Yes. Nepal's Gen Z protests ran from 8 to 13 September 2025 and have been over for more than a year. At least 76 people died, most of them on 8 and 9 September, and Parliament and other government buildings were burned, but tourists were not targeted and the trekking trails never closed. Nepal elected a new government on 5 March 2026, Balendra Shah became prime minister on 27 March, and the US moved Nepal back to Level 2, "exercise increased caution", on 31 March 2026. For the current picture, including the 2026 flood, see our October 2026 safety update.
- Protest dates8 to 13 September 2025
- TriggerBan on 26 social media platforms, 4 September 2025
- DeathsAt least 76 nationwide (commission of inquiry)
- Election5 March 2026, RSP won 182 of 275 seats
- Prime ministerBalendra Shah, since 27 March 2026
- US advisoryLevel 2 since 31 March 2026
- Trekking regionsNever closed by the protests
In September 2025, Nepal went through its most serious political upheaval in a generation, and the photos coming out of Kathmandu looked alarming from abroad. Here is what those photos left out: the protests lasted about a week, the worst of the violence was in Kathmandu's government district, and although arson and clashes spread to other towns, none of it reached the trekking trails. By March 2026 the country had elected a new government, and the US State Department had moved it back to a Level 2 advisory, the same caution level it gives France and Germany.
We guide treks for a living, out of an office in Kathmandu, so we field this question almost every week now. Is Nepal safe to travel in 2026? Yes, with ordinary care. What follows is the whole story told straight: what set the Gen Z protests off, how serious they got, where the trouble actually was, what the advisories say today, and the quieter aftermath that explains why so many young Nepalis are now leaving to study abroad.
What set off Nepal's Gen Z protests?
The 2025 Nepalese Gen Z protests were a youth-led, leaderless anti-corruption uprising that spread across the country in early September 2025. On 4 September, the government blocked 26 social media platforms, among them Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and WhatsApp, for failing to register under new rules. That ban lit a fuse that had been laid for years. Young Nepalis were already angry about corruption, scarce jobs, and the flaunted wealth of political families, and shutting down the apps they used to say so pushed the anger into the streets within days. The government lifted the ban late on 8 September, after the shooting, but by then the protests were about far more than apps.
8 September 2025 turned deadly. Protesters converged on the parliament area in Kathmandu, and Human Rights Watch found that police fired on them over about three hours, killing 17 people in the capital that day. On 9 September the anger turned on buildings: crowds set fire to Parliament, Singha Durbar, the Supreme Court, party offices, politicians' homes and the new Hilton hotel, and attacks spread to towns well beyond Kathmandu. The government's commission of inquiry covers at least 76 deaths nationwide, and a government damage assessment in December 2025 counted 77 deaths, about 2,400 injured and more than NPR 84 billion in damage. Human Rights Watch documented unlawful use of force by security forces in a report published on 19 November 2025.
K.P. Sharma Oli resigned as prime minister on 9 September 2025. Three days later, Sushila Karki, a 73-year-old former chief justice, was sworn in as interim prime minister, the first woman to hold the post. The army had taken over security and imposed a curfew after Oli's resignation, and it lifted the curfew in the Kathmandu Valley on 13 September. Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport closed on 9 September and reopened the next evening, after about a day. The months after were orderly: an interim cabinet, repairs to burned buildings, and a national vote on 5 March 2026.
Timeline: September 2025 to October 2026
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 4 Sep 2025 | Government blocks 26 social media platforms that had not registered under new rules |
| 8 Sep 2025 | Youth-led protest at the parliament area. Police open fire, and 17 people are killed in Kathmandu (Human Rights Watch). The ban is lifted that night. |
| 9 Sep 2025 | Parliament, Singha Durbar and other buildings are set on fire. Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli resigns. The army takes over security, and Tribhuvan airport closes for about a day. |
| 11 Sep 2025 | US raises its Nepal advisory to Level 3 |
| 12 Sep 2025 | Sushila Karki, a former chief justice, is sworn in as interim prime minister, the first woman in the post |
| 13 Sep 2025 | Curfew lifted in the Kathmandu Valley. Shops and traffic return. |
| 21 Sep 2025 | Commission of inquiry formed under former judge Gauri Bahadur Karki |
| 19 Nov 2025 | Human Rights Watch reports unlawful use of force by security forces |
| 5 Mar 2026 | General election. The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) wins 182 of 275 seats. |
| 27 Mar 2026 | Balendra Shah, former mayor of Kathmandu, sworn in as prime minister |
| 31 Mar 2026 | US lowers Nepal to Level 2, "exercise increased caution" |
| 26 Aug 2026 | An unrelated natural disaster: the Rasuwa flood north of Kathmandu (see our flood trekking update) |
| Oct 2026 | Autumn trekking season running. No unrest connected to the 2025 protests. |
Sources: Human Rights Watch (19 Nov 2025), the Kathmandu Post (1 Apr 2026), news reports from Kathmandu, September 2025 to March 2026.
