Top Attractions in Kathmandu

The old royal heart of the city: a UNESCO ensemble of pagoda temples, palace courtyards and the house of the Kumari — Nepal's living goddess.

The all-seeing eyes of the Buddha over the valley: a hilltop stupa complex reached by 365 steps, ringed by prayer wheels and its famous macaque residents.

One of the largest stupas on earth and the centre of Nepal's Tibetan Buddhist life — join the evening kora as butter lamps come alight.

Nepal's holiest Hindu site on the Bagmati river — a sprawling complex of shrines, sadhus and the open-air cremation ghats central to Hindu rites.

The best-preserved of the valley's three royal cities: car-free brick lanes, the 55-Window Palace, Nyatapola pagoda and pottery squares still working clay.