Langtang Valley Trek – 9 Days
Trip Facts
Country:
Nepal
Duration:
9 Days
Max Altitude:
4,773 m / 15,659 ft
Activities:
Trekking
Region:
Langtang Region
Start / End:
Kathmandu / Kathmandu
Transportation:
Tourist buses and shared jeeps
Grade:
Moderate
Group Size:
Min 2
Accomodation:
Hotel and teahouse lodges
Trips Overview
The Langtang Valley Trek is the closest big-mountain trek to Kathmandu. A day’s drive north takes you to the start, and a few days of walking take you up a forested river valley to Kyanjin Gompa (3,870 m), a village of stone lodges and yak pastures with glaciers all around. The high point is Kyanjin Ri (4,773 m), with Langtang Lirung, at over 7,200 m, right across from you.
The valley lies inside Langtang National Park, set up in 1976 as Nepal’s first Himalayan national park. The lower trail climbs through oak, rhododendron and bamboo forest beside the Langtang Khola river. Higher up, the trees give way to open grassland, long mani walls and prayer wheels turned by mountain streams.
The people of the valley call themselves Langtangpa and follow Tibetan Buddhism. In April 2015, the earthquake set off a huge avalanche that buried the old village of Langtang, and many villagers, trekkers and guides died. The Langtangpa came back and rebuilt, and staying in their lodges today supports that recovery.
This is a moderate trek with no climbing skills needed. Most days are 5–7 hours of walking, and you never sleep higher than 3,870 m. The longest day is Day 6, when you climb Kyanjin Ri at sunrise and then walk down to Lama Hotel.
Spring (March–May) and autumn (late September–November) are the best times to go. The road into Rasuwa is often hit by monsoon floods and landslides, so we check the route before every departure.
Trip at a Glance
The trip takes 9 days from Kathmandu, with 5 days on the trail and a high point of 4,773 m at Kyanjin Ri.
| Duration | 9 days (5 trekking days) |
|---|---|
| Start and end | Kathmandu; the walk starts and ends at Thulo Syabru (or Syabrubesi) |
| Highest point | Kyanjin Ri, 4,773 m / 15,659 ft |
| Highest overnight | Kyanjin Gompa, 3,870 m / 12,697 ft |
| Difficulty | Moderate; no climbing skills needed |
| Walking per day | 3–11 hours (5–7 hours on most days) |
| Best seasons | Spring (March–May) and autumn (late September–November) |
| Accommodation | Hotel in Kathmandu; teahouse lodges on the trek |
| Meals | Breakfast in Kathmandu; breakfast, lunch and dinner on the trek |
| Transport | Shared jeep between Kathmandu and the trailhead |
| Permits | Langtang National Park entry permit and TIMS card |
Trips Highlights
- Climb Kyanjin Ri (4,773 m) at sunrise for a close view of Langtang Lirung and its glaciers
- Stay at Kyanjin Gompa (3,870 m), where the monastery is said to be about 700 years old
- Taste yak cheese at Kyanjin, where cheese has been made since Swiss experts started it in the 1950s
- Walk through oak, rhododendron and bamboo forest in Nepal's first Himalayan national park
- Look out for langur monkeys, and if you're very lucky a red panda, in the forest below Lama Hotel
- Meet the Langtangpa people, who rebuilt their village after the 2015 earthquake
- Pass long mani walls, chortens and prayer wheels turned by mountain streams
- Watch yaks grazing in the wide upper valley around Langtang village
- Reach the high mountains by road, with no domestic flights needed
Route: Kathmandu → Thulo Syabru (or Syabrubesi) → Rimche → Lama Hotel → Ghoda Tabela → Langtang → Mundu → Kyanjin Gompa → Kyanjin Ri → Lama Hotel → Thulo Syabru (or Syabrubesi) → Kathmandu
The walk starts on Day 3 from Thulo Syabru, or from Syabrubesi when the road and lodges there are open, and follows the Langtang Khola up to Kyanjin Gompa. You come back down the same valley. Walking times are for an average trekker and include short breaks.
Day 6 is the long one: an early climb up Kyanjin Ri, then the walk down to Lama Hotel. Pack your headlamp and water the night before.
Trips Itinerary
Welcome to Nepal. A member of our team meets you at the airport exit and drives you to your hotel, about half an hour away. Kathmandu is noisy and full of life after a long flight, so take a few hours to rest.
