Bhaktapur, Changu Narayan and Panauti Day Tour
The eastern valley in one day: a medieval city, the oldest temple in Nepal and a river-confluence town most visitors never reach
Bhaktapur, Changu Narayan and Panauti Day Tour
This is the other half of the Kathmandu Valley UNESCO property, the half that does not fit into a day spent in the city. Bhaktapur and Changu Narayan are two of the seven inscribed monument zones and they sit within twenty minutes of each other on the eastern side.
Changu Narayan is the oldest temple in Nepal. The stone inscription of King Manadeva on the site is dated to 464 CE, which makes the record here older than anything comparable in the valley. The stone sculpture around the courtyard, including the Vishnu Vikrant and the Garuda, runs from the fifth to the seventh century and is the reason art historians come.
Bhaktapur is the best-preserved of the three royal cities, with the medieval street plan intact and the pottery, woodcarving and curd trades still working in it.
Panauti is the one that surprises people. An hour southeast of Bhaktapur, at the confluence of two rivers, with a temple complex that includes the Indreshwar Mahadev, one of the oldest surviving pagoda structures in Nepal. It is on the UNESCO tentative list, it sees very few foreign visitors, and it is the quietest hour of the day.
Trip Summary
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Included
- Hotel pick-up and drop-off anywhere in Kathmandu or Patan in a private air-conditioned vehicle
- Government-licensed English-speaking guide for the full day
- All monument and temple entry fees listed in the itinerary
- Bottled drinking water through the day
- All government and local taxes
- Entry fees for Changu Narayan, Bhaktapur Durbar Square and Panauti
- Lunch in Bhaktapur old town, including juju dhau
- A full day private vehicle covering roughly 90 km
Not Included
- International and domestic flights
- Nepal visa, available on arrival at Kathmandu airport
- Hotel accommodation in Kathmandu
- Travel insurance
- Camera and video fees where a site charges them separately
- Personal expenses, drinks and souvenirs
- Tips for the guide and driver
Get started on your journey
Detailed itinerary
Bhaktapur, Changu Narayan and Panauti Day Tour
08:00 | Pick-up
We head east out of the city before the morning traffic sets in properly.
08:45 | Changu Narayan
A hilltop temple on a ridge above Bhaktapur, reached by a short walk up from the car park. The courtyard is small and the stone sculpture in it is the point: eleventh avatars of Vishnu, the Garuda kneeling, the Vishnu Vikrant, all of it fifth to seventh century. The two-storey pagoda itself has been rebuilt more than once; the stone has not moved.
10:15 | Bhaktapur Durbar Square
Twenty minutes down the ridge. The Golden Gate, the fifty-five window palace and the royal square, with restoration work still visible from 2015.
11:15 | Taumadhi, Nyatapola and Pottery Square
The five-storey Nyatapola of 1702, the tallest temple in Nepal, and then the potters' quarter where clay dries in rows in the open square.
12:30 | Lunch in the old town
Newari food, and juju dhau, the king curd that Bhaktapur is known for across Nepal.
13:45 | Drive to Panauti
About an hour southeast, out of the valley proper and into the hills towards Banepa.
14:45 | Panauti
A town at the meeting of the Punyamati and Roshi rivers, which makes the confluence itself a sacred site. The Indreshwar Mahadev temple complex dates in its present form to the fifteenth century with earlier origins, and the woodcarving on the struts is exceptional and almost never crowded. The old town is a few streets of brick houses and you can walk all of it in an hour.
16:00 | Return to Kathmandu
About ninety minutes back, arriving early evening.
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