Bardiya: the quiet side of Nepal’s wildlife
Far less visited than Chitwan, Bardiya National Park rewards patience: walks with a guide, fresh tiger tracks, deer in the long grass and the Karnali river at dusk.
Tom Lindqvist
18 May 2026 1 min read
- When April 2026
- Length 5 days
- Travelled As a couple
In this story5 sections
Bardiya is Chitwan’s quieter cousin. The park is larger, the lodges are fewer and the trails feel uncrowded. We flew to Nepalgunj and drove west, with the Terai flattening around us, and arrived at the park edge by late afternoon.
Waiting for the forest
The first morning’s walk with a guide taught me a lesson in slowness. For two hours we moved quietly through tall grass and sal forest: spotted deer, a troop of langurs, a woodpecker. Then the guide knelt at a muddy track and showed us tiger prints, still sharp at the edges. We did not see the animal, but standing there with the forest suddenly silent I did not mind.
The evening boat trip on the Karnali brought a different calm: egrets, a basking crocodile and the sun going down behind the forest.
Slow days
Days in Bardiya follow the animals: out early, back for breakfast, rest in the heat, out again as the light softens. Between walks we sat on the lodge veranda with binoculars and watched birds come to the water: kingfishers, hornbills, the odd fish eagle. A jeep drive along the edge of the park the next afternoon gave us elephants’ footprints and a distant rhino.
I came for a tiger and left with something quieter: a sense of how big the forest is, and how little of it we see. For me that was the point of Bardiya.
At a glance
- When
- April 2026
- Length
- 5 days
- Travelled
- As a couple
- Getting around
- Flew to Nepalgunj and drove on to the park edge.
- Stayed
- A lodge at the park edge, with a veranda facing the forest.
As Tom Lindqvist describes the trip; details may have changed.
The route
- 1
Day 1
Nepalgunj
The airport town and the road west.
- 2
Day 2
Bardia National Park
Guided walks and jeep drives.
- 3
Day 3
Karnali River
A boat trip along the park’s edge.
Tom Lindqvist’s tips
- Walk only with a registered park guide, always.
- Sit quietly and give wildlife time: patience is the safari.
- Bring binoculars; the birdlife is excellent.
What I would do differently
We wanted a tiger and booked too few days. Give Bardiya at least four nights and remember the best sighting may be a deer.
Written by
Tom Lindqvist
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