Patan is the second of the Kathmandu valley's three old royal cities and the one that still makes things. Its formal name is Lalitpur, the city of beauty, and you will see both used interchangeably on maps, bus boards and signs, which is worth knowing before you try to find it. It sits immediately south of Kathmandu across the Bagmati river, close enough that the two have grown into one another, and far enough in character that crossing the bridge feels like arriving somewhere.
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What distinguishes Patan from Bhaktapur and Kathmandu is craft. This was the valley's metalworking city and still is: the lanes north and east of the Durbar Square are full of workshops beating, casting and gilding bronze and copper, and a great deal of the religious statuary sold across the Himalayan Buddhist world is made within a few hundred metres of the palace. The city also has the best museum in Nepal by a wide margin, and the one stone temple in a valley built almost entirely from brick and timber.
What Is Here
The Krishna Mandir is the building to see and it is an outlier in every way. Built in 1637 entirely of carved stone in a North Indian shikhara style, with twenty-one gilded pinnacles and friezes of the Mahabharata and Ramayana running round its lower levels, it looks like nothing else in the valley and it came through both the 1934 and 2015 earthquakes standing. It sits on the Durbar Square opposite the old palace.
The Patan Museum occupies part of that palace and is the reason to allow a half day rather than an hour. It holds Hindu and Buddhist bronzes and is unusually well presented and labelled, which in this region is rare, and the building itself, restored in a long Austrian-funded project, is part of the exhibit. The courtyards behind it, the Sundari Chowk with its sunken royal bath and the Mul Chowk, are the quietest beautiful spaces in the valley.
The Golden Temple, Hiranya Varna Mahavihar, is a three-storey gilded Buddhist monastery down an unmarked lane a few minutes north of the square, entered through a low doorway past guardian lions, and is the single most atmospheric interior in Patan. Shoes and leather come off. The Mahabouddha, a terracotta tower covered in thousands of small Buddha images, is similarly hidden, and the stone water spouts at the top of this page are the kind of thing you find by accident in the lanes.
Beyond the old core, Patan is also modern Nepal's professional quarter: Jhamsikhel and Sanepa hold most of the country's international organisations, the best restaurants in the valley and a sizeable expatriate population, which is why the FCDO names Sanepa alongside Thamel in its safety advice.
Patan Against Bhaktapur and Kathmandu
All three Durbar Squares are UNESCO listed, all were built by rival kingdoms competing in the same idiom, and a visitor usually picks two. Kathmandu's is the most damaged, the most crowded and the hardest to see as a place rather than a thoroughfare. Bhaktapur's is the most intact and the city around it is the attraction, with the pottery square and the Nyatapola. Patan's is the one with the museum, the stone temple and the living craft, and it is twenty minutes from central Kathmandu, which makes it the easiest of the three to do properly on a half day.
If you only see one, see Bhaktapur. If you see two, add Patan rather than Kathmandu's square, which you will walk through anyway.
Getting There and Getting Around
Patan is twenty to forty minutes from Thamel by taxi or ride-hailing app depending on traffic, and there are frequent local buses and tempos from Ratna Park. The old city has an entry ticket for foreign visitors covering the Durbar Square and the museum, bought at the square.
Walking is the only way to see it. The lanes are narrow, the interesting things are down them, and the two hidden monasteries above are both reached through doorways you would not notice. Pick up a map at the museum or follow the signs, which are better than they used to be.
When to Go
October and November are the best months in Nepal, without qualification. The monsoon has gone, the air is clear, the Himalaya is visible from the valley rim and the festival calendar is dense. March and April are warmer and hazier and the second choice. December to February is cold, clear and quiet. June to September is the monsoon, with rain most afternoons and the mountains invisible for weeks.
Two valley-specific problems to plan for. The first is cold: Patan is at about 1,350 metres, January nights go to two or three degrees, and heating is rare in guesthouses, so winter here is colder indoors than out in the sun. The second is air quality. From roughly November to March the valley traps pollution against the surrounding hills and the readings are among the worst of any populated valley in the world. A fitted mask is a genuine item in those months, not a token.
Festivals worth planning around: Indra Jatra in September, Dashain in October, Tihar with the lamps in October or November, and the Rato Machhindranath chariot festival in April and May, which is Patan's own and runs for weeks.
Is Patan Safe for Women Travelers
UK FCDO: Nepal has NO ADVISED-AGAINST AREAS ANYWHERE and NO regional-risks page at all, so the whole country is open. What the advisory carries instead is unusually practical and unusually serious, and it is about transport and trekking rather than about crime: NO NEPALI AIRLINE MEETS INTERNATIONAL SAFETY STANDARDS, trekking is legally regulated and a guide is mandatory in national parks, and insurance must cover helicopter rescue. On terrorism the wording is the mild form. It notes that political protests and strikes are fairly common, can start at short notice, may lead to violent clashes and can bring curfews and transport disruption.
