Money, cards and ATMs in Nepal

Cash, and how much of it

• The Nepali rupee (NPR) is pegged to the Indian rupee at 1.60, which has held for decades and makes the exchange rate boringly stable.
• Nepal runs on cash. Teahouses, taxis, buses, small restaurants, permits at a checkpoint: cash, in rupees.
• ATM fees are the thing to plan around. Nepali banks charge roughly NPR 500 per withdrawal on a foreign card, on top of whatever your own bank takes.
• The per-withdrawal cap is usually NPR 25,000 to NPR 35,000. Nabil Bank and Himalayan Bank sit at the top end, which is why people queue at them.
• Take the maximum every time. Two big withdrawals cost half what four small ones do.
• ATMs run dry around festivals, especially Dashain, when the whole country wants cash at once.

Cards

• Hotels, established restaurants, trekking agencies and supermarkets take cards. Most other places do not.
• A 3% to 4% surcharge for paying by card is normal and openly quoted.
• Amex is close to useless. Visa and Mastercard both work.
• Tell your bank you are travelling. A blocked card in a cash country with a NPR 500 ATM fee is a bad afternoon.

Changing money

• Exchange counters in Thamel and Lakeside are competitive and quick and beat the airport by a wide margin.
• US dollars are the easiest currency to change, then euros and sterling.
• Keep the receipts if you want to change rupees back on the way out; the rules ask for them.
• Rupees are hard to spend elsewhere. Change back what you do not need before you leave.

Indian rupees, which changed in 2026

• Since 24 July 2026 you may bring INR 200 and INR 500 notes into Nepal, up to INR 25,000 per person, ending a ban that had run since 2019.
• The notes must be from the post-2016 series.
• INR 2,000 notes remain banned outright.
• INR 100 notes and below have always been fine and circulate near the border as a matter of course.

Small things that cost you

• Break big notes whenever you can. Nobody in a village has change for NPR 1,000.
• Check notes you are given. Very worn or torn rupee notes get refused later and you are the one holding them.
• Tipping is expected in tourism and not much else: NPR 100 to NPR 200 for a porter with your bags, 10% at a tourist restaurant if no service charge was added, and for a trekking guide and porter a day's pay per week is the going rate.
• A 13% VAT and a 10% service charge are added in tourist restaurants, and the menu price is not what you pay.