Self-Guided Walks in Varanasi's Old City

October 18, 2026

The old city is built for feet. Its galis (lanes) are pedestrian, and vehicles stop at Godowlia or about 1.5 km short of the main temple, with e-rickshaws and walking covering the rest. This page is for self-guided walkers and starts with lane habits before the routes. Costs here are in rupees (INR), at a rate near 95 to the US dollar, and they are approximate.

Lane habits that help

Carry a small zipped bag and keep your phone in a front pocket.
Wear shoes that slip off easily, because temples and some ghats ask you to remove them.
Step aside for cows and motorbikes. Both use the lanes and neither will wait.
Carry bottled water, and from April to June, when temperatures reach about 45 degrees C, walk at dawn or once the sun is low.
Skip the burning ghats. Manikarnika and Harishchandra are working cremation grounds, and no route here goes through them.

A temple and breakfast loop from Godowlia

Begin at Godowlia and follow the lanes towards Kashi Vishwanath. Kachori Gali is the breakfast stop, with kachori and sabzi, and Blue Lassi is close by for a plain lassi. Kashi Chaat Bhandar serves tamatar chaat, a spiced tomato snack, and most sources put it in the Godowlia area. You can end at the temple or turn back earlier. If you go in, leave your phone, camera, any other device and your pens in a free locker or at the hotel. Foreign visitors with a valid passport can buy an INR 600 darshan ticket at the trust’s head-office help desk, showing the original passport. The trust’s FAQ lists the rules.

A river walk south of Assi

From Assi Ghat, stroll south past Tulsi Ghat and Lolark Kund to Kedar Ghat, where the temple is painted red and white. This stretch is calmer than the ghats near Dashashwamedh. When the Ganga floods between July and September, the lower steps go under, so stay on higher ground and check the water first.

Brass, sweets and looms

Thatheri Bazaar is the brass market, and Ram Bhandar there is known for kachori with sabzi and maalpua, a fried sweet pancake. Nearby weaving districts such as Madanpura, Alaipura and Lallapura make Banarasi brocade, a product with a geographical indication. Call on a weaver yourself, and be wary of a shop that a driver or an eager stranger recommends.

Two walks timed by the sky

For dawn, go to Assi Ghat for Subah-e-Banaras, a free programme that begins about 45 minutes before sunrise and lasts roughly two hours. The ghats north of Assi make an easy walk afterwards. See the programme site for the format. For dusk, walk to Dashashwamedh Ghat 30 to 45 minutes before sunset, about 5:45 pm from October to March and 6:45 pm from April to September, with times shifting daily. The 45-minute evening aarti is free from the steps.

If you prefer a guide

VaranasiWalks starts at Assi Ghat and offers walks of about 2.5 to 3 hours, and Roobaroo Walks leads heritage routes; browse VaranasiWalks for the current list. Operators sell a heritage walk from Assi towards Manikarnika, which passes the burning ghat at a distance without entering. Never photograph pyres, bodies or mourners, and keep quiet. A restoration project is under way at Manikarnika, so access and conditions there can change. Anyone who offers a rooftop look will demand “wood money” later. To compare group sizes and prices, browse Varanasi old city walk listings and confirm the route and price per person.