Kathmandu, Nepal 3 Day Itinerary

Three days is tight, and cramming Bhaktapur and Patan into the same afternoon, which I’ve seen plenty of itineraries do, means you’ll remember neither properly. Give each thing room to breathe or skip it entirely.

Day 1: the city center. Start at Kathmandu Durbar Square in the morning, before the crowds and heat build. It’s largely rebuilt since the 2015 earthquake, some scaffolding still around, and worth walking slowly rather than checking off. For lunch, don’t eat in the square itself where prices assume you won’t wander further; walk toward Patan territory if you can, or hold out for dinner. In the afternoon, get to Swayambhunath, the actual Monkey Temple, and take the roughly 365 steps on the east side rather than the vehicle approach if you want the earned view. Spend the evening in Thamel, but treat the restaurants there as convenient, not good; the real food is a short ride away and you’ll get there tomorrow.

Day 2: pick Bhaktapur or Patan, not both. This is the day most itineraries get wrong. Bhaktapur is 45 to 90 minutes out and its ticket, the priciest of the three durbar squares at NPR 1,800-2,000, covers the whole medieval town, not one plaza, which means it deserves the whole day: Pottery Square, Nyatapola Temple, wandering without a fixed route. If you’d rather stay closer to the city, do Patan instead, which is better preserved than Kathmandu Durbar Square and pulls fewer crowds, and eat properly there, Newa Lahana or Honacha for real chhoila and bara. Whichever you choose, don’t try to squeeze the other one in afterward; you’ll rush both and enjoy neither.

Day 3: one hilltop, done right, not a race. Nagarkot at 2,175 meters is the classic pick for Himalaya sunrise views, but a rushed round trip in a single morning often means arriving after the light’s gone flat. If you genuinely only have a few hours, take the Chandragiri Hills cable car instead: about an hour to the base, a ten-minute ride up for roughly $13 one-way, temple and views, and you’re back in the city with the whole afternoon still ahead of you. That’s the better trade for three days specifically. Save Nagarkot’s overnight for a longer trip. Spend your last afternoon revisiting whichever site from day one deserved a second, calmer look, and close with dinner on Durbar Marg rather than one more Thamel rooftop.

Practical notes. Most of central Kathmandu is walkable, but between neighborhoods you’ll want a taxi or a ride-hailing app since there’s no metro to fall back on. Taxis dodge the meter regardless of the law, so agree the fare first or use Pathao or InDrive. Tap water isn’t safe to drink, so stick to bottled or a filter, and pack a mask if you’re visiting during the dry winter or pre-monsoon months when the dust and pollution genuinely bite.