Destination OS · Temple squares at dawn, dust by noon
Kathmanduकाठमाडौँ
Kathmandu is a dawn-and-dusk city: do the temple squares and the stupa before 10:00, leave the afternoon for cafés and rest, and never plan a transfer on a strike day.
- Local time
- --:--
- Weather
- forecast below
- Currency
- NPR
- Best months
- Jan · Feb · Mar · Oct · Nov · Dec
- Airport
- KTM
Cash need
4/5
Heat risk
2/5
Stroller
1/5
Friction
72/100
Rules in force · 7
- South Asia ↗Trekking regions, border districts and several Indian states need separate permits on top of the visa; check the permit before you book transport into them.
- South Asia ↗Remove shoes (and in many Jain and Hindu temples, leather) before entering; cover shoulders and legs; ask before photographing people or rituals.
- Nepal ↗Get visa information only from the Department of Immigration; visa-service lookalike sites charge extra, and the rules differ by nationality.
- Nepal ↗At stupas walk clockwise; at temples and homes remove shoes where there is a rack or a raised floor; cover shoulders and knees.
- Nepal ↗Carry Nepalese rupees in small notes: many stalls, taxis and tea shops are cash-only, and shops rarely take foreign notes.
- Nepal ↗Strikes (bandh) and protests can close roads without notice: check the news and your hotel the night before any airport or highway day.
- Kathmandu Valley ↗In the dry season (Nov–Apr) the valley fills with haze and dust: viewpoints often show nothing after 09:00, so go at dawn or skip.
At a glance
- Clusters
- 4
- Places
- 2
- Day plans
- 1
- Places to eat
- 1
- Sleep areas
- 2
- Gateways
- KTM
Right now
Checking the weather…
Working out what is open near you…
Decide
Who it suits, the trade-offs and when to go
Overview
The city in one paragraph, who it fits, and how many days it takes.
Kathmandu's sights are old, close together and crowded, and the streets between them are dusty, narrow and shared with motorbikes. The trips that go wrong drag suitcases through Thamel at night, walk at noon in the smoke haze, or book a flight out on the morning of a festival or strike. Four clusters cover a first visit: Thamel to sleep and eat, Durbar Square, Boudhanath and Patan. Bhaktapur and the valley rim are trips from one kept bed.
Fits
- Culture-first short trips
- Early risers
- Base for Himalayan treks
Does not fit
- Strollers and wheelchairs (pavements, plinths)
- Travellers sensitive to dust and traffic noise
- Tight connections around festivals and strikes
- 2 days
- Durbar Square morning + Thamel evening
- 3 days
- Durbar Square, Boudhanath, Patan; mornings and late afternoons only
- 5 days
- Four clusters + Bhaktapur day-trip + one slow day
- Don't confuse
- Kathmandu, Patan (Lalitpur) and Bhaktapur are separate old towns inside one valley; each has its own Durbar Square and its own entry ticket.
Hover, tap or tab to an area to see what it is like. Pins are sleep areas; arrows at the edge point to the airport.
Off the map: Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM) (30–60 min by the usual route).
Where’s what, as a list:
- Thamel: Evening cluster and the place to sleep: cafés, gear shops and money changers in a few walkable lanes; crowded after 17:00 and off-limits to big bags.
- Kathmandu Durbar Square: Morning cluster: the old palace square and Kumari Ghar before the tour groups; some monuments are still fenced or scaffolded after the 2015 earthquake.
- Boudhanath: Dawn or dusk cluster: walk the circuit around the stupa with local pilgrims; midday is hot, loud with tour groups and shadeless.
- Patan Durbar Square: Half-day cluster south of the river: Patan's palace square and the Golden Temple lanes; calmer than Kathmandu, but far enough that it needs its own car ride.
- Sleep area Boudha: suits Families, price band $$.
- Sleep area Thamel: suits Families, solo on a budget, price band $.
- Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM), 30–60 min by the usual route.
Decide
The honest trade-off: what you will enjoy, what will wear you down.
You will like
- Temples and stupas in use
- Cheap food and tea
- Trek-gear and craft shopping
You will hate
- Dust and exhaust
- Uneven pavements
- Touts and aggressive shop calls
When
Best months: Jan, Feb, Mar, Oct, Nov, Dec. Month-by-month verdicts below, with the live forecast first.
Kathmandu: next 7 days
Loading forecast…
Forecast: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0), model data for this point.
Air quality
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Model estimate (CAMS via Open-Meteo), not a street-level station; readings near busy roads run higher.
Cold mornings and nights, clear days; fog can delay flights.
Cool and dry; haze builds late in the month.
Warming; smoke haze in the valley some years.
Warm and hazy; dusty streets, bring a mask.
Hot and dusty; pre-monsoon storms.
Monsoon starts; heavy rain, landslides on highways.
Peak monsoon; roads and flights disrupted.
Monsoon; cloud hides the mountains.
Rain tapering; Dashain can start (dates move yearly).
Clearest skies; Dashain and Tihar crowds, closures and sold-out transport.
Dry and clear, cool mornings.
