It has highway connections to the Indian border at Sunauli and to the hilly towns in Tansen and Pokhara valley, and holds the title of being "The Best City in Nepal" five times in a row.

It connects western Nepal with the capital Kathmandu through the highway and air links (via Gautam Buddha International Airport at Siddharthanagar).

Its name, Butwal was derived from Batauli Bazaar , the town's oldest residential area which is located on the western bank of the Tinau River.

[4] Butwal was officially declared as a sub-metropolitan city on 2 December 2014 AD by combining two neighboring VDCs Motipur and Semlar.

[5] Fossils of ancient hominoids Ramapithecus were found near the Tinau (Tilottama) River, also known as paari Butwal, as early as 1932, including a 10.1-million-year-old tooth.

The area was a loose settlement that acted as a trading post between the hilly districts of the Lumbini zone and the Indian plains.

Besides modern shopping, a traditional form of the market called Haat Bazar similar to greengrocer runs twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

All kinds of traders, farmers, and entrepreneurs sell goods and vegetables directly to retail & wholesale customers in a busy market setup.

To boost up tourism and MICE opportunities, the government plans to set up an international conference center at Ramnagar in Butwal.

Until 2003, most of the fleet was older large buses; since then operators have added newer minibuses popularly called micro.

Besides the capital Kathmandu, the bus services are also frequently available to other major cities of Pokhara, Dharan, Kakarbhitta, Janakpur, Birgunj, Hetauda, Bharatpur, Tansen, Siddharthanagar, Dang, Nepalgunj, Dhangadi, and Mahendranagar.