The Ultimate 1 Day in Varanasi - How to Spend 13 Hours - Private Guided Tour
Description
Early morning we will be taken for a boat ride on the Ganges. It is a mystical and spiritual experience as you watch people offering water to the Sun God and devotees taking a holy dip in the Ganges. We will visit all the famous Ghats of Varanasi via boat and return to the hotel for breakfast. After breakfast, see the “Temple Tour” most religious Kashi Vishwanath temple, the Bharat Mata temple, Sankat Mochan (Hanuman temple), Manas Mandir, and BHU. At noon we will be taken for an excursion to Sarnath. Sarnath is the place where Buddha delivered his first sermon to his disciples. The attractions at Sarnath are the Buddha temples, the Dhamekha stupa, the Chaukhandi stupa, and the archaeological museum, return to the hotel. Evening, get ready to experience one of the most memorable moments of your life, as you will be taken to the River Ganges. Enjoy Ganga Aarti. Get a glimpse of the spiritualism at the Ganga Ghats. Enjoy the Ganga Aarti from top After all you can retire for the night.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Boat Ride: Early morning we will pick you up from your Hotel at 5:00 AM in Summer / 6:00 Am in Winter and start your day with a sunrise boat ride on the Ganges river. The boat ride will start from Dashashwamedh Ghat & Will finish at Manikarnika Ghat get a Heritage Walk along with narrow lanes, you will walk It is a mystical and spiritual experience on the edge of the river Ganges during Sunrise you will see people offering water to the Sun God and devotees taking a holy dip in the river Ganges will surely allure you. Varanasi gives an inimitable mixture of mystical and supernatural views. According to Hindu belief, Varanasi completely frees the soul from the human body. These are the Ganges of Varanasi which completes the idea of holiness. After a short walk to the oldest part of Varanasi is famous for its narrow lanes. On this tour, you will find popular street food, perfume shops, Traditional Ayurvedic Oils Markets, and many other rare items. Walk to Godowliya market.
Breakfast Break for 2 Hrs
After Visiting Sarnath we will take you for a “City tour”., Drive to the riverside and enter one of the oldest streets to enjoy a walking tour. A guided walk in the old streets of Varanasi and through millennia-old alleys, and sacred temples will leave you enchanted. Come across the oldest lifestyles of this ancient city by getting into these old streets. A walk that promises to surprise at every step is rich in scenery and scenery Ask your guide a question to know the profoundness of each place you illuminate during this walking tour of Varanasi. If you face this, you will have a lot of experience Amble around the oldest city of the world, visit one of the most sacred Hindu Temples (Bharat Mata Temple ) most religious( Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Shri Annapurna temple) BHU Sankat Mochan, walk through the narrow lanes and also explore ancient mosques. along with the narrow lanes of Varanasi
Later just before sunset, you are going to get the most memorable moment of your life, because you will be taken to the River Ganges and embark to witness the Ganga aarti ceremony, a grand event that starts at 5.00 pm and you experience a great rapture during this process at Dasashwamedh Ghat. Aarti, written as Aarti, is a Hindu ritual performed by a group of young clergymen well garbed in silk saffron and white robes holding lamps which are waves in a synced motion with the sound of bells drums cymbals, and chanting some Sanskrit mantras takes up a specific spot in the Ghat and start the rituals by offering flowers to the river Ganga and light is offered to one or more deities. In India, Hindus worship the Ganges River as a goddess. . After this, you will return back to the hotel, and services will end here. The tour ends with pleasant memories of the trip. We will drop you at the hotel.
After Breakfast Freshen up yourself, you will be taken to Sarnath, which is the place 13 km away from the city of Varanasi where Gautama preached his first sermon to his five apostles and so Buddhism began from there. This makes Sarnath one of the most revered Buddhist sites. After that emperor, Ashoka created several stupas and monuments to spread Buddhism. Some of the important Buddhist monuments are the Dhamekha stupa, the Dharmarajika stupa & the Chaukhandi stupa, and monasteries and beautifully polished Lion Capital of Ashoka and several animals and birds which get the matter of attractions in Sarnath.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Need Hotel or Accommodation address with Room Number.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
Reviews(323)
Great day touring Varanasi with the excellent guide Sunny and a driver. We started with a private boat tour at sunrise which was a great way to get started, then onto the rest of the tour. Sunny was full of information and fun to talk with, this is always important on any full-day tour. The day ended with the Ganga Aarti by the river. Sunny can help if there’s anything you’d like to buy, we looked at tea and fabrics. This was a good way to see the city for a day.
