If Chitwan is Nepal's most celebrated wildlife destination, Bardia is its best-kept secret, and Karnali Lodge is the finest way to experience it.
Tiger Tops has been pioneering sustainable wildlife tourism in Nepal since 1964. Its nine en-suite Signature rooms are built in traditional Tharu style, the kitchen is supplied by its own organic farm, and 30 acres of land have been rewilded. Safaris go out in beautifully restored open-top Land Rovers, and evenings are spent around the fire pit before dinner in the Ghol Ghar, the lodge's soaring thatched dining room.
What we love
- Bardia receives a fraction of the visitors that Chitwan does, which means the park feels properly wild and every sighting feels properly earned
- We love the vintage open-top Land Rovers. They add a wonderful sense of occasion to every drive and the naturalists guiding them are exceptional
- Bardia is considered one of the best tiger habitats in Nepal, giving guests a real chance of seeing one of these extraordinary animals in the wild
- The evening elephant encounters at the river, accompanying the resident elephants down to bathe at dusk, are something guests talk about long after they get home
Getting to Bardia requires a domestic flight from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj followed by a two-hour road transfer. It is comfortably doable but requires more planning than Chitwan With only nine rooms, Karnali Lodge is deliberately intimate and unhurried. Guests looking for a wider range of facilities or dining options will not find them here, and that is entirely the point
What our travellers say
Stuart (March 2025) United Kingdom
Read the whole review here Tripadvisor
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