Ranked by how much each place adds to a visit, with realistic visiting times, opening hours and ticket prices.
7 places · showing 1–7
1
The main ghat and the site of the nightly Ganga aarti, when seven priests perform a synchronised fire ritual to the river.
2
A rowing boat from Assi to Manikarnika at first light — the single best way to understand how the city uses its river.
3
One of the twelve jyotirlingas and the spiritual centre of the city, reached through the new riverfront corridor opened in 2021.
4
Where the Buddha preached his first sermon: the Dhamek Stupa, an Ashokan pillar site, monasteries from a dozen countries and a first-rate…
5
The southernmost main ghat, quieter than Dashashwamedh, with a morning aarti, yoga sessions and a student crowd from the university.
6
The lane leading to the temple, packed with silk shops, brassware, prasad stalls and the city's best-known lassi shop.
7
The Maharaja of Banaras's 18th-century riverside fort across the Ganga, with a gloriously eccentric museum of vintage cars, palanquins…