Kathmandu: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Until 1769 the Kathmandu valley held three separate kingdoms — Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur — ruled by rival Malla kings who were brothers and cousins, and who competed by building. That is why there are three palace squares within fifteen kilometres and why each is better than a city of this size should have. The whole valley was listed by UNESCO in 1979 as seven monument zones. On the twenty-fifth of April 2015 an earthquake brought much of this square down, and the rebuilding is still going on in front of you. Ninety minutes.
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A short history of Kathmandu
The Kathmandu Valley has been inhabited for thousands of years, and here the Newar culture developed, with Hindu and Buddhist temples side by side. According to tradition, the city's name comes from a wooden temple, the Kasthamandap, built from the wood of a single tree. For centuries the valley was divided among three kingdoms, Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur, until in 1768 Prithvi Narayan Shah conquered them and unified Nepal. In 1979 the valley was declared a World Heritage Site. In the 1960s hippies arrived here at the end of the "Hippie Trail" from Europe. On 25 April 2015 an earthquake struck the valley, and many temples, among them the Kasthamandap, collapsed.
The ten best sights in Kathmandu
1Kathmandu Durbar Square1,000 rupees for foreigners; UNESCO 1979, and much of it is still being rebuilt. Verified 10/2026
2Hanuman DhokaThe old royal palace; the kings were crowned here until 2001
3Kumari GharA living child goddess lives here; she appears at a window, no photographs
4KasthamandapThe pavilion the city is named after; it collapsed in 2015 and was rebuilt by 2022
5Kal BhairavA six-metre stone Shiva; oaths sworn in front of it were legally binding
6Taleju TempleThe tallest temple on the square; open to the public one day a year
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7Basantapur
The square outside the palace; a curio market and the city’s meeting point
8Freak StreetJhochhen: the hippy trail’s end in the sixties, before Thamel took over
9Garden of DreamsA 1920s neoclassical garden beside Thamel; a small fee buys silence
10Narayanhiti Palace MuseumThe royal palace until 2008; the room where the 2001 massacre happened is marked
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Kathmandu →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Kathmandu:
Free walking tours in Kathmandu
The square that is still being rebuilt
Until 1769 the Kathmandu valley held three separate kingdoms — Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur — ruled by rival Malla kings who were brothers and cousins, and who competed by building. That is why there are three palace squares within fifteen kilometres and why each is better than a city of this size should have. The whole valley was listed by UNESCO in 1979 as seven monument zones. On the twenty-fifth of April 2015 an earthquake brought much of this square down, and the rebuilding is still going on in front of you. Ninety minutes.
- Kasthamandap · The city is named after this building: kastha-mandap, wooden pavilion, and the tradition is that the whole thing was made from the timber of a single sal tree. It stood from about the twelfth century, collapsed completely on the twenty-fifth of April 2015 killing people sheltering inside, and was rebuilt by hand using traditional joinery and reopened in 2022. Excavation under it found a ritual deposit from the seventh century.
- Kumari Ghar · A living goddess lives in this house: a girl from the Shakya caste, selected as a small child by a set of thirty-two physical criteria, who remains the Kumari until she bleeds for the first time and then returns to ordinary life. She appears at a carved window in the courtyard a few times a day. Photographs of her are forbidden and that is enforced.
- Hanuman Dhoka · The royal palace from the Malla period and then under the Shah kings, and coronations were held here until 2001 — the monarchy itself ended in 2008, two hundred and forty years after Prithvi Narayan Shah conquered the valley. The Hanuman statue at the gate has been covered in vermilion paste by worshippers for so long that its face is no longer visible.
- Kal Bhairav · A six-metre stone carving of Shiva in his destroyer aspect, standing in the open since the seventeenth century. Under the Malla and Shah kings an oath sworn in front of it was legally binding and a false one was believed to be fatal, so it was used as a court — people were brought here to settle disputes, and the practice continued informally into the twentieth century.
- Taleju Temple · The tallest structure on the square, built in 1564 for the royal family’s own goddess, and it is open to the public on exactly one day a year — the ninth day of Dasain, and even then non-Hindus may not enter. Taleju was the tutelary goddess of the Malla kings and each of the three cities built her a temple higher than the last.
- Freak Street · Properly called Jhochhen, and in the late sixties it was the end of the overland hippy trail from Europe — cheap lodges, and government-licensed hashish shops that were entirely legal until Nepal banned cannabis in 1973 under American pressure. The scene moved to Thamel afterwards and Freak Street is now quiet, which is the reason to walk it.
Two stupas and a river
Kathmandu is the one place where Hindu and Tibetan Buddhist practice sit side by side without either having absorbed the other — the same families often do both, and the same festivals are kept by both. This route runs between the two great stupas and the Hindu cremation ghats on the Bagmati, which is the river that flows to the Ganges and is therefore sacred. Half a day with a taxi; the three sites are five to eight kilometres apart.
