10 Best Places to Visit in Pokhara

Pokhara is a favorite city for many visitors because of many fantastic tourist sights and things to do. After Kathmandu city, it is also one of the major tourism hubs in Nepal.

It is also known as the “city of seven lakes”. It is enriched with natural and cultural heritage. It is a Shangri-La, truly a heaven on Earth.

That’s why it is famous for sightseeing and mountain views. Annually, around the globe, 7,00,000 tourists visit Pokhara.

It is the second biggest city of Nepal situated in the center of Nepal on the west of Kathmandu valley. It lies just around 200 km away from Kathmandu valley.

You can travel via private or public transportation. Also, there is an option of taking a flight to transport yourself to this beautiful city.

The main attraction of this place is lakes, pristine mountain views, and boating.

It is a popular valley surrounded by hills, and famous landmarks like Begnas Lake and Phewa Lake. Great mountain views including Annapurna Macchapucchre (Fishtail), and Dhaulagiri as a backdrop of Phewa lake will offer you a great moment.

Less busy roads, peaceful Pokhara is one of the best places for your holidays in Nepal.

You’ll get an opportunity to be lost in the natural beauty of Pokhara.

Other main reasons for most of the tourists choose to travel to Pokhara is it is a gateway to the globally renowned trekking region Annapurna.

The trekking to Annapurna region begins from the various points around Pokhara. This provides a great opportunity for travelers to plan their stay at Pokhara.

Besides great mountain views, it is gradually gaining popularity as an attractive adventure sports destinations.

Paragliding, rafting, ultralight flight, honey haunting, and cycling are already popular in Pokhara.

With the mysterious caves, temples, and snow-capped mountains, a paradise of lake city stunning lakes and more, it’s hard to choose what to see and do in Pokhara. To help you make this tricky decision, I’ve listed some best places to visit in Pokhara.

10. World Peace Stupa

World Peace Stupa is located on the southern side of Phewa lake in the top of the mountain. It is one of the best and popular hiking destination in Pokhara.

Its obvious reason is from the top of the hill you’ll get the spectacular mountain views of the Annapurna range.

Also, you’ll get an amazing view of the Pokhara valley at one side.

The Peace Pagoda has four main Buddha statues. All these statues reflect four prominent stages of Buddha’s life.

First where he was born in Lumbini, Nepal. Second where he become enlightened in Bodhgaya, India. Third where he taught most of his lifetime in Sarnath, India and lastly where he reached nirvana at Kushinagar, India.

9. Sarangkot

Make hiking plans with your best buddy when you’re in Pokhara. A short hiking trip will be irresistible once you’ve visited Sarangkot. It is popular tourists’ destination lies at an altitude of 1600 meters, northwest of Pokhara.

To reach the top of the hill, you can hike for two or three hours from Pokhara lakeside. If you don’t like to hike then you can also take a taxi from Pokhara and walk for one hour to reach the main viewpoint.

Sarangkot is also a popular paragliding launching point. If you’re planning visit Pokhara then you shouldn’t miss Sarangkot sunrise view. I bet if you experience this moment then it is going to be a tremendous experience of your life.

From the top of the hill, you’ll get some fantastic views of massive peaks like Mt. Machhapuchhre, Dhaulagiri, Ganesh, Manaslu, and Annapurna.

8. Phewa Lake

Phewa lake is the second largest lake of Nepal and the largest lake of Pokhara valley. It is located in the south of the Pokhara at an altitude of 742 m/2,432 ft above sea level.

It covers an area of about 5.23 square kilometer and it has an average depth of about 8.6 m (28 ft).

The Phewa lake is one of the major attraction for foreign and national travelers as well. As in the middle of the lake, there is a temple of Barahi in the Island.

A number of visitors visit the temple and take boating experience on this lake. Barahi temple is the religious monument built in the middle of the lake.

Besides this, you can also get a great view of Mt. Macchapucchre from the Phewa Lake, the next attraction of the lake.

Explore the lake on boat tours you’ll be mesmerized as the lake is surrounded by Sarangkot and Kaskikot hills on the northern side.

7. Begnas Lake

After Phewa Lake, Begnas Lake is another popular lake in around Pokhara valley. The lake is one of the favorite sites of the tourists where you can see many tourists visiting here.

Begnas lake is a magnificent sight to behold. You’ll see how the lake is flowing in between the clean, green, and peaceful environment.

It is the second largest lake among the eight of the lakes that are found in Pokhara valley. The lake is 10 meters deep (max) has covered a surface area of 3.28 sq. Km.

