Staying Healthy in Kathmandu: Water, Air Quality, Altitude & Clinics
Practical health advice for Kathmandu — safe water, the pollution season, altitude, and where to go if you get sick.
Most visitors to Kathmandu stay perfectly healthy — but a few simple habits make a big difference, and knowing where to turn if something goes wrong takes the worry out of the trip. Here's the practical guide.
Water: never drink from the tap
Tap water in Kathmandu is not safe to drink. Your options:
- Filtered/boiled water — many apartments and cafés provide it; ask.
- Refill stations — cheap, and better for the environment than endless plastic bottles. Bring a reusable bottle.
- A personal filter or purification tablets — worth packing.
Use safe water for brushing teeth too, and be a little careful with ice and raw salads at cheaper places early in your trip while your stomach adjusts.
Food: eat where it's busy
Nepali food is generally safe and delicious. The usual rule applies: busy places with high turnover serve fresher food. Freshly cooked and hot beats lukewarm buffets. Street food is fine if it's cooked in front of you. A mild stomach upset in the first few days is common — rest, hydrate with oral rehydration salts, and it usually passes.
Air quality: the winter/spring haze
Kathmandu's air can be genuinely poor in the dry months (roughly December–April), when dust and vehicle emissions get trapped in the valley. If you have asthma or are sensitive:
- Check an AQI app in the morning.
- Carry a proper mask (N95/KN95) for busy, dusty streets.
- Choose an apartment away from the busiest road junctions, and keep windows shut on high-pollution days.
Monsoon and early autumn have the cleanest air.
Altitude
Kathmandu itself sits at ~1,400 m — low enough that altitude isn't an issue in the city. It only matters if you head into the mountains. If you're trekking, build in acclimatisation days and know the symptoms of altitude sickness; our trekking permits guide links to trek planning, and travel insurance with helicopter evacuation cover is essential above 3,000 m.
Before you travel
- See a travel clinic 4–6 weeks ahead about routine and recommended vaccinations for Nepal.
- Pack a basic kit: rehydration salts, anti-diarrhoeal, painkillers, plasters, any personal medication (in original packaging).
- Get travel insurance that explicitly covers Nepal and, if relevant, high-altitude trekking.
If you get sick in Kathmandu
Kathmandu has good private clinics and hospitals used to treating travellers — CIWEC Clinic and the Nepal International Clinic are long-established and English-speaking. Pharmacies are plentiful and many medicines are available over the counter. Keep your insurer's emergency number and your policy details saved offline.
Sensible water habits, a mask for the dusty months, and travel insurance in your pocket — that's 95% of staying healthy here.
Staying in Kathmandu? Our self-check-in serviced apartments in Lazimpat put you a short walk from the city's best cafés, restaurants and embassies — with fast Wi-Fi, a full kitchen and inverter backup power. See the apartments →