How to spend two or three days in Varanasi: the ghats, the aarti, and Kashi Vishwanath, without rushing any of it.
Best time to go
October to March is the comfortable window, with daytime temperatures between 15 and 28 degrees Celsius, easy for long ghat walks and early boat rides. If dates are flexible, Dev Deepawali, the full moon fifteen days after Diwali and usually falling in November, is the single most night on the river, when all of the ghats are lit with lakhs of earthen lamps.
How much time to give it
Two days covers the essentials: day one for the ghats, Kashi Vishwanath, and the evening Ganga Aarti; day two for Sarnath, where the Buddha gave his first sermon, and the old-city lanes around Vishwanath Gali. Three days adds real breathing room rather than a checklist pace.
Kashi Vishwanath Temple
One of the twelve Jyotirlingas and the most accessible of them, since it sits in the holiest city on the holiest river. The temple is open early, from around 2:30 AM to 11 PM, with darshan across three windows through the day. Expect queues, especially in the morning, and dress modestly.
The Ganga Aarti
Varanasi has more than 84 ghats, all walkable along the river, but the ceremony most visitors mean by "the aarti" happens at Dashashwamedh Ghat every evening at sunset, timing drifting with the season, roughly 6:45 to 7:00 PM in winter and closer to 7:00 to 7:15 PM in summer. It runs about 45 minutes. Arrive early for a spot on the steps, or watch from a boat on the river for the wider view. Assi Ghat runs a quieter sunrise-and-evening version, blending yoga and devotional music with a smaller crowd.
Getting around
The lanes of the old city are narrow and largely closed to vehicles, so walking and cycle-rickshaws are how most people move between the ghats and the temple. Boats are the other way to see the river frontage, best taken at dawn when the light is flattest and the ghats are at their most alive.
