Kathmandu Elevation & Altitude of Main Areas and Nearby

Kathmandu, the capital and largest city, is located in the Kathmandu Valley in the center of Nepal at an elevation & altitude of 1,400 meters (4,600 ft). The entire city is surrounded by mountains with altitudes ranging from 1,500 to 2,800 meters. Dozens of rivers pass through Kathmandu Valley to join the sacred Bagmati River, and finally into the Ganges.

Kathmandu means "City of Light" and is like spring in all seasons. As it is located on the southern slope of the Himalayas, Kathmandu has a unique geographical location, a pleasant climate, and sunny weather all year round. The average annual temperature is 20°C. Therefore, Kathmandu is also a world-famous tourist destination. In addition, as Kathmandu is a low-altitude city, tourists do not need to worry about altitude sickness. However, Nepal is one of the countries with the highest altitude in the world. Therefore, tourists who travel to Kathmandu or other places in Nepal should still understand the altitude information.

The Elevation & Altitude of in Kathmandu Valley

The Kathmandu Valley is made up primarily of three major districts, Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur. The average elevation of the Kathmandu Valley is 1,400 meters. It is the cultural and political hub of Nepal. In addition, it is also the most popular area for tourists in Nepal.

Kathmandu Elevation & Altitude Guide

Kathmandu is located in the core area of ​​the Kathmandu Valley, with an average altitude between 1,280 and 1,340 meters, and is the lowest point in the Kathmandu Valley. It is at the confluence of the Bagmati River and the Bichenmati River. Surrounded by mountains, it is known as the "mountain paradise". Built in 723, Kathmandu is an ancient city with a history of more than 1,200 years. There are more than 2,700 large and small temples. So it is known as "the city of temples". Kathmandu is a very popular tourist destination. In addition, as Kathmandu is a low-altitude city, tourists do not need to worry about altitude sickness.

Altitude of Patan

Patan is located on the bank of the Bagmati River, 5km south of Kathmandu, with an average altitude of 1,324 meters, and the highest point is about 2,300 meters. It was an ancient commercial center of Kathmandu Valley. In addition, Patan is also the second largest city in Nepal. Built in 298, Patan was formerly known as "Lalitpur", which means "City of Art". Patan is one of the most popular places to visit in Nepal, with the Patan Potala, the City Museum, the Mahadev Temple, and the Rani Ki Vav to name a few.

Altitude of Bhaktapur

Bhaktapur called Pātgaon. It is located 12 km east of Kathmandu with an average altitude of 1,320 meters, and the highest point is about 1,350 meters above sea level. Bhaktapur was built in 389. As merchants from all over the world stopped here, it gradually became a commercial center. At the beginning of the 13th century, the Malla Dynasty established its capital here, which became the political and cultural center of Nepal. There are many attractions in Bhaktapur, including the Bhaktapur Durbar Square, the Pottery Square, the Nyatapola Temple, and the Dattatreya Temple.

Elevation of Travel Destinations Near Kathmandu

As the capital and largest city of Nepal, Kathmandu is a must-see before heading to other parts of Nepal. Nepal is the highest altitude country in the world and has large elevation differences in various regions. Chitwan altitude is between 150 and 760 meters. Pokhara's elevation is 900 meters above sea level, while Mt. Everest, the highest peak in the world, is 8848.86 meters above sea level.

Lhasa to Kathmandu altitude

Nepal Location

Kathmandu tourist attractions

Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal, located in the center of this narrow and long country, with a population of more than 410,000, sometimes referred to by Chinese simply as "Kadu". Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, is located in the northwest of the Kathmandu River Valley, at the confluence of the Bagmati River and the Bichenmati River, surrounded by mountains, full of pines and cypresses, bright sunshine, four seasons like spring, known as "mountain paradise". Kathmandu is an ancient city with a history of more than 1,000 years, which has become a symbol of Nepal's ancient culture with its exquisite architecture and wood and stone carvings. Nepalese dynasties have built a large number of palaces, temples, pagodas, halls, monasteries, etc. here, in the city center of less than 7 square kilometers there are more than 250 stupas, and temples, the city has more than 2,700 large and small temples, really can be described as "five steps one temple, ten steps one an", therefore, some people call the city "temple city", "open-air museum". Kathmandu was founded in 723 when Emperor Gunagamadawa, who presided over its founding, named it "Kantipur", which means "city of light" in Sanskrit. In the 16th century, the king of the Richardwi dynasty built a three-eave pagoda-like building from a large tree in the center of the city, called "Gasdamandhar", which means "temple of the single tree" in Sanskrit, or "forest and temple", and later abbreviated as "Kadkathmandu Mandu", which means "single-wood mansion" in Nepali. Later, people built buildings, built houses, and expanded outward with this building as the center, and Kathmandu continued to be the name of the city. Since 1768, Kathmandu has been the capital of the Shah dynasty...

