Day Trip to Bhaktapur and Panauti from Kathmandu

I decided to walk instead of asking to get picked up to meet my guide and driver. It turned out that I was the only one who booked the tour so it was just me! My guide explained that we would go to Panauti first about 35 kilometers away then Bhaktapur. It was rice harvesting season so I got to see the locals spreading the rice grains out to dry. We had lunch with a great view in Bhaktapur - local Nepalese food! Be mindful that they include a 10% + 13% tax in addition to your order. I went mid-October so the weather was great and I got some wonderful photos. My guide explained the history of the sites, temples, Hindu gods, etc. but he was naturally very soft spoken so sometimes I did not hear or understand what he said but he was very patient and repeated the information when I asked. He never rushed me to view a sight and went at my pace. Towards the end of the day I realized that we were running late but I did not feel rushed by him - I just felt bad for taking long since I asked a lot of questions and took a lot of photos. Overall I am very satisfied with the tour and recommend it to anyone looking to leave the capital and see some of the beautiful hilly landscape of the valley!

This tour is amazing value and Kalpana our guide was exceptional. She was very knowledgeable in terms or history and culture, promoting grassroots tourism with an emphasis on the empowerment of women in business. The sights visited were wonderful. I would definitely recommend this tour without hesitation.

A group of 4 ladies were looking for a quick experience on the outskirts of Kathmandu. The first village we visited was Panauti, a very quaint, peaceful village walk. We walked at our pace of personal interest and even swung on the big bamboo festival swing. Next we went to Bhaktapur, a World Heritage site. Many museums were closed due to the festival holiday. We stopped for a sweet, cool yogurt and even did some limited shopping. Our guide Akshay from Royal Mountain Travel was personable, friendly, spoke excellent English and offered a hotel drop off as well. We felt safe and entered a small picture of Nepalese culture.

I loved this tour! It and the full day Kathmandu city tour were the best I took during my week in Kathmandu, and I took a tour each day. The architecture of the buildings and other sights were amazing. DON'T MISS! I wish I could remember the guide's name, as he was so very excellent!

We had a wonderful day with our guide who was knowledgeable and passionate about the small town of Panauti and her home town of Bakhtapur. We were able to visit a small school in Panauti and to sample the "king of curds," delicious local yogurt, in Bakhtapur. She answered all of our questions in detail.

An interesting and beautiful trip to some less crowded locations.

I really enjoyed the tour and can recommend it to everyone!! The guide was extremely knowledgeable and friendly and what I particularly liked is that he would show me something and then give me a couple of minutes or as long as I want to check the site out by myself. I liked that this gave me enough opportunity to take nice photos and experience the site/moment by myself without having to keep a conversation 100 of the time. Definitely worthwhile!

This was our favorite tour out of four that we took. Fascinating everywhere you looked and walked. A wonderful experience.

This trip was great!! The tour guide was very informative and friendly. All of the sites were interesting and at the end our guide organised for us to have lunch with a local family in their home which was an amazing experince

This was one of the best tours we have done in the area. Our tour guide Raz was very knowledgeable, patient and gave us enough space to explore the places. The tour started in the village of Panauti where we could see how locals live and ended in Bhaktapur where we walked around all the main sites. We stopped by for lunch at one of the tourist restaurants on Durbar square. Our version of the tour did not include lunch with local women in Panauti, as advertised in tour description, but nonetheless it was a very nice and informative tour. Thank you Raz! P.S. Raz asked us if we wanted to stop by a thangka shop in Bhaktapur and it was great that we didn't feel pressured to purchase anything. This was a nice school, so if you are interested in purchasing thangkas, I recommend you look around few stores prior to visiting this one to know what you are looking for and compare prices.