Later your guide stops by to introduce themselves, go over the nine days ahead and look at your gear. Langtang gets cold at the top, so they’ll check you have warm layers, a good jacket and boots that are already worn in.
Anything you’re missing can be bought or rented in Thamel. Try to sleep early, because the drive north starts in the morning.
Duration:
20–30 minute airport transfer
Accommodation:
Hotel in Kathmandu
Max Altitude:
1,400 m / 4,593 ft (Kathmandu)
A shared jeep climbs out of the Kathmandu valley and winds down into the Trishuli valley, then follows the river upstream past Bidur and Betrawati. It’s slow going on a narrow road with hairpin bends and rough patches, and the drive usually takes 7–8 hours with tea and lunch stops.
At Dhunche, the headquarters of Rasuwa district, park staff check your permit. On a clear day you may see the Ganesh Himal and the first Langtang peaks from the hillside road.
Depending on the road, you spend the night either in Thulo Syabru, a Tamang village on a ridge at 2,210 m, or in Syabrubesi beside the Bhote Koshi, if its road and lodges have reopened after the 2026 flood. Your guide confirms which before you set off.
Duration:
7–8 hours by shared jeep
Accommodation:
Teahouse in Thulo Syabru or Syabrubesi
Max Altitude:
2,210 m / 7,251 ft (Thulo Syabru)
Meals:
Breakfast, lunch, dinner
From Thulo Syabru the trail drops through terraced fields and then forest to the Langtang Khola, the river that carved this valley. From Syabrubesi it follows the riverbank from the start, past the small settlement of Bamboo.
Most of the day is in shade, under oak, maple and rhododendron, with bamboo along the water. The path rises and falls over stone steps and crosses side streams on wooden and steel bridges. It’s warmer and damper down here than you might expect, and the sound of the river never stops.
Keep an eye on the canopy for grey langur monkeys. Red pandas and Himalayan black bears also live in this forest, though both keep well away from the trail.
Lama Hotel is a group of lodges in a clearing above Rimche, at about 2,470 m. There are no big views tonight, which makes it a quiet place to rest your legs.
Duration:
5–7 hours
Accommodation:
Teahouse in Lama Hotel
Max Altitude:
2,470 m / 8,104 ft (Lama Hotel)
Meals:
Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Today’s climb is the biggest of the trek, close to 1,000 m. The first hours stay in the forest, and as the trees thin you catch views up the valley to Langtang Lirung, the park’s highest peak at over 7,200 m.
At Ghoda Tabela, “the horse stable”, the valley opens into broad pasture. Yaks graze among stone huts and the first prayer flags flutter by the trail. The walking from here is gentle, but you’ll feel the height above 3,000 m, so slow, steady steps work best.
Langtang village stands at 3,430 m. In April 2015, the earthquake set off a huge avalanche from the slopes above that destroyed the old village. Families who survived came back and built new stone lodges, and spending the night with them is part of the trek.
Duration:
6–7 hours
Accommodation:
Teahouse in Langtang
Max Altitude:
3,430 m / 11,253 ft (Langtang)
Meals:
Breakfast, lunch, dinner
The shortest walk of the trek, about 3–4 hours, and one of the prettiest. You pass long walls of carved mani stones and small water-driven prayer wheels, and walk through Mundu with glaciers hanging from the peaks on both sides of the valley.
Kyanjin Gompa, at 3,870 m, is the last settlement in the valley. The monastery here is said to be about 700 years old, and the cheese factory, started in 1952, still turns yak milk into cheese.
You arrive by lunchtime. In the afternoon, rest, visit the monastery or walk a short way up towards the moraine above the village. Nights at Kyanjin are below freezing for much of the year, so keep your down jacket close.
Duration:
3–4 hours
Accommodation:
Teahouse in Kyanjin Gompa
Max Altitude:
3,870 m / 12,697 ft (Kyanjin Gompa)
Meals:
Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Start before dawn with a headlamp and climb the steep path behind Kyanjin to Kyanjin Ri. It’s about 900 m of ascent and 3–4 hours to the summit at 4,773 m, with a lower viewpoint about an hour short of it for anyone who’d rather stop there.
As the sun comes up, the light reaches the highest snow first, starting with Langtang Lirung. From the top the view goes all the way round, with the Lirung glaciers right across from you and the peaks of the upper valley stretching east.