Durbar Square

Durbar Square is the most famous square in Kathmandu and a great place to see Nepalese temple architecture. It contains Nepal's heritage buildings between the 16th and 19th centuries, and there are more than 50 temples and palaces on the square. In 1970, after the royal family moved to the new royal palace "Narayanti", the old royal palace was opened as a museum for visitors, which displays portraits of successive kings and a large number of objects and photographs of King Tribhuvan during his lifetime. The temples on Durbar Square all look very similar in appearance, mainly including the Living Goddess Temple, Narayan Temple, Shiva Temple, Shiva-Bhava Temple House, Statue of King Pratabumala, Hanuman Monkey Shrine, Krishna Temple, etc. But many temples are only open to Hindus, and ordinary tourists can't enter. The Temple of the Virgin Lady, located to the left of the entrance to Durbar Square, is worth a visit, with many statues and peacock motifs carved into the wooden windows, and the Temple is only open to foreign visitors on the ground floor.

Swayambhunath Stupa

Thamel

Thamel, the landmark of Kathmandu's Old Town, the Tamil district is a gathering place for foreign tourists, with narrow and noisy alleys packed with all the small shops a tourist needs. Durbar Square is less than half an hour's walk from Tamil, passing alleys, squares, and small temples, which is the best walking trail to experience the old town.

Pashupatinath Temple

Five kilometers from Kadu, Pashupatinath Temple is one of Nepal's World Heritage Sites, the largest Hindu temple in Nepal, the most famous Shiva temple in the subcontinent, and one of the most important temples of Hinduism. Paz means "beings" and pati means "Lord." With a three-story roof and a number of buildings painted yellow and white around it, all of the temples are off-limits to non-Hindus, and visitors can only stand in the doorway and watch curiously, the main attraction here is the ascetic monks who can accompany your photo and the Hindu cremation ceremony.

Patan - the most popular attraction in Lalitpur

Monkey Temple

Beautiful view, a nice place. The architecture is peculiar, and the whole temple is solemn and magnificent. The scenery is beautiful at sunset with great views over Kathmandu and the valley.

Singlewood Temple

The temple is located in the southwest corner of the square, from which Kathmandu takes its name. Although there is no exact historical record, the temple was probably built in the 12th century. It is said that the wood for the entire building came from a single tree, and at first, it was a meeting point for those who came to participate in important ceremonial ceremonies. Later, it became a temple dedicated to the god Gorakhnath. The small cabin in the center of the temple enshrines the statue of Gods Gorakhnath, and the statues of Ganesh can be found in all corners of the courtyard, as well as some shrines of other gods. Bronze lions guard the gate, and symbolic motifs in Hinduism are depicted on the first floor of this three-story building. Every morning, when porters sit in front of the temple to solicit customers, the square, the medieval building is busy.

Temple of the Virgin Goddess

Also known as the Temple of Kumari, it was built in 1757. Located on the south side of the Kathmandu Imperial Palace, the capital of Nepal in the mountain kingdom, at the junction of Palace Square and Durbar Square, is a quadrangle-style three-entry red brick temple, it faces the palace square, and there are stone lions guarding the door, this is the Temple of the Virgin Goddess, the living goddess in the temple is said to be a teenage virgin girl (Kumari), she is the embodiment of the selected goddess, who lived in the building for many years, appeared in the third-floor window between the regulations every day, and was admired until she grew up to reach puberty. Only then can you become a normal person again and leave the Goddess Courtyard. The balconies and windows of the temple have ornate and intricate wood carvings of incredible complexity and are relatively rare in all kinds of temples in Nepal. The living virgin goddess in the temple is a teenage virgin girl who is the embodiment of a selected goddess, whose feet cannot enter the ground and cannot bleed, and who appears every day in the inner third-floor window between regulations, until she reaches puberty and abdicates the throne, so that she can become a normal person again and leave the goddess house. Although there is a sizable "pension", the lonely old man is lifelong (because no one dares to marry a goddess and go home).

