Nepal is home to more than 140 ethnic groups and castes, and its villages are where those cultures feel most alive. Each community has its own architecture, dress, language and festivals.
Climb to Ghandruk for slate-roofed Gurung houses facing the Annapurnas, stay in the car-free Newar trading town of Bandipur, or visit the Tharu villages around Chitwan with their painted mud walls and stick dances.
Community homestays are the best way in: you'll eat dal bhat with your hosts, join in daily life and your money stays in the village. A few words of Nepali, and a willingness to sit down for tea, go a long way.
