Kopan was founded in 1969 by Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and it has taught Buddhist philosophy and meditation to Westerners ever since. Several hundred monks study here, and a nunnery stands on a nearby hill.
Visitors are welcome to walk the gardens and join short introductory sessions; the month-long November course is famous. The views over the valley are superb.
Nepal's holiest Hindu temple, on the Bagmati river, where Shiva is worshipped as Lord of Animals and the dead are cremated on the ghats.
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One of the largest stupas in the world, the heart of Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal, ringed by monasteries and circling pilgrims.
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The ancient hilltop stupa of the 'self-arisen' Buddha, reached by 365 steps, overlooking the whole valley.
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The old royal palace of Hanuman Dhoka and its temple squares, home of the Kumari, the living goddess.
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Kathmandu's traveller quarter, and a walk south through Asan and Indra Chowk, the city's oldest market streets.
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A restored neo-classical Rana garden of the 1920s, a calm green refuge on the edge of Thamel.
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