Kathmandu Valley
Newari Culture
The Newar are the historic inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley. Their urban civilisation, dense brick towns, tiered pagoda temples, and guthi social organisations that still fund festivals and temple upkeep, is what most visitors picture when they think of Nepal at all. Kathmandu and Bhaktapur were each independent city-states before the Gorkha unification of 1769, and their distinct architectural personalities still show it.
Festivals
Indra Jatra · SeptemberBisket Jatra · AprilYomari Punhi · December
Best Time to Experience
September through November, when Indra Jatra and Bisket-season chariot festivals fill the valley's squares.
Food
Newari cuisine centres on samay baji, a ceremonial platter of beaten rice, spiced potato, black soybeans, and buffalo meat, alongside choila, grilled spiced meat, and yomari, steamed rice-flour dumplings filled with molasses.
Food Guide
Choila
Grilled and spiced buffalo meat, served at room temperature.
Where to try: Bhat pasal, Newari eateries, throughout the Kathmandu Valley.
Gluten FreeMeat
PRO members see local tips and insider recommendations.
Samay Baji
Composite ceremonial platter, the closest thing Newari cuisine has to a national dish.
Where to try: Newari specialty restaurants in Kathmandu's old town.
Meat
Yomari
Sweet steamed rice-flour dumpling with a molasses or sesame filling.
Where to try: Newari kitchens across Kathmandu and Bhaktapur, especially around the December full moon.
VegetarianGluten Free
Where to Experience It: 3 Destinations
Kathmandu
1,400mKathmandu Valley
Nepal's capital crams centuries of Newari architecture and Hindu-Buddhist temples into a maze of streets that never quite go quiet. Durbar Square, Swayambhunath, and Pashupatinath are all within the valley. The city is noisy and chaotic, and it is the first impression of Nepal most travellers carry home.
CulturalSpiritualFood
EasySpring · Autumn · Winter
Bhaktapur
1,401mKathmandu Valley
The best-preserved of the valley's three medieval royal cities, 12km east of Kathmandu. Durbar Square, the 55-Window Palace, and Pottery Square are still a living town rather than a museum, potters work the wheel in the open square where tourists walk. Traffic-calmed brick lanes make it far easier to explore on foot than the capital.
