Visit NepalHimal · Pahad · Teraiनेपाली

Terai — the plains

The Terai is the flat, fertile strip along the Indian border, mostly below 300 m, together with the inner-Terai valleys such as Chitwan and Dang behind the Chure (Siwalik) hills. Twenty-one districts are classed as Terai. Once malarial jungle, it is now Nepal's breadbasket and home to about half its people.

Its forests and grasslands hold Chitwan, Bardiya, Banke, Parsa and Shuklaphanta national parks, with rhinos, tigers and wild elephants. Its cultures — Tharu, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Rajbanshi and many more — share festivals like Chhath with the Indian plains, and it holds some of the holiest places in Asia: Lumbini, birthplace of the Buddha, and Janakpur, city of Sita.

Jhapa Morang Sunsari Saptari Siraha Dhanusha Mahottari Sarlahi Rautahat Bara Parsa Chitwan Nawalpur Parasi Rupandehi Kapilvastu Dang Banke Bardiya Kailali Kanchanpur

Hidden gems only

49 places

Arjundhara Dham

Temple & shrine

Arjundhara Dham

Jhapa, Koshi Province

A popular Shiva shrine and spring near Birtamod, linked to the Mahabharata hero Arjun.

Kankai Mai

Kankai Mai

Jhapa, Koshi Province

A broad river beach and temple where the Kankai leaves the hills, a favourite picnic and pilgrimage spot of Jhapa.

Temple & shrine

Satasi Dham

Jhapa, Koshi Province

A shrine of the Rajbanshi community and the old Satasi kingdom in south-east Jhapa, with ponds and ancient trees.

Biratnagar

Biratnagar

Morang, Koshi Province

Capital of Koshi Province and birthplace of Nepal's industry and of several prime ministers.

Betana Wetland

Betana Wetland

Morang, Koshi Province

A community-managed pond and forest on the highway near Belbari, with boating, birds and a small park.

Dharan

Dharan

Sunsari, Koshi Province

A lively city at the foot of the hills, known for its Gurkha heritage, food, and the temples of Budha Subba and Dantakali.

Bhedetar

Hill & viewpoint

Bhedetar

Sunsari, Koshi Province

A cool hill station above Dharan with a viewpoint over the Terai and a glimpse of Kanchenjunga.

Baraha Kshetra

Temple & shrine

Baraha Kshetra

Sunsari, Koshi Province

One of Hinduism's four great dhams of Nepal, at the confluence where the Koshi breaks out of the hills at Chatara.

Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve

Park & wildlife

Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve

Sunsari, Koshi Province

Grassland and river islands on the Sapta Koshi, home of Nepal's last wild water buffalo and a paradise for birds.

Janaki Mandir, Janakpur

Temple & shrine

Janaki Mandir, Janakpur

Dhanusha, Madhesh Province

A white marble palace-temple of 1910 dedicated to Sita, built where her image is said to have been found.

Ganga Sagar and the ponds of Janakpur

Ganga Sagar and the ponds of Janakpur

Dhanusha, Madhesh Province

Sacred ponds scattered through the city, where evening aarti and Chhath bring thousands to the ghats.

Dhanushadham

Temple & shrine

Dhanushadham

Dhanusha, Madhesh Province

A forest shrine where a fragment of Shiva's bow, broken by Ram to win Sita, is said to have fallen.

Village & culture

Mithila Art Centre, Janakpur

Dhanusha, Madhesh Province

Watch women artists paint the bright, line-filled Mithila style that once decorated only village walls.

Janakpur–Jaynagar Railway

Heritage & palace

Janakpur–Jaynagar Railway

Dhanusha, Madhesh Province

Nepal's only passenger railway, relaunched in 2022, running across the Mithila plains to the Indian border.

Jaleshwar Mahadev

Temple & shrine

Jaleshwar Mahadev

Mahottari, Madhesh Province

An ancient Shiva shrine whose linga sits below water level in a sunken sanctum, giving the town its name.

Rajbiraj

Rajbiraj

Saptari, Madhesh Province

Nepal's first planned town, laid out on a grid in the 1930s around a central square.

Chhinnamasta Bhagawati

Temple & shrine

Chhinnamasta Bhagawati

Saptari, Madhesh Province

A shrine to the self-beheaded goddess at Sakhada, one of the most revered Shakti temples of the eastern Terai.

Koshi Barrage

Koshi Barrage

Saptari, Madhesh Province

A 1.1 km barrage across the Sapta Koshi on the Indian border, famous for sunsets, fish and river dolphins.

Heritage & palace

Salhesh Fulbari

Siraha, Madhesh Province

The flower garden of Raja Salhesh, folk hero of the Dalit communities of Mithila, where a tree is said to bloom only at his festival.

Malangwa and the Sarlahi plains

Malangwa and the Sarlahi plains

Sarlahi, Madhesh Province

A quiet border town among mango groves and sugar-cane fields, with the Bagmati river and Chure forests nearby.

Gaur

Gaur

Rautahat, Madhesh Province

Rautahat's old border town between the Bagmati and Lalbakaiya rivers, a crossroads of Bhojpuri and Bajjika culture.

Gadhimai Temple

Temple & shrine

Gadhimai Temple

Bara, Madhesh Province

A goddess temple at Bariyarpur whose great fair every five years draws millions of devotees from Nepal and India.

Simraungadh

Heritage & palace

Simraungadh

Bara, Madhesh Province

Ruins of the medieval capital of the Karnat kings of Mithila, with scattered temples, ponds and sculpture.

