Kathmandu, Nepal-3-day-itinerary

The city has a habit of putting three unrelated things next to each other, a cremation ground, a monkey colony, and a designer coffee shop, and expecting you to handle it. Three days is a fair test of that.

Day 1: The old royal city

Spend the morning at Kathmandu Durbar Square, the former royal palace complex and one of the city’s three separate Durbar Squares (yes, three; Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur each have their own, each with its own ticket, roughly NPR 1,000 here). Most of the 2015 earthquake damage has been rebuilt by now, Kasthamandap reopened since 2023-24, though a scaffold survives here and there as a reminder of the scale of the rebuild.

For lunch, stay central and keep it simple; you’ll get a better food day later in the trip. In the afternoon, wander the surrounding lanes of the old city and take a slower look at the wood carving on the older buildings, easy to miss if you’re moving fast between ticketed sites.

In the evening, head into Thamel for dinner and a look at the shopping scene. Bargaining is expected here, not optional politeness, so don’t accept the first price on anything.

Day 2: Up into the hills

Take a taxi or app ride out to Nagarkot, about 1.5 to 2 hours from central Kathmandu, sitting at 2,175 meters with the best Himalaya views near the city, Everest included on a clear October-November or March-April day. If your schedule only allows a shorter trip, Chandragiri is the faster alternative: about an hour to the base station, a ten-minute cable car ride for roughly $13 one-way or $23 round-trip, temple and panoramic views included, and better value if you’re tight on time.

Have lunch back toward Kathmandu once you’re down from whichever hill you picked. In the afternoon, this is your day for Boudhanath Stupa, NPR 400, in the Tibetan quarter. Walk the full circle around its base slowly rather than rushing the photo. The surrounding streets carry a genuinely different energy from central Kathmandu, quieter, with monasteries tucked between shopfronts.

For dinner, stay in the Boudha area if you can; the Tibetan food here tends to be better than the version served in Thamel.

Day 3: Sacred sites, with the facts straight

Morning goes to Pashupatinath, NPR 1,000, Nepal’s most important Hindu temple and an active cremation site along the Bagmati River. Non-Hindus can’t enter the main pagoda, but the cremation ghats are fully visible from across the river, which is a real and respectful way to experience the site rather than a total lockout. Keep cameras away from grieving families, and if a sadhu offers a blessing, agree a price up front or wave them off before any contact starts; the request for payment tends to follow the tika automatically otherwise.

Here’s a correction worth making since it trips up a lot of guides: the actual Monkey Temple is Swayambhunath, not Pashupatinath, and definitely not some other name you might see floating around online. Head there next, NPR 200, up the roughly 365 stone steps on the east side, for genuinely excellent monkeys and one of the better panoramic views in the valley.

For lunch, if you have time before departure or your next stop, make the short trip to Patan rather than eating in Thamel again. My honest opinion after three days of comparison shopping: Thamel’s restaurants are built for convenience, not flavor, and a proper Newari thali with chhoila and bara in Patan, NPR 500-1,200, is a different level entirely.

Practical notes

Taxis are legally metered and drivers ignore this reliably, so agree the fare before getting in or use an app like Pathao or InDrive for a locked price. There’s no metro system anywhere in the city. Nepali is the official language, English covers most tourist interactions, and a few basic phrases like “namaste” and “dhanyabaad” go a long way outside the main tourist strips. Winter, December through February, runs cool and generally clear early before valley haze can set in by January or February, so pack a light layer even if you’re not expecting real cold. Keep valuables secure in crowded markets and around the bigger temple complexes, and if a Thamel storefront tries to sell you a multi-day trek on the spot, check for TAAN or NTB registration before handing over any deposit; a friendly pitch is not the same thing as a licensed operator.