If you’ve read our article about our safari experience in Bardiya National Park, you already know we changed our original plan and added a safari visit to Chitwan National Park as well.

Note: Before we get into the details, know that some of the links in this article may be affiliate links, and that if you click, we may earn a small commission, with no cost to you!

What is Chitwan National Park?

Chitwan is Nepal’s 2nd largest national park and is renowned for being absolutely saturated with rhinos. Seriously, you’ll even find clips on Youtube of rhinos casually wandering the town’s streets. We did not experience that.

Getting to Chitwan National Park

Chitwan National Park is a theoretical 6 hour bus ride from Pokhara.  Unfortunately, because we didn’t follow the typical itinerary, we were coming from Bardiya.

Bardiya meant a theoretical 12 hour bus ride; we decided on a morning bus this time, rather than the evening, so we’d get to Chitwan at a reasonable hour. Hah.

We experienced the same awful delay, in the same area as on our trip to Bardiya; a local told us the road has been f*d in that spot for 10 years!

As a result, the bus dropped us in the town of Naragandg around 130am. Which is NOT the correct stop.

And everything was closed.

We wandered the shuttered and foreboding streets, finally finding a crappy hotel for $8. You don’t want to stay here.

You also don’t want to arrive after midnight without a reservation somewhere as even the hotels pull down metal shutters and button up tight. Kinda scary.

The next morning, we negotiated a tuktuk to Saurarah (the correct town!) for 600npr (down from a 2000npr opening). This ride takes around 20-30 minutes.

Sauraha – The Gateway to Chitwan National Park

Sauraha is the actual town at the entrance to Chitwan NP. It’s much much larger than Thukdwara at Bardiya, with dozens of restaurants, hotels and even some shopping. Importantly, it also has some pharmacies and several ATMs. And beer / liquor stores galore. Seriously, almost every shop has some alcohol for sale… made us think it might be a party town in high season.

Speaking of which, we had brunch with custom-made Nepali Bloody Mary’s! After the night we’d had, we felt we deserved it!

WHAT TO DO IN CHITWAN / SAURAHA

Safari

Of course – what you’re here for is safari!

Inside Chitwan National Park are nearly 800 one-horned rhino (#2 in world / repopulation), just under 200 tigers and a new supporting cast of animals including sloth bears, leopards, mugger and (very endangered) gharial crocodiles, and a lot of birds. Seriously – if you’re into birding, this is another great choice!

Entrance to the park is by permit, which was 2000npr per head at time of writing. Unlike Bardiya National Park, however, you are allowed multiple entries for 1 day, and a second day of multiple entries in the Buffer Zone/Community Forest if you choose. All visits must be guided.

As in Pokhara, you can book any desired tour from your hotel or at numerous offices along the main street. Unlike Pokhara, prices seem pretty consistent; there really isn’t much variety of offerings. Again, if you’d like to save time and be sure of what you’re getting, you can book a package in advance.

We started with a 4-hour jeep safari in the park, during which, honestly we saw little. Our neighbors saw sloth bears, even a tiger.

The following day, we did a “basic” walking tour (3-4 hours plus a 30-45 minute canoe ride, which was stellar birding and offered verrry close encounters with crocodiles) in the buffer zone, where we saw a rhino grazing, amazingly close. In retrospect, we should have taken fuller advantage of the buffer forest entry. The buffer zone ticket is like a free money hack; it allows up to 3 entries for one payment. Don’t waste it like we did.

Whatever you choose, don’t expect large herds of anything like in Botswana or Tanzania.

Still, we did see rhinos, wild boar, nearly a dozen wild crocodiles (plus dozens more during a stop at the gharial breeding center).

Non-Safari Activities

We also rented bicycles (all day, 500npr each; several shops downtown have them) and toured around the town and surrounding countryside. It was rice harvest season, which meant locals were out cutting fields, or drying rice and hay in the roadways and sidewalks, even burning the chaff in the fields.

Many of the “farmhouses” are curiously modern and fancy-looking, and we were something of a curiosity to the locals; apparently not many visitors stray so far from the park. We were greeted politely and even cheerfully all day. The roads are (mostly) paved and easy to navigate; we do recommend spending a day this way if you have the time and want to get a real sense of how the local “suburban farmers” live. We even got to help a local ice cream vendor in distress !

Cultural Activities in Sauraha / Chitwan

If you’re into leaning about culture, then taking in a performance at one of the three Tharu Cultural Houses is a must. Shows start around 8pm and tickets were 300npr each, for an hour-long song and dance performance. The Peacock Dance is rightfully famous, and worth the minimal admission.

If you’re really into Buddhism, meditation, etc., you can check out (or into) Oshodhara Ashram.

Where to Stay near Chitwan National Park

We stayed at Jungle Wildlife Camp, which contrary to its name was very well appointed (including a fridge in the room – such luxury for $24/night!), and situated right along the river, which afforded even more wildlife viewing during the included breakfast.

Rooms are clean and comfy enough, water is hot, a/c blows cold. The patio seating with a view of the river (and that fridge) sealed the deal. When it wasn’t raining, we had cocktails on the patio looking at lovely sunsets. Almost felt like home for a bit.

Sleep in a Treehouse

You can also stay IN the park, for at least 1 night, by booking a Treehouse Overnight. Strategically located around the park, they seem even nicer than those in Bardiya; no guarantees, but we’re guessing you have a pretty good chance of seeing animals.

How long do you need for Chitwan National Park?

We stayed 4 nights, which seemed about right. There are many 3d/2n packages, but if you’re looking for a relaxed visit, we suggest another day at minimum and to take full advantage of the dual-park permit options. Of course, you may be like our neighbors at the hotel, and see TONS of animals 2 days straight, and feel satisfied.

When to visit Chitwan

When to visit is as important as for how long. We were there at the end of May / first week of June, which is not ideal. It’s the start of monsoon season; we had some rain 3 of 4 days. The elephant grass is also so high by then it’s difficult to see many of the animals, even from a jeep.

As with much of Nepal, you probably want to plan a trip for earlier in spring, like March / April or after monsoon… like October.

How To Get OUT of Chitwan

Chitwan <-> Kathmandu

SWIFT Holidays bus is your friend. We had a super nice clean bus with comfy seats & wifi, for around $11pp. This was a night and day experience from what we’d been booked onto getting to / from Bardiya or Pokhara. The seats were much comfier, the A/C functioned at all times, and the rest/food stops were at muuuuch nicer places.