- Swayambhunath · Three hundred and sixty-five steps up a hill west of the city, and the stupa on top is among the oldest in Nepal — the site is mentioned in an inscription of the fifth century. The eyes painted on all four sides are the Buddha’s, and the curl between them that looks like a nose is the Nepali numeral one, meaning unity. The macaques are aggressive and will take anything in your hand.
- Boudhanath · The largest stupa in Nepal and the centre of the Tibetan exile community — tens of thousands of Tibetans settled around it after 1959 and the quarter has more than fifty monasteries. You walk clockwise around it with everyone else; the dome is a mandala and the whole structure is a model of the universe. Four hundred rupees, and the ticket booth closes in the evening.
- Pashupatinath · The most important Shiva temple in Nepal, and the cremation ghats on the Bagmati below it are in use every day — bodies are burned in the open and the ashes go into the river. Non-Hindus may not enter the main temple and may watch from the opposite bank, which is where everyone stands. Photographing a cremation directly is a serious offence to the family; nobody will stop you and you should not.
- The sadhus · The men in orange with painted faces at Pashupatinath are sadhus — Hindu ascetics who have renounced property and family. Many are genuine and some at this site are not: posing for photographs for money is an established trade here, and the rate is negotiated before and not after. Agree a price or do not take the photograph.
- Kopan Monastery · A Gelug monastery on a hill above Boudha, founded in 1969, and it was the first place in the Himalaya to teach Tibetan Buddhism to Westerners systematically — the month-long November course has run every year since 1971. Day visitors can walk in, sit in the garden and watch the young monks debate in the courtyard in the afternoon.
- Boudha quarter · The streets around the stupa are the densest Tibetan quarter outside Tibet: thangka painting studios where a single work takes months, shops selling ritual instruments, and rooftop cafés that look down on the dome. At dusk the whole circuit fills with people walking and the butter lamps are lit, and that hour is the reason to come late rather than early.
Patan and Bhaktapur
The other two kingdoms. Patan is five kilometres away and is the oldest of the three, a Buddhist city of Newar metalworkers who have cast bronze for a thousand years — much of the Tibetan Buddhist statuary in the world was made here. Bhaktapur is fifteen kilometres east, is the most intact of the three, and the ticket covers the whole walled city rather than one square. A full day for both, and Bhaktapur deserves the afternoon.
- Patan Durbar Square · The densest concentration of Newar architecture anywhere: a row of temples facing a palace across a narrow square, built mostly in the seventeenth century when the three kings were competing. Patan was a Buddhist city rather than a Hindu one and it has more than a hundred and fifty courtyard monasteries — bahals — hidden behind ordinary doorways in the surrounding streets.
- Patan Museum · Inside the old palace, restored with Austrian funding over a decade and widely regarded as the best museum in South Asia at its scale. It explains what the objects are for rather than only what they are — how a Newar bronze is cast, what each deity’s hands mean — and it is the single thing that makes the rest of the valley readable. Allow two hours.
- Golden Temple · A Buddhist monastery courtyard from the twelfth century with a gilt copper facade, and it is still run in the traditional way: the head priest is a boy under twelve who serves for thirty days and is then replaced. You must take off shoes and anything leather — belts and watch straps included — before entering the inner courtyard.
- Bhaktapur Durbar Square · The ticket here costs one thousand eight hundred rupees and it is not for the square — it covers the entire walled city for the length of your stay, which is why Bhaktapur feels different from the other two: there are no cars in the old quarter, the money goes to the municipality, and the restoration after 2015 was done largely with local craftsmen. Verified 10/2026.
- Nyatapola Temple · Five storeys and thirty metres, built in 1702, and it has survived every earthquake since — including 1934 and 2015, which brought down buildings all around it. The stair up is flanked by five pairs of guardians, each said to be ten times stronger than the pair below: wrestlers, elephants, lions, griffins and goddesses. Nobody knows what deity is inside; the shrine has never been opened to the public.
- Pottery Square · Clay from the valley floor, thrown on a heavy wooden wheel that is spun by hand with a stick and keeps turning on its own momentum, then dried in the open square and fired in a straw kiln built on the ground. The whole process is done in public and the potters are from one caste, the Prajapati, who have done it here for generations.
Getting to Kathmandu and getting around
- Tribhuvan Airport · 6 kilometres from Thamel; the only international airport in the country
- Ratna Park · The city bus hub; nothing runs to a timetable and the fare is a few rupees
- Kalanki · The western exit; buses to Pokhara and the Indian border leave from here
Cheap eats in Kathmandu
Newar food — the cuisine of the valley’s original inhabitants — is the thing to eat here, and it is almost unknown outside Nepal: buffalo in every form, beaten rice instead of bread, and a set meal of a dozen small dishes eaten in a strict order. Alongside it is the Tibetan half: momos and thukpa, which arrived with the refugees after 1959. A hundred to six hundred rupees.