The advisory names two Kathmandu neighbourhoods specifically. It records that women have been sexually assaulted in tourist areas such as THAMEL and SANEPA, and advises caution especially when alone after dark. Thamel is the main backpacker district and where most visitors stay, which is precisely why naming it is more useful than a general statement: the risk is not somewhere else, it is on the street you are staying on, late, and the practical answer is a taxi for the last stretch rather than a walk.
Sanepa is in Patan and that is why this warning belongs on this page rather than only on Kathmandu's. Sanepa and Jhamsikhel are the expatriate and NGO quarter about fifteen minutes from the Durbar Square, with the valley's best restaurants and most of its bars, and the FCDO names it alongside Thamel for sexual assaults in tourist areas. The practical reading is the same as in any district with a nightlife: be careful with your drink, leave with the people you arrived with, and take a taxi or a ride-hailing car for the last stretch rather than walking back in the dark. The lanes of the old city, by contrast, are residential, quiet and locked up early, and are unremarkable for a woman alone.
No Nepali airline meets international safety standards, and this is the strongest air-safety clause in this guide library. The FCDO states that the UK Air Safety List names all known airlines in Nepal that do not meet international safety standards and are banned from operating commercial services to or from the UK, and then the sentence that matters: CURRENTLY NO NEPALI AIRLINE MEETS THE INTERNATIONAL SAFETY STANDARDS AND SO ALL ARE LISTED. It records that over the last five years there have been a number of separate fatal accidents and crashes involving planes and helicopters, with AT LEAST 100 DEATHS. THIS IS A DECISION RATHER THAN A WARNING, because internal flights are how Lukla, Jomsom, Simikot and Rara are reached and how most trekkers save a week. The honest framing is that the risk is real and quantified, that the alternative is often several days of rough road, and that where a road exists it is worth pricing the trade properly rather than defaulting to the flight because it is quicker. Flights in the mountains are also frequently delayed or cancelled by weather, so carry enough money for delays and never put a mountain flight on the day before an international departure.
What is most likely to cause a problem is the ground and the air. The old lanes are uneven brick and stone with open drains, unmarked steps and poor lighting, and a torch plus sensible shoes solves most of it. Nepal is seismically active: the 2015 earthquake killed nearly nine thousand people and brought down structures on this square, so note where open ground is near your accommodation and ask whether the building is post-2015 or retrofitted. Stray dogs are everywhere, mostly indifferent, and can carry rabies.
Dress and temple etiquette. Shoulders and knees covered, shoes off at temples and monasteries, and at the Golden Temple leather of any kind, including belts and camera straps, is not supposed to enter. Do not sit on or step over a shrine plinth, walk clockwise around a stupa, and ask before photographing people, especially at worship.
The Patan Packing List
A merino base layer, for an unheated winter and a dusty spring
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women covers the two opposite problems of the Kathmandu valley with one garment. In December and January it is the layer you sleep in, because the room will be two or three degrees and there is no heating. In October and April it keeps your arms covered for temple appropriateness at twenty-five degrees without the wet-cotton problem, and it goes several days in valley dust without smelling, which matters where washing means a bucket and nothing dries in winter.
A fitted mask, in winter especially
From November to March the valley's air is genuinely hazardous, not merely unpleasant. A properly rated respirator rather than a cloth mask is the difference between a comfortable trip and a week of headache and sore throat, and you should buy it before you come because what is sold locally is mostly surgical.
A shell and a warm layer
A packable Marmot PreCip Eco rain jacket for monsoon afternoons and for the cold early mornings over a base layer. If you come between December and February, add something genuinely warm to sleep in.
Shoes that come off easily and grip when they are on
You will take them off at the Golden Temple, the Mahabouddha and every shrine, and put them back on to walk uneven brick with open drains. Comfortable slip-ons with a decent sole are ideal. A waterproof hiking shoe is more than the city needs and right if a trek follows, which for most visitors it does.
Wool socks, because they are what is on the temple floor
A pair of Darn Tough merino hiking socks does double duty: warmth in an unheated room, and the thing between your feet and a cold stone monastery floor in January.
A headlamp
A rechargeable headlamp is a necessity in Nepal rather than a nicety. Power cuts are routine, the old lanes are badly lit, and the surfaces are exactly the sort you want to see before you step on them.
Water
An insulated water bottle with a filter or tablets. Tap water is not drinkable anywhere in Nepal, and the valley's plastic bottle problem is visible everywhere.
