Durbar Squares Entry Fees: Kathmandu, Patan, Bhaktapur

Seeing all three royal squares of the Kathmandu Valley means buying three separate tickets from three different bodies, because each square belongs to a different city. Hanuman Dhoka sits in Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Patan in Lalitpur, and Bhaktapur in its own municipality, and each charges foreign visitors on its own terms. That is why the prices, the child rules and the validity rules do not line up.

How much does each Durbar Square cost?

The Nepal Tourism Board publishes the only side-by-side heritage site fee list, and says fees "must be paid ... at the entry point". The page carries no date. For Bhaktapur, the municipality's own tourist entry fee page is more recent and more direct, so the table uses it and shows the tourism board figure alongside.

Two conflicts to know about. For Bhaktapur, the tourism board still lists US$18 or NPR 1,800, while the municipality states the fee was "adjusted as $15 or NRs. 2,000 from 17th July 2025". Expect the municipality's figure at the counter. For SAARC visitors, OnlineKhabar reported in March 2022 that residents of SAARC countries paid Rs 150; the tourism board now lists NPR 500 for Kathmandu and Patan. We could not find a dated official notice for either SAARC rate.

A worked budget

For two non-SAARC adults visiting all three squares: (1,000 + 1,000 + 2,000) × 2 = NPR 8,000. If Bhaktapur charged the tourism board's older figure, it would be (1,000 + 1,000 + 1,800) × 2 = NPR 7,600.

For a family of four with children aged 6 and 8, the adults pay NPR 8,000. The children enter Kathmandu and Bhaktapur free under the under-10 rule, but the tourism board lists no child rule for Patan. So the total is between NPR 8,000 and NPR 10,000, depending on whether Patan charges the two children the full NPR 1,000 each.

What happens if you return on another day?

Bhaktapur Municipality is the only one of the three that publishes a validity rule. Foreigners can ask for a ticket valid for up to seven days. For longer stays, apply for a special pass at the Tourist Information Center in Bhaktapur Durbar Square with an application form, two passport photos, copies of your passport and visa, and the original ticket.

Neither Kathmandu Metropolitan City nor the Patan authorities publish a multi-day rule on the official pages we could read. OnlineKhabar quoted a visitor in 2022 who complained of being asked to pay again at Kathmandu Durbar Square "just the other day" after already paying. Keep your ticket with you for the whole visit, and ask at the counter how long it is valid before you leave.

Why is each square charged separately?

UNESCO inscribed the Kathmandu Valley in 1979 as one World Heritage property with seven monument zones. Three of them are the Durbar Squares of Hanuman Dhoka, Patan and Bhaktapur; the others are Swayambhu, Bauddhanath, Pashupati and Changu Narayan. UNESCO describes the property as managed jointly by central government, local government and non-governmental organisations. Its legal basis is the Ancient Monument Preservation Act of 1956, with an Integrated Management Plan adopted in 2007. The property was on UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger from 2003 to 2007.

In practice, the city governments collect the fees. OnlineKhabar reported in 2022 that Kathmandu Metropolitan City collects the Kathmandu Durbar Square fee. A city official told the paper that 30% goes to the Hanuman Dhoka conservation office and the rest funds city festivals and restoration. The same report traced the fee from Rs 200 in 2007 to Rs 1,000 in 2016, the rate the tourism board still lists. We found no official page setting out how the Patan or Bhaktapur money is divided.

What does each ticket show you?

Kathmandu Durbar Square (Hanuman Dhoka)

Kathmandu Metropolitan City's heritage page calls it one of the valley's three royal palace squares. It contains buildings from the Malla and Shah dynasties, including the residence of the Kumari, the living goddess, and the square is open 24 hours. The tourism board's Kathmandu Durbar Square page counts more than 50 temples. It dates the Taleju Temple to 1549 under King Mahendra Malla, and the stone Narsingha image to 1673 under Pratap Malla. The board says Taleju opens to the public one day a year during the Dashain festival, so the ticket does not get you inside it. The fee list says the ticket includes the Tribhuvan Museum in the palace.

Patan Durbar Square

Patan lies 5 km southeast of Kathmandu, according to the tourism board's Patan page. It dates the Krishna Temple, with its 21 gilded spires, to 1637 and calls it the first Shikhara-style temple in Nepal. The ticket includes the Patan Museum, a government museum in the palace courtyard of Keshav Narayan Chowk. The museum says the Austrian and Nepali governments started restoring that courtyard in 1982, under UNESCO's international campaign for the valley's monuments.

Bhaktapur

Bhaktapur is 12 km east of Kathmandu on the Arniko Highway, according to the tourism board's Bhaktapur page. Its monuments date from the 13th to the 18th centuries. They include the 15th-century Palace of 55 Windows, the Golden Gate and the five-storey Nyatapola temple, which survived the 1933 earthquake. The municipality presents its fee as entry to the city of Bhaktapur as a whole, not to a single palace.

Choosing one, two or all three

With only one slot, Kathmandu Durbar Square is the one inside the capital itself. Patan suits visitors who want a museum-led visit, because its NPR 1,000 includes the Patan Museum. Bhaktapur costs the most, but it suits an overnight stay, since a ticket extended at purchase for up to seven days covers a second morning. Before you go, check two things at each counter: whether the price matches the published figure, and how long your ticket is valid. For the temple complex on the Bagmati, which charges its own separate fee, see our Pashupatinath etiquette guide.