If you have ever wanted to visit the Himalayas without exerting yourself by climbing mountains, then you might want to take a trip to Kathmandu in Nepal.
Kathmandu (pronounced katmanˈduː, catmandoo or cat man dew in American English) is perched in the Himalayas at 1370 metres above sea level.
That means that one of the best things to do in Kathmandu is go trekking. We’ll have a look at some trekking in the Kathmandu Valley in an upcoming post. But if you’re looking for some things to do in Kathmandu that don’t require that much energy, there are seven UNESCO sites in the Kathmandu Valley.
Planning What Do in Kathmandu With Locals
If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you would know I generally travel independently. I do that because I don’t like organised tours. They never give me enough time to see what I want.
My trip to Nepal was a bit different. My hiking friend, Dina, insisted that I let him and his brother Bhim in Nepal, help me plan my trip. They run Exodus Himalaya Treks and Expeditions.
Building A Unique Itinerary of Things to Do in Kathmandu
I accepted their help because they tailor-made a trip for me and some other hiking buddies. That trip included the best of Kathmandu attractions as well as Kathmandu Valley sightseeing and trekking. There was also a visit to a local orphanage thrown in for good measure.
Dina and Bhim gave up so much of their time to help create the perfect itinerary of things to do in Kathmandu. They did this all for a very reasonable price too.
I don’t get any reward for saying this, but these are the guys you wanna go with for any of your Nepalese treks.
How to Fly to Kathmandu
If you purchase a flight ticket to Kathmandu from outside of Asia, you won’t get a direct flight. As of 2020, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Dubai, Doha, Tokyo (Narita), Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Istanbul, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong are the only cities with direct flights to Kathmandu.
For an international airport, Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan airport is very small, probably given it’s position in the Himalayas.
A Trip to Kathmandu – A Noisy, Crowded City With a Spiritual Side
One thing you should know about Kathmandu is that its noise, dust and traffic can be relentless.
If you have good lungs, I guess you should be fine. If you have less than great lungs like me, you may need to rely on your inhalers more than normal.
There are some places in the city where you can get far enough away from the bustle that you can forget it’s there for a little while.
With Kathmandu traffic, it’s almost impossible to get anywhere in the city in less than an hour.
Take for instance, the trip from Tribhuvan International Airport to the city. The airport is 5km from the city, but you need to allow 45 minutes to an hour for the trip.
Things to Do in Kathmandu – Temples, Stupas and Animals
Whether or not you plan on trekking in Nepal, your first port of call in Nepal will almost certainly be Kathmandu. So while in Kathmandu, why not explore a bit?
Besides the dust, the city is an interesting mix of Buddhist and Hindu sites, colourful markets, cows and rams.
Below is a short list of some Kathmandu attractions, temples in Kathmandu and places to see in Kathmandu.
Kathmandu Valley Sightseeing – Things to do in Kathmandu
The Kathmandu Valley includes the whole city of Kathmandu as well as some national parks surrounding the city. The main points of interest in the valley are seven groups of monuments defined as UNESCO World Heritage Sites of the Kathmandu Valley.
Those monuments are –
* Swayambhunath Buddhist Stupa
* Boudhanath Buddhist Stupa
* Pashupatinath Hindu Temple
* Hanumandhoka Durbar Square
* Patan Durbar Square
* Bhaktapur Durbar Square
* Changu Narayan Hindu Temple
It would probably take at least two days to visit them all, given the transit times between each site. We were able to see the four highlighted above in one day with Bhim as our inside information guy, but it was a very full and long day.
Things to Do in Kathmandu – Swayambhunath Buddhist Stupa
The Swayambhunath Buddhist Stupa is on a hill to the southwest of the Kathmandu city centre. With a 200 NPR (US$1.70) entry free, it’s the cheapest of all the UNESCO sites in the city.
There are two entrances. One that requires walking up a lot of stairs and one that can be driven to.
Luckily Bhim had anticpated that we would rather be driven to the entrance.
Kathmandu Attractions at Swayambhunath – Things to Do in Kathmandu
It is also often referred to as the Monkey Temple. I guess that’s because of the copious amount of monkeys hanging out there.
The Swayambhunath area is full of little stupas, statues, bells, zen, views, monuments and monkeys.
Unlike in some other areas of the world, the monkeys here are rather docile and won’t try to approach you, so you shouldn’t try to approach them.
Earthquake Aftermath
You may remember that Nepal suffered a devastating earthquake in 2015.
Some of hardest hit areas were still in cleanup mode years later. That included a part of the Swayambhunath Stupa Area.
You can see people in the picture were filling up the baskets on their backs with debris and carrying it away from the area.
Things to Do in Kathmandu – The Great Boudha Stupa (Shree Boudhanath) – Things to Do in Kathmandu
Shree Boudhanath or The Great Boudha Stupa is one of the seven monuments, making it one of the top Kathmandu attractions and a must-see on any Kathmandu Valley sightseeing trip.
It lies about 11 kilometres northeast of the city centre and entrance to the site costs 250 NPR, which is around US$2.
The Boudhanath Stupa is quite a famous temple in Nepal as it is one of the largest spherical stupas in not only Nepal, but also the world.
