Lumbini Tour – Birthplace of Buddha

Overview

A 4-day Lumbini tour from Kathmandu to the place where the Buddha was born. Lumbini lies in the flat Terai of southern Nepal, about 280 km from Kathmandu, and UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site in 1997.

You visit the Mayadevi Temple and the marker stone of the birth spot, the Ashoka Pillar from 249 BC, and the pond where Queen Mayadevi is said to have bathed. You walk through the monastery zone, where countries from Thailand to Germany have built their own temples.

On the third day you go west to Tilaurakot, the ruins of Kapilvastu, where Prince Siddhartha grew up, and on the way home you stop at the Ramgram stupa. Choose Standard with a garden hotel near the temple, or Premium with a 5-star hotel and a private car. Our team at Himalayan Social Journey (HSJ) plans the whole trip, from Kathmandu and back.

How do you get to Lumbini from Kathmandu?

Two ways, and both are in the plan. The drive is about 280 km and takes around 8 hours — by tourist coach on the Standard package, by private car on Premium — south out of the Kathmandu valley and down through the hills onto the Terai plain. Or you fly to Bhairahawa in 35 minutes and drive the last 30 minutes to Lumbini. Flying suits anyone short on time or travelling with older parents; the road costs less and shows you far more of the country. Tell us which you want and we will arrange it — return flights add about USD 120.

What will you see in Lumbini?

The Sacred Garden holds the three things pilgrims come for: the marker stone inside the Mayadevi Temple showing the exact spot of the birth, the Ashoka Pillar carved in 249 BC, and Puskarini Pond, where Queen Mayadevi is said to have bathed. Go early, while it is quiet and cool. Around the garden lies the monastery zone, where China, Thailand, Germany, Myanmar, Korea and more than twenty other countries have each built a temple in their own national style — you can walk it or take a cycle-rickshaw. The Eternal Peace Flame burns at one end, and the World Peace Pagoda is where to be at sunset. Photographs are not allowed inside the Mayadevi Temple, and you take your shoes off before going in.

Is four days enough?

For Lumbini itself, comfortably. Two of the four days are mostly driving, which still leaves a full day in the Sacred Garden and monastery zone and a full day out at Kapilvastu — Tilaurakot, the east gate Siddhartha is said to have walked out of at 29, the small museum, and the Ashoka pillars at Gotihawa and Niglihawa. Ramgram, the only one of the original relic stupas never to have been opened, is on the way home. What four days does not leave room for is anywhere else. Chitwan is about three hours away, so many guests carry on: our 3-day Chitwan National Park trip adds a jungle safari, and the 5-day Chitwan and Pokhara tour adds the mountains too. Tell us how many days you have and we will join the two together.

When is the best time to go?

October to March. The Terai is warm and dry then, and the garden is a pleasure to walk in the early morning and late afternoon. April to June is very hot, often above 40°C, which makes the middle of the day hard work. June to September is the monsoon — green, but wet. The sites are open all year and the tour runs on any date you choose.