Highlights of Kathmandu Tour

Short for time? Or simply want to include a short tour of Kathmandu before heading off to Pokhara or Everest? Then the Highlights of Kathmandu Tour is the perfect day trip for you. It includes two of the most popular of the Valley’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites as well as a ride up the Chandragiri Cable Car to see not only the beautiful Kathmandu Valley but the mighty Himalayas as well.

This is a one day tour that starts out with a ride up Chandragiri Hill by the new cable car in the Kathmandu Valley. Following lunch on top, ride back down and visit nearly Swayambhu and Kathmandu’s Durbar Square. Both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which feature incredible architecture, history, culture, and spirituality. This is an ideal day trip that can be added to any Nepal adventure.

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Chandragiri Hills, Thankot, Kathmandu 44619 Nepal

The Highlights of Kathmandu Tour makes for an incredible day trip in the amazing Kathmandu Valley. It features the Chandragiri Cable Car ride up Chandragiri Hill for the most fantastic view of the Himalayas as well as the beautiful Kathmandu Valley below. It also takes in two of the most popular of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Swayambhu and Kathmandu’s Durbar Square.

The journey begins after breakfast when your guide picks you up at your hotel with your private car to take you to Chandragiri Cable Car. Here you ride on this newly developed attraction in a gondola with large glass windows on all four sides. You skim over the lush, green jungle below as the gondola glides upwards. From your windows, gaze out over the Kathmandu Valley as the snowcapped peaks of the Himalayas rise higher and higher on the horizon.

At the top, explore the temple as Chandragiri is a Hindu pilgrimage site. Go from here and enjoy lunch at the top where there is fine dining. Eat inside or out-of-doors with the Himalayas for your backdrop. On clear days, you can actually see five of the 14 highest peaks in the world, including Mt. Everest in the east!

Duration: 2 hours

Stop At: Swayambhunath Temple, Swayamhu Circle Road, Kathmandu 44620 Nepal

You will return to your car via the cable car where your guide and driver whisk you off to Swayambhu. The famed Monkey Temple has been a Buddhist Pilgrimage Site for over 2000 years. Here you will see a synergy of Hinduism and Buddhism as only found in Nepal. The views from on top of Swayambhu are also outstanding as you explore the various stupas and temples.

Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Amideva Buddha Park, Kathmandu 44600 Nepal

Here you see large Buddhist stupa and prayers flag around this park. This is the also entry point of Swayambhunath stupa.

Duration: 20 minutes

Stop At: Kathmandu Durbar Square, Kathmandu 44600 Nepal

Our next stop is Kathmandu’s Durbar Square. This was the home of the kings of Nepal until the end of the monarchy in 2007. Besides the royal palace, there are nearly 60 major Hindu temples, reflecting architectural styles dating back 800 years as well as from different royal dynasties.

We time it so that you will be able to see The Kumari, also known as the Living Goddess. She is a young girl especially chosen to be the embodiment of a goddess and she comes to give blessings to devotees. She is worshipped as a goddess by the Nepali people.

Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Kumari Chowk, Durbar Square, Kathmandu 44600 Nepal

Kumari Chowk is located in the middle of Kathmandu Durbar Square as it is the home for living goddess Kumari, a virgin girl chosen from the Newar family.

Duration: 10 minutes