Chitwan · With kids

The park's own information centre in Sauraha, with displays on the park's wildlife and conservation programmes, plus a museum at the Kasara headquarters and a souvenir shop selling local handicrafts. A useful half hour before the first safari so kids know what they are looking for.

Set up by the government in 1978 to hatch gharial eggs and rear the young until release; more than 1,246 have gone back into six river systems since 1981. Marsh muggers and turtles are kept here too. It sits inside the park at Kasara, so you need the permit and transport to reach it.

The park permit is free for under-tens of every nationality, which takes a real bite out of a family's daily cost here. Older children pay the full adult rate, so a family of teenagers is a different arithmetic.

A Ramsar-listed wetland north of Sauraha, flat and easy to reach by bike or a short jeep ride, and far quieter than the park proper. Good for birds, turtles and a picnic when a full safari is too much for small children.

The jungle walk on foot is the most rewarding activity here and the least suitable for small children — it depends on everyone following the guides' instructions instantly if a rhino turns up. Take the jeep or the canoe instead; you see more anyway.