What to wear in Nepal

Shoes come off before you enter almost any temple, monastery or shrine building. Slip-on shoes or sandals save you a lot of bending down and re-lacing, and you'll want socks you don't mind people seeing, stone and marble floors get cold and sometimes wet.

Shoulders and knees covered is the real rule, not 'dress modestly' in the abstract. That means no tank tops, no strapless tops, and no shorts above the knee for anyone, men included. A t-shirt with sleeves and trousers or a skirt past the knee clears the bar everywhere. Carry a light scarf or shawl in your day bag; it doubles as a shoulder cover and a head cover where one is expected, and it weighs nothing.

Leather is a genuine restriction at some Hindu sites, not folklore. At Pashupatinath in particular, leather belts, bags and wallets are turned away from the inner precinct because cow leather is considered ritually unclean in that context. Bring a fabric or canvas bag for temple visits and switch your belt to cloth if you're headed there, or just leave the leather one at the hotel that day.

Pashupatinath's main temple courtyard is closed to non-Hindus outright, no outfit fixes that, but the surrounding complex, ghats and viewing areas across the river are open and the same shoulders-knees-no-leather rules apply there too.

At Buddhist sites like Boudhanath and Swayambhunath the dress bar is similar, covered shoulders and knees, shoes off before entering shrine rooms and monasteries, but there's no leather restriction. What matters more there is not stepping over prayer wheels or offerings and walking clockwise.

Tight leggings alone, without something covering the thigh, read as underwear-adjacent to a lot of temple staff and older Nepalis, even though they're completely normal streetwear in Kathmandu. Pair leggings with a longer top or a wrap if you're heading somewhere religious straight after.

Kathmandu, Pokhara and the tourist strips of the Terai are genuinely relaxed. Thamel sees shorts, vest tops and everything in between on foreign visitors every day, and nobody blinks. Nepali friends who live in Kathmandu dress in jeans, western tops, whatever they'd wear in Delhi or Bangkok. You will not offend anyone by wearing shorts and a t-shirt to a café in Kathmandu.

Step outside the tourist zones, or head into a smaller town or a village, and the norm shifts noticeably more conservative, especially for women. Sleeveless tops and shorts above the knee draw stares and occasionally comments in rural areas, less because it's forbidden and more because it's simply unusual, most local women there are covered to the knee and elbow as a matter of course, not for tourists' benefit.

Men have an easier ride generally, but going shirtless outside a swimming pool or riverbank, even in the heat, reads as inconsiderate rather than practical almost everywhere in Nepal, cities included.

A decent rule for both cities and villages: if you're visiting a government office, a school, a family's home, or attending any kind of ceremony, dress a notch smarter and more covered than you would for a walk around town. Nepalis often dress up more than visitors expect for occasions that feel casual by Western standards.

Swimwear at pools and lakesides is fine where that's clearly the setting, Phewa Lake in Pokhara, hotel pools, but walking through town in a bikini top or board shorts afterwards, rather than changing first, is the kind of thing that gets noticed.

Trekking clothing is a different problem entirely from cultural dress, it's about temperature swings, not modesty, though the same shoulders-and-knees rule applies if your route passes through villages with temples or monasteries, which most Everest and Annapurna routes do.

The core system that works at any altitude is three layers: a moisture-wicking base layer against your skin, an insulating mid-layer, fleece or a light down jacket, and a waterproof, windproof shell on top. You add and strip layers through the day rather than owning one jacket rated for the coldest moment, mornings at 4,000 metres can be near freezing and the same afternoon sun at altitude burns hard.

Below 3,000 metres, spring and autumn, you're mostly in a t-shirt or light long-sleeve by day with a fleece for evenings and mornings. Summer at low altitude, June to September, is the monsoon, pack for rain and humidity, quick-dry fabrics, a proper rain shell, and expect leeches on lower forest trails, tuck trousers into socks.

Between 3,000 and 4,500 metres you need the full three-layer system daily, thermal base layers become non-optional at night, and a warm hat and gloves live in your day pack even on a clear morning because the weather at altitude turns fast.

Above 4,500 metres, high passes like Thorong La or Everest Base Camp itself, you're in genuine mountaineering-adjacent gear: a down jacket, thermal leggings under trekking trousers, a warm hat, liner and outer gloves, and a buff or balaclava for wind. Winter treks, December to February, push this even at lower elevations, nights below freezing are normal even around 2,800 metres.

Trekking trousers that convert to shorts are useful for the trail itself but keep the legs zipped on when you pass through a village with a monastery or chorten, which is most of them. Boots need to be broken in before you arrive, not on day one of the trek, and gaiters earn their weight in mud season and on any snow above 3,500 metres.