by Bert Archer
Last updated: 9:05 AM ET, Fri October 10, 2025
“The highlight for me was our homestay in Kiritipur, where not only did the location have stunning views across the Kathmandu Valley, but I was able to connect with my host, Ganga,” says Aaron Baynton of Wired for Travel, a partner of The Travel Agent Next Door, about his Nepal homestay experience. “Making a new friend 12,000km away who calls Nepal home is priceless, and her smile will stay for me for years to come.”
"Nepal as a country can be underestimated and this trip helped affirm why it felt so special to me from the first time I travelled there. ”
Community Homestays also offers classes and activities, such as this momo-making workshop, shown here with Aaron Baynton in the foreground. (Photo Credit: Bert Archer)
To Baynton, a Nepalese welcome is exceptional, and the culture is incredibly rich. “My time in Nepal was made so memorable because of the people,” he says.
It’s a significant statement.
Travellers talk about the sights, about the food, the drink, the hotels, the weather. If we do talk about people, it’s often in such general terms as to be meaningless.
There are a number of ways to make your travel more people-oriented, but one of the best is gaining steam right now, thanks in large part to the efforts of G Adventures. The company started supporting homestays as a way to ensure money got into the hands of the people who needed it the most. Over the years, through the support of G’s non-profit arm Planeterra, as well as the funnelling of thousands of travellers into various programs around the world, homestays have become a way for the especially engaged traveller to engage even more with the place and people they’ve come to visit.
What is a homestay?
It's exactly what the name suggests: you stay in people's homes instead of hotels. But unlike Airbnb and other approaches to the decentralization of the hospitality industry, homestays tend to put a heavy emphasis on personal connection and economic benefit. Though there are different arrangements and different organizations who orchestrate homestays, the ones that are most worth your while are the ones that have been set up co-operatively, to benefit the hosts as well as their communities.
These hosts are often middle-class homeowners, supported by an organization who enter into a community relationship with each other to share the hosting responsibilities and any other services or attractions they might offer, like a local tour, or cooking and craft classes.
Baynton offers insight for advisors who want to offer this type of trip, advising a thorough client-qualification process. “It really is for customers with an adventurous spirit who are looking to build a greater sense of community through travel — people who thrive on connection. It’s also perfect for those looking to dip their toe in the water with a one- or two-day add-on to an existing trip in Nepal.”
Style of accommodation can vary greatly. This is not generally for people who want room service and bath robes. A big part of the experience is living the way people in the places we visit live, stepping out of the tourist bubble hotels and airport transfers can keep us in.
Intricately carved window frames are a feature of the Kathmandu Valley in general, and Bhaktapur and Kirtipur in particular (Photo Credit: Bert Archer)
Kathmandu
The capital of Nepal is big, poor, and often overlooked as a destination in the race to get to Everest. Like other gateways to global tourism phenomena — Cuzco, Xi’an, Cairo, Kigali, and Guayaquil all come to mind — people tend to stay one night, maybe hit a bar, possibly take a quick tour of the highlights, and then they’re off to the star attraction, in this case, Everest and its base camp.
At first glance, Kathmandu might seem daunting or uninviting, as poor places often do. There’s dust. The sidewalks are cracked and falling apart, and the traffic can be chaotic and intimidating.
Most hotels are reasonably priced by Western standards, but the ones that are aimed specifically at foreign tourists can be the same price as they are at home, which is two or three months average salary for people who live here.
It would be easy to catch a glimpse and move on. But this is a good city, one that repays a little time and attention, which makes it the perfect spot to try out a home stay.
For tourists, Kathmandu is a messy, jumbled city with only one "cool" neighborhood, Thamel. From the perspective of the travel agent or tour operator, it's a difficult product to sell with few globally-famous attractions, noisy alleys and a cuisine that’s hardly known beyond — perhaps — the mo-mo. But from the perspective of your hosts who live there, it’s a big, complex, interesting place; a labyrinth of neighborhoods, a dense human fabric. And they'll be happy to show you around, corner by corner.
Topics From This Article to Explore
