Katmandu: How many days to see?
 

We are considering a side visit to Katmandu from Varanasi, India. We are not as interested in hiking as seeing the city and any tourist sites in the area. How much time would be reasonable to allocate to this part of Nepal?

Thanks in advance.

Roosevelt.

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel...epal/Kathmandu

3 days minimum maybe an Everest overflight for me

more time for trekking...

Hyatt Crowne Plaza Yak&Yeti all good deals usually for me

otelcom betterbidding.com booking.com

Happy Travels!

It will take you about a week just to visit all of the world heritage sites in Kathmandu Valley. We spent eight days there on our last trip. Here is my trip report from a few years ago:

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...mandu-2008.cfm

photos at www.marlandc.com/Nepal/index.html

We stayed at the Hyatt, which is a lovely hotel and walking distance to Boudnath and Pashupatinath. I recommend it. Years ago, I stayed at the Yak and Yeti. If you want to be right in the middle of town, just a block or so off the Durbar Marg, that's the place for you. But we appreciated the quiet of the Hyatt as a sort of refuge from the chaos of Kathmandu.

An Everest flight is unforgettable. I did it when I was there almost 20 years ago. Be prepared for flight delays, though!

i am visiting the city in november and have set aside 5 days.... i have no idea if this will be sufficient or way tooooo much...

we are staying at the hyatt based on kathie's experiences.

we could not find a flight from varanasi so are flying from delhi

There's a flight every second day on AirIndia VNS - KTM. It takes 55 minutes.

i just checked for november and there are flights on sat and sun only for about $186 one way

Thanks for the suggestions. Can anyone recommend a good guide? We are 60 years old and would want someone to meet us and serve as a guide.

Roosevelt.

i am interested in the same thing???

A guide for what?

Each of the Durbar Squares you visit will have official guides you can employ quite inexpensively. I didn't feel a need for a guide otherwise. Taxi drivers speak enough English to get you to where you want to go (many of them speak excellent English). If you are speading a whole day outside of the city, your hotel can arrange a driver for you.

Transport from the airport to your hotel is easy... I'm just not sure how I would have used a guide.

I am a little clueless about what we should see. I want some tourism (temples, etc), but also like to see markets and how the locals live. We could do 5 days, but I don't think the goal is to see every site. I also have heard about flying over Mt. Everest although I am not sure how safe that would be.

Roosevelt.

Roosevelt, read my trip report (linked in my original response to you) and look at the photos. This will give you a good idea of what you might want to see.

Seeing how the locals live includes visiting the Durbar squares (where most of the people there will be locals) and Boudnath (again, while there are western visitors at some times of the day, most people are locals). You will certainly visit markets.

I also think that getting out into the countryside (perhaps the drive to Changu Narayan) is an important part of the experience as well.

Get yourself a good guidebook and read. ALso, think back to what made you want to go to Kathmandu - what did you want to do/see/experience?

Kathy: Thank you. I will check it out.

Roosevelt.

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