Places to visit in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

15 places to see in Varanasi, including pilgrimage routes, temples & shrines, weekend getaways. Each page has the best time, how long to plan, and what is open on the date you choose.

• Assi GhatVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh · Pilgrimage RoutesThe wide southern ghat where Varanasi starts its day with music and aarti before sunrise.
• Bharat Mata MandirVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh · Monuments & HeritageA temple whose deity is a marble relief map of undivided India, opened by Gandhi in 1936.
• BHU & Bharat Kala BhavanVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh · MuseumsA vast green campus, a first-rate miniature painting museum (closed Sundays) and a temple open to all.
• Dashashwamedh Ghat & Ganga AartiVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh · Pilgrimage RoutesThe main ghat of Varanasi and its evening Ganga aarti, best watched from a boat.
• Durga Kund TempleVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh · Temples & ShrinesThe red monkey temple of Rani Bhabani beside its tank, with Tulsi Manas Mandir two minutes away.
• Kaal Bhairav TempleVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh · Temples & ShrinesThe temple of the Kotwal of Kashi, whose leave you are said to need to stay in the city.
• Kabir Math, LahartaraVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh · Pilgrimage RoutesWhere Kabir was found as an infant, by tradition. Two quiet maths for the weaver-poet of Banaras.
• Kashi Vishwanath TempleVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh · Temples & ShrinesThe Jyotirlinga that Varanasi is built around, now reached by a wide corridor from the river.
• Manikarnika GhatVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh · Pilgrimage RoutesThe cremation ghat of Kashi, where the fires never go out. Go quietly, and keep the camera down.
• Ramnagar FortVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh · FortsThe Kashi Naresh's riverside fort, a museum of royal odds and ends, and a month-long Ramlila.
• Sankat Mochan Hanuman TempleVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh · Temples & ShrinesTulsidas's Hanuman temple, and every April a free all-night classical music festival in its courtyard.
• Sant Ravidas Janmasthan, Seer GovardhanpurVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh · Pilgrimage RoutesBirthplace shrine of Sant Ravidas, drawing lakhs of pilgrims from Punjab each Magh Purnima.
• SarnathVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh · Pilgrimage RoutesWhere the Buddha gave his first sermon. Dhamek Stupa, Ashoka's pillar and a quiet deer park.
• Sarnath Archaeological MuseumVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh · MuseumsHome of the Lion Capital of Ashoka, the national emblem. Small, superb, closed on Fridays.
• Sunrise Boat Ride, Assi to ManikarnikaVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh · AdventureA rowing boat along the ghats at sunrise, the one thing in Varanasi everyone should do.

All places in Uttar Pradesh