Come back down for a late breakfast in Kyanjin, pack, and walk back down the valley past Langtang and Ghoda Tabela to Lama Hotel. It’s a long day, 9–11 hours in all, but the afternoon is mostly downhill and the air gets thicker with every hour.
Duration:
9–11 hours
Accommodation:
Teahouse in Lama Hotel
Max Altitude:
4,773 m / 15,659 ft (Kyanjin Ri)
Meals:
Breakfast, lunch, dinner
A last morning in the forest. The trail drops back past Rimche towards the river, with a second chance to spot the birds and monkeys you missed on the way up.
If you’re staying in Thulo Syabru, the path leaves the river and climbs back up to the village on its ridge, a stiff final hour after a downhill morning. If you’re staying in Syabrubesi, you follow the river all the way down.
Enjoy a final evening on the trail with your guide and porters.
Duration:
5–6 hours
Accommodation:
Teahouse in Thulo Syabru or Syabrubesi
Max Altitude:
2,470 m / 8,104 ft (Lama Hotel)
Meals:
Breakfast, lunch, dinner
A shared jeep takes you back the way you came after breakfast, through Dhunche and down the Trishuli valley, 7–8 hours depending on traffic and road work. Parts of the road were damaged by the 2026 floods, so allow for delays.
Back in Kathmandu there’s time for a shower and a rest before the farewell dinner.
Duration:
7–8 hours by shared jeep
Accommodation:
Hotel in Kathmandu
Max Altitude:
2,210 m / 7,251 ft (Thulo Syabru)
Meals:
Breakfast, farewell dinner
Today you fly home. Our driver collects you from your hotel and takes you to the airport about three hours before your flight.
If you’re staying on, ask us about a day in Bhaktapur or Patan, a jungle safari in Chitwan, or a few easy days by the lake in Pokhara.
Max Altitude:
1,400 m / 4,593 ft (Kathmandu)
Meals:
Breakfast
Trips Include
The price covers your transport, permits, guide, porters, lodges and trail meals from arrival to departure. Personal costs and insurance are extra.
- Airport pick-up and drop-off by private vehicle
- 2 nights in a hotel in Kathmandu with breakfast (twin sharing)
- Kathmandu to the trailhead and back by shared jeep
- 6 nights in teahouse lodges during the trek (twin sharing where available)
- Three meals a day during the trek (breakfast, lunch and dinner), with tea or coffee
- Experienced, government-licensed, English-speaking trekking guide trained in first aid
- Porter service: one porter for every two trekkers, carrying up to 10 kg per trekker
- Salaries, meals, accommodation, insurance and transport for your guide and porters
- Langtang National Park entry permit
- TIMS card
- Down jacket, sleeping bag and duffel bag for the trek (to be returned afterwards)
- First-aid kit and pulse oximeter, carried by your guide for daily oxygen checks
- Trekking map and trip completion certificate
- Farewell dinner in Kathmandu
- Emergency rescue arrangements (paid for by your travel insurance)
- All government taxes, VAT and company service charges
Trips Exclude
- International flights to and from Kathmandu
- Nepal visa fee (visas on arrival are available for most nationalities)
- Travel insurance covering trekking up to 5,000 m and emergency helicopter rescue (mandatory)
- Lunch and dinner in Kathmandu, except the farewell dinner
- Extra nights caused by early arrival, late departure, road closures or an early return from the trek
- Personal expenses such as hot showers, battery charging, Wi-Fi, laundry and phone calls
- Bottled or boiled water, soft drinks, alcohol, snacks and extra hot drinks
- Personal trekking clothing and equipment
- Kathmandu sightseeing tours and entry fees
- Tips for your guide, porters and driver
- Anything not listed under Cost Includes
Trips Altitude
Good to Know
Days start around 6:30 with tea and breakfast. You walk through the morning, stop for lunch at a lodge, and usually arrive by mid-afternoon. In the upper valley, afternoons can be windy, so it’s nice to be indoors by then.
Dinner is at about 6:30, and most people are asleep by 9.
The forest below Lama Hotel is mild, even in autumn. Above Langtang village the valley opens out and gets colder, and nights at Kyanjin Gompa are often below freezing.
Mornings are usually the clearest. Cloud and wind often come up the valley after lunch.
