Most people travel through Nepal by road or air. If you're travelling on a budget, the cheapest way of getting around besides walking is by public bus. Public buses are slow, cramped and often unreliable but you get to experience a side of Nepali life you'd otherwise miss. Alternatively, private coaches run regularly between the main centres and offer a better option if a shorter journey time, reliability and comfort are the priorities.

Hiring a private car and driver for a day or so is inexpensive by Western standards and enables you to decide when to schedule the journey or stop for refreshments, taking photos etc. The major highways and main roads are usually surfaced in tarmac whereas minor roads, particularly off the beaten track tend to be a compacted mix of dust and rubble - more suited to 4 wheel drive vehicles and more prone to being blocked by a truck or bus broken down in a particularly unforgiving part of the terain.

Travel generally is more difficult during the rainy season and particularly during the monsoon since landslides frequently block the main highways for a day or two at a time. At other times, the main trunk routes tend to be busy and can get temporarily clogged as very old buses and trucks crawl up steep hills or break down in the attempt. Generally speaking, road discipline is less stringent than in the West so in terms of general road safety, coaches are preferable to buses and cars hired with a careful driver are probably the safest options. The road system is full of sharp bends and snaking passes since routes often run alongside rivers where they have carved their way through larger rocky gorges. In many ways, the road system is almost perfectly designed for motorcycling and cycling tours.

With the exception of a 25 km stretch of railway line from the Indian border in the south to a shrine in western Nepal, there are no rail services. However, being a himalayan kingdom, Nepal is well served by domestic airlines running frequent flights between the provincial and city airports with the domestic terminal at Kathmandu as the main hub. There are many domestic airlines as well as the national carrier to fly with. We recommend Mountain Air and Buddha Air who may charge about 7% more than their rivals but run the most modern (US made) aircraft and have good safety records. Flying may well be the safest way to travel and is certainly the most convenient but it also offers some spectacular views of the mountain peaks and terraced landscapes below on the way. During the rainy season, flights are restricted to Kathmandu and six other domestic airports and operate subject to the severity of the prevailing weather conditions.

Travelling from Kathmandu to Pokhara (roughly 220 km) by public bus takes around 9 hours and costs roughly 2 to 3 Euros per person each way. Going by coach costs fractionally more but takes an hour or so less to complete the journey. Hiring a car and driver takes about 7 hours and works out at little more when shared between four people (approximately 3 Euros per person, one way). Flying takes 25 minutes and costs around 60 to 70 US dollars per person, each way. It is also possible to raft or canoe some of the way from Kathmandu and complete the remainder of the journey by road.