Kathmandu sits at about 1,400 metres (4,600 feet). That's high enough to put it above most capital cities and far too low to make you ill. Almost every Himalayan trek in Nepal starts here, so the city is the baseline your body works from before you climb toward Namche, Manang or base camp. Nobody gets altitude sickness in Kathmandu. The height does nudge your first night's sleep and your thirst, and it decides how you should spend the day or two before the climbing starts.
Where Kathmandu's elevation sits on a Himalayan trek
By Nepali standards, 1,400 metres is low. Lukla, where Everest treks begin, is at 2,860 metres. Namche Bazaar sits at 3,440 metres, Manang on the Annapurna Circuit at about 3,540 metres, and Everest Base Camp at 5,364 metres. Acute mountain sickness usually starts somewhere above 2,500 metres. Kathmandu is a full kilometre under that line, so this is where you sort out permits and kit and leave the acclimatising for later.
How high is Kathmandu, exactly?
The valley floor runs between about 1,300 and 1,400 metres above sea level. Tribhuvan International Airport is at 1,338 metres, and the old city centre is close to 1,400, the figure most guidebooks use. Denver, at roughly 1,600 metres, and Mexico City, at 2,240 metres, are both higher. The rim of the valley is a different story. Nagarkot, the sunrise viewpoint to the east, stands at about 2,175 metres, and Chandragiri Hill to the southwest reaches 2,551 metres. Ride the cable car up Chandragiri on a winter morning and you'll feel the cold well before you notice the thinner air.
Will you feel the altitude in Kathmandu?
Probably not. At 1,400 metres each breath carries about 84 percent of the oxygen you'd get at sea level, and few people register that gap. A few arrivals straight from the coast sleep a little lighter on night one, puff a bit on hotel stairs or notice a faster resting pulse. It fades within a day. The pounding headache and nausea of acute mountain sickness simply don't happen at this height. If you feel rough after landing, blame the long-haul flight, dehydration, new food or the valley's smoggy winter air, which on bad days in December and January rates among the worst in Asia.
Using your Kathmandu days well
Most of our itineraries give you one or two days in Kathmandu for permits, a gear check and a trek briefing. Your body won't start adapting at 1,400 metres. What you can do is build the habits that matter higher up. Drink three litres of water a day, sleep off the jet lag, keep the beer to one, and walk to Swayambhunath or around the Boudhanath stupa instead of attempting a hard hike. The same routine carries on up the trail, as our guide to preventing altitude sickness on a Nepal trek explains, with the proper rest days arriving at places like the acclimatisation day at Manang.
From Kathmandu to real altitude
On the Everest side the jump is abrupt. A 35-minute flight drops you at Lukla, 1,460 metres above Kathmandu, and the Everest Base Camp trek keeps climbing from there. Annapurna treks start lower and rise more gently. The drive to Besisahar ends at 760 metres, Pokhara sits at about 820, and the Annapurna Circuit then gains height over about a week before Manang. That slow profile is where the guideline of sleeping no more than 500 metres higher each night starts to count. If you're arranging the Pokhara leg yourself, our notes on getting from Kathmandu to Pokhara compare the flight, the tourist bus and a private jeep.
Day trips that help you shake off the flight
Three viewpoints on the valley rim get you walking uphill with zero altitude risk. Nagarkot, about 90 minutes' drive northeast, shows a long run of Himalayan peaks on a clear October or November morning. Shivapuri, inside Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park just north of the city, tops out at 2,732 metres after a half-day forest hike. Chandragiri, by cable car, is the lazy option. On a clear day you can pick out the Annapurna range to the west and the Everest group far to the east. A gentle climb the day before you fly out beats a day in a cafe.
Inside the city, the two great stupas make easy walks. A slow lap of Boudhanath, one of the largest stupas in the world, takes half an hour. Swayambhunath means 365 stone steps up a wooded hill, past the monkeys that give it its nickname. We build a sightseeing day around them into most itineraries, partly for the culture and partly because legs that have sat on a plane for 15 hours need loosening up.
Do you get altitude sickness in Kathmandu?
No. At about 1,400 metres, Kathmandu is roughly a kilometre below the 2,500-metre mark where acute mountain sickness usually begins. Feeling off after arrival is almost always jet lag, dehydration, or the change in food and air.
How high is Kathmandu in feet?
About 4,600 feet (1,400 metres) at the valley floor. The hills around the rim climb to between roughly 7,000 and 9,000 feet, with Shivapuri the highest at 8,963 feet.
Do you need to acclimatise in Kathmandu before a trek?
Not physiologically. The city is too low to make your body adapt. A day or two here is still worth having to sleep off jet lag, collect permits, check gear and get into the habit of drinking far more water than feels normal.
Is Kathmandu higher than Everest Base Camp?
Nowhere near. Everest Base Camp sits at 5,364 metres, almost 4,000 metres above Kathmandu. Kathmandu is the low starting point, and base camp is close to the highest a trekker without mountaineering gear will go.
More on the mountains
Pemba Sherpa
Trekking Guide, Annapurna Trekking
Pemba Sherpa guides treks across Nepal for Annapurna Trekking. More about our team →
