With 4 days in Kathmandu Valley, you can cover all UNESCO World Heritage sites in the area. It’s a great amount of time to explore wide range of things.
Here you will find the general post about visiting Kathmandu Valley and possible itineraries.
See the detailed itinerary for day 1 in Kathmandu Valley.
Day 4 highlights: Kathmandu Monasteries (Kopan, Khawalung Tashi Choeling, Shechen), Boudhanath and surrounding monasteries, particularly, Guru Khakhang, Pashupatinath
While you will need to take a taxi in the morning and evening, you can actually walk among all the sites you will be seeing on this day.
Kathmandu Monasteries
There are a number of interesting monasteries in Kathmandu and in the valley in general. Some of them are located in the north-east side of Kathmandu. They are the amazing centers for teaching art and philosophy.
Kopan Monastery is the most famous among them. Standing on top of the hill, it not only has beautiful structure and peaceful environment but also provides amazing views over Kathmandu. Keep in mind that if you are visiting in October to December, the Monastery is closed from the end of October till the end of December. As our visit was during this time, we were unable to enter. However, we still went up there, peeked in and delighted in the amazing views.
During this time of the year, some people attend the classes here, living for a few weeks in the monastery. I believe anyone can do it, if you are interested, but I am not sure about the cost.
From this monastery, I suggest not to take any transport and to just walk downhill, enjoy the area and observe the local life. You can get to the next monastery Khawalung Tashi Choeling afoot in about 20-30 minutes. We loved this walk.
Khawalung Tashi Choeling Monastery is very peaceful. There were only a few people around during our visit. It may not be very famous or outstanding, but we still loved the environment there. It also has nice views.
From here, you can continue your walk down to get to the Shechen Monastery. That will take you another 20-30 mins depending on your pace. We loved this monastery. I think it was my favourite. It was amazing to observe how monks live. Of course, be careful not to disturb anyone. We did not go close, while they were doing their daily chores. Again, there were very few people visiting the monastery, so it was very peaceful, and the vibes were amazing.
From here it’s a short walk to Boudhanath.
The Boudhanath Stupa
Price: 400 NPR for foreigners with a discount for SAARC nationals
The Boudhanath Stupa is the main site for Tibetan Buddhists in the area and is the largest stupa in Kathmandu Valley. They say best time to visit and listen to the prayers is at the dawn. Honestly, we didn’t manage to wake up and go there that early 😊 But it is beautiful any time of day and evening. And you see numerous people paying their respect. It was particularly crowded in the evening after dusk.
The all-seeing Buddha eyes are on all 4 sides of the stupa. Originally a stupa was built at this location in the 7th century by the king, as a penance for killing his father (the legend is quite strange. The king wanted to sacrifice himself for finding source of water and tricked his son to kill him). The original building was destroyed by Mughals and the current construction was built in 14th century.
Its upper part was significantly damaged by the April 2015 earthquake. It was renovated and reopened by the end of the year.
There are a number of cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops around the stupa and in the area. Do sit at one of the cafes on the upper floors and enjoy the view 😊
The square itself is very interesting, with numerous people either praying or just spending time here. We found these interesting scenes for instance.
Also don’t miss the Guru Kakhung Monastery. It is located near one of the entrances to the circle around the stupa. The monastery is beautiful and it’s worth exploring. It is very crowded. Do go upstairs for seeing the numerous incenses and the views towards the stupa.
From Boudhanath you can walk to Pashupatinath Temple. That would take you about 25-30 minutes.
Pashupatinath
Durbar Square Price: 1000 NPR for foreigners with a discount for SAARC nationals
Pashupatinath is the most famous and oldest Hindu temple in the Kathmandu Valley. It is dedicated to the god Shiva. Before going to Nepal, we somehow thought that the majority of Nepalese were Buddhists but we were mistaken, apparently the majority is Hindu.
The temple stands on the banks of sacred Bagmati River. A temple was built at this location, as early as the 5th century.
Currently, there are a number of temples inside the Pashupatinath area. The main temple at the riverbank can not be visited by non-Hindus. It is a beautiful building with golden colors. But everyone can visit the rest of the areas.
The temple complex is located near the Boudnadath (some 15 mins walk away). So I suggest to visit both in one day. Get the taxi to drop you off at one and walk to another. When you get there, you will be accosted by people, who will offer to guide you. Be careful with them, as I heard about a number of scams. Instead of listening to them, get to the ticket booth. The tix cost 1000 Rupees. If you want a guide, arrange one in advance.
Cremations are performed in the open air at the riverside near the main temple. As a result, there is always specific smell at the riverside and the river is very polluted. You can see the cremations from the other side of the river but be respectful and silent throughout the ceremony.
There are a number of monkeys in the area. Btw. Swayambunath is called the Monkey Temple, but there are even more of them in Pashupatinath. Somehow we felt that here monkeys are much more aggressive and dangerous than in Swayambunath, where we were not even afraid to get closer to them. Here, they snatch food and bags. I wouldn’t go close to them. Be careful, while walking around.
Note: There are many yogis around the area. Keep in mind, that if you want to take a photo of them, you should pay. Otherwise, if you try taking photos even in their direction, they may get aggressive.
See the best suggested 1-day itinerary for visiting Kathmandu Valley.
See the best suggested 2-day itinerary for visiting Kathmandu Valley.
See the best suggested 3-day itinerary for visiting Kathmandu Valley.
See the best suggested 5-day itinerary for visiting Kathmandu Valley.
