Nepal is home to 4 UNESCO World Heritage Sites encompassing 10 distinct monument zones and protected areas. The Kathmandu Valley alone contains 7 monument zones — three royal Durbar Squares and four sacred religious complexes — inscribed together as a single heritage site in 1979. Lumbini, Chitwan National Park, and Sagarmatha National Park complete the list, spanning from the subtropical Terai to the summit of Everest.
Kathmandu Valley
Seven monument zones — three royal Durbar Squares, two Buddhist stupas, and two Hindu temple complexes — inscribed together as a single property.
Kathmandu Durbar Square
The historic royal palace square in the heart of old Kathmandu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with stunning Newari architecture and living Kumari goddess.
Kathmandu · Bagmati
Patan Durbar Square
The artistic heart of the Kathmandu Valley with the finest collection of Newari architecture, the Krishna Mandir, and the Patan Museum.
Lalitpur · Bagmati
Bhaktapur Durbar Square
The best-preserved medieval city in Nepal, famous for its pottery squares, Nyatapola temple, and living Newari culture.
Bhaktapur · Bagmati
Swayambhunath
Self-arisen hilltop stupa older than the city below it, where Buddhist and Hindu worship share one summit — and the month of Gunla fills the steps with dawn music.
Kathmandu · Bagmati
Boudhanath Stupa
One of the world's great stupas and the heart of Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal — raised, legend says, by a poultry-keeper and her sons, and rebuilt after 2015 by its own community.
Kathmandu · Bagmati
Pashupatinath Temple
Nepal's holiest Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the banks of the Bagmati River.
Kathmandu · Bagmati
Changu Narayan Temple
The oldest temple in the Kathmandu Valley, home to Nepal's earliest dated inscription — and traditionally remembered as spared by the 1349 invasion.
Bhaktapur · Bagmati
Lumbini, Birthplace of the Buddha
The sacred garden in the Terai where Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama, with the Maya Devi Temple and Ashoka's pillar at its core.
Lumbini — Birthplace of Buddha
Birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the holiest pilgrimage sites for Buddhists worldwide.
Rupandehi · Lumbini
Maya Devi Temple
The sacred core of Lumbini — the shrine built directly over the exact spot where Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Prince Siddhartha Gautama in 623 BCE.
Rupandehi · Lumbini
Ashoka Pillar, Lumbini
The 249 BCE sandstone pillar raised by Emperor Ashoka beside the Maya Devi Temple — bearing the earliest known inscription identifying Lumbini as the birthplace of the Buddha.
Rupandehi · Lumbini
Sagarmatha National Park
The Everest massif and the glaciers, valleys, and Sherpa settlements around it — inscribed for outstanding geology and high-altitude ecology.
Chitwan National Park
The last substantial stand of Terai lowland forest and grassland — home to one-horned rhinoceros, Bengal tiger, and gharial crocodile.
On the same visit
Within reach of an inscribed property, and worth the detour — but not part of the UNESCO listing itself.
The map
See them plotted across Nepal.
Toggle the UNESCO Heritage filter on the explore map to see every World Heritage place beside the trails, towns, and temples around it.