Seven UNESCO World Heritage sites inside a single valley, three medieval city squares within an hour of each other, and ridge walks with the Himalaya on the skyline — the days either side of your trek, or the whole trip if walking uphill was never the point.
The seven sites
Boudhanath at dawn, when the kora fills with Tibetan pilgrims and the shops are still shut. Pashupatinath on the river, where cremations happen in public and visitors are expected to be quiet about it. Swayambhunath at sunset for the valley laid out below. Then the three durbar squares — Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur — and the temple complexes at Changu Narayan.
Bhaktapur is the one to give a full day to. It took the worst of the 2015 earthquake and has been rebuilt with the original joinery techniques, and it is the closest thing left to what the whole valley looked like before the traffic.
Walking in the valley
The rim is a genuine day-walk country. Nagarkot at 2,175 m gives a Himalayan sunrise on a clear morning without a single night in a teahouse; Shivapuri and the Champadevi ridge are half-day forest walks straight out of the city; and the Chisapani route strings them together into an easy two-day trek that needs no permit at all.
When to come and what it costs
Year-round, unlike everywhere else on this page. October to March is clearest and coolest; the monsoon is warm, wet in the afternoons and by far the greenest the valley looks. There is no trekking permit — you pay entry at each heritage site, and those fees are the main cost of a valley day.
- No trekking permit or TIMS card required
- Heritage site entry fees paid per site (included in our guided tours)
- One hour by road from Thamel to any of the three durbar squares
Kathmandu Valley FAQs
For Pashupatinath and the durbar squares, yes — the buildings are unlabelled and the etiquette around the cremation ghats is not obvious. Boudhanath and Swayambhunath you can happily wander alone.
Two covers the essentials, three does it properly, and a fourth buys you Nagarkot and a ridge walk. Most trekkers take one day at the start and keep one at the end as a flight buffer, which works well.
From the rim, on a clear morning — Nagarkot and Chandragiri both deliver Langtang and, in the best conditions, a distant Everest. From the city floor, rarely. October to February gives you the best odds.
