Nepal holds ten UNESCO World Heritage listings, most of them clustered in the Kathmandu Valley. These ten sites span royal palace squares, living temples and the birthplace of the Buddha.
The former royal palace complex of the Malla and Shah kings, packed with pagoda temples, courtyards and carved wood windows — a UNESCO World Heritage Site at the heart of the old city.
Considered the finest of the three Durbar Squares for its density of Newar craftsmanship, with the Krishna Mandir's stone shikhara and a working royal palace museum.
A largely car-free medieval city of brick-paved squares, pottery courtyards and the 55-Window Palace, still following traditional Newar urban life.
A hilltop Buddhist stupa overlooking the Kathmandu Valley, its Buddha eyes painted on all four sides, reached by a stairway of 365 steps shared with resident macaques.
One of the largest stupas in the world and the centre of Tibetan Buddhist life in Nepal, ringed by monasteries, prayer wheels and prayer-flag rooftops.
The holiest Hindu temple in Nepal, dedicated to Shiva, set on the banks of the Bagmati River where cremation ghats and sadhus are part of daily life.
Nepal's oldest surviving Hindu temple, dating to the 4th century, set on a quiet ridgetop with some of the finest stone and metal carvings in the valley.
The birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, marked by the Maya Devi Temple and a sprawling monastic zone with temples built by Buddhist nations worldwide.
The hilltop palace-fortress of King Prithvi Narayan Shah, who unified Nepal from here in the 18th century, with sweeping views over the Himalaya on clear days.
A striking white Mughal-style temple dedicated to Sita, built in 1910, and the spiritual heart of the Mithila cultural region in Nepal's southern plains.