The small things
Nepali rupees in cash for the entry ticket and the lanes, although Patan is the one part of the valley where cards work in restaurants. A scarf for temples and dust. A belt without leather if you intend to enter the Golden Temple properly, or simply nothing leather that day. A power bank. And allow money for metalwork, because this is the place to buy it and the workshops will sell you something made fifty metres away.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women in Patan
Emergency numbers: 100 for police, 102 for ambulance, 101 for fire. Nepal's Tourist Police operate a national line on 1144 and have their main office in Kathmandu at Bhrikutimandap, about twenty minutes away, and there is a district police office in Patan. For violence against women, the Nepal Police Women and Children Service Centre runs a helpline on 1145. A written report is needed for any insurance claim and the tourist police will help produce one. English is widely spoken in Patan, more so than in most of Nepal, because of the international organisations based in Sanepa and Jhamsikhel.
US State Department travel advisory: the Nepal advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/nepal, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Main hospitals: Patan has the Patan Hospital in Lagankhel, a long-established teaching hospital and a genuinely good one by regional standards, which is the nearest serious facility and is used by residents of the area. Across the river in Kathmandu, Norvic International, Grande International and the CIWEC Clinic are the facilities used by the diplomatic community and by travellers, and CIWEC in particular specialises in travel medicine and altitude illness, which makes it the right first stop if a trek has gone wrong. For anything major the realistic answer is evacuation to Bangkok, Delhi or Singapore, so insurance covering EVACUATION rather than only treatment is essential in Nepal even on a valley-only trip.
Official health authority: the Ministry of Health and Population, Nepal. Insurance must cover EVACUATION rather than only treatment, because anything major means a flight out of the country. If a trek follows, it must separately cover MOUNTAIN RESCUE AND HELICOPTER COSTS, which a standard policy does not, and the CIWEC Clinic in Kathmandu is the place that deals with altitude illness
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Kathmandu.
Official tourism authority: the Nepal Tourism Board, which is also where the TIMS card requirement and the trekking permit rules are published. The Nepal Tourism Board publishes the TIMS card and trekking permit requirements, which are mandatory and which a guide is also now required for in national parks
Sanepa is in Patan and the advisory names it. Take a car back from the bars rather than walking.
Nothing leather inside the Golden Temple, including belts and camera straps.
Solo women safety assessment: Patan is easy, and the one thing that makes it different from Bhaktapur is that part of it has a nightlife. Nepal carries NO advised-against areas anywhere and no regional-risks page at all. THE FCDO NAMES SANEPA ALONGSIDE THAMEL for sexual assaults in tourist areas, and Sanepa is in Patan: it and neighbouring Jhamsikhel are the expatriate and NGO quarter with the valley's best restaurants and most of its bars, fifteen minutes from the Durbar Square. So the advice splits by district. In Sanepa and Jhamsikhel at night, keep track of your drink, leave with the people you came with, and take a taxi or ride-hailing car for the last stretch rather than walking. In the old city the lanes are residential, quiet and shut early, and a woman alone is unremarkable. Dress conservatively, which is undemanding here: shoulders and knees covered, shoes off at temples, nothing leather at the Golden Temple, no sitting on shrine plinths, and ask before photographing people at worship. Political protests and strikes are fairly common, start at short notice, can turn violent and bring curfews, so avoid them and check local media before intercity travel. WHAT IS MOST LIKELY TO AFFECT YOU IS THE AIR AND THE GROUND rather than any person: from November to March the valley's pollution is among the worst anywhere populated and warrants a fitted respirator, and the old lanes are uneven brick with open drains, unmarked steps and poor lighting, which a torch and decent shoes largely solve. Winter nights reach two or three degrees in unheated rooms. Nepal is seismically active and 2015 killed nearly nine thousand people and damaged this square, so ask whether your building is post-2015 and note the nearest open ground. Stray dogs can carry rabies. And no Nepali airline meets international safety standards, with all of them banned from UK operations and at least 100 deaths in five years, which governs any domestic flight you add. 100 for police, 1144 for tourist police, 1145 for the women and children service centre, Patan Hospital in Lagankhel, CIWEC in Kathmandu for travel medicine, and evacuation cover for anything serious.
Reading On
Read Patan against the other two valley cities. The Bhaktapur packing list covers the brick city twenty minutes east, which is the most intact of the three and the one to see if you only see one, and the Kathmandu packing list the capital, Thamel and the third Durbar Square. Beyond the valley, the Pokhara packing list covers the lake and the Annapurna gateway, the Chitwan packing list the lowland park, and the Lumbini packing list the Buddha's birthplace. For trekking, the Everest Base Camp packing list, the Annapurna Circuit packing list and the Langtang packing list, with the permit, TIMS and mandatory-guide rules covered in each. For the other Patan, the Gujarati one with the Rani ki Vav stepwell that this post is carefully not about, the India travel guide for women is the way in. The Nepal travel guide for women and the Nepal packing list carry the country-level advice. For why merino works in an unheated room at three degrees and in temple-appropriate sleeves at twenty-five, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