So is Nepal safe to travel right now?
A Level 2 advisory is the second step on the US State Department's four-tier scale, and it means "exercise increased caution," the level it also gives France and Germany. On 31 March 2026, the State Department lowered Nepal to Level 2 from the Level 3 warning it had posted on 11 September 2025, during the unrest. A few weeks earlier, on 5 March 2026, Nepal held the election that put a chosen government back in charge, and the RSP formed a majority government under Balendra Shah. Both point the same way: the emergency is over. After the August 2026 flood the US added a Level 4 zone for the Rasuwagadhi, Timure and Syafrubesi area in Rasuwa, which has nothing to do with the protests. Our October 2026 safety update has the full advisory table.
For most visitors, the real risks in Nepal were never political. Altitude, mountain roads, and changeable weather shape a trek far more than any demonstration does, and that ordinary side of staying safe in Nepal deserves more of your planning than the headlines ever will.
Where the trouble was, and where you actually go
Kathmandu's government district absorbed the worst of the September 2025 violence, around Singha Durbar and the New Baneshwor parliament complex. Those are ministry zones. Thamel, where visitors stay, and the temple squares of Boudhanath and Patan sit away from the clashes, though the curfew covered the whole valley for a few days and the burned Hilton in Naxal is only a couple of kilometres from Thamel. The trekking trailheads are a long drive or a short flight beyond all of it. Tourists were not targeted. Walk through Kathmandu today and you would not know anything had happened, apart from the scaffolding on some government buildings.
What to actually do in 2026
A bandh is a general strike, a routine feature of Nepali politics, that shuts shops and stops traffic across an area for a day or two. Bandhs and the occasional demonstration still flare up, mostly in Kathmandu and the southern Terai plains, and they are the one way local politics might brush your trip, usually as a lost half-day rather than any real danger. Steer clear of any crowd that forms, leave a day of slack around domestic flights and long drives, and let your guide call the morning's plan. That is genuinely the whole of it.
Did any of this reach the trekking regions?
The Everest, Annapurna, Langtang, Manaslu, and Mustang regions never closed. The unrest centred on Kathmandu and other towns, days of travel from these valleys, and trekkers already on the trail mostly caught the news on their phones between teahouses. Groups on the Everest Base Camp Trek finished their autumn departures on schedule, and the Annapurna Base Camp season ran without a hitch. The one disruption was at the start and end of trips. Tribhuvan airport closed for about a day on 9 and 10 September, and the curfew kept people indoors, so some trekkers lost a day or two getting in or out of Kathmandu. On the trails themselves nothing changed.
That is the 2025 story. In 2026 a separate natural disaster did close one region for a while: the Rasuwa flood of 26 August shut the road to the Langtang trailhead until the valley reopened from Thulo Syabru on 22 October. Our flood trekking update has the route-by-route status.
The one thing to plan around is the Terai. Bandhs near Lumbini, Chitwan, or Bardiya can close a highway for a day, so if your route crosses the southern plains by road, give it a buffer or fly the leg instead.
The protests did dent tourism, briefly. Nepal Tourism Board figures showed arrivals in September 2025 down 18.3 percent on the year before, with visitors from India and China falling by about a third. October was already 3.3 percent up, and the full year ended at 1,158,459 foreign visitors, slightly ahead of 1,147,548 in 2024.
