.
October and November for clear mountain views, then March to April for the rhododendrons. June to September is monsoon, when the hills are green but the peaks are usually hidden and landslides can close roads.
Tell us the places and the dates. We come back with a route, the vehicle it needs and the price — usually within 24 hours.
Tell us your dream trip and our family team replies with a fixed price, usually within 24 hours. A detailed day-by-day itinerary costs €100, deducted in full from your tour price.
