Varanasi to Kathmandu

Need to know how to get there via bus or train. How long will it take?

Varanasi to Kathmandu

There are buses from Varanasi to Kathmandu.

Heard that it takes 24hrs by bus.

Varanasi to Kathmandu

I don,think there are direct buses from Varanasi to kathmandu. The busses leave Varanasi early in the morning and stop at the border at Sunauli where you have to spend the night before crossing the border and taking a Nepalese bus the next day to Kathmandu.

Another route is to take the night train to the rail head at Gorakpur and from there take a bus first to Sunauli and then to Kathmandu. this is probably the fastest route however it depends on the time of year.During the monsoon the roads are often washed out and the whole trip can easily take 40 hours.

Which makes the $100 plane fare a very attractive option

i would also recommend to travel by train. Bus journey might be too adventurous (or should i say painful) if you are not used to buses in india.

travel to Gorakhpur by train and then to kathmandu by train might make more sense. If your schedule allows, you can spend the evening in Gorakhpur and roam in the city. It%26#39;s another historic city.

Train from Varanasi to Gorakhpur then a bus to the border will be fastest. You can get a bus easily on the other side I%26#39;m told. We%26#39;re driving across the border from Gorakhpur at the end of this year/early next year to visit Lumbini so have been doing quite a bit of reading about it.

Has anyone spent any time in Gorakhpur? Any helpful hints? Generally I%26#39;ve heard nothing good - basically that it%26#39;s a great place to change trains, there%26#39;s a famous Hindu publishing house there, and apparently they have annual plagues of flies. The hotel we%26#39;ve been booked into has the worst review I%26#39;ve ever seen so I must admit I%26#39;m nervous.

hi bugfamily,

probably you don%26#39;t have much info about gorakhpur.. let me put my thoughts..

if you are visiting lumbini, then i can easily guess that you are going there to visit places related to Buddha. Gorakhpur is another Buddhist place. I have been to Gorkhanath temple. It%26#39;s worth a visit. Vishnu temple would be another place here. Near gorakhpur, there is a place called Kushinagar where Buddha died. you must expect a lot of monuments here.

in kushinagar, you must see nirvana temple, mathakaut stupa. i just googled and got this info... so if you are reading books, i am sure you would find many more to visit.

moreover, Ayodhya is not too far from Gorakhpur, easily reachable by car. If you reach Ayodhya, I am sure there are plenty of temples and historical places to engange you for several days.

bottom line is, there are plenty of things to look around given that you are interested.

badmad

thanks Badmad,

that%26#39;s great info.

Yes, we are on pilgrimage - going from Thailand and landing in Gaya for Bodhgaya, then Sarnath (and Varanasi of course), Lumbini and Kushinagar before taking the train back to Delhi and flying back to Bangkok.

welcome!

I had been to Sarnath almost 17yrs ago and I must confess that it was one of the places which I can never forget. it was so serene and natural, a feeling that can%26#39;t be explained but only felt... :) hv a good one...