As the name implies city of lakes it has wonderful lakes where you can do boating and drown your all stress. In addition, you can do something interesting like fishing. Enjoy the pristine natural setting of the placid lake surrounded by lush greenery and overlooked by Himalayan peaks.

6. Mahendra Cave

Mahendra cave is one of the attractive cave in the city of Pokhara and is situated close to Bat’s cave.

This cave attracts a huge number of tourists. In the mid portion of the cave, you’ll see a statue of the Hindu Lord Shiva.

The cave has been named after the Late King Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev. The natural tunnel of the cave is illuminated by artificial lighting systems.

This cave is rich with different types of rock, glittering stones, and big boulders of rock. The interesting fact of this cave is the different stones glitter when a beam of a light strike in it.

The tunnel of the cave leads to different places like Kali Khola (River).

5. Bat’s Cave

Pokhara has several caves and all these caves are home to the nocturnal flying Dracula known as the Bat.

This cave is located a little far from the Mahendra cave in the west. Though the entrance is narrower but the inner part of the cave is wide enough.

This cave is home to bats as it gives shelter to more than fifteen thousands of bats of different species.

You’ll find the inners wall of the cave is carved with different images of elephant tusk, Gods, and Goddess.

4. Gupteshwor Temple

Gupteshwor temple is a sacred place for the Hindu pilgrims. As a symbolic Shivalinga is preserved in the cave. It is believed the Shivling inside the cave is in the same position since it was explored.

It lies 2 km away from an airport on the Siddhartha Highway leading southwest from the city. The cave has been divided into two sections.

One part of the cave is 40 meters in length with natural caves and the Shivalinga. To reach the shrine you’ve to climb a thousand stairs.

The second part begins after this temple and leads to Davis Fall. The entrance is 2 meters high and 3 meters wide. You’ve to pass few hall rooms which have many passages. Some passages are so small that you might need to crawl.

3. Bindabasini Temple

After Tal Barahi, Bindabasini temple is another most popular temple and religious site of Pokhara.

It lies at 3,000 ft above from the sea level. It is Hindu based religion temple built in a Pagoda style. The temple is dedicated to Goddess Durga also known as Shakti or Kali and many manifestations.

Many Hindu people come to this temple for worshipping and marriage ceremony.

From this temple, you can also enjoy the fabulous views of the city and the mountain ranges including Machhapuchhre and Annapurna.

2. David’s Falls

It is one of the major tourist attraction spots in Pokhara. Pokhara is the city of Nepal famous for its waterfalls and Davids fall is one of them.

This marvelous waterfall cascades down at the south side of the Phewa lake in Pokhara. It is in the gorge of the Seti river.

It is an area known for its beauty and tranquility and the legend of Devi’s fall add a touch of mystery to this site.

You can visit this site at any time at it is open on daily of the week. The mysterious fact of this waterfall is water of this fall comes from the Phewa lake, which eventually rushes down the waterfall and disappears.

The best time to visit this site is during monsoon season as the volume of the water increased significantly.

You’ll find many photographic opportunities at this site as the landscape surrounds David’s fall is spectacular.

1. International Mountaineering Museum

International Mountaineering Museum is another destination for a day’s visit. It is located in the tranquility of the city Ratopahiro Pokhara Submetroplis-17.

Here, you can explore past to present of mountaineering in Nepal, Japan, Slovakia, and other countries as well.

The museum features an excellent collection of flora and fauna collected from the Himalayas and other regions.

You can see a mountain model of Mt. Manaslu, Mt. Everest, and a complete 3D model of mountains from the Himalayas here.

This museum lets you know beyond Everest and introduces other mountains of the Himalayas too.

Exploring this museum will be fun and interesting which highlights the climbing of some of the world’s highest and most difficult ascents.

You can also see gear from several decades ago, what people used to climb some of the highest mountains in the world. You’ll find the visit to International Mountaineering Museum informative too.

Conclusion

I’ve selected the above 10 best places to visit in Pokhara that provide a balance between diverse nature and fascinating Nepalese culture.

From boating on the serene lake to paragliding above the city, a starting point for various trekking routes, Pokhara offers every type of adventurous sports.

It is not an only beautiful city but also one of the cleanest cities of Nepal comparatively.

Pokhara is the perfect destination for family vacation, romantic holiday or even a solo tour. Pokhara will not disappoint you for a single moment.

Thus, if you visit Nepal and if you don’t include Pokhara, then your visit to Nepal will be incomplete.

This mysterious city with its amazing attraction garners worldwide popularity; it shouldn’t be ignored.