Kathmandu 4 Day Itinerary

Four days gets you the temples plus one real day trip

With a fourth day added to a standard Kathmandu run, you can afford to send one full day out to Bhaktapur instead of squeezing it into a rushed half-day tacked onto something else. That town deserves the extra hours.

Landing and logistics: get your visa at Tribhuvan International with cash US dollars, $50 covers the 30-day option most people want. Skip the curb touts and use the airport’s prepaid taxi counter, a fixed NPR 700-800 into Thamel rather than the NPR 1,500+ the touts will try for. Watch for the driver who claims your hotel is closed or gone, it’s a redirect scam to a commission guesthouse, keep your hotel’s phone number handy and refuse the detour.

Day 1: The big three temples. Morning at Pashupatinath (NPR 1,000), the Hindu cremation site on the Bagmati. You can’t enter the inner pagoda as a non-Hindu but the view of the ghats from across the river is available, keep it respectful and don’t photograph grieving families. Midday, head to Boudhanath Stupa (NPR 400) and walk the kora loop around the base rather than rushing through. Afternoon, Kathmandu Durbar Square (NPR 1,000), most of the 2015 earthquake rebuilding is finished including the Kasthamandap pavilion, reopened 2023-24, with just some scaffolding still up in spots. For dinner, don’t settle for Thamel, get to Patan for Newari food at Newa Lahana or Honacha, NPR 500-1,200 and noticeably better than anything in the tourist strip.

Day 2: Patan properly. Spend the whole day in Lalitpur. Patan Durbar Square is the best-preserved of the three squares and less crowded than Kathmandu’s, worth the extended visit. Wander the metalwork and artisan district nearby. Lunch and dinner both in Patan, this is where the city’s actual food scene lives, not in Thamel. Momos here run NPR 150-300 same as anywhere but the quality is a step up.

Day 3: Bhaktapur, the full day it deserves. It’s about 45-90 minutes from central Kathmandu depending on traffic. Entry is NPR 1,800-2,000, the highest of the three because it covers the whole town, not just the square, and the ticket is valid across multiple days if you want to split the visit. Spend real time in the pottery square, watch potters working the wheel, and walk the narrow medieval streets rather than beelining for the main square and leaving. This is the best-preserved Newari streetscape in the valley and it’s worth more than the rushed half-day most itineraries give it.

Day 4: Swayambhunath and a buffer. Climb Swayambhunath, the actual Monkey Temple (not Pashupatinath, a mix-up that shows up constantly in other guides), about 365 steps up the east side, NPR 200. Use the rest of the day as slack: sort trekking gear if you need it, but only from a shop with verified TAAN or NTB registration and insurance, the unlicensed storefronts around Thamel are a real risk for anything beyond a day hike. Farewell dinner at Bhojan Griha in Dilli Bazar, a full traditional meal with dance.

Getting around all four days: taxis are legally metered but drivers refuse to use it, negotiate before you get in. Pathao and InDrive apps lock in the price up front, more reliable, though some drivers will still push for extra cash at drop-off, hold to the app price. No metro system exists in the city, so budget extra time for traffic and Thamel’s narrow motorbike-heavy streets on foot.

Keep small NPR notes on you for temple donation boxes and street food stalls, most vendors can’t break a large bill.