Is Nepal safe to travel?
Tags: dangerous nepal, nepal precaution, nepal safe, nepal warning, travel advisories, traveler safety
Yes, Nepal is safe for travelers to travel – I can vouch for its safety to travelers. I have traveled extensively in Nepal, sometimes alone to the remotest parts of Nepal and have found it one of the safest places to travel.
Even the statistics show that no travelers have lost their lives because of physical violence as far as I can tell in the last 10 years.
Until 4 years ago there was a Maoist insurgency, which since has been managed by a peace process – the Maoists led the government for nine months. Right now, the country is building a new constitution after having a successful election for the members of the constituent assembly. Even though the political process is chaotic at times, tourism is usually left alone as it is one of the major bread earners of the country.
Although there have been instances of sporadic violence against and kidnappings of local people in southern regions, tourists have never been harmed. The Hilly and Himalayan region, including the capital Kathmandu, are safe for travel. In the past two years, I have heard only of less than five reported instances of physical harassment of tourists in Nepal during the entire period. You should not make judgement for travel in Nepal based on sporadic incidents. I highly recommend travelers to take the safety of Nepal as a huge plus point when considering traveling to this region
Kathmandu Durbar Square
You will have to realize that although Nepal is a safe place it is chaotic as well. It thrives on almost an anarchical level. You might need to be aware of frequent strikes and shutdowns of cities as they are are common means of protest here. They can be organized at quite short notices and disrupt lives on the areas of impact. However, tourist vehicles with stickers run on those days as well. So you might not worry much about them. We update our official blog and forum regularly so that you can get updated information on travel advisories and alerts (if any).
You can also be sure about things happening around the country by reading the newspapers and online news portals. You can also find more by reading our blog Nepalnews.com and ekantipur.com are two leading Nepalese online news portals published in English language.
Also for additional news, please see myrepublica.com (a leading English daily).
Here are a few websites that report on travel advisory on Nepal. Remember that these are government advisories and are conservatively cautious, for obvious reasons. Do not be put off by it as they are updated once in a while. Confirm about the real situation on the ground from travelers who have visited and people who live in Nepal at travel forums.
Some foreign government advisories to help you on your decisions:
Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Phone 1300- 139 -281)
Canadian Consular Affairs (Phone 1-800-267-6788)
New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Phone 04-439-8000)
UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Phone 0845-850-2829)
US Department of State (Phone 1-888-407-4747, 1-202-501-4444)
As always, use common sense caution when moving around – not traveling alone as far as possible, not displaying valuables, not participating or being near a demonstration and not leaving your bags unlocked. You should be able to enjoy your visit to Nepal with peace of your mind.
If you have questions, don’t forget to ask your questions here – we will get back to you at the earliest !
- Where can I find travel advisory to Nepal?You could check the travel advisory published by following governments....
- Where do I start to find information about travel in Nepal?We have summarized a set of guides and links to...
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even the number of strikes have decreased nowadays
A coalition government has been formed which should fare better in terms of strikes and shutdowns (less of them now). should be a good time to travel around now.
trekked annapurna region a week ago. very safe and very friendly people there.
Yes, Nepal is safe for travelers.
The maoists have called off the airport blockade announced for November 10th. However, the road blockade to Kathmandu announced on that day is still not withdrawn.
As far as we understand, the road blockade should not affect travelers commuting around Kathmandu valley. If you need to go out of the valley, go very early in the morning. And if you need to come to Kathmandu, arrive at Thankot late in the evening.
However, there are some signs of the situation being sorted out before the announced dates of the strikes.
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Maoists called nationwide strike has entered the second day. The streets in Kathmandu are deserted with maoists supporters present in every intersection to stop the vehicles plying on the road. However, tourist vehicles are allowed to operate. Nepal Tourism Board has provided a shuttle service to and from the airport to help travelers reach their destinations.
The strikes have been called off. They have promised not to conduct any strikes at least until May 24. Travelers to Nepal should be able to enjoy their time during that period. There are some hopes of political consensus emerging.