Kathmandu-5-day-itinerary

Five days means you get to actually pace yourself, which in a city this dense is a genuine luxury. Here’s the arc, from arrival scramble to a proper unrushed exit.

Day 1: Landing and settling in

Clear immigration first, and come prepared: visa on arrival requires crisp US dollar cash, not cards, with 15 days at $30, 30 days at $50, and 90-day multi-entry at $125. Pre-filling the online arrival form saves real time if the October-November crowds are in town. Skip the touts grabbing your bags outside and use the prepaid taxi counter inside the terminal, a fixed NPR 700-800 into Thamel rather than whatever inflated number someone shouts at you curbside.

Once you’re settled, ease into things at Boudhanath Stupa, NPR 400 and an easy walk from most Thamel accommodation. Do the slow clockwise kora around the base rather than a rushed photo lap. In the evening, wander Thamel itself; it’s touristy and a little chaotic, but that’s most of the appeal on night one.

Day 2: Bhaktapur, unhurried

Give Bhaktapur its own full day rather than squeezing it into an afternoon, which is what most shorter itineraries are forced to do. It’s a separate medieval city about 45 to 90 minutes out, with its own entry fee around NPR 1,800-2,000 covering the whole town across multiple days. The pottery square is best in the morning light, and the Nyatapola temple, one of the few structures that survived the 2015 earthquake without needing reconstruction, deserves a proper look rather than a walk-by. Eat lunch there instead of rushing back to Kathmandu.

Day 3: Patan and better food

Cross the Bagmati into Patan, technically its own city called Lalitpur, and spend the morning in its Durbar Square, arguably the best-preserved of the valley’s three and my pick if you only trust one review’s opinion on this. The metalwork shops here are worth more browsing time than anything in central Thamel. For lunch, get a real Newari thali with chhoila and bara at Newa Lahana or Honacha, NPR 500-1,200 and a completely different experience from the Westernized menus back in Thamel. Spend the afternoon at a slower pace through Patan’s quieter streets before heading back for the evening.

Day 4: Kathmandu’s own square, and the actual Monkey Temple

Today covers the capital’s core sights. Start at Kathmandu Durbar Square, roughly NPR 1,000, mostly rebuilt since the earthquake with Kasthamandap reopened since 2023-24. Then head to Swayambhunath, the genuine Monkey Temple, not to be confused with Pashupatinath as plenty of guides manage to do. NPR 200 gets you up the roughly 365 steps on the east side, monkeys and sweeping valley views both included. In the afternoon, explore the market streets around Asan for spices, textiles, and the kind of local commerce that has nothing to do with tourism.

Day 5: Pashupatinath, then a proper goodbye

Spend the morning at Pashupatinath, NPR 1,000, Nepal’s most important Hindu temple and an active cremation site along the Bagmati. Non-Hindus can’t enter the inner pagoda but the view of the ghats from across the river is open to everyone and worth the visit; keep your camera down near grieving families. If a sadhu offers a blessing, settle a price up front or decline before any contact happens, since the demand for payment tends to follow automatically otherwise.

Use the afternoon to pack, wander somewhere unhurried like the Garden of Dreams, and head to the airport with time to spare. The same fixed-rate taxi counter logic applies in reverse: agree the fare or use an app rather than negotiating roadside on your way out.

If your dates happen to fall in October or November, you may run into Dashain, a roughly two-week festival that closes plenty of businesses, or Tihar, which lights the whole city up in a way worth planning around rather than being surprised by. Either can shuffle a day of this itinerary, and honestly, that’s not a bad problem to have; a Dashain procession is more memorable than most museum stops on this list.

Practical notes for the whole trip

Taxis are legally metered and practically never are, so negotiate before you get in or use Pathao or InDrive for a locked app price. There’s no metro system anywhere in the valley, and local buses run routes aimed at residents, not visitors, so don’t count on them. The Nepalese rupee is the working currency; carry cash for Bhaktapur’s smaller vendors even if central Kathmandu and Patan take cards more readily. Bargaining is expected, not rude, at any market stall. And if a Thamel storefront tries to sell you a trek on the spot, check for TAAN or NTB registration first; a friendly sales pitch is not the same thing as a licensed operator.