Seven Monuments in One Afternoon

Everyone tries to see the valley in a day and everyone fails, but the failure is worth attempting. The trick is to stop trying to see all seven monument zones and pick three that sit close together.

Start at Patan, not Durbar Marg

Patan’s Durbar Square is smaller than Kathmandu’s and less crowded before nine. From there you can walk to the Golden Temple in ten minutes and spend an hour in a courtyard that has been continuously in use for a thousand years.

Bring small notes. Half the doorways you will want to enter are maintained by families, not by an authority, and a hundred rupees is both an entry fee and a courtesy.