- Momos · Ask for jhol momo; they come in soup
- Newari khaja set · Ask for it by name; it is not on tourist menus
- Dal bhat · Refills are free until you say stop
- Choila · Buffalo, not beef; served at room temperature
- Juju dhau · In Bhaktapur; eat it from the clay pot
- Thukpa · In Boudha; the Tibetan kitchens are unadapted
- Sel roti · Made by pouring the batter straight into the oil
- Asan market · Busiest from six in the morning
Museums in Kathmandu
The Kathmandu valley is a single UNESCO World Heritage property made up of seven monument zones, listed in 1979 — three palace squares, two Buddhist stupas and two Hindu temple complexes. Each zone has its own ticket and they are not interchangeable. Much of what you see has been rebuilt since the 2015 earthquake, which is said plainly on site and should be. Verified 10/2026.
- Patan Museum · The best museum in the country; allow two hours
- Kathmandu Durbar Square · ₨1,000; the ticket is valid one day. Verified 10/2026
- Bhaktapur · ₨1,800, the whole city, valid for your stay. Verified 10/2026
- Narayanhiti Palace Museum · Closed Tuesday and Wednesday; no bags or cameras
- Changu Narayan · The 464 inscription is the oldest in Nepal
- Swayambhunath · The valley really was a lake; the gorge is at Chobhar
- Mahabouddha Temple · Hidden in a courtyard; follow the signs from the square
- Garden of Dreams · A fee, beside Thamel, and worth it for the quiet
Nature and day trips near Kathmandu
The valley is an oval basin at about thirteen hundred metres, ringed by hills of two thousand to two thousand eight hundred, and it was a lake until it drained through the Chobhar gorge — the floor is lake sediment, which is why the soil is so good and why the valley was farmed intensively for two thousand years. From the rim on a clear morning you can see Everest. The air in the city itself is among the worst in Asia in winter.
- Nagarkot · October to December for the clear view
- Shivapuri National Park · Four hours up from Budhanilkantha
- Chandragiri Hills · Ten minutes up; the view the conqueror had
- Chobhar gorge · The valley really drained through here
- Godavari Botanical Garden · Spring; more than 400 orchid species in Nepal
- Phulchowki · 250 bird species on one hill
- The winter air · December to February; a mask is normal here
- Namobuddha · Three hours on foot from Dhulikhel
Holy places in Kathmandu
The valley is the one place where Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism are genuinely interwoven rather than adjacent: the Newar population practises both, the same deities appear in both with different names, and a family may use a Hindu priest for a wedding and a Buddhist one for a funeral. Nepal was the world’s only Hindu kingdom until 2008 and is now a secular republic.
- The Kumari · A Buddhist girl worshipped by Hindus
- Pashupatinath · ₨1,000; watch from the far bank only. Verified 10/2026
- Boudhanath · Clockwise, always; ₨400. Verified 10/2026
- Budhanilkantha · No reigning king of Nepal ever saw it
- Golden Temple · No leather at all inside the courtyard
- Dakshinkali · Saturdays and Tuesdays; know what it is first
Things to do in Kathmandu with kids
- Boudhanath · A flat circuit to walk, prayer wheels to turn, and pigeons
- Swayambhunath · 365 steps and monkeys; hold on to everything you carry
- Garden of Dreams · Lawns, a pond and quiet, five minutes from Thamel
- Pottery Square · Potters let children try the wheel; the pots dry in the open
- Chandragiri cable car · Ten minutes to 2,550 metres, and a playground at the top
- Juju dhau · Yoghurt in a clay pot, thick enough to turn upside down
- Godavari garden · Space to run and an orchid house; busiest on Saturdays
- Nagarkot sunrise · An early start for the Himalaya; October to December
Nightlife in Kathmandu
Thamel is the night in Kathmandu and it is small enough to walk end to end in fifteen minutes: live music bars, trekking shops open until ten, and a curfew that officially closes bars around midnight and is unevenly enforced. The alternative is Jhamsikhel in Patan, which is quieter and where the resident foreign community goes. The other half of the night here is a festival, and there are a great many of them.
- Thamel · Prices are two to three times the rest of the city
- Jhamsikhel · Quieter and better; a 20-minute taxi from Thamel
- Boudha at dusk · Free after the ticket office closes; the best hour
- Indra Jatra · September, eight days; the Kumari comes out
- Tihar · One day of it is dedicated to dogs
- Live music in Thamel · Curfew around midnight; the shutters come down
Frequently asked questions about Kathmandu
What is there to see in Kathmandu?
The top sights in Kathmandu are Kathmandu Durbar Square, Hanuman Dhoka and Kumari Ghar. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Kathmandu?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Kathmandu without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Kathmandu?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Kathmandu, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The square that is still being rebuilt.
How do you get to Kathmandu and get around?
The main ways are Tribhuvan Airport, Ratna Park and Kalanki. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Kathmandu, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Kathmandu that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Kathmandu for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.