First 48 hours in Kathmandu before a trek

Use your first 48 hours in Kathmandu to remove risk, not to sightsee. Day one: rest, drink water, eat something simple and confirm your hotel pickup with the driver. Day two morning: meet your agency or guide, confirm flight or road transport and check which permits you need. Midday: rent or buy missing gear. Afternoon: withdraw rupees, because ATMs on the trail are few and unreliable, buy a SIM with passport, photo and visa details if you want one, and top up basic first aid. Evening: weigh your bag, store spare luggage and sleep early. The Nepali embassy points to the Department of Immigration portal for visa steps, and the Nepal Tourism Board lists park fees but no TIMS price, so confirm TIMS with your agency. Leave one spare day if you can. Facts checked 25 October 2026.

What should you do on arrival?

After immigration and baggage you reach the arrivals exit, where drivers and touts wait. Our airport to Thamel arrival guide covers the ride in detail: confirm a driver's name if your hotel sent one, agree a taxi fare before you get in, and do not follow strangers who offer a free hotel. The UK FCDO lists the usual precautions for the city, and our scams guide shows the common ones.

Visa first. The Embassy of Nepal's visa page directs applicants to the Department of Immigration's online portal for pre-arrival and on-arrival visas. We give no fee, because third-party guides quote different figures and the portal is the place to check on the day. Details, including extensions, are in our visa guide for trekkers. Make sure your visa covers the trek plus a buffer, because flight delays eat days, and keep a photocopy and a phone photo of your passport and visa page separate from the original.

Then sleep. High-altitude trekking starts the moment you land, and a rested body copes better. Kathmandu sits at roughly 1,400 metres, which is not high, but a long-haul flight and a hard first day make everything worse. Our guide to where to stay in Kathmandu before and after your trek helps you choose.

What is a sensible two-day plan?

This is the shape; adapt it to your flight time. If you land late, day one is simply sleep. If your trek starts the next morning, you have no choice but to squeeze everything into one afternoon, so do the permits and cash first and the gear last. Our logistics pillar has the full two-day schedule, and buffer days and itinerary flexibility explains why a spare day pays for itself.

Which permits can you sort in the city?

Most routes need paperwork that is easier to arrange in Kathmandu than on the trail. As of October 2026 the Nepal Tourism Board lists NPR 3,000 for foreigners for Sagarmatha National Park and for Langtang National Park, and our permit data lists a separate NPR 3,000 Khumbu Pasang Lhamu trek card for the Everest region, collected on the trail near Lukla (see the Khumbu local permit explained). For Langtang, a TIMS card (NPR 2,000 for foreigners per the Nepal Tourism Board, issued through an agency) is reported as checked in 2026; TIMS is not required on the Everest route. Our guide on where to buy permits in Kathmandu and Pokhara says who sells what, and the paperwork checklist lists passport copies and photos.

On the guide rule, our record, last checked 19 October 2026, reads: a licensed guide through a registered agency is required in restricted areas (Department of Immigration) and, under the Nepal Tourism Board rule of April 2023, in national parks and conservation areas, where 2026 operator reports say checkpoints enforce it in Annapurna and Langtang but not in Khumbu. See the guide rule page.

How do you handle cash and a SIM?

Cash. Withdraw rupees in the city. The Longest Way Home guide, updated 17 September 2026, says per-transaction limits are commonly NPR 10,000 to 35,000 with 25,000 the most common cap for foreign cards, and a flat Nepali bank fee per withdrawal applies. Teahouses take rupees, so change dollars before you leave. Read our ATMs and cash guide for the numbers by route.

SIM. A July 2026 Nepal Traveller guide lists your original passport, a passport-sized photo, and a visa or entry stamp, and puts the SIM at roughly NPR 100 to 150 before data. Buy at the airport or from an official shop, and test it before you leave. For Everest and Langtang coverage, see NTC vs Ncell coverage by trek route and the general SIM guide. Treat trail signal as a bonus.

What about gear and health supplies?

Do not buy new boots on day two. Rent the bulky items you will use once, such as a down jacket and sleeping bag, and see renting gear in Kathmandu: the Thamel shop guide and down jacket rent or buy. Test every item. For medicine, our guide on altitude medicine and first aid supplies in Kathmandu pharmacies explains why prescription drugs belong to a doctor, not a shop. Check you have travel insurance that names your altitude.

Leave what you do not need. Luggage storage in Kathmandu while you trek covers hotels and shops that hold bags.

How do you meet a partner in 48 hours?

Hostels, agencies and notice boards are the old route, and our guide to meeting partners in Kathmandu hostels and forums explains them. Use this site to post a trip before you land so people can reply. Meet in a public place, share your plan and insurance details, and agree who pays for what before the flight; our safe partner-finding guide lists the checks. If you want to start within days, see last-minute treks and partners.

What mistakes cost people a day?

• Leaving permits to the last evening. Offices close, queues form and an early flight leaves you no slack. Do them on the morning of day two.
• Spending all your energy on gear. Gear shops are open late, but your agency and your cash are not. Do the fixed-time jobs first.
• Carrying too much cash around Thamel. Withdraw in stages, keep notes in two places and lock the rest in the hotel, as our theft and valuables guide suggests for the trail.
• Skipping the flight confirmation. Lukla flights leave early and from more than one airport in peak season, so confirm the time and place the day before, not the night before.
• Assuming the rules you read last year still apply. Fees, TIMS and the guide rule have changed before. Ask your agency for the current position and keep the receipts.

What do Everest and Langtang trekkers need to do differently?

Everest: your biggest risk is the Lukla flight. Confirm whether it leaves from Kathmandu or Ramechhap, and read the Kathmandu to Lukla flight guide and Manthali night transport guide. See the Everest Base Camp route. Langtang: the start is a road trip, and the Kathmandu to Syabrubesi guide explains it; see the Langtang Valley route.

Where sources conflict or are silent

• TIMS: NPR 2,000 for foreigners (SAARC nationals NPR 1,000) per the Nepal Tourism Board, issued only through a registered agency; not required on the Everest route, where you pay the Khumbu trek card instead.
• Visa fees: third-party guides disagree, so we publish none.
• ATM limits: 25,000 is common, 35,000 reported at some banks, and caps change. Treat as a guide.
• SIM price and paperwork come from a single July 2026 guide, which we could not check against the operators.
• We found no official taxi fare from the airport.
• Opening hours of offices and shops change around festivals; confirm by phone.

Plan the two days, then share the trail

Post your dates and route, find a partner and agree the plan before you land. Open trips, post a trip or read the trekking partner page. We are a matching platform, not an agency, and we do not sell permits, flights or SIMs.