Mid-range · 6-hour walk · Kathmandu
Boudhanath and Pashupatinath in six hours
The great white stupa, the Tibetan quarter around it, and the cremation ghats on the holy river.
The three-hour route covers Durbar Square and Swayambhunath. This goes east to two of the most significant religious sites in the valley and they could not be less alike: Boudhanath is the centre of Tibetan Buddhism outside Tibet, a 36-metre stupa that refugees settled around after 1959, and Pashupatinath is the Hindu temple where Kathmandu cremates its dead on the riverbank in the open.
The route, stop by stop
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Boudhanath Stupa
Arrive by taxi from the previous stop
One of the largest stupas in the world, rebuilt after the 2015 earthquake. Walk the kora clockwise with everyone else; monasteries and rooftop cafés ring it.
75 min here Walk here → -
Boudha monasteries
Dozens were founded here by Tibetan refugees after 1959. Several admit visitors to morning or evening prayers; ask at the gate and be quiet.
45 min here Walk here → -
Pashupatinath Temple
Arrive by taxi from the previous stop
The most sacred Shiva temple in Nepal. Non-Hindus cannot enter the main courtyard but the complex around it is open and enormous.
70 min here Walk here → -
Arya Ghat
Open-air cremation on the Bagmati, continuously. Watch from the far bank, do not photograph the families, and think about whether to come at all before you do.
45 min here Walk here → -
Garden of Dreams
Arrive by taxi from the previous stop
Back near Thamel: a 1920s neoclassical garden restored by Austrian funding, walled off from the traffic entirely. The best hour in Kathmandu to do nothing.
45 min here Walk here →
More in Kathmandu
Every walking route in Kathmandu, or the full Kathmandu guide for where to stay and what a day costs.