Pickup and check-in near the ghats. Evening on a private boat for the Dashashwamedh aarti, then dinner by the river.
Two Jyotirlinga cities, one border crossing
Kashi Vishwanath and Pashupatinath are the two temples at either end of the old pilgrim road between the Gangetic plain and the Kathmandu valley, and travellers have walked between them for centuries. The modern version takes six days, uses the Sonauli border and includes Lumbini, which sits almost exactly on the route.
For Indian passport holders there is no visa - a voter ID or Aadhaar is enough - which makes this far simpler than most people expect. We handle the border formalities, the vehicle change at Sonauli and the Nepali permits, so the crossing costs you an hour rather than a morning.
Pickup and check-in near the ghats. Evening on a private boat for the Dashashwamedh aarti, then dinner by the river.
The sunrise boat from Assi, then darshan at Kashi Vishwanath through the corridor. Sarnath in the afternoon - a useful prologue to Lumbini tomorrow.
A long drive north to the Sonauli border, formalities and the change of vehicle, then on to Lumbini. Evening at the Maya Devi Temple and the sacred pond where the Buddha was born.
The monastic zone in the morning - Thai, Chinese, German and Myanmar monasteries around the Ashokan pillar - then a flight or drive on to Kathmandu.
Morning darshan at Pashupatinath on the Bagmati, then Boudhanath stupa, Swayambhunath and Kathmandu Durbar Square. Evening free in Thamel.
A last morning for Budhanilkantha or shopping, then a drop at Tribhuvan International for your flight home.
This is how the tour usually runs, not a contract. Every itinerary is rewritten around your dates, your pace and your group — tell us what you want to change and we will rebuild it.
Already in the quoted price
Paid separately, or on the day
Forty minutes instead of eight hours on a mountain road. Strongly recommended.
From ₹6,500 per personAn hour along the Himalayan range at dawn, with a window seat guaranteed for everyone.
From ₹17,500 per personTwo nights on Phewa Lake under the Annapurna range, with a Sarangkot sunrise.
From ₹8,900 per personThe evening aarti at Pashupatinath from the terraces on the far bank.
₹900 per person
Anything we have not covered? Message us and a planner in Varanasi will reply, usually within the hour.
Message UsNo. A voter ID card, Aadhaar or passport is accepted at the Sonauli border. Carry the original plus two photocopies and two passport photographs - we handle the rest of the paperwork.
The inner sanctum is open to Hindus only, but the whole complex around it - the ghats, the terraces and the Bagmati bank - is open to everyone, and that is where most of the atmosphere is.
Fly if it is in budget. The road is eight hours of mountain highway and it is beautiful, but it swallows a day that is better spent in the valley.
Kathmandu is pleasant from October to April, dropping close to freezing on December and January mornings. Lumbini and Varanasi stay much warmer. Pack one warm layer even in October.
Signature 5N/6D Sarnath, Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Nalanda and Kushinagar - the five places the Buddha's life actually turned, covered in one unhurried loop.
Best Seller 2N/3D Kashi Vishwanath darshan, a sunrise boat ride, the Dashashwamedh aarti from the water and a morning at Sarnath.
3N/4D The Har Ki Pauri aarti, the ropeway temples above Haridwar, and Rishikesh where the river is still cold and green.
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