Dear Guest, Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us. We want you to feel comfortable sharing the good review with us. I'm glad that your experience with us is going as expected. I also want to thank you for putting in a good review. I'm pleased we could improve things and hope to see you again soon. Md Kasif
We had a bad experience with our tour guide Arvind. He brought us to a shop in the morning where the shop keepers tried to sell us items that were incredibly overpriced. I know this is common on these tours, and we did not buy from these dishonest shop keepers, but later when we wanted to see the Golden Temple, he brought us back to this same shop and asked us to leave our passports, wallet and purse with these same dishonest shop keepers while we visited the temple. We told him we did not trust the shop keepers, and one of us had to stay with our items and miss the temple. The guide also would not go with us to the temple - he sent us in with someone we did not know. The itinerary said we would see five temples in the morning, but we only saw three. We had a very large break for over four hours in the middle of the day on our tour. We felt like the guide cut corners to make the tour shorter. We have used Viator across the world, and this is the only one star rating I have ever given. We gave five star reviews for every other Viator tour we did in India. I felt like the guide did not have our best interest in mind. This is an incredible city, and everyone visiting India should see this beautiful place, but this guide was just going through the motions, trying to make the tour shorter at every turn. He even asked us to leave the Ganga Aarti early to avoid the crowds even though our hotel was less than a ten minute walk from the event. The guide was knowledgeable about the locations that we went to, he did explain the temples that we did go to in detail, and he did answer all of our questions.
Dear Jenniffer, Thank you for taking the time to share your detailed feedback regarding your recent tour with us in Varanasi. We are truly sorry to hear that your experience did not meet the high standards we strive for, especially since you have had such positive experiences on your other tours across India. We appreciate your kind words about Arvind’s extensive knowledge and his detailed explanations of the sites. However, we deeply regret that the logistical aspects of the tour caused you stress and overshadowed the beauty of the city. We would like to address your concerns and provide some context regarding how tours operate in this ancient city, while completely acknowledging where we fell short in communicating these details to you. The Golden Temple and Valuables: The Kashi Vishwanath (Golden) Temple has exceptionally strict government security protocols. Absolutely no bags, electronics, wallets, or leather items are permitted inside. Because the official temple lockers are often chaotic and overcrowded, guides routinely utilize nearby trusted shops with private lockers to keep guests' valuables secure. However, we completely understand why returning to a shop where you previously felt pressured to buy items made you uncomfortable. Arvind should have recognized this and found an alternative locker solution for you. We are deeply sorry that this led to one of you missing the temple visit. Guide Temple Access: Due to strict local regulations and crowd control measures at the Golden Temple, external guides are often not permitted into the inner sanctum with foreign guests, which is why Arvind had to hand you over to a designated temple escort. This should have been clearly explained to you beforehand so you did not feel abandoned. The Mid-Day Break and Missed Temples: Almost all major temples in Varanasi strictly close their doors to the public between 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM daily for rituals. This necessitates a long mid-day break in the itinerary. If the morning schedule was delayed, it may have caused the remaining two temples to close before you could reach them. We sincerely apologize that this schedule was not clearly communicated to you in advance. Leaving the Ganga Aarti Early: The evening Aarti at the ghats attracts tens of thousands of people daily. It is a standard safety practice for guides to suggest leaving just a few minutes before the ceremony concludes to help guests safely navigate the narrow alleys and avoid the massive crowd crush, even if your hotel is very close by. However, the final decision to stay should always remain yours, and we apologize if you felt rushed. We take your feedback very seriously. We are addressing these points directly with Arvind to ensure he improves his communication. It is vital that our guides clearly explain the reasons behind local logistical decisions so that guests never feel like corners are being cut. Varanasi is a magnificent, deeply spiritual, but often overwhelming city. We deeply regret that these service gaps impacted your time here. We appreciate your honest review, as it helps us refine our operations and provide better experiences for future travelers. Sincerely, Md Kasif Adventure Operator / Management Team Yattri
Arvind did a great job on my one day tour in Varanasi. It was a jam packed day and we were able to get to all the locations even in the heat wave . He was knowledgeable and explained the history throughout the tour.
