Kathmandu Durbar Square, Swayambhunath (Monkey Temple) and Asan Tole

The historic heart of old Kathmandu (Kantipur) stretches between the royal palaces of Kathmandu Durbar Square (Basantapur), the ancient trade crossroads of Asan Tole and the wooded hillock of Swayambhunath rising across the Bishnumati River two kilometres west.

Kathmandu Durbar Square (Basantapur) and the Kumari Ghar

For centuries until the late nineteenth century, the Malla and Shah kings ruled from the courtyards of Hanuman Dhoka Palace on Kathmandu Durbar Square. Enter with your municipal heritage ticket to walk through Nasal Chowk (where royal coronations took place beneath intricately carved seventeenth-century Newari timber struts and round-window galleries) and climb the museum floors next to the nine-storey Basantapur Tower. On the southern edge of the square stands the three-storey red-brick Kumari Ghar (House of the Living Goddess), built in 1757 by King Jaya Prakash Malla with peacock-carved latticework windows. Step quietly into the inner courtyard between mid-morning and late morning: the young Royal Kumari frequently appears for a silent thirty-second blessing at the central upper window (remember that cameras and phones must stay put away when she appears). Outside on the square, look for the fierce stone relief of Kala Bhairav, the gigantic gilded mask of Sweta Bhairav behind wooden lattice screens, and the tiered 1564 Taleju Temple rising on its twelve-stage brick plinth.

Walking Asan Tole, Indra Chowk and the Garden of Dreams

Rather than taking a taxi between Thamel and Durbar Square, walk the diagonal medieval trade route through Asan Tole and Indra Chowk. Six lanes converge at Asan around the three-storey Annapurna Temple in a riot of brass singing bowls, red chilli mounds, dried Himalayan herbs and glass-bangle stalls, while tiny courtyard arches lead into hidden Buddhist bahals such as Kathesimbhu Stupa. At the northern edge of Thamel in Kaiser Mahal, step through the high wall of the 1920 neoclassical Garden of Dreams (Swapna Bagaicha), where sunken lawns, stone fountains and white pavilions silence the street horns immediately.

Swayambhunath Stupa (Monkey Temple) at sunrise

According to valley mythology, the entire Kathmandu basin was once a primordial lake until the Bodhisattva Manjushri sliced open the southern Chobar Gorge with a flaming sword, leaving a miraculous lotus flower resting atop the central hillock that became Swayambhunath. Arrive early in the morning at the foot of the eastern stone staircase to climb its 365 steps alongside resident rhesus macaques and pilgrims past giant carved stone vajras to the gleaming white dome, gilded torana and thirteen-tiered spire, looking straight out over the entire city. Pair with Boudhanath in our 3-day itinerary.