Kathmandu: What to Know Before You Go

Short answer: always walk clockwise around Buddhist stupas and prayer wheels, carry Nepali rupee cash for municipal Durbar Square entry tickets, remove shoes and leather items before stepping into temple sanctums, and install the Pathao or InDrive app with a local SIM card at the airport.

Buddhist and Hindu temple etiquette in the valley

Religious monuments in the Kathmandu Valley are active places of pilgrimage rather than sterile archaeological parks, and observing three simple local customs earns immediate warmth:

• Always walk clockwise (kora) around Buddhist stupas, mani walls and prayer wheels: at Boudhanath, Swayambhunath and courtyard chaityas, keep the monument to your right side and spin prayer wheels clockwise with your right hand.
• Hindu sanctum access and leather rules: while everyone is welcome in the outer courtyards of Pashupatinath and the valley's Durbar Squares, the innermost sanctums of major active Hindu temples (such as the main golden-roofed Pashupatinath courtyard and Taleju Temple) admit practising Hindus only. Remove your shoes before stepping onto any raised temple plinth, and never touch offerings or point the soles of your feet toward shrines or statues.
• The Royal Kumari: if the Living Goddess appears briefly at her carved third-floor window inside the Kumari Ghar on Kathmandu Durbar Square, photography of her is strictly forbidden.

Nepali rupees (NPR), Durbar Square visitor passes and SIM cards

Boutique hotels and rooftop restaurants in Thamel, Lazimpat and Patan accept Visa and Mastercard, yet municipal ticket booths at the three Durbar Squares, Boudhanath, Swayambhunath and Pashupatinath require Nepali rupee (NPR) cash. Keep your paper entry ticket and passport photo page handy: if you are staying in the historic core of Kathmandu, Patan or Bhaktapur, take your passport and a passport-sized photo to the municipal counter at the gate to convert your single-entry ticket into a free multi-day visitor pass for the length of your stay. Pick up an Ncell or Nepal Telecom eSIM / physical SIM right in the airport arrivals hall so you can use Pathao or InDrive for transparent ride-hailing.