Thamel in Kathmandu, Nepal

A tourist’s haven!

Quick Information

See Map
Best time to visit
Mar - May, Sep - Nov
Ideal Duration
5-6 Days
Visa
On Arrival
Starting from
Rs. 5,000
  • Ideal for friends
  • Romantic
  • Sightseeing

About Thamel in Kathmandu

Thamel is the hotspot for tourists in Kathmandu.

Thamel neighbourhood first became popular during the 1970-80s when hippie culture took over Kathmandu. Unconventional travellers, living out of their backpacks came in the Nepalese capital in hordes, and they all made Thamel their resident hub while in the city. Over the decades, Thamel Kathmandu turned into a bustling centre for shopping, eating or simply strolling around. In 2017, Thamel was declared as a vehicle-free area to get rid of the honking and make the place a safer one for pedestrians. There are around 5-6 main streets in Thamel Nepal, and dozens of other veins and arteries stretching out in different directions. In these streets, one can expect to find literally anything and everything under the roof.

Shopping:

Thamel bazaar is by far the busiest place in Kathmandu on any given day (or night). From exotic bakeries and confectioners to trekking gears, from small curio and handicraft shops to garment and bookstores, from travel agencies to bars and restaurants of all types – shopping in Thamel is nothing short of a small event in itself. Bookstores are a big thing in Thamel. Paradise Bookshop is a vintage one, which trades old books for new ones and has a good collection. For shopping trekking equipment, one can visit North Face Store or the Tibetan-owned Sonam Trekking Store.

Nightlife:

Thamel nightlife is something to look forward to the most in Kathmandu. After the day’s sightseeing and afternoon’s shopping sessions are over, the tourists in Kathmandu head towards the various bars, clubs and casinos in Thamel. Rum Doodle is an iconic place that has been visited by every Everest climber ever, starting with Edmund Hillary himself. It is like visiting a shrine for the Mountaineers. Sam’s Bar is another favourite. Funky Buddha and Tome and Jerry’s are great choices too for live music.

Another thing to do in Thamel is natural therapy. There are multiple Thamel massage parlours, spas and salons which cater to tourists for a quick foot massage or a complete back massage to fight jet-lags.

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kathmandu Packages Reviews

Read on to find out why our customers love us!

Mamta's 4 days trip to kathmandu

I am very Happy with service of Travel Triangle and specially with Tripathi Travels, everything they arranged and planned was excellent Everything was best.

Mamta Jurel New delhi

Kaminee's 5 days trip to kathmandu

We went on Nepal tour with family, it was nice experience overall, Annapurna ranges Mahadev caves Pashupati nath temple

Kaminee Balkawade Pune

Aravind's 8 days trip to kathmandu

The coordinator did a great job overall but could have been more attentive. There was some confusion with the itinerary, but it was managed well. Hotels (Ama la - Thamel, Kathmandu ; Tuki resort, Pokhara ; De Purang, Muktinath ; Rain forest, Chitwan) all were good. The food was best in Chitwan. Thanks for the great memories - Amit. Good job.

Aravind Gopalakrishna Bangalore

Arulak's 8 days trip to kathmandu

Travel agents in some places provide lower categories of hotels even though better accommodation available. Picking up at the airport should be rightly maintained. Also the facilities available in any place of visit to be rightly mentioned in the program. The trip was wonderful journey with a friendly Driver cum Guide Mr Balaram. He satisfied all our needs and queries.

Arulak Madurai

Jayesh's 9 days trip to kathmandu

Overall good experience from hotel to can driver.Service were excellent

Jayesh Panchal Mumbai

Vagesh's 5 days trip to kathmandu

Overall things were planned fine. Just had hiccups when our force traveller developed some issues and had problematic travel to Pokhara without air conditioning on which annoyed the travellers. On next days however , they managed to provide an alternative vehicle to avoid facing the issue again. Mankamna temple gondola ride

Vagesh Vaibhav Delhi

Sahil's 4 days trip to kathmandu

Good experience and all team members are supportive Amazing trip and all team members are supporting....

Sahil Walia New delhi

Guptaankita's 6 days trip to kathmandu

Big thanks to MD Adventure travel and tours and especially to Shabu who went above and beyond her role, for making our Nepal trip super smooth and stress-free! She was always just a call away—even on the eve of the Nepali New Year. She welcomed us at the airport with a big smile and handled everything so well, even when rain messed up our itinerary. Really appreciate her support and flexibility throughout the trip! If u are planning a trip to nepal do it through them. Highly recommended.

Guptaankita New delhi

Bedanta's 6 days trip to kathmandu

Every thing is well organised. Driver niranjan is very humble and helpful. Always on time. Hotels are good, clean and food is also good. Hotel shangrila nagarkot is spacious with a great view of the mountain and sunrise can be seen from the bed itself . Hotel lake paradise is overall good but all electric sockets are non functional in both the rooms but extension board was arranged by the hotel staff which is great help. All the hotels are clean staff are helpful. Hotel Taleju in kathmandu is good. Car given to us is actually a chinese made electric van which they called a luxury van with no view of outside and poor suspension. It requires charging twice on route to Pokhara and Kathmandu. Power cut in charging station is frequent and long queue makes it a very impractical vehicle for tourists who visit for leisure. Driver tried his best to keep us comfortable during the journey. Owner of the agency get offended when I compared the Chinese van with Maruti eco. But actually the van is poor in suspension then eco and cant see anything outside. According to them if the seats are reclining it comes under luxury category.. actually its not their fault the agency already sent the pictures of the vehicle at the time of booking but I mistook it by its look with the luxury tourist van that are used in other South East Asian countries. These vehicles may be a good option only after the highway construction and is completed.

Bedanta Bikash Kalita North east

Prafull's 4 days trip to kathmandu

Very memorable trip to Nepal . Pokhara trip was best one

Prafull Pandey Gorakhpur

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FAQ's of kathmandu

Read on to find out why our customers love us!

 

Nepal Plaza, The North Face and Best Shopping Centre are some of the bigger places to shop in Thamel. You can go to Nepal Handloom Silk Industry for some great apparel items.

 

Big vehicles are not allowed inside the Thamel marketplace. So parking is out of the question. Public transport should be availed while going to this place.

 

Rum Doodle and Sam’s Bar are the most crowded places in Thamel. Funky Buddha is a popular haunt too.

Tourism in kathmandu

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