About Kathmandu City tour
Kathmandu is famously known as “The city of Temples” because there are way too many temples and stupas all over the town. You can find temples in each and every nook and corner of the city. Kathmandu city tour focuses to provide a glimpse of the city to the visitors by including a detailed visit to some of these famous heritage sites. These heritage sites are listed by UNESCO as world heritage sites.
Before or after each trip, take a few days to discover the secrets of the Kathmandu Valley with the royal cities of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, and Patan and the surrounding area. The cities are known for their beautiful architecture and you will find countless stupas, pagodas, temples, monasteries, palaces, and lively markets. Especially in villages such as Bhaktapur, Patan, and Kirtipur, people are often still dressed traditionally and you sometimes imagine yourself in the Middle Ages.
In consultation with us, fully customized sightseeing days including an English-speaking guide are possible. Below we have included three sights for the day tour of Kathmandu valley. You have the choice of selecting 3 attractions out of all the attractions in Kathmandu for the city tour.
Sightseeing can be booked with us prior to your Nepal trip or simply at our office. For other programs and options for extending your Nepal trips, such as rafting, jungle tours, mountain flight, and mountain biking, please refer to the other additional programs on our site.
Boudhanath Stupa
The world-famous stupa of Bodnath is an overwhelming structure of around 40 meters high and 100 meters in diameter. The stupa has a beautiful white dome and is decorated with thousands of prayer flags. Above the white dome, the all-seeing eyes of Buddha look piercingly at you. Especially in the evenings, Buddhists walk around the stupas and butter lamps can be lit. In the vicinity of Bodnath are a number of Buddhist monasteries that are definitely worth a visit.
Pashupatinath Temple
The Pashupati temple is one of the holiest Hindu shrines. Pashupati is a manifestation of Shiva and the temple stands on the western bank of the holy river Bagmati. The main temple is only accessible to Hindus, but from the opposite bank we have a good overview of the complex and we see corpse burns. Hindus are cremated in public on the ghats and sometimes it is emotional. The remains of the corpse burning are pushed into the sacred Bagmati river.
Around the complex we often see many saddhus, holy men in orange robes, with painted faces and very long hair, showing their skills as a snake charmer or just begging for money. They are very photogenic but want money for a photo.
Patan
Patan or Lalitpur is located south of Kathmandu and has become fused with it. In Patan, we also find a beautiful central square (Durbar Square) with beautiful temples, pagodas, and palaces. That Patan is an important Buddhist stronghold is evident from the countless monasteries in the city of which the Golden Temple (Kwa Bahal) is the best known. The royal palace is a beautiful complex with a golden gate, decorated gates, courtyards, and temples.
You can get acquainted with the history of Nepal in the Patan Museum.
Swayambhunath
Swayambhunath is located on a hill west of the city and is reached via an endless staircase occupied by beggars and countless monkeys. The temple is therefore known as the monkey temple. Upstairs you have a wide view of Kathmandu and in the distance, you see the peaks of the Himalayas. The stupa is similar in structure to that of Bodnath. The eyes of Buddha here overlook the entire Kathmandu Valley.