Kathmandu: how to get there and around
Airports, stations, ports, where the hotels are and what the numbers say, from public data rather than a brochure.
Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal (Bagmati Province), 1,296 m (4,252 ft) above sea level. The nearest large airport is Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM), 4 km (2 mi) from the centre. Our booking partner lists 1,243+ places to stay.
Key facts
Daylight in Kathmandu runs from about 10 h 26 min a day in late December to 13 h 56 min in late June (computed for 27.7° latitude), which matters more than the forecast when a day is built around one flight or one crossing.
Getting there
Kathmandu is served by one airport with scheduled flights. The closest large one is Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM), 4 km (2 mi) from the centre, whose 10,991-ft runway is long enough for long-haul wide-body aircraft.
Flights to Kathmandu: every airport, routes and times
Buses to Kathmandu · Driving and car hire
Where to stay
Our booking partner lists 1,243+ places to stay in Kathmandu (statistics below are from the first 1,000). Of the 815 with a star rating, the largest group is 3-star (461), and 28 are five-star. Across 295 properties with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 8.7 out of 10. Guests have left 100,212 reviews in total.
Hotels in Kathmandu: the full picture, and book
Our booking partner lists 44 hostels in Kathmandu, out of 1,243 places to stay of every kind — 3.5% of everywhere it lists in the city, around the middle of the range for the cities we hold figures for. Across 20 hostels with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 8.9 out of 10, which is 0.2 above the 8.7 its hotels average — not unusual, since a hostel is judged on its staff and its common room rather than on its fittings. Guests have left 6,445 reviews across them.
Hostels in Kathmandu: the full picture, and book
Nearby cities, and how to get between them
- Patna, 235 km (India) — flights · trains · tours
- Varanasi, 351 km (India)
- Gorakhpur, 219 km (India) — trains · tours
- Pokhara, 147 km — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Siliguri, 327 km (India) — flights · trains
- Gaya, 325 km (India)
- Bhāgalpur, 319 km (India)
- Bharatpur, 87 km — buses · car rental · tours
- Muzaffarpur, 176 km (India) — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Pātan, 3 km
Twin towns and sister cities: Isfahan, Pyongyang, Xi'an, Chengdu, Eugene, Matsumoto.
Common questions
Which airport serves Kathmandu?
Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM), 4 km (2 mi) from the centre.
How big is Kathmandu?
About 1.4 million people live in Kathmandu, across 49,450,000 km² (GeoNames and Wikidata).
What time zone is Kathmandu in?
Asia/Kathmandu, currently UTC+5:45.
What currency is used in Kathmandu?
The Rupee (NPR). Traffic drives on the left.
Are there hostels in Kathmandu?
44 of them, bookable on this site. Hostels in Kathmandu.
How many hotels are there in Kathmandu?
Our booking partner lists 1,243 or more places to stay in Kathmandu, bookable on this site.
Which cities are near Kathmandu?
Patna (235 km), Varanasi (351 km), Gorakhpur (219 km), Pokhara (147 km), Siliguri (327 km).
Where these facts come from
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
- Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
- OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
- Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines
Data compiled 14 September 2026. Hotel and hostel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.