Bhaktapur Durbar Square

Bodener

Bodna is located east of Kathmandu, north of the airport, about 6 km from Thamel. One of the largest stupas in the world, the Bodna Great Stupa, stands here. Bodna is the religious center of Tibetans living in Nepal, with streets filled with monks in chestnut robes, gleaming monastic rooftops, and shops filled with Tibetan books and ghee. It is one of the few places in the world where you can get up close and personal with Tibetan culture.

Temple of the Goddess Taleju

The Temple of the Goddess Talayju is located on the west side of Commercial Centre Street, Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. Built-in 1549, it is a three-eave goldenrod temple with a height of more than 40 meters, which is the tallest temple building in Kathmandu and has a typical Nepalese architectural style. The temple of the goddess Taleju is built on a 12-story pedestal, of which the eighth is the widest, with a low wall, and a total of 16 small temples with double eaves and gold-domed temples inside and outside the wall. The temple on the pedestal has entrances on all sides, the main entrance facing south is the Golden Gate, and the goddess Taleju is offered in the center of the semicircular lintel above the Golden Gate. This multi-handed goddess has a dignified demeanor, a toned figure, and a variety of weapons such as swords, halberds, sticks, and rings. The temple is topped by a golden dome, and in the center of the dome is a slightly larger minaret, complemented by a small minaret at each of the four corners. On a clear day, the temple's gilded roof and bronze eaves shine golden in the sun. In Nepal in 1564, it was believed that a 35-meter-tall temple was the tallest building in the world and that if it was taller than it, it would invite bad luck, and this belief still affects a large part of Nepalis today. The temple is spectacular in scale and has a splendid style unique to Nepalese architecture. It is open for the annual Dasain festival, but in recent years the temple has occasionally held some large events to attract visitors.

National Museum of Nepal

Located at the foot of Mount Swayambu in the western suburbs of the capital, the National Museum of Nepal is the oldest museum in Nepal, founded in the early 19th century by Prime Minister Bhimson Thapa, a famous anti-British national hero. At that time, it was called the Chauni Armoury Museum, and later it was renamed the "Nepal Museum". It was officially opened in 1938 and renamed the National Museum in 1967. This museum is a comprehensive museum consisting of 3 buildings. The courtyard in front of the museum is lush with flowers and plants, and there is a fountain in the center. The main building is a white-walled red tile 3-story European-style building with 5 arches, which was once the official residence of Thapa, and there are historical halls, ancient money halls, natural history halls, portrait halls, costume halls and musical instrument halls, and other historical halls also known as weapons halls, displaying ancient knives, swords, guns, cannons, and other weapons. One of the longest swords in the world, the 1.5-meter sword of Prime Minister Damodar Pande of the Gurkha Dynasty, is displayed here.

How to Deal with Altitude Sickness When Traveling in Nepal?

Nepal is a valley area, so there is no need to worry about altitude sickness when traveling to Nepal. Since Nepal is located near the Himalayas, the highest mountain in the world, tourists regard it as the gateway to the Himalayas, and at the same time worry about whether there will be a high altitude during the journey. In fact, if you are not hiking in Nepal, you don't have to worry about altitude sickness. Take the most famous Annapurna Base Camp Trek (ABC) as an example, people will only stay in the area at 4,000m for two days, which can be adopted by most travelers. After all, they have gradually accustomed to altitude in the first few days of trekking.

How to Handle Altitude Sickness?

The main tourist cities in Nepal are less than 2,000 meters above sea level, and there is almost no altitude sickness. However, if it is due to fatigue on the road and a weakened physique, it may also cause altitude sickness. It's a normal physiological response of human physiology to the lack of oxygen at high altitude areas but it‘s different from person to person. Just pay attention to rest, don't do too intense exercise (such as short-distance accelerated running), don't be too excited (such as happily chatting with your partner), and drink plenty of water, in most cases, the altitude sickness symptoms will gradually disappear within one to two days.

Conclusion

The Kathmandu Valley is more than just the capital city, and if you have the time to explore a little, you can discover plenty of off-the-beaten-track locations around the valley and in the hills that surround it. Some of the most historical locations in the valley lie in those hills, and are pretty much undiscovered by all but a few die-hard trekkers and explorers that have ventured out from the capital to explore the local area outside the tourist traps.