Kathmandu walking tour & city guide

Squares, stupas and markets

Kathmandu Durbar Square, in front of the old royal palace, is a cluster of pagoda temples and courtyards; it is also home to the Kumari, a young girl worshipped as a living goddess. Some of its buildings were damaged in the 2015 earthquake and have been carefully rebuilt. North of the square, the lanes of Indra Chowk and Asan Tole are the old market heart of the city, with stalls of spices, fabrics and brassware around small temples.

Thamel is the travellers' district, a tangle of guesthouses, trekking shops and restaurants, with the Garden of Dreams just to the east. Swayambhunath, known as the Monkey Temple, sits on a hill to the west with views over the valley, and Boudhanath, one of the largest stupas in the world, is the centre of a Tibetan Buddhist neighbourhood. Pashupatinath, on the Bagmati river, is Nepal's most important Hindu temple.

A classic walk: Thamel to Durbar Square

Start in Thamel in the morning and walk south through the old lanes to Asan Tole, where the market is already busy with vegetable and spice sellers. Continue past Indra Chowk and its shrines to Kathmandu Durbar Square.

In the late afternoon, take a taxi to Boudhanath and join the pilgrims walking clockwise around the stupa as the prayer flags catch the evening light. Rooftop cafés around the square look down on the dome.

Good to know

October and November bring clear skies and mountain views, and March to May is warm with flowering rhododendrons; the monsoon from June to September is wet. Walk clockwise around stupas and prayer wheels, remove your shoes at temples, and note that some Hindu temples, including the main Pashupatinath shrine, are open only to Hindus. Taxis and ride-hailing apps are the easiest way to get around. Patan and Bhaktapur, two more old royal cities in the valley, are close by.