Don’t drink untreated tap or stream water. Lodges sell boiled water, or you can use tablets, drops or a filter. Please avoid plastic bottles, as the valley has no easy way to deal with them.
Toilets are shared and often squat-style, so carry toilet paper and hand sanitizer, and wash your hands before eating. Hot showers are available in most lodges for a small fee.
Your porter carries your duffel bag, up to 10 kg per person. Keep a daypack with water, snacks, a warm layer and a rain jacket, and leave anything you don’t need at your hotel in Kathmandu.
You’re inside Langtang National Park the whole time. Stay on the trail, don’t feed animals, and give yaks plenty of room, especially on narrow paths. Langur monkeys are common in the forest, and red pandas live here too, though they’re rarely seen.
The Langtangpa follow Tibetan Buddhism. Keep mani walls and chortens on your right and take your shoes off in monasteries.
Many families lost relatives in the 2015 avalanche. Be gentle with questions, and let people share their stories if they want to.
Carry your rubbish back out, including wrappers and batteries. Don’t pick plants or flowers in the park, and please don’t give sweets or money to children.
Trips FAQs
It’s a moderate trek. You walk 5–7 hours on most days on a clear, well-used trail, and you never sleep higher than 3,870 m. Day 6 is the hardest, with the early climb up Kyanjin Ri followed by a long walk down. You don’t need any climbing skills.
No. If you’re healthy and walk regularly, you can do it. Train for 4–6 weeks before you come: hiking, stair climbing, running or cycling, plus a few long walks with a daypack.
Two: the Langtang National Park entry permit and a TIMS card. For most foreign visitors the park permit costs NPR 3,000 and the TIMS card NPR 2,000. Both are included in this package, and your park permit is checked at Dhunche on the drive in.
Yes. Since April 2023, foreign trekkers in Nepal’s national parks, Langtang included, must walk with a licensed guide and book through a registered trekking agency. This package includes an experienced, licensed guide.
Spring (March–May) and autumn (late September–November) have the most settled weather and the clearest views. In winter (December–February) the upper valley is very cold and can get snow. In the monsoon (June–August), expect rain, leeches on the lower trail, and floods or landslides on the road.
Sometimes. The road into Rasuwa follows the Bhote Koshi river and is often damaged in the monsoon. In August 2026, a flood on the Bhote Koshi destroyed much of Syabrubesi, which is why this trip can start and finish at Thulo Syabru, higher up on its ridge. We check the road and the trail before every departure and tell you straight away if anything changes.
Kyanjin Gompa is at 3,870 m and Kyanjin Ri at 4,773 m, so mild symptoms such as a headache or poor sleep are common. The short walk on Day 5 helps your body adjust. Your guide checks your oxygen level every day with a pulse oximeter (a small clip on your finger), and if symptoms get worse, we go down.
On 25 April 2015, the Nepal earthquake set off a huge avalanche of ice, rock and mud that buried Langtang village. Hundreds of people died, including villagers, trekkers, guides and soldiers. The people of Langtang have since rebuilt their homes, their lodges and the monastery at Kyanjin, and trekkers are welcome back.
You stay in teahouses: simple, family-run lodges with twin rooms, beds and blankets, and a warm dining room. Toilets are often shared, and hot showers cost a little extra. Kyanjin Gompa has the most choice. Bedrooms aren’t heated, so the sleeping bag matters.
Lodges serve dal bhat (rice and lentils, usually with free refills), noodles, pasta, momos, soups, porridge and pancakes. At Kyanjin, try the local yak cheese.
Most lodges have Wi-Fi and charging for a small fee, and the price goes up as you climb. Mobile signal comes and goes in the valley. Bring a power bank.
Bring Nepali rupees from Kathmandu, as there’s nowhere reliable to get cash once you leave the city. USD 15–25 a day covers extras such as hot showers, Wi-Fi, charging, drinks and snacks. Keep some aside for tips.
Yes. Popular options are an extra day at Kyanjin Gompa to climb Tserko Ri, a higher viewpoint, or adding the holy lakes of Gosaikunda (4,380 m) on the way back. Ask us and we’ll plan it with you.
Yes, it’s required. Your policy must cover trekking up to 5,000 m, emergency helicopter rescue and medical treatment.
Tipping isn’t required, but it’s normal and appreciated. Many trekkers give about 8–10% of the trip cost, shared between the guide and porters at the end of the trek.
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