Varanasi Highlights. 1 Day Tour

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. Before dawn rise, we will start our day with a boat ride from Varanasi's main and busiest ghat, Dashashwamedh. You will feel overwhelmed by the beauty of the sunrise and the magic light that bathes the historical palaces and temples on the banks, enjoying for sure witnessing local life and photographing the vibrant activity, full of colour and tradition, on the ghats: pilgrims and locals taking the sacred bath, praying, doing ceremony, washing clothes, chatting. Shadus, Babas… A gift for senses!

   2 hAdmission included

2. After going to your hotel for a short nap, I will pick you up again and we will continue exploring Varanasi. We begin the second part of the tour at Manikarnika, where death is celebrated. Above the main burning ghat of Varanasi, one of the holiest cremation sites along the Ganges River, from the best place to observing and photographing, I will explain to you in detail about the Hindu sacred rituals of death. From there, we will head to the old town to discover the small and colourful alleys of the center, historical palaces, sacred temples, traditional ashrams, bazaar and local markets...

   3 hAdmission included

3. Time for lunch! it's time to regain strength after a long walk… I will recommend you a good place for taste a jummy indian meal or for drinking the best lassi of the city. When your stomach gets happy I will bring you by tuk tuk on our next stop: the traditional silk weaving. There we will scooting the muslim area, learning about the silk weaving, you can see how is the process of creating and also the beautiful final products...

   3 h

4. And again time to come back to the river for a boat ride on sunset. Light and ghats at that time are also a dream, people and activities are different at the morning time so you will enjoy witnessing local life and photographing. A new experience for your senses is waiting for you!

   1 hAdmission included

5. We will finish the day with one of the most spectacular sights in Varanasi: The Ganga Aarti Ceremony. This is a godly spiritual ritual on the banks of the Ganges River. There, Hindu priests celebrate a beautiful and sacred ritual in honor of Mother Ganges, accompanied by songs of praise and surrounded by thousands of pilgrims who come from far every evening in order to get the Goddess’s blessing who its believed that pours on each individual present there when the ritual is completed.

   1 hAdmission included

Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

Ratings come from 13 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Know before you go

How it compares in Varanasi

• Its from-price is 51% above the median of the 494 experiences we list in Varanasi.
• It is longer than most of them.
• By number of reviews it ranks 85 of 494.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Varanasi

Varanasi, on the Ganges in Uttar Pradesh, is one of the oldest living cities in the world, a sacred place of river steps, temples and silk looms.

Varanasi, also called Benares or Kashi, has been a place of pilgrimage for thousands of years, and Hindus come to bathe in the Ganges, to pray, and to die. Along the west bank, about eighty ghats, broad stone stairways, descend to the water, among them Dashashwamedh Ghat, where lamps and chanting mark the evening aarti ceremony. The Kashi Vishwanath Temple, dedicated to Shiva, stands in the old city's maze of narrow lanes.

Top-ranked sights in Varanasi: Manikarnika Ghat, Dashashwamedh Ghat, Ganges River (Ganga).

See all 494 experiences in Varanasi