Best places to visit in Kathmandu & Bhaktapur

Sharing the Top picks for Kathmandu and Bhaktapur:

1. Thamel & Indira Chowk: Thamel is the equivalent of “Mall Road”, in all Indian Hill stations. This place bustles with shoppers, looking for great deals in items like saffron, Himalayan oils, Teas, woolen garments, etc. There is some amount of bargaining that one can do here.

2. Royal Durbar Square: This is the square in front of the Royal Palace of former Kathmandu kingdom. This is centrally located, bustling with tourists and pigeons. Parts of it have been destroyed due to the earthquake in 2015.

3. Hanuman Dhoka: This is also near the Royal Durbar square. It has a Hanuman statue and a Kal Bhairav statue in its premises.

Kal Bhairav in the Background

4. Garden of Dreams: This is located in in Central Kathmandu, and is also called Swapna Bagaicha. There is an entrance ticket for SAARC and foreign nationals. Walk in for some great seasonal flowers and trees on display and a quaint lovely café in one of its entrances.

5. Narayanhiti Palace & Museum: This is the place where the previous kings of Nepal stayed. We could not visit this, since it was closed for Christmas. But people in Kathmandu claim it to be a must-visit monument to understand Nepal’s rich history.

The Entrance of Narayanhiti Museum

Thamel, Durbar Square, Hanuman Dhoka, Garden of Dreams and Narayanhiti were walkable from our hotel in Thamel. For Pashupathinath onwards, we took city buses. People are helpful when we asked them directions, and all our local sight-seeing was done through google maps, and city buses!

6. Pashupatinath Temple: This is a very sacred temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is one of the UNESCO’s World Heritage sites. Apparently the head of Lord Shiva is present in this temple, while there are 12 Jyotirlingas in India, representing the other parts of his body. Photography is prohibited inside the temple sanctum complex. A click just at the entrance of this great temple is below.

Pashupatinath Temple in the background

7. Boudha: This is the crown jewel of Nepal. A very huge and majestic monument with the eyes of Buddha painted on it. Foreign national and SAARC nationals have an entry permit, but it’s a very beautiful monument, with apparently around 365 steps to reach the top/portico of this monument. There are lot of cafes and eateries inside the Boudha complex, to sit-back and enjoy the view of the great eyes, with some great food.

The Majestic Boudha

Yours Truly!

The Lovely Pigeons!

8. Shechen Monastery: Kathmandu has sizeable Tibetan influence with lot of Buddhist Monasteries around. Shechen is one such monastery in the vicinity from Boudha. We walked to this from Boudha. It is a very quiet monastery, with hardly any tourists around! (I love such kind of places)

At the Beautiful Shechen Monastery

9. Kopan Monastery: Kopan Monastery is quite far from Boudha to walk. We realized this on the google maps and changed two buses to reach Kopan. On reaching, we realized it was already 5PM, and the monastery closed. But we did manage to get a few pictures!

Inside the Kopan Monastery

10. Swayambhu Stupa: This is a huge statue of Buddha located in the vicinity of the main Kathmandu Bus Park. We visited this in the last evening of our stay there. Evening clicks below!

Night Time Click of the Swayambhu

Places to visit in Bhaktapur:

The next day, we explored Bhaktapur. This was a day trip we took from Kathamandu. We started at around 10AM, and took a bus from Ratna park again to Bhaktapur. It is situated around 20kms from Kathmandu. This place was badly affected by the earthquake, and the same was reflected in the current state of these monuments. Places we visited in ideal Walk Order:

1. Durbar Sqaure: This is the central square of Bhaktapur, and has an entrance ticket for all SAARC and foreign nationals. Within the same Durbar Square complex, there any many ancient monuments, that one must visit.

Bhaktapur Durbar Square in the background

2. 55 Windows Palace: One can apparently count the 55 Windows in this place. It has a temple inside it, (which has been closed for visitors now), but the complex is huge and majestic to warrant a mention!

3. Nyatapola: This is another palatial structure with two lions at the entrance. It is very rich in heritage and a feast to the eyes. It has 5 layers of roofs, and hence the name Nyatapola.

The Five-Layered Nyatapola

4. Kal Bhairab Temple:  This is on the side of Nyatapola. This is a 3-storeyed temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in his dreadful incarnation.

Triple Layered Kal Bhairav in the background

5. Pottery Square: This is a very picturesque street around 500m away from the Central Durbar Square. It has lines of potters either making pots, or drying their already-made pots. We saw hordes of very experienced photographers trying to click pictures in varied angles. Some amateur photography below!

Pots Galore @ The Pottery Square

That was our day-trip to Bhaktapur. 

In Kathmandu, do explore the Casino, Everest peak plane trip and if time permits, add Nagarkot to your itinerary.