Cable Cars in Nepal: Manakamana, Chandragiri, Kalinchowk, Annapurna, Lumbini

A cable car (gondola lift) carries passengers in enclosed cabins suspended from a continuously moving steel haul rope strung between a bottom (base) station and a top (summit) station. Nepal's steep, temple-topped ridges make the technology a natural fit, and since 1998 six passenger lines have opened, most of them serving Hindu pilgrimage shrines previously reached only by long walks or rough jeep tracks. The lines are privately built and operated, and the major ones use aerial-ropeway equipment from the Austrian manufacturer Doppelmayr and its Swiss sister brand Garaventa, the world's leading ropeway makers.

The six lines in commercial operation as of 2026 are: the Manakamana cable car (Chitwan to Gorkha), Chandragiri cable car (Thankot, near Kathmandu), Kalinchowk cable car (Kuri, Dolakha), the Annapurna cable car in Pokhara (Sedibagar to Sarangkot), the Maulakalika cable car (Gaindakot, Nawalpur), and the Lumbini cable car (Butwal to Basantapur, Palpa). Each is a head term in its own right, and this page covers all of them with a fact box, how to get there and what to expect at the top.

Ride times are short, typically 8 to 12 minutes, but the vertical climb can be dramatic: several lines lift visitors 1,000 metres or more in minutes, replacing hikes that once took hours. Cabins usually seat six to ten people. Because all lines are run by private companies, fares are revised periodically and typically use a three-tier structure: Nepali citizens pay the lowest rate, SAARC (South Asian) visitors a middle rate, and other foreign nationals the highest. Always confirm current fares and hours on the operator's website before travelling.

The Manakamana cable car is the pioneer of the whole industry and still one of the busiest. It runs from a base station at Cheres, near Kurintar on the Prithvi Highway in Chitwan, up to the famous Manakamana Devi temple in Gorkha district. The line is 2,772 metres (about 2.77 km) long and lifts passengers from roughly 258 metres to 1,302 metres above sea level, a vertical climb of about 1,034 metres, in a ride of around 10 minutes. It uses 34 six-seat gondolas plus three freight carriers, with an hourly capacity of about 660 passengers per direction.

The system was supplied by Doppelmayr of Austria and opened on 24 November 1998 (Mangsir 2055 BS), making it the first commercial cable car in Nepal. It is operated by Manakamana Darshan Pvt. Ltd. The freight cabins are a distinctive feature: pilgrims commonly bring goats and other offerings for sacrifice at the temple, which are carried in the dedicated cargo gondolas.

At the top lies the Manakamana temple, one of the most revered wish-granting goddess shrines in Nepal, drawing huge crowds especially on Saturdays and during Dashain. To get there, drive about 3 to 4 hours west from Kathmandu (or east from Pokhara) along the Prithvi Highway to the signed base station at Cheres/Kurintar; the cable car then replaces what was once a strenuous multi-hour uphill trek.

The Chandragiri cable car is the easiest big mountain view to reach from Kathmandu. It climbs from a base station at Thankot, on the valley's south-western rim, to the top of Chandragiri Hill. The most-searched figure - the Chandragiri cable car height - is the summit elevation of about 2,551 metres above sea level; the base station sits near 1,550 metres, giving a vertical climb of roughly 1,000 metres. The line is about 2.4 to 2.5 km long and the ride takes 9 to 12 minutes.

The system uses 38 detachable gondolas seating eight passengers each, for an hourly capacity of about 1,000 people, and the cabins are wheelchair accessible with staff assistance. It was supplied by Doppelmayr with Garaventa quality control and opened on 15 December 2016 (Poush 2073 BS). It is owned and run by Chandragiri Hills Ltd., which also operates a hilltop resort.

At the top, the star attraction is the Bhaleshwor Mahadev temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva, alongside panoramic views that on clear days stretch from Annapurna and Manaslu to Everest and Gaurishankar. There is a resort, restaurants, a children's play area and short walking trails. To get there, drive about 45 minutes to an hour from central Kathmandu to the Thankot base station on the Tribhuvan Highway. As an indicative 2026 fare, a round-trip adult ticket for Nepali visitors is around NPR 850 (about NPR 510 one-way), with higher SAARC and foreign-national bands; confirm current rates before you go.

The Kalinchowk cable car serves one of Nepal's highest and most photogenic pilgrimage sites. It runs a short but steep line from Kuri village up to the Kalinchowk Bhagwati temple in Kalinchowk Rural Municipality, Dolakha district, north-east of Kathmandu. The line is short - about 900 metres (roughly 950 metres of inclined length) - but it saves a hard uphill scramble to the shrine. It uses four gondolas, each carrying up to ten passengers, and came into operation in 2018 (2075 BS), operated by Kalinchowk Darshan Ltd.

