Varanasi Ghats & Temples Walking Tour with Local Stories

4.97

(414 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

The first thing that hit me was the smell—smoky and sweet, a mix of incense and something deeper, almost like the city itself was breathing. We’d just squeezed into one of those narrow lanes near Dashashwamedh Ghat (I nearly lost a sandal dodging a cow), when our guide, Ankit, grinned and handed me a tiny clay cup of chai. “You have to drink it hot,” he said. I burned my tongue but didn’t care—there was so much going on around us: bells ringing somewhere above, a woman in a bright yellow sari laughing as she bargained for flowers. Varanasi just hums with life.

We stopped at Vishalakshi Temple next. The walls were covered in marigold garlands and there was this low murmur of prayers—almost like a heartbeat. Ankit told us about the goddess with ‘big eyes’ (I tried saying her name in Hindi; he laughed and so did the old man selling sweets outside). Then we wandered through more twisting alleys until suddenly everything opened up: Manikarnika Ghat. The air changed—quieter somehow, though you could still hear the river lapping against stone steps. Watching families gather for cremation rituals felt both intimate and public at once; I didn’t expect to feel so aware of my own breath there.

I still think about that moment by the water—the sunlight catching on ashes drifting downstream, the silence after all that noise. Our guide explained how people believe moksha is possible here, how every detail matters: even the wood stacked high by the fires has meaning. We finished with more tea (this time I let it cool), sitting under an old peepal tree near Nepali Temple while Ankit shared stories about his grandfather’s days as a boatman. It wasn’t polished or perfect—just honest, sometimes messy, always real.