Pray, Ring, Eat – Things to Do In Kathmandu
It’s not surprising to see monks walking around and groups of people praying at the stupa.
There is a rather busy commercial area surrounding the stupa, which seemed like a great place to have lunch on a rooftop with Bhim. The rooftop had an amazing view over the Boudhanath Stupa, making it one of the coolest things to do in Kathmandu.
Pashupatinath Hindu Temple – Things to Do in Kathmandu
Around five kilometres northeast of the city of Kathmandu is Shree Pashupatinath or the Pashupatinath Hindu Temple.
It sits on the banks of the Bagmati River.
Shree Pashupatinath is an extremely sacred Hindu temple where over half the population of Nepal goes to be purified and readied for cremation after death.
Interesting Things to See in Kathmandu – Daily Ceremonies at Pashupatinath
The ceremony of purification and the subsequent cremation happen in line with Hindu beliefs to help on the journey to reincarnation. Bhim told us that up to 100 bodies were burnt there each day.
The Shree Pashupatinath complex is huge and you’ll probably see some monkeys, rams and cows walking around.
In fact, one particularly surly cow decided that it had right of way and gave me a bit of a nudge while I was there.
The rams seemed to be a lot more friendly though.
Things to Do in Kathmandu – Hanumandhoka Durbar Square
The Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Site of Hanumandhoka Durbar Square, sometimes known as the Kathmandu Durbar Square or the Kathmandu Palace Square, has been a royal palace since the 15th century.
It is about 3 kilometres southwest of the Kathmandu city centre.
Entrance to the complex is 1000 NPR, (US$8.30) and includes access to the palace and the museum.
Things to Do in Kathmandu – See the Ruins of Kasthamandap in Hanumandhoka Durbar Square
Kasthamandap is an area of Kathmandu that was named after a temple that was unfortunately destroyed in the 2015 earthquake.
In fact, quite a few buildings in the square were destroyed in the earthquake, but the Nepalese government has been working on restoring the buildings.
Archaeological excavations at the site have found that the temple was built in the 7th century.
The ancient temple was said to have been built from the wood of just one tree.
What to Do in Kathmandu – Etiquette For Visiting Places in Kathmandu
So now that you know about some of the things to do in Kathmandu, you might be wondering if there are any rules for visiting places in Kathmandu like stupas and temples.
Above all, be respectful. If you see a group of people praying, let them continue. Walk clockwise around stupas. Keep away from the monkeys.
Most importantly, do not wear leather at stupas or temples. Cows are revered, so products made from them are a no-no in religious places.
Just like the locals in Bangladesh, the Maldives and Sri Lanka, locals in Nepal are friendly and a little bit more lenient on foreigners that might not know Nepalese conventions.
But it’s still better to try to keep them in mind.
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18 Replies to “Things to do in Kathmandu”
Wow! What an experience to visit Nepal and Kathmandu. There are so many helpful pieces of information in this post, esp walking clockwise around the Stupa and places to see! Thank you for putting together this excellent guide, I think I would definitely do an organised tour for Kathmandu.
Yes, it’s a pretty interesting place.
Nepal is so high on my list! I have to send your post to a teacher of mine because she’s visiting Kathmandu very soon! Reading about the etiquette is so fascinating (and important) as I always want to be respectful. And your photos from Hanumandhoka Durbar Square look sooo vibrant! Thanks for sharing such a great post!
I loved the bright colours in the square!
I will confess I don’t know much about this city but it looks and siounds beautiful- thank you for adding another spot on my must visit list!
Mountain cities are always fun.
This is such a helpful post! I’ve never been to Nepal but it’s on my list. And Kathmandu has been up there too. Now I’ve got great itinerary ideas!
I think Nepal is on everyone’s list! It’s a great place to visit.
Oh, just wow. Visiting Kathmandu and Nepal has always been a dream of mine. I enjoyed reading more details and your suggestions.
It’s a great place to visit.
Looks like an incredibly memorable trip! I love all the detail you provide, sounds great!
Yes, Nepal is awesome, if not a bit dusty in the capital.
You go to the most amazing places Kez! You were so lucky to have Bhim and Dina help you to plan this one (to make sure you got to really experience it all!) I would love to trek from this area, but it’s always nice to explore/relax before or after the trek!
It’s pretty sad to see how slowly they are rebuilding from the earthquake. I would not have expected there to still be so much debris…
Well I’ve just posted about the trek :oP
I was totally surprised to see so much earthquake damage after so many years too. When we have typhoons come through here, everyone gets out there and helps clean it all up super quick. But I guess a much bigger area was affected in Nepal.
I’ve always wondered what to do in Kathmandu, so I really appreciated this post. It looks like a really interesting city to explore and to be honest, probably a little more in my comfort zone than climbing Mount Everest. ;)
Well, I think climbing Everest is a bad idea. So dangerous. I’ll stick with mountains that aren’t almost as high as planes fly.
Currently planning trip to Nepal next March so guessing I’ll be flying into Kathmandu. Would also like to visit Taj Mahal given how close it is & guessing it’s easy to fly there?
As far as I know, there are bus and flight options from Kathmandu to Agra. At least there were pre-covid. The flight would be under two hours, but you’d need to have an India e-visa organised to be able to board. I believe the road option would be long and uncomfortable, but definitely cheaper.