Varanasi: Ghats, Gallis and Banarasi Breakfasts

Varanasi (Kashi, Benares) on the western bank of the Ganges is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and, for Hindus, the holiest.

• The city sits along an extraordinary 6-kilometre crescent of the river where 88 ghats — stone bathing steps — descend into the water, and where the rhythm of pilgrim life unfolds at sunrise, at sunset, and through the long lantern-lit night.
• This three-day itinerary is built around the city's two great daily rituals — the dawn Subah-e-Banaras programme at Assi Ghat (yoga, classical music, the lighting of the brass diyas) and the spectacular evening Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat (a choreographed seven-priest fire ceremony performed nightly for over four centuries) — and pairs them with deep exploration of the maze of narrow gallis that snake away from the river into the temple-and-bazaar interior.
• Day one is the Subah-e-Banaras dawn at Assi, the breakfast trail through the Vishwanath Gali (kachori-sabzi, jalebi, malaiyo in winter), and the afternoon Sarnath excursion (where the Buddha delivered his first sermon — one of the four most sacred Buddhist sites).
• Day two is the Kashi Vishwanath Mandir darshan via the new Kashi Vishwanath Corridor (opened 2021), the Manikarnika Ghat philosophical reckoning, a sunset boat ride from Assi to Manikarnika, and the Dashashwamedh evening Aarti.
• Day three is the silk weaver district of Lallapura (Banarasi sari workshops), the BHU campus and Bharat Kala Bhavan museum, and a final evening of Banarasi paan and kulhad-chai on the ghats.
• For the vegetarian traveller, Varanasi is one of India's great pure-vegetarian cities — the satvik temple tradition is dominant, and the legendary Banarasi street food (kachori-sabzi at Ram Bhandar and Madhur Milan, tamatar chaat at Deena Chaat Bhandar, malaiyo at the lanes in winter, lassi at the Blue Lassi Shop, and the famous Banarasi paan at the Keshav Pan Bhandar) is entirely meat-free.
• The city is intense, sometimes overwhelming, and demands a respectful pilgrim posture from visitors — dress modestly near the ghats and temples, do not photograph cremations at Manikarnika or Harishchandra, and accept that Varanasi reveals itself slowly to those who walk patiently.