Secret Food Tour in Kathmandu – 1 Day

• Eight or Nine Tasting Stops: Family stalls in the old bazaar, most with no sign and no menu in English.

• Real Newar Food: Chatamari, bara, choila and samay baji rather than the tourist restaurant version.

• Ason and Indra Chowk: The oldest market quarter in the city, at its busiest and most chaotic.

• A Guide Who Orders in Newari: Which changes both what arrives and what you pay for it.

• Enough Food to Replace a Meal: You will not need dinner afterwards.

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.

• Secret Food Tour in Kathmandu: The Complete Guide — Three to four hours on foot through the lanes between Ason and Indra Chowk, stopping at eight or nine family stalls that have been doing one thing for three generations.

• Dashain Food Guide: What Nepal Eats During the Festival — Dashain is the feast of the Nepali year: goat in half a dozen forms, beaten rice, pickles, fried rice-flour bread and home-made spirit.