A day among the brick lanes and pagoda temples of Bhaktapur, the best-preserved of the Kathmandu Valley's three medieval city-states, from the palace of 55 windows to the five-tiered Nyatapola temple and the potters' square.
Itinerary
Day 1: Bhaktapur Durbar Square, Nyatapola Temple and Pottery Square
Full Day Tour: approx. 5 to 6 hours. Bhaktapur, 15 km east of Kathmandu, was founded by King Anand Dev in 889 AD and kept much of its medieval street plan and brick-and-timber architecture largely intact. The tour starts in Durbar Square at the 55-Window Palace and the ornate Golden Gate, then walks through Taumadhi Square to the Nyatapola Temple, a five-storey pagoda and the tallest in Nepal, built to withstand earthquakes that have levelled buildings around it. From there the route continues to Dattatreya Square, with its 15th-century temple and the carved Pujari Math, before finishing at Pottery Square, where Prajapati potters still shape and sun-dry clay pots on open wheels much as they have for generations.