Pokhara to Chitwan by tourist bus or private car

How long the trip from Pokhara takes

Sauraha is roughly 150 km from Pokhara, and the drive usually takes 4.5–6 hours. It’s a slightly shorter and calmer journey than the one from Kathmandu, because you skip the slow crawl out of the Kathmandu Valley.

Set off in the morning and you’ll be in Sauraha around lunchtime or early afternoon. That gives you time to settle into your lodge and head out for an afternoon canoe ride, a village walk or sunset by the Rapti River. Jeep safaris are best saved for the next morning.

Pokhara to Chitwan travel time can stretch on a bad day, though. Road works around Mugling, heavy truck traffic and monsoon landslides are the usual culprits, so don’t plan anything fixed for the first few hours after you expect to arrive.

Tourist bus or private car from Pokhara

Local public buses also run between Pokhara and Narayangarh. They’re slower, stop wherever passengers ask, and leave you to sort out your own onward transport to Sauraha. Unless you really enjoy that kind of travel, the tourist bus is the better choice.

The route from Pokhara to Sauraha

The route heads east along the Prithvi Highway, the same road that links Pokhara and Kathmandu, before turning south at Mugling.

1. Pokhara to DamauliThe highway leaves the Pokhara Valley and runs through farmland and low hills. On clear mornings, especially from October to March, you can often see the Annapurna range behind you for the first part of the drive.
2. Damauli to MuglingDamauli is a market town where rivers meet. After it, the road passes Dumre, the turn-off for the hill town of Bandipur, and follows the Marsyangdi River down to Mugling.
3. Mugling to NarayangarhAt Mugling you leave the Kathmandu road and head south along the Trishuli River. The valley opens out and the road drops onto the flat Terai at Narayangarh, which is joined to the city of Bharatpur.
4. Narayangarh to SaurahaFrom Narayangarh you drive east along the East-West Highway to Tandi, then turn south for a short drive through fields and villages to Sauraha, on the bank of the Rapti River opposite the national park.

Practical tips before you leave Pokhara

• In busy months (October–November and February–April), book your tourist bus seat a day ahead.
• Check the boarding point with your hotel; buses usually load in the Lakeside area early in the morning.
• Keep water, snacks, sunscreen and a light layer in a small bag with you, as bus air-conditioning varies.
• Expect it to get warmer as you drop down to the plains. Chitwan is often several degrees hotter than Pokhara.
• Let your Sauraha lodge know when you’re arriving; many lodges collect guests from the tourist bus drop-off.
• Have some cash in small notes for the meal stop.

What the road is like

The Pokhara–Mugling and Kathmandu–Mugling sections of the Prithvi Highway both see regular repairs and widening, so conditions change from month to month. Mugling itself can be a bottleneck, since traffic from three directions meets there.

In the monsoon months, landslides are possible on both the Prithvi Highway and the road down the Trishuli to Narayangarh. Delays are usually just a few hours, but do leave some slack in your plans. Our guide to the best season for a Chitwan visit explains what else changes between June and September.

Chitwan to Pokhara: going back the other way

Tourist buses from Sauraha to Pokhara leave in the morning and arrive in the afternoon. A private car gives you more freedom: you can squeeze in an early bird walk or canoe ride and still reach Pokhara before dark.

If Pokhara is your next stop after Chitwan, rather than where you started, the trip is simply the same in reverse. From Chitwan you can also carry on to Kathmandu (see our Kathmandu to Chitwan route) or head west to Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, which we cover on the Lumbini route page.

Planning a Pokhara to Chitwan safari tour

A Pokhara to Chitwan tour takes care of your transport, your lodge in Sauraha and your safari plan in one booking. A typical Pokhara Chitwan package covers two nights: you arrive and do an afternoon activity, spend a full day on jeep, canoe or walking safaris, then travel on the third morning. The 2 nights 3 days package follows exactly that rhythm.

Plenty of travelers combine all three main stops in one loop. A Pokhara Chitwan Kathmandu tour usually runs Kathmandu, then Pokhara, then Chitwan, then back to Kathmandu, or the other way round. Our Kathmandu–Pokhara–Chitwan itinerary sets it all out day by day.

Have a look at current options and dates on the tours page, or get in touch with your travel dates and where you’re coming from.