The Buddhist circuit across India and Nepal in one journey

The Buddha's life can be traced across a strip of the Gangetic plain about 600 km long. He was born at Lumbini, now just inside Nepal; reached enlightenment at Bodh Gaya in Bihar; gave his first teaching at Sarnath, outside Varanasi; spent many rainy seasons around Rajgir; and died at Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh. Nalanda, 12 km from Rajgir, came later: a monastic university that taught Buddhist philosophy for roughly seven centuries. Seeing all six in one journey turns a set of ruins and temples into a single story, told in the order the roads allow.

Most travellers see the Indian sites and leave Lumbini out, because it means crossing a border. We think the crossing is worth it. Kushinagar and Lumbini are about 170 km apart, and a private car makes the transfer in a morning. The whole route takes 12 nights at an unhurried pace, two more than our Indian circuit, and it gives you all four of the places the Buddha is said to have named for pilgrimage: birth, awakening, first teaching and death.

The order that suits the roads runs east and then north: fly into Varanasi, drive the Grand Trunk Road to Bodh Gaya, go on to Rajgir, cross the Ganges at Patna to Kushinagar, then cross into Nepal for Lumbini and fly from Bhairahawa to Kathmandu. It works in reverse too, starting in Kathmandu. The table shows the nights we suggest at each stop and the drive to the next one.

The one long day is Rajgir to Kushinagar, about 350 km. We make it a full day of sightseeing, stopping at Vaishali, where the Buddha gave his last sermon, and at the great brick stupa of Kesaria, with a picnic lunch on the way. If that sounds like too much, a night in Patna splits the drive and adds a morning at the Bihar Museum.

We begin in Varanasi because it has the best hotels on the route and an easy airport. Sarnath is about 10 km from the city. The Dhamek Stupa marks the deer park where the Buddha first taught five companions, and the site museum holds the Ashokan lion capital that became India's national emblem. The museum is closed on Fridays, so we plan around it. An early boat on the Ganges the next morning is not a Buddhist visit, but it shows why so many teachers came to this stretch of river.

Bodh Gaya is the centre of the Buddhist world. The Mahabodhi Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2002, stands beside a descendant of the tree under which the Buddha sat. Go at about 5 am, when monks from Thailand, Tibet, Sri Lanka and Japan chant in the courtyard and the butter lamps are lit. Phones are not allowed inside the complex. A third day lets you cross the river to Sujata village, where the Buddha ended his fast, and drive out to the rock-cut Barabar caves.

Rajgir sits in a ring of low hills about 75 km from Bodh Gaya. The Buddha spent many rainy seasons here, and Vulture Peak, where he gave several teachings, is a climb of 20 to 30 minutes on a stone path; we go before sunrise, when the valley is still grey. A ropeway climbs the next hill to the white Vishwa Shanti Stupa. Tradition places the first Buddhist council, held soon after the Buddha's death, in a cave in these same hills.

Nalanda is 12 km away. Its brick monasteries and temples were a university from roughly the 5th to the 12th century, and the Chinese monk Xuanzang studied here in the 7th. The ruins became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016. Walk them in the late afternoon, when the brick turns warm and the day groups have left. The site museum, like Sarnath's, closes on Fridays.

Kushinagar is quiet and green. In the Mahaparinirvana Temple a reclining Buddha about 6 m long, carved in the 5th century, lies on his right side, and pilgrims lay saffron cloth across him. About 1.5 km away, the Ramabhar Stupa marks the place of cremation. Two nights let you see both at dawn and again at dusk without hurrying.

From Kushinagar we drive about 170 km to Lumbini, 4 to 5 hours including the border at Sonauli. In Lumbini, the Maya Devi Temple protects the excavated foundations of the birthplace, beside the Puskarini pool and a pillar raised by the emperor Ashoka, whose inscription records his visit. The monastic zone around it has temples built by many Buddhist countries, which we cover by electric cart or bicycle rickshaw. Border rules change, so check current status before you travel:

• Indian citizens need no visa for Nepal, but should carry a passport or voter ID card
• Many other nationalities can get a Nepal visa on arrival at the crossing, usually paid in cash
• Citizens of a few countries must apply for a Nepal visa in advance
• If you plan to return to India, make sure your Indian visa allows another entry
• Indian cars need a separate permit for Nepal, so a change of car at the border is often simpler

The season runs from October to March. December and January bring the largest gatherings at Bodh Gaya, often including Tibetan prayer festivals, but hotels fill early, dawn is about 6 to 8 °C and fog can delay trains and flights. October, November and February are calmer. Lumbini is foggy on winter mornings and often above 38 °C from April to June. Buddha Purnima, the full moon of April or May, is celebrated at Bodh Gaya and at Lumbini, but it falls in the heat; festival dates follow the lunar calendar, so check current status before you travel.

Twelve nights is the length we suggest for all six sites: three in Varanasi, three in Bodh Gaya, two in Rajgir, two in Kushinagar and two in Lumbini. With a night in Patna and a final night in Kathmandu, it becomes 14. Ten nights covers the Indian sites alone; our Indian circuit is from ₹2,60,000 per person, twin sharing, and we price the Lumbini extension once your dates are set.

Outside Varanasi, the Buddhist circuit has no true luxury hotels, and we would rather say so before you book. In Varanasi, Taj Nadesar Palace and BrijRama Palace are as good as anywhere in India. In Bodh Gaya, Marasa Sarovar Premiere is modern, clean and used to international pilgrims. In Rajgir, the Japanese-influenced Indo Hokke Hotel is quiet and well kept. Kushinagar and Lumbini have simple, clean hotels, and we book the best rooms each one has.

We balance the simpler nights with longer stays where the hotels are better, and we keep a private car, a driver and a guide with you throughout, so the hotel matters less than it would on a beach holiday. For travellers who want the rhythm of monastic life, several monasteries along the route offer plain guest rooms, which we can request. Food is simple and good: Indian, Chinese and continental at the hotels, and Thai, Tibetan and Japanese cooking in Bodh Gaya's pilgrim restaurants.