Bhaktapur Day Tour – 1 Day

• A Car-Free Medieval City: Walk a complete Newar town where the street plan is three centuries old.

• The 55-Window Palace and Golden Gate: The finest surviving Malla royal architecture in the valley.

• Nyatapola, the Tallest Pagoda: Five tiers, five pairs of guardians and the temple that survived every earthquake.

• Potters' Square: Clay thrown on hand wheels and dried in the open square, as it always has been.

• Changunarayan: Nepal's oldest standing temple, on the ridge above the city.

Everything on these tours is reached by private vehicle with a driver, which matters more in Kathmandu than most cities — the traffic is heavy, the one-way system changes, and parking near the monuments is difficult. Your guide travels with you and the vehicle waits while you walk each site.

Distances look small on a map and take longer than they should. Boudhanath to Swayambhunath is nine kilometres and forty minutes in the middle of the day. The itineraries are sequenced to work with the traffic rather than against it, which is why the order of sites is not always the obvious one.

Every UNESCO site in the valley charges foreign visitors an entry fee, and they are included in your tour price — Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur Durbar Squares, Swayambhunath, Boudhanath, Pashupatinath and Changunarayan. Keep the ticket; Bhaktapur's is valid for several days and can be extended free of charge if you tell the office.

Photography is allowed in the squares and courtyards but not in most inner sanctums, and never at the Pashupatinath cremation ghats. Ask before photographing people, particularly sadhus, who will usually ask for money afterwards — agree it first or decline politely.

Comfortable shoes that slip off easily, since you will remove them at temples. Modest clothing covering shoulders and knees is expected at religious sites and appreciated everywhere. Leather belts and bags are not permitted inside some Hindu shrines, so carry a cloth bag on temple days.

Bring sunscreen, a hat and water; the valley sits at 1,400 m and the sun is stronger than the temperature suggests. Small notes are useful for offerings, tea and the occasional donation box. A mask is worth having between January and April when the valley air is at its worst.

October to March is the most comfortable, with clear air, mild days and, from the valley rim, mountain views. Early morning is the best time at every site — Boudhanath, Pashupatinath and the Durbar Squares are all at their most alive and least crowded before nine.

The monsoon from June to September brings heavy afternoon rain, though mornings are often clear and the light is dramatic. Festival dates transform the sites they belong to: Indra Jatra in September fills Kathmandu Durbar Square, Bisket Jatra takes over Bhaktapur in April, and Maha Shivaratri brings a hundred thousand pilgrims to Pashupatinath.

• Bhaktapur Travel Guide: The Best-Preserved City in the Valley — A walled medieval Newar city half an hour from Kathmandu, where the whole street plan survives rather than just the monuments.

• Bhaktapur During Dashain: Mohani and the Navadurga Dancers — In Bhaktapur, Dashain is Mohani: nine dawns of visiting the goddess shrines that ring the city, a night of sacrifice.

• Arriving in Kathmandu: Your First 48 Hours — What to do between landing at Kathmandu airport and starting your trek — airport arrival, SIM cards, money, the pre-trek briefing, gear shopping in Thamel.

• Nagarkot and the Sunrise Viewpoints Near Kathmandu — You can see the Himalaya from the Kathmandu valley rim on a clear winter morning without walking more than an hour.

• Nepal Festival Calendar: What Is Happening When — Nepal has more public holidays than almost any country on earth.

• Kathmandu Valley UNESCO Sites: A Guide to All Seven — Seven monument zones in one valley — three royal squares, two Buddhist stupas, a Hindu cremation temple and the oldest shrine in Nepal.