Parsa National Park

Park & wildlife

Parsa National Park

Parsa, Madhesh Province

Chitwan's quieter eastern neighbour: sal forest and Chure hills with elephants, tigers and gaur, and hardly any tourists.

Birgunj

Birgunj

Parsa, Madhesh Province

Nepal's commercial gateway to India, with a landmark clock tower and the Gahawa Mai temple.

Chitwan National Park

Park & wildlife

Chitwan National Park

Chitwan, Bagmati Province

Nepal's first national park and a World Heritage Site: one-horned rhinos, Bengal tigers, gharials and elephants in sal forest and grassland.

Sauraha and Tharu culture

Village & culture

Sauraha and Tharu culture

Chitwan, Bagmati Province

The riverside village gateway to Chitwan, with Tharu villages, stick dances and sunsets over the Rapti.

Bis Hajar Tal

Bis Hajar Tal

Chitwan, Bagmati Province

The 'twenty thousand lakes': an oxbow wetland in Chitwan's buffer zone, a Ramsar site full of birds and crocodiles.

Upardang Gadhi

Heritage & palace

Upardang Gadhi

Chitwan, Bagmati Province

An 18th-century hill fort on the ridge above Chitwan, built during the unification wars, with sweeping views.

Siraichuli

Hill & viewpoint

Siraichuli

Chitwan, Bagmati Province

The highest point of Chitwan district, a Chepang hill with views from the Terai to the Himalaya.

Village & culture

Amaltari Tharu homestay

Nawalpur, Gandaki Province

A Tharu village on Chitwan's western edge with community homestays, rhinos by the river and far fewer tourists than Sauraha.

Lumbini, birthplace of the Buddha

Heritage & palace

Lumbini, birthplace of the Buddha

Rupandehi, Lumbini Province

The sacred garden where Siddhartha Gautama was born, marked by the Maya Devi temple and Emperor Ashoka's pillar of 249 BCE.

Lumbini Monastic Zone

Lumbini Monastic Zone

Rupandehi, Lumbini Province

A 4 km master-planned garden of temples built by Buddhist nations, from Thai marble to a Chinese pagoda and German frescoes.

Devdaha

Heritage & palace

Devdaha

Rupandehi, Lumbini Province

The ancient Koliya kingdom, maternal home of Queen Maya Devi, where the Buddha spent time as a child.

Tilaurakot (Kapilavastu)

Heritage & palace

Tilaurakot (Kapilavastu)

Kapilvastu, Lumbini Province

Ruins of the Shakya capital where Prince Siddhartha lived for 29 years before leaving through its eastern gate.

Niglihawa, Gotihawa and Kudan

Heritage & palace

Niglihawa, Gotihawa and Kudan

Kapilvastu, Lumbini Province

Ashoka pillars and stupas marking the birthplaces of earlier Buddhas, and Kudan where the Buddha met his father.

Ramagrama Stupa

Heritage & palace

Ramagrama Stupa

Parasi, Lumbini Province

An unexcavated brick mound believed to be the only original stupa still holding relics of the Buddha.

Temple & shrine

Triveni Dham and Valmiki Ashram

Parasi, Lumbini Province

A sacred confluence on the Narayani at the Indian border, with the forest hermitage of the Ramayana's poet Valmiki.

Village & culture

Dang valley and Ambikeshwari

Dang, Lumbini Province

Nepal's largest inner-Terai valley, a Tharu heartland with the Ambikeshwari temple and the cities of Ghorahi and Tulsipur.

Nepalgunj and Bageshwari

Nepalgunj and Bageshwari

Banke, Lumbini Province

The busy border city that is the hub for flights into Karnali, with the Bageshwari shrine at its heart.

Banke National Park

Park & wildlife

Banke National Park

Banke, Lumbini Province

A young, little-visited park of sal forest and Chure hills whose tiger population has grown rapidly since 2010.

Bardiya National Park

Park & wildlife

Bardiya National Park

Bardiya, Lumbini Province

The largest national park in the Terai and the best place in Nepal to see a wild tiger, on the banks of the Karnali.

Shuklaphanta National Park

Park & wildlife

Shuklaphanta National Park

Kanchanpur, Sudurpashchim Province

Vast open grasslands in the far south-west, home to the world's largest herd of swamp deer, tigers and wild elephants.

Jhilmila Lake

Kanchanpur, Sudurpashchim Province

A forest lake in the Chure hills of Kanchanpur, near the Indian border, surrounded by sal jungle and birds.

Bhimdatta and the Mahakali

Kanchanpur, Sudurpashchim Province

Nepal's westernmost city on the Mahakali river border, with the long Dodhara–Chandani suspension bridge nearby.

Ghodaghodi Lake

Ghodaghodi Lake

Kailali, Sudurpashchim Province

A Ramsar-listed complex of forest lakes on the East–West Highway, rich in birds, turtles and lotus.

Karnali Bridge, Chisapani

Karnali Bridge, Chisapani

Kailali, Sudurpashchim Province

A single-tower suspension bridge where Nepal's longest river leaves the hills, famous for fresh river fish.

Park & wildlife

Tikapur Park

Kailali, Sudurpashchim Province

One of Nepal's largest public parks, beside the Karnali in a planned Terai town, with gardens, lawns and a lake.

Dhangadhi

Dhangadhi

Kailali, Sudurpashchim Province

The largest city of the far west and its main airport, a lively border town with Tharu villages all around.