Chitwan is unusual in Nepal in having a top-flight football club of its own, and unusual again in that the cricket team named after it never plays here.
FC Chitwan
The district's club plays in the Nepal Super League, the country's top flight, and is based in Bharatpur, 20km west of Sauraha. It was founded in March 2021 ahead of the league's first season and played its opening match that April.
Chitwan Rhinos — but not in Chitwan
The Rhinos are Chitwan's franchise in the Nepal Premier League T20, but the whole competition is staged at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, Kathmandu. The 2025 edition ran 17 November to 13 December, so there is no home cricket to watch here.
Birdwatching, seriously
Chitwan and its surroundings hold 525 recorded bird species. Winter brings waterfowl, bar-headed geese and pintails down from Siberia to the rivers; summer brings nesting migrants like the paradise flycatcher and Indian pitta, alongside resident hornbills and Bengal floricans.
Nine gates, and a guide for all of it
The park runs nine separate entrance gates, and visitor activity is arranged through the licensed guides and lodges in Sauraha rather than turned up for. Book the morning before — the good guides go first and dawn departures fill.
The season decides what you can do
October to March is dry and cooler, the grass is cut short and animals concentrate at the shrinking waterholes — this is when everything runs. June to September is monsoon, with heat, leeches and partial flooding that closes routes and tracks.