Districts
Bagmati Province
Chitwan चितवन
Chitwan NP, rhino and tiger safaris
Chitwan, in the central Terai lowlands, is Nepal's wildlife heartland. Chitwan National Park — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — shelters one-horned rhinos, Bengal tigers and gharial crocodiles, with jeep and canoe safaris run from Sauraha. The Tharu communities of the district add a distinct lowland culture.
About Chitwan
Chitwan spreads across the central Terai lowlands, a flat belt of sal forest, grassland and river that holds Nepal's first and most famous national park. Chitwan National Park — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — is the country's wildlife showpiece, home to one of the world's healthiest populations of greater one-horned rhino, alongside Bengal tigers, sloth bears, gharial crocodiles and more than 500 bird species.
Most visitors base themselves at Sauraha on the park's edge, where jeep safaris, guided jungle walks, dugout-canoe trips on the Rapti River and an elephant-breeding centre fill an easy two or three days. The Tharu, the Terai's indigenous people, give the district a distinct lowland culture, with stick-dance performances and mud-and-thatch villages.
It is hot and humid for much of the year; October to March is the comfortable window, when wildlife gathers at the shrinking waterholes and the grass is cut low enough to see across.
At a glance
- Headquarters
- Bharatpur
- Known for
- Chitwan NP, rhino and tiger safaris
Getting there
Chitwan (Sauraha) is about 150 km from Kathmandu — 5–6 hours by tourist bus, or a 25-minute flight to Bharatpur airport then a short drive. It sits roughly halfway on the Kathmandu–Pokhara route, so it slots neatly into a circuit. Resort lodges and local jeeps handle transfers to the park gate and safari points.