Travel update, September 1, 2026: This page covers the August 26 flood’s impact on travel. Road conditions change day to day, always confirm your specific route before departure.
A serious note before you go anywhere near this region:
Do not take this post, any blog post, or especially any TikTok/Instagram/YouTube video as your final word on road conditions. Check. Check again. Check a third time. Conditions on the ground are changing daily, and outdated content, including this post a week from now, can get you stuck somewhere with no way out.
Before you travel:
- Check with us, or with whatever licensed travel agency or guide is responsible for your trip, before you commit to any route.
- If your plan touches Rasuwa, Nuwakot, the Tibet border, or any road through the affected corridors: do not go, full stop.
You are of course free to travel independently, on your own, without anyone knowing your exact whereabouts, that’s your call to make.
But we strongly advise against doing that right now.
If something goes wrong, a road closes behind you, a landslide blocks the way forward, you need evacuation or updated routing , a tour operator or guide can act on your behalf immediately. Traveling solo with no one tracking you means no one is coming to help until someone notices you’re overdue, and in this kind of environment, that delay matters. Use a tour operator. They exist for exactly this moment.
Social media is not a source. A stranger’s video from three days ago is not a source. Check with people who are actually on the ground right now.
What happened
On the morning of August 26, 2026, a catastrophic flash flood swept down the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river corridors in northern Nepal, triggered by a glacial collapse near the Nepal–Tibet border. The flood hit Rasuwa district hardest and caused damage downstream through Nuwakot, Dhading and parts of Gorkha and Chitwan. It is a serious disaster, with significant loss of life and communities still cut off in the worst-affected areas, and our thoughts are with everyone affected.
If you are seeing international headlines saying “Nepal is flooded,” that is misleading. This event was concentrated in specific northern river corridors, not the whole country. Most of Nepal’s tourist areas are completely outside the affected zone and are operating normally.
Flying: unaffected everywhere in Nepal
Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu is open, and every domestic route is flying on schedule — Pokhara, Bharatpur (for Chitwan), Bhairahawa (for Lumbini), Everest-region airstrips, Janakpur and Biratnagar included. The flood damaged roads and bridges, not airports. If your trip involves flying between cities, this disaster does not affect you.
Land travel: what’s actually affected
This is where the real disruption is, and it’s concentrated north of Kathmandu:
- Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts — all highways in the two districts are blocked. The Trishuli–Mailung–Syafrubesi road is gone in multiple places, and 30–40+ bridges have been washed away.
- Rasuwagadhi border crossing to Tibet (Kerung) — the road from Betrawati to Rasuwagadhi is destroyed and impassable. Overland trips to Tibet and Kailash Mansarovar via this route are on hold until the road is rebuilt, which will take months.
- Langtang, Gosaikunda and the Tamang Heritage Trail — the trekking region itself was not directly hit, but the access road (the Pasang Lhamu Highway) was. Do not plan a start date here until road access is officially confirmed.
- Araniko Highway — sections near Bhotekoshi and Liping remain blocked.
- Prithvi Highway, Kathmandu–Muglin section — currently closed. After multiple blockages from the original flood, a fresh road subsidence at Krishnabhir (Dhading) shut this section again; vehicles from Kathmandu are being held at Kalanki while the Department of Roads assesses repairs. No confirmed reopening date yet. This is the section you’d use for an overland trip to Pokhara or Chitwan from Kathmandu, so treat road travel on this route as unreliable right now.
Pokhara
Pokhara itself is fully open — lakeside, paragliding, boating and hotels are all operating normally. The problem is not Pokhara, it’s the road there. The Kathmandu–Muglin section of the Prithvi Highway is currently closed after the Krishnabhir subsidence, so treat that overland route as unreliable until it’s confirmed reopened. Fly Kathmandu–Pokhara instead — flights are running normally and take about 25 minutes.
Chitwan
Chitwan National Park, the safaris and the lodges are all operating normally. As with Pokhara, the issue is getting there overland from Kathmandu: the same Kathmandu–Muglin closure sits on this route too. Fly Kathmandu–Bharatpur instead — this route is unaffected and running on schedule.
Kathmandu Valley
The flood did not reach the valley. Heritage sites, hotels and city tours are running as usual.
Everest region
An entirely separate drainage system — zero impact. EBC and Three Passes treks are unaffected, and this region is normally reached by flight anyway.
Annapurna Circuit and Annapurna Base Camp
Unaffected. A section of road on one approach saw minor, unrelated monsoon damage, but it’s a short detour, not a closure.
Practical advice if you’re traveling in Nepal now
- If your route runs through Rasuwa, Nuwakot, or toward the Tibet border, postpone — there is no overland access right now.
- For Kathmandu–Pokhara or Kathmandu–Chitwan, fly. The Kathmandu–Muglin road section is currently closed, not just delayed, so don’t book overland transport on this route until it’s confirmed reopened. Flights on both routes are running normally.
- Confirm your specific route with your guide or hotel the day before you travel — conditions are changing daily as repair crews work on both the flood damage and the newer Krishnabhir subsidence.
This is monsoon season, so some landslide-related delays are normal for Nepal in any year, independent of this flood. As the monsoon eases through September, road access should keep improving outside the worst-hit northern districts.
FAQ
Are flights to Nepal and within Nepal affected by the flood?
No. Tribhuvan International Airport is open and operating normally, and all domestic routes are flying on schedule. The flood damaged roads and bridges, not airports or flight operations.
Which roads are closed because of the August 2026 flood?
The Trishuli–Mailung–Syafrubesi road and other highways in Rasuwa and Nuwakot, sections of the Araniko Highway near Bhotekoshi, and the overland route to the Tibet border at Rasuwagadhi/Kerung. Separately, a fresh road subsidence at Krishnabhir has closed the Kathmandu–Muglin section of the Prithvi Highway — the route used for Pokhara and Chitwan road trips.
Can I still travel to Pokhara, Chitwan, Everest and Annapurna?
Yes, all four are open and welcoming visitors. For Pokhara, Chitwan, and Annapurna trailheads — Ghorepani Poon Hill, Annapurna Base Camp, the Annapurna Circuit, Mardi Himal — most of which are reached by road from Pokhara, fly Kathmandu–Pokhara rather than drive right now, since the Kathmandu–Muglin road is currently closed. Everest is unaffected and is normally reached by flight.
Is Kathmandu Valley safe to visit right now?
Is Kathmandu Valley safe to visit right now?
Yes. The flood did not reach Kathmandu Valley.
Domestic carriers flying Kathmandu–Pokhara and Kathmandu–Bharatpur (Chitwan) right now:
- Buddha Air: https://www.buddhaair.com/
- Yeti Airlines: https://www.yetiairlines.com/
- Shree Airlines: https://www.shreeairlines.com/
Photo Village near Pokhara, with Mount Fishtail in the background, by Martin Skřivánek on Unsplash
Sources:
U.S. Embassy Nepal travel alerts:https://np.usembassy.gov/natural-disaster-alert-continued-flood-and-landslide-risk/
Nepal Department of Roads (official site):https://www.dor.gov.np/
Nepal Ministry of Foreign Affairs — flash flood updates:https://mofa.gov.np/category/flashflood/
Donate to the Government of Nepal Prime Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund https://pmdrf.nchl.com.np/
