Travel in Bhaktapur

Bhaktapur is the third of the Kathmandu Valley's royal cities, after Kathmandu itself and Patan. Our day notes call it a museum of medieval art and architecture, and that is the honest reason to go — the town itself. Durbar Square, the pagodas and temples ringing the Fifty-Five Window Palace, and bazaars where pottery and weaving are still the traditional trades. All six of our Nepal trips include it.

None of them sleeps there. Bhaktapur is a stop inside a day that starts and ends somewhere else, and on most routes it gets an afternoon rather than a full day. That is the most useful thing to know before you plan around it.

Four of the six run it the same way, on day 3 out of Kathmandu. The morning is Boudhanath — pilgrims, prayer wheels, market stalls of yak butter and barley flour — then Pashupatinath on the Bagmati, where only Hindus may enter, so the visit is made from the eastern bank. Bhaktapur closes that day. Those four are the 14-day Temples, shrines & Himalayas (from EUR 1,350), the 14-day Culture and Himalayan hiking (from EUR 1,760) and the two 17-day routes, Impressions of Nepal and Majestic Himalayas (both from EUR 1,640). Three sites in one day is a lot. If you want the bulk of it spent in Bhaktapur, say so and we will write the day that way.

The nine-day The world of Nepal (from EUR 930) handles it differently. Bhaktapur comes late, on day 8, paired with Nagarkot at 2,175 metres on the drive back from Dhulikhel — the last sightseeing day before the flight home. It is also one of only two routes whose notes name the pottery and weaving in the bazaars and say you can buy them.

The 11-day Trekking tour through Nepal (from EUR 1,575) is the one to read closely. Bhaktapur falls on day 1, on the road from the airport up to Nagarkot, and the itinerary states plainly that if there is not enough time the visit moves to the following day. Going straight from a long-haul flight into a walled town of temples suits some people and not others. The trip is private, so it can be moved.

What our itineraries name is Durbar Square, the Fifty-Five Window Palace and the bazaars. They do not name the Nyatapola pagoda on Taumadhi Square, and they do not itemise entrance fees — Bhaktapur charges foreign visitors at its gates, so ask us to confirm what is covered for your dates rather than assuming. Changu Narayan, on the hill above the town, is a separate day on two of the routes, where it starts a two-hour walk on unpaved paths to Telkot and on up to Nagarkot.

Every one of the six is private and guided; there are no group departures. Hotel accommodation, breakfast, a bottle of water on arrival, a German-speaking guide and someone reachable 24 hours a day are included. International flights are not, and there is no five-star tier. Because the trips are tailor-made, how much of the valley day goes to Bhaktapur is set with you before we build the route.