Kathmandu's history is stacked in layers: Licchavi stone gods from the 5th century, Malla-era palace squares from the 1600s, Shah unification in 1768 and the Rana dynasty's 104-year shadow rule. Three days across the valley's three royal capitals.
The Malla and Shah royal seat from the 1500s. Nine-storey Basantapur Tower, Jagannath Temple's erotic roof struts and the 1672 Kal Bhairav monolith stand alongside 2015 earthquake reconstruction. Open 07:00–19:00.
Built 1757 by Jaya Prakash Malla, the last Malla king of Kantipur. The three-storey brick courtyard has some of the valley's finest carved windows; the Kumari, a prepubescent Shakya girl, appears at the central window for a few seconds.
The 12th-century wooden pavilion that gave Kathmandu its name — reputedly built from a single sal tree. It collapsed entirely on 25 April 2015; excavation beneath revealed 7th-century foundations, and the rebuilt structure opened in 2022.
The valley's oldest standing temple, founded around 325 AD. Its stone pillar inscription of King Manadeva, dated 464 AD, is the earliest dated record in Nepali history. Superb Licchavi sculpture including a ten-headed Vishnu.
The Shah dynasty's residence until 2008, opened as a museum after the monarchy fell. The 1970 palace's throne room and state rooms are intact, and the garden preserves the bullet-marked Tribhuvan Sadan where the 2001 royal massacre took place.
Chandra Shumsher Rana's 1908 neoclassical palace, once the largest private residence in Asia with 1,700 rooms. A 1973 fire destroyed most of it; the surviving white facade now houses Nepal's government ministries.
Housed in the Keshav Narayan Chowk of Patan's royal palace, this is South Asia's finest small museum — bronze and stone Newari devotional art, with labels explaining iconography. The palace complex dates from the 1600s Malla golden age.
Built 1637 by Siddhi Narsingh Malla entirely from stone in the north Indian shikhara style — unusual in a valley of brick and timber. Its 21 golden pinnacles and friezes carve out scenes from the Mahabharata and Ramayana.
The best-preserved of the three Malla capitals, royal seat until 1769. The 55-Window Palace, the 1753 Golden Gate and the five-tiered Nyatapola Temple of 1702 — which survived the 1934 and 2015 quakes — anchor a largely car-free medieval town.
A 15th-century priests' house rebuilt in 1763, now the Woodcarving Museum. Its 1600s Peacock Window on the east alley is the most reproduced carving in Nepal — 17 spread feathers cut from a single block of sal.
A 12th-century Buddhist monastery courtyard still run by Newar Buddhist priests on a monthly rotation, with young boys serving 30-day terms. Gilded copper facade, a rat-and-tortoise guarded shrine, and daily rituals unchanged for centuries.
The valley's largest and oldest bahal courtyard, tied to the legend of the demon Guru Mapa. The lane running from here to Indra Chowk is the old Lhasa–Kathmandu trade route that made the Newar merchant families rich.