Dear Guest, Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us. We want you to feel comfortable sharing the good review with us. I'm glad that your experience with us is going as expected. I also want to thank you for putting in a good review. I'm pleased we could improve things and hope to see you again soon. Md Kasif
My family had a wonderful time with Sunny, touring Varanasi's historical ghats and temples. Sunny was very knowledgeable, organized, and thoughtful. We always felt comfortable even though it was a hot day, and Sunny even brought us to great spots to try the local cuisine. Thank you Sunny for the great tour!
Dear Guest, Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us. We want you to feel comfortable sharing the good review with us. I'm glad that your experience with us is going as expected. I also want to thank you for putting in a good review. I'm pleased we could improve things and hope to see you again soon. Md Kasif
I combined a few of the tours offered by this company and ended up having a 5 day private tour in and around Varanasi. The combination of activities were excellent but it was made all the better with the expert guide Sunny. He has a deep knowledge of Varanasi (and Sarnath) and personalised the tour to suit our interests and needs. We made some last minute changes which he swiftly adapted to and created a good alternative plan. He made sure the whole programme went smoothly every day. We did quite a lot of walking but it was how we really saw the city properly I highly recommend both the company and Sunny the guide.
Dear Guest, Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us. We want you to feel comfortable sharing the good review with us. I'm glad that your experience with us is going as expected. I also want to thank you for putting in a good review. I'm pleased we could improve things and hope to see you again soon. Md Kasif
The tour was really nice and personalized. I was with guide Ballu all day and he was very kind and knowledgeable about Varanasi. The driver was also very nice and accommodating. As a solo female traveler I felt very safe with them, which I really appreciated. I got to see so much of Varanasi. Would definitely recommend.
Dear Guest, Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us. We want you to feel comfortable sharing the good review with us. I'm glad that your experience with us is going as expected. I also want to thank you for putting in a good review. I'm pleased we could improve things and hope to see you again soon. Md Kasif
A boat ride on the Ganges at dawn is the heart of any Varanasi visit witnessing the ancient ghats, riverside temples, and the sacred cremation ceremonies at Manikarnika will leave you deeply moved and reflective. Be prepared for an emotionally intense experience, as the open-air cremations are a raw and spiritual part of daily life here, not a spectacle. Ended my day at the Ganga Aarti evening ceremony, where the riverside comes alive with fire, chanting, and thousands of devotee it’s an unforgettable ritual you won’t want to miss. Sunny was an awesome very knowledgeable guide. Definitely recommend this tour.
Dear Guest, Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us. We want you to feel comfortable sharing the good review with us. I'm glad that your experience with us is going as expected. I also want to thank you for putting in a good review. I'm pleased we could improve things and hope to see you again soon. Md Kasif
Good detailed explanation about history and culture. Strong contents. Overall, very positive experience.
Dear Guest, Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us. We want you to feel comfortable sharing the good review with us. I'm glad that your experience with us is going as expected. I also want to thank you for putting in a good review. I'm pleased we could improve things and hope to see you again soon. Md Kasif
The entire tour was excellent start to finish. Our tour guide Arvind was so nice, very knowledgeable and very accommodating. The morning boat ride on the Ganges and was beautiful and so peaceful. The tours of Ghats, the Hindu temples and to the site at Sarnath where Buddha preached his first sermon was really moving. We were fortunate to be granted access to the Kashi Vishnawath temple (Golden temple) in Varanasi and experience the Shiva linga - it was powerful. The tour of the Banares Hindu university was a great experience including the visit to the Sri Vishwanath Temple. We couldn’t have asked for a better tour. Thank You Arvind!
Dear Guest, Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us. We want you to feel comfortable sharing the good review with us. I'm glad that your experience with us is going as expected. I also want to thank you for putting in a good review. I'm pleased we could improve things and hope to see you again soon. Md Kasif
We had the most incredible day in Varanasi with Zishan. I would highly recommend this day tour to anyone looking to truly experience all that Varanasi has to offer. Zishan was an amazing guide! He is very knowledgeable and passionate about what he does. Every place we went, Zishan had so many interesting facts, information and history to share He is very helpful and kind, and always made sure we felt looked after. A highlight was the evening Aarti on the Ganges - our guide had organised seating for us with the best view. If I could do it all again I would, and I would definitely choose this tour and request Zishan take us!
Dear Guest, Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us. We want you to feel comfortable sharing the good review with us. I'm glad that your experience with us is going as expected. I also want to thank you for putting in a good review. I'm pleased we could improve things and hope to see you again soon. Md Kasif
