Boudhanath
One of the largest stupas in the world, circled day and night by Tibetan pilgrims.
Duration
1 hr – 2 hrs
Best time
Late in the day
Open
Every day
Entry price
To confirm
The Boudhanath stupa is thirty-six metres tall and among the largest in the world. It stands on the old trade route to Tibet, and the Tibetan exile of 1959 made it the centre of Nepal's Tibetan community: some fifty monasteries were built around it.
You walk round it clockwise, as the pilgrims do, turning the prayer wheels set into the wall. The dome was cracked by the 2015 earthquake and rebuilt within a year, funded entirely by donations. The best time is the evening, when the butter lamps are lit.
Getting there
Six kilometres east of central Kathmandu. Taxi from Thamel, twenty to thirty minutes depending on traffic.
What the price covers
paid zone entry, rate to be confirmed
What to bring
- Covering clothes
- Headlamp
Rules on site
You always walk clockwise, without exception: going the other way is a visible offence. Shoulders and knees covered, shoes off inside the monasteries.