Patan Travel Guide

Patan (City of Art / Lalitpur) is a UNESCO ancient city just south of Kathmandu across the Bagmati, almost joined to it — one of the valley's three cities, famed for brilliant Buddhist art and supreme metalwork (especially gilt-bronze Buddhas), Nepal's art-and-craft center; autumn Oct–Nov and spring best, often visited with Kathmandu. Since ancient times a Newar settlement of master craftsmen, its lanes still hold metal and wood workshops. Its core is the valley's most exquisite Durbar Square, with the elegant old palace (part now the rich Patan Museum) and fine temples. Its brightest jewel is the hidden Golden Temple, gilded bronze glowing with gold — the peak of metalwork.