Kathmandu, the chaotic capital is many things at the same time, loud but charming, busy and yet peaceful, bustling, serene, alive, smelly, and asleep. The capital of Nepal, Kathmandu is the only metropolitan city as well. It has many, many shops, restaurants, hotels, especially in the heart of the center: Thamel. A taxi is the most common way to travel through Kathmandu, although you will end up more than once in one of the well known traffic jams. Kathmandu has fascinating buildings, temples and monuments, from walking distance from your hotel, like Durbar Square and Swayambhunath.
Patan or Lalitpur is the third-largest city in Nepal right after Kathmandu and Pokhara. The city is located next to Kathmandu, just across the river Bagmati from Kathmandu. Patan has its own Durbar Square that is full of statues, temples, and palaces. In addition, Durbar Square also has the famous ‘Patan museum’. It is a traditional centre for handicrafts and is also a place to purchase traditional jewellery, Buddha statues and masks.
Bhaktapur is the most medieval city in the Kathmandu Valley, it is the former third kingdom after Kathmandu and Patan. This city is like one big open air museum located around 12 kilometres from the capital city of Kathmandu and is divided into three squares, each of them filled with temples and other religious structures.
Pokhara is the second-largest city in this Himalayan country, 200 km from Kathmandu. It is the hub for many famous treks into the Annapurnas. The vibrant city lies at the big Fewa lake, which is a boating paradise flanked with charming shops, dreamy cafés, restaurants and pubs. It is a very scenic city with splendid panoramas on the Himalayan mountain range and has a lot to offer to tourists.
Janakpur is a very “Indian style” city in Nepal which is believed to be the birthplace of Goddess Sita and the place of her marriage with Lord Ram. Also known as the City of Ponds, Janakpur boasts of more than seventy ponds. Janakpur has a typical Indian atmosphere, also because of its characteristic temples.
Near the Indian border, you’ll find the (so believed) birthplace of Lord Buddha in he beautiful town of Lumbini. Lumbini is a Unesco World Heritage Site and has a lot of ancient stupas dating back 2000 years and monasteries that were built by past dynasties. People come here from all over the world to see and study Buddhism, read scriptures, meditate, practise yoga, trek and find inner peace.