The Kalinchowk Bhagwati temple sits near the summit at roughly 3,842 metres above sea level, which makes this the highest-altitude destination of any Nepali cable car and a popular place to see snow. In winter the ridge is frequently blanketed white, and the site markets itself heavily to domestic tourists as an accessible snow-viewing and sunrise destination, with views toward Gaurishankar and the surrounding Himalaya.

To get there, most visitors drive from Kathmandu to Charikot (the Dolakha district headquarters), then continue up a rough mountain road to Kuri village, where the base station and several lodges are located; the drive is long, roughly 6 to 8 hours in total, and often broken overnight at Kuri. Warm clothing is essential year round because of the altitude, and the cable car can close in bad weather.

The Annapurna cable car is Pokhara's aerial link to the classic Sarangkot viewpoint. It runs from a base station at Sedibagar, near the Phewa Lake side of the city, up to Sarangkot hill, famous for its sunrise views over the Annapurna and Machhapuchhre (Fishtail) range. Sarangkot sits at about 1,600 metres above sea level; the line is roughly 2.3 to 2.4 km long and the ride takes about 9 to 10 minutes, replacing a slow, winding road drive up the ridge.

The system was built by the Nepal Cableways company as a monocable detachable gondola using Doppelmayr-type equipment, with cabins seating eight passengers and an hourly capacity in the several-hundred-per-direction range. It was inaugurated on 18 February 2022 (Falgun 2078 BS) and is operated by Annapurna Cable Car Ltd. It is the first cable car in the Pokhara tourism hub, one of Nepal's two biggest visitor destinations.

At the top, visitors get the celebrated Sarangkot panorama - best at dawn - plus paragliding launch activity (Sarangkot is a world-renowned tandem paragliding site), viewpoints and eateries. To get there, the base station is a short taxi ride from Pokhara Lakeside; because sunrise is the highlight, many visitors aim for an early-morning ride, so check the day's first-service time in advance.

The Maulakalika cable car opened on 14 April 2023 (Baishakh 1, 2080 BS - Nepali New Year's Day) at Gaindakot in Nawalpur district, near the confluence towns of Narayangadh and Bharatpur. Despite the goddess name it is often confused with, it is a Nawalpur line, not an Arghakhanchi one. The roughly 1,200-metre line climbs to the hilltop Maulakalika (Maula Kali) temple at about 561 metres elevation, overlooking the Narayani River and the Chitwan plains. It runs 14 cabins in total - 12 passenger gondolas of about eight seats each plus two baggage carriers - and was developed with investment from the IME Group.

The Lumbini cable car, despite its name, does not run to Lumbini itself; it connects the industrial city of Butwal with the hill town of Basantapur in Palpa district. The lower station is at Bamghat in Butwal-3 and the upper station at Basantapur in Tinau Rural Municipality-3, Palpa, with a line about 2.6 km long. It began commercial operation in late May 2023 and was formally inaugurated on 8 June 2023 (Jestha 2080 BS). It uses about 25 eight-seat gondolas and was supplied by Doppelmayr of Austria; the roughly Rs 3 billion project is majority-owned by the IME Group (about 75 percent) with local Butwal entrepreneurs holding the rest.

Both lines target domestic religious and recreational tourism. Basantapur offers cool hilltop air, temples and views over the Tinau valley, while Maulakalika is a well-known regional shakti shrine. As with all the lines, drive to the clearly signed base station - Gaindakot for Maulakalika, Bamghat/Butwal for Lumbini - and buy tickets on site or via the operator, checking first-and-last service times, especially outside peak season.

All six cable cars are reached by road, and the base stations are signposted from the nearest highway or city: Manakamana is on the Prithvi Highway between Kathmandu and Pokhara; Chandragiri is at Thankot on the western edge of Kathmandu; Kalinchowk is beyond Charikot in Dolakha; the Annapurna line is inside Pokhara; Maulakalika is at Gaindakot near Bharatpur; and the Lumbini line is at Butwal. Public buses, tourist buses and taxis all serve these hubs, and travel agencies sell day-tour packages that bundle transport and tickets.

Fares use a tiered structure - Nepali, SAARC and foreign - and are usually higher for round trips than one-way. Because operators revise prices periodically, treat any figure here as indicative and confirm the current band on the official website or ticket counter. Children under a set height often ride at a discount, and some operators offer 'express' or fast-track tickets at busy times such as Dashain, Tihar and Saturdays.

Practical tips apply across all lines: weekends and festivals bring long queues, so arrive early; high-altitude sites like Kalinchowk and Chandragiri can be cold and windy, so carry a warm layer; services can pause during high winds, lightning or maintenance; and the best mountain views are usually at dawn on a clear, dry day, most reliably in the autumn (October to December) and spring (March to April) seasons.