1 destination · 10 things to do

Nepal

Kathmandu is a city where living religion and medieval architecture share the same crowded lanes. The valley holds seven UNESCO monument zones within an hour of each other: the palace squares of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur with their carved pagodas and Newar craft; the white hilltop stupa of Swayambhunath above the city; the great domed stupa of Boudhanath at the heart of Tibetan Buddhism; and Pashupatinath on the Bagmati, Nepal's holiest Hindu site. This guide books Kathmandu properly, with Viator-bookable tours for the squares, stupas and temples, an Everest mountain flight, a Nagarkot sunrise with a village hike to Changu Narayan, a forest day hike in Shivapuri and the Chandragiri cable car. It then matches you to the right hotel, from the Dwarika's heritage splurge and the Rana palace gardens of Hotel Shanker to a Patan garden hotel and Thamel classics, because in a city of heavy traffic, where you sleep decides how much of your trip you spend in a taxi.