What changed for travellers
| Topic | September 2025 | October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Kathmandu | Curfew 9 to 13 September | Back to normal |
| International flights | Airport closed for about a day, 9 to 10 September | Back to normal |
| Trekking regions | Stayed open | Open Everest, Annapurna, Manaslu, Mustang and Langtang (from Thulo Syabru) |
| US advisory | Level 3 from 11 September 2025 | Changed Level 2 since 31 March 2026, plus a Level 4 flood zone in northern Rasuwa |
| Government | Oli resigned, interim prime minister Karki | Changed Elected government under Balendra Shah |
| Social media | 26 platforms blocked, 4 to 8 September | Back to normal |
| Strikes and demonstrations | Nationwide unrest for a week | Check Occasional bandhs, mostly local and short |
The quieter story: why young Nepalis are leaving
Youth unemployment in Nepal runs at about 20 percent by World Bank estimates, among the highest in South Asia, and a World Bank report in January 2026 said the country must create 6.5 million jobs by 2050 to absorb its young workers. Hundreds of thousands of Nepalis leave for work abroad every year. The protests were the loud version of a frustration that usually shows up quietly, in airport departure lounges. For a decade now, the most common answer young Nepalis have given to a stalled economy is to leave, for work or for study.
More than 110,000 students received a No Objection Certificate in 2023/24 alone, according to Ministry of Education figures, the document the government requires before a student can study overseas, mostly bound for Australia, Canada, the UK, Japan and the US. Choosing a country and a course has grown into its own small industry, which is why guides like Studination exist, mapping eleven destinations with their visa rules and costs for Nepali students. This matters to a visitor for one plain reason. The sharp, English-speaking young guide walking you up to Namche, or the woman running the cafe in Pokhara, belongs to the same generation weighing whether to stay. Money spent on the ground here is part of what keeps some of them home.
Should you book Nepal for 2026?
Yes, and you can plan it like any Level 2 trip. Buy travel insurance that covers trekking to your highest point, go with a licensed operator who can reshuffle a day if a bandh lands, and leave a little slack for weather. Check your own government's advisory the week before you fly, since the trend across 2026 has been steady improvement rather than a frozen calm. If you already know roughly when you want to come, our 2026 departure dates are set. If you would rather shape your own route, tell us what you have in mind. The trails never closed during the protests, and Nepal is ready for you.
Frequently asked questions
Is Nepal safe to travel in 2026?
Yes. The US State Department rates Nepal Level 2, "exercise increased caution," as of 31 March 2026, the same level as France and Germany. The September 2025 protests ended on 13 September, the trekking regions stayed open, and tourist areas were never the focus. The only area-specific warning in October 2026 is for the flood-hit Rasuwa border corridor. Take normal precautions and you will be fine.
Did the Gen Z protests affect the Everest or Annapurna treks?
No. The Everest, Annapurna, Langtang, Manaslu, and Mustang regions kept running through the September 2025 protests, which were centred on Kathmandu's government district. Kathmandu airport closed for about a day on 9 and 10 September, so some trekkers lost a day getting in or out, but trekkers already on the trail were not disrupted.
What is the current US travel advisory for Nepal?
Level 2, "exercise increased caution," set on 31 March 2026, down from the Level 3 warning issued on 11 September 2025. Level 2 is the second of four tiers and covers dozens of popular countries, so it means travel with awareness, not avoidance. Check your own government's notice in the week before you fly.
What is a bandh, and will it affect my trip?
A bandh is a general strike that closes shops and halts road traffic across an area for a day or more, a normal part of Nepali politics rather than a sign of danger. Bandhs are most common in Kathmandu and the Terai, and usually cost a traveller a half-day, not their safety. Leave buffer time around road travel, or fly the affected leg.
How many people died in the Gen Z protests?
At least 76 people died across Nepal, most of them on 8 and 9 September 2025, according to the government's commission of inquiry as reported by Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists. A government damage assessment counted 77 deaths and about 2,400 injured.
Who governs Nepal now?
An elected government. The Rastriya Swatantra Party won 182 of 275 seats in the 5 March 2026 election, and Balendra Shah, a former mayor of Kathmandu, was sworn in as prime minister on 27 March 2026.
