Nepal 7 Day Itinerary: Kathmandu, Patan, Pokhara and Bhaktapur

Quick stop, 45 minutes, cheap entry, 5 minutes' walk from Thamel, the hotel and backpacker district. After the long flight and check-in, this is the place to slow down: a 1920 neoclassical garden with pavilions, fountains and lawns, restored in the 2000s with Austrian support, where the city noise fades away.

About 1h45, 200 Nepali rupees entry, 3 km from Thamel, 15 minutes by taxi. Climb the 365-step eastern stairway late in the afternoon, when the light hits the golden spire and the Kathmandu Valley lights up below.

The stupa is more than 2,000 years old and one of the valley's holiest sites for Buddhists and Hindus alike. The Buddha's eyes painted on the spire look out in four directions, and the monkeys that give the temple its nickname steal food shamelessly: keep snacks and sunglasses away. Walk around the stupa clockwise, like the pilgrims, spinning the prayer wheels.

About 1h30, 1,000 Nepali rupees entry, open Thursday to Monday and closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; phones and cameras go in the cloakroom. It opens mid-morning and closes mid-afternoon: check the day's hours on the museum's website.

This was the king of Nepal's palace until 2008, when the country became a republic. The reception halls are as the royal family left them, with hunting trophies and gifts from heads of state, and in the grounds are the traces of the 2001 massacre, when the crown prince killed nine members of the royal family, including the king and queen, at a dinner in the palace.

Quick stop, 30 minutes, free, on the walk to Durbar Square. Six streets meet around a small pagoda temple in a market that has run for centuries: spices, rice, lentils, copper pots and flowers for offerings. Follow Indra Chowk street, which cuts diagonally down to the square.

About 2h30, 1,000 Nepali rupees entry, about 7 US dollars, covering the square and the Hanuman Dhoka palace museum. This is the old royal square and a Unesco World Heritage Site; some temples are still being rebuilt after the 2015 earthquake.

In the Kumari Ghar, the carved wooden house on the corner, lives the Kumari, a girl worshipped as a living goddess until her first period; she sometimes appears at the courtyard window, and photographing her is forbidden. Late in the afternoon, climb the steps of the Maju Deval temple to see the square from above.

About 3 hours, 1,000 rupees entry including the Patan Museum, 5 km from Thamel, 20 minutes by taxi. Patan, also called Lalitpur, is the city of Newar craftsmen, and its square is the most harmonious of the valley's three.

The 17th-century stone Krishna Mandir dominates the square, and the palace houses the Patan Museum, the best in the country for understanding Hindu and Buddhist art, with a café in the back courtyard. Allow at least an hour for it.

Quick stop, 30 minutes, cheap entry, two blocks north of the square. The 12th-century Buddhist monastery, Hiranya Varna Mahavihar, has a facade entirely covered in gilded copper. Take off shoes and leather items before entering, and look for the turtles that live in the courtyard as guardians of the temple. Have lunch at one of the Newar rooftop restaurants on the square.

About 2 hours, free to walk, rowing boats rented by the hour on the shore. The flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara takes 25 minutes, against 7 to 8 hours by bus on a poor road: fly in the morning and sit on the right-hand side of the plane for the mountain view.

Pokhara sits on Phewa Lake, with the Annapurna massif and the peak of Machhapuchhre less than 30 km away in a straight line. Walk the Lakeside shore, the district of hotels and cafés, and rent one of the colourful wooden boats late in the afternoon, when the wind drops and the mountain shows in the water.

Quick stop, 30 minutes, by boat. The small pagoda temple to the goddess Barahi sits on an islet in the middle of the lake and receives worshippers with flower offerings and, on Saturdays, animal sacrifices. At dusk, around 5.30pm, priests perform the fire aarti on the Lakeside steps right opposite.

About 2h30, a small viewpoint fee, 30 minutes by taxi from Lakeside. Leave at 5am, before dawn, because the show lasts only minutes: the sun lights the top of Dhaulagiri first, then Annapurna and Machhapuchhre, pink and then gold. From October to December the chance of clear skies is much higher.

Sarangkot is also Pokhara's paragliding launch, and from 9am the sky fills with wings. A tandem flight with an instructor lasts 20 to 30 minutes and costs around 80 to 100 US dollars.

About 1h30, free, on the hill south of the lake. The most beautiful way there is to cross Phewa by boat to the far shore and climb the 45-minute forest trail, but you can also take a taxi close to the top.

The white stupa was built by Japanese Buddhist monks of the Nipponzan Myohoji order, who have raised peace pagodas around the world. From the platform you see the whole lake, Lakeside and the range behind. Take off your shoes and keep your voice down.

About 1h30, cheap entry, 20 minutes by taxi from the Peace Pagoda. It is Pokhara's newest attraction: a seated Shiva statue about 33 metres tall on a circular temple, surrounded by 108 lingams, on top of Pumdikot hill at 1,500 metres.

Nepali families come up at weekends, and the terrace looks over the lake and the Annapurnas from the opposite side to Sarangkot. Cover shoulders and knees.

Quick stop, 45 minutes, cheap entry, on the way back to Lakeside. A spiral staircase leads down into the cave, with a Shiva shrine where photos are not allowed, and the passage continues to an opening behind the Davis Falls cascade across the road. The waterfall itself is small and ringed by shops; the cave is the better visit.

About 1h30, 400 Nepali rupees entry, 10 minutes by taxi from the airport. Take the morning flight back from Pokhara, drop your bags at the hotel and come straight here mid-afternoon.

It is one of the largest stupas in the world and the heart of Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal, surrounded by monasteries and shops selling thangkas and incense. Late in the afternoon pilgrims walk around it clockwise, spinning the prayer wheels: join them, then head up to a rooftop café to watch the dome light up.

About 2 hours, 1,000 Nepali rupees entry, 2 km from Boudhanath. The main temple, dedicated to Shiva, is for Hindus only; foreigners see everything from the opposite bank of the Bagmati river.

Open-air cremations take place every day on the stone ghats, which calls for silence and no close-up photos of families. At 6pm, earlier in winter, the aarti begins, a fire ceremony with bells and chanting on the riverside steps. The painted sadhus ask for money in exchange for photos.

About 2h30, 1,800 Nepali rupees entry, about 13 US dollars, the valley's most expensive, valid for the whole town. It is 13 km from central Kathmandu and 20 minutes from the airport, which makes it perfect for the last morning if your flight leaves in the afternoon.

Bhaktapur is the best-preserved Newar city, with car-free streets, brick houses and carved wooden windows. On the royal square stand the Golden Gate, leading into the palace of 55 windows, and stone temples rebuilt after the 2015 earthquake.

Quick stop, 30 minutes, 200 metres from the royal square, on Taumadhi Square. The five-tiered pagoda from 1702 is the tallest in the country and survived the 1934 and 2015 earthquakes. Its stairway is guarded by pairs of wrestlers, elephants, lions, griffins and goddesses, each pair ten times stronger than the one below. Before you leave, try juju dhau, the town's famous curd.