Cold mornings and nights; bring layers.
Arrive & move
Getting in, getting around, and your bags
Arrive
Each gateway has its own airport-to-bed page with timings and the last safe connection.
Move
The default way around, when a pass pays off, and when the last trains go.
- Default
- Walk inside a cluster; taxi or ride-hailing between clusters (agree the fare or check the app price first).
- Passes
- No pass. Short taxi rides inside the valley are cheap; agree the fare before you get in.
- Last trains
- No rail: taxis and ride-hailing are thinner after dark and in heavy rain. Ask your hotel to book the late ride.
- Other modes
- Other modes (Rome2Rio) ↗
Luggage
Where big bags are a problem, and how to get rid of them for the day.
Rule
- Lockers
- Few public lockers; hotels and trekking shops hold bags, usually for a small fee.
- Forwarding
- No forwarding culture: leave the big bag at the Kathmandu hotel when you trek or fly for a few days.
- Dead zone
- Late departures: ask the hotel to hold bags and give a shower room; many do for a fee.
See & do
Walking clusters, day plans and the places worth the time
Clusters
Plan by cluster: each is a walkable area with a rescue point and a bag rule.
Evening cluster and the place to sleep: cafés, gear shops and money changers in a few walkable lanes; crowded after 17:00 and off-limits to big bags.
rescue 100% · max p90 5.2′ · half
Morning cluster: the old palace square and Kumari Ghar before the tour groups; some monuments are still fenced or scaffolded after the 2015 earthquake.
rescue 100% · max p90 5.2′ · half
Dawn or dusk cluster: walk the circuit around the stupa with local pilgrims; midday is hot, loud with tour groups and shadeless.
rescue 100% · max p90 5.2′ · half
Half-day cluster south of the river: Patan's palace square and the Golden Temple lanes; calmer than Kathmandu, but far enough that it needs its own car ride.
rescue 100% · max p90 5.2′ · half
Days
Ready-made day plans, timed against opening hours and walking distances.
Places
Each place gets a verdict and the time to be there, not a star rating.
Eat & sleep
Where to eat and which area to sleep in
Eat
A short list of places worth crossing the city for, each with how to get a seat.
Vegetarian-friendly score
2.5 / 5 · Workable
- Country diet noteOur country guide rates vegetarian eating as easy.2 / 2
- Places to eat in this guideToo few places with a known answer (1) to judge.0 / 1.5
- Budget eating lines0 vegetarian lines in "Eat by budget".0 / 0.6
- Meat-free national dishes5 meat-free dishes in the country food list.0.4 / 0.4
- Dedicated vegetarian kitchens0 mentions of vegetarian restaurants, Buddhist or fasting kitchens.0 / 0.5
Country note: Easy: dal bhat, veg momos and many curries are meat-free.
Vegetarian places near me →Make a diet card →
How we score
- Country diet note (up to 2): easy 2, workable 1, mixed 0.75, hard 0; no note 0.5.
- City places to eat (up to 1.5): 1.5 × (vegetarian-friendly + half of partly friendly) ÷ places with a known answer; needs 3 or more known places.
- Budget eating lines marked vegetarian (up to 0.6): 0.2 each.
- Meat-free national dishes (up to 0.4): 0.1 each.
- Dedicated vegetarian kitchens mentioned — Buddhist chay, shōjin ryōri, Jain, fasting food, vegan cafés (up to 0.5): 0.1 each.
- Total rounded to the nearest half point, 0 to 5. Built from our own pages only, not from reviews.
Sleep
Pick the area first: it decides your walk home at night and your first morning.
Practical
Money, essentials, safety and the pocket card
Money
What a day costs at three comfort levels, and how to pay.
- Budget
- NPR 2,000–4,000 excl. bed / day
- Mid
- NPR 4,000–9,000 excl. bed / day
- High
- NPR 9,000+ excl. bed / day
- IC card
- No transit card: walk inside a cluster, ride-hailing or taxis between clusters.
- Cash rule
- Keep NPR 3,000 in small notes; use ATMs inside banks, hotels or malls in daylight, not on dark lanes.
Survive
Safety basics, the lines not to cross, and practical habits that save the day.
Safety
- Traffic and uneven pavements: look down and left-right at every crossing; footpaths end without warning.
- Air quality is poor in the dry season; a mask rated for fine particles helps on long walks.
- Earthquakes happen here: know your hotel's exit and never re-enter a damaged building.
- Emergency: 100 police, 101 fire, 102 ambulance; Tourist Police 1144.
Red lines
- Inside Hindu and Buddhist shrines: remove shoes where marked and walk clockwise around stupas.
- Leather items and shoes are refused at some temple entrances; ask at the gate.
- Do not photograph people at prayer or cremation ghats without asking.
Practical
- Toilets: cafés, hotels and malls; carry tissues.
- Tap water is not for drinking; use bottled or filtered water.
Deep dive
History, reading, photos and every source
Sources
- officialNepal Tourism Board
- officialTribhuvan International Airport
- secondaryWikivoyage — Kathmandu