Varanasi for the first time: ghats, aarti and boats

Varanasi faces the Ganges along a crescent of more than 80 ghats, flights of stone steps that run for about 6 km on the west bank, from Assi in the south to Adi Keshava in the north. Above the steps rise palaces, temples and rest houses built by rulers and merchants from across India, most from the 18th century onward. Behind them lies the old city, a maze of lanes too narrow for cars. The east bank, by contrast, is an empty stretch of sand.

This shapes everything about a visit. Cars stop at the edge of the old city, so you reach the river on foot, by cycle rickshaw or by boat. The newer city and the cantonment, where the larger hotels stand, are about 20 to 30 minutes from the ghats by car. The airport is about 25 km from the centre, and direct flights from Delhi take about 1 hour 30 minutes. Fast trains from Delhi take about eight hours.

If you do one thing in Varanasi, take a rowing boat at dawn. Board about 30 minutes before sunrise, roughly 6 am in December and January and around 5:30 am in March. As the sun rises over the sand bank opposite, it lights the façades one by one while bathers step into the river, offer water to the sun and say their prayers. Boats drift downstream from near Assi or Darbhanga Ghat past Manikarnika and back, a ride of about 90 minutes.

We use private wooden rowing boats with boatmen we know, cushions on the seats and tea in a flask. Motorboats are faster and suit larger groups, but the dawn ride is best in near silence, with your guide speaking only when there is something to explain. On another morning, start at Assi Ghat, where Subah-e-Banaras brings a morning aarti, Vedic chanting and classical music from about 5 am, and walk north along the steps as the city wakes.

Every evening shortly after sunset, a line of young priests performs the Ganga aarti on raised platforms at Dashashwamedh Ghat. Dressed alike, they move in unison with tiered brass lamps, incense, conch shells, bells and fans of yak hair, offering light to the river as a goddess. The ritual lasts about 45 minutes, with chanting and music throughout. It happens every night of the year, though in the monsoon floods it can move higher up the steps or to nearby rooftops.

There are two ways to watch. From a boat moored facing the platforms, you see the whole sweep of fire and smoke against the lit ghat and avoid the crush. From the steps, you are close to the priests and the crowd's energy, but space is tight. On a first visit we suggest the boat, arriving 30 minutes early for a good position. On Dev Deepawali, the full moon of Kartik in November, the ghats are lit with lamps and crowds are very large.

Varanasi is a working sacred city, not a stage set, and a few simple courtesies make the difference between being tolerated and being welcomed. Hindus believe that death or cremation here brings release from the cycle of rebirth, and at Manikarnika and Harishchandra ghats cremations take place in the open, day and night. You may watch from a respectful distance, best from a boat or with a guide. These are the points we brief every guest on.

• Never photograph cremations or mourners; it causes deep offence
• Ignore anyone offering to take you closer to the pyres or asking for money for wood
• Ask before photographing people; sadhus may ask for a tip
• Cover shoulders and knees, and remove shoes before temples
• Do not step over or touch offerings of flowers and lamps on the steps
• Bathing in the river is not advised; currents are strong and the water is not clean
• At Kashi Vishwanath, phones, bags and cameras usually go in a locker; check current status before you travel

Give a morning to the old city lanes, ideally after the dawn boat, walking up from the river to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and its newer corridor down to the ghats. Breakfast on kachori sabzi and jalebi at a lane-side stall, and in winter try malaiyyo, a frothy saffron milk sold only on cold mornings. Afternoons suit the silk weavers, whose handlooms still produce Banarasi brocade in family workshops; a good guide takes you to weavers rather than showrooms.

Sarnath is 10 km north of the city, where the Buddha gave his first sermon. The Dhamek Stupa stands in a quiet park of ruined monasteries, and the site museum holds the Ashoka lion capital, India's national emblem; the museum usually closes on Fridays, so plan around it. Across the river, Ramnagar Fort is the seat of the former Maharaja of Benares, with a museum of carriages, arms and clocks. Each makes a calm half day between river mornings and evenings.

The choice is between living on the river and retreating from it. On the ghats you wake to bells and boats and walk straight to the water, but you reach the hotel by boat or on foot through the lanes, and rooms are smaller. In the cantonment you have gardens, pools and quiet, but every visit to the river means a 20 to 30 minute drive and a short walk. Many guests split three nights between the two, starting on the river. Hotels on the ghats need a short walk or boat ride with porters for luggage, which we arrange, and they suit travellers who are steady on steps.

October to March is the season. November is clear and mild, and brings Dev Deepawali. December and January are cold, around 5–20 °C, with fog at dawn that softens the ghats but can delay flights and trains, so allow slack in your plans. February and March are warm and bright. From April to June it is very hot, often above 40 °C, and from July to September the monsoon floods the lower steps and boats may not run. Festival dates follow the lunar calendar and move each year, so check current status before you travel.

Three nights is the right length for a first visit: one evening for the aarti from a boat, two dawns on the river, a morning in the lanes and an afternoon at Sarnath. Our Varanasi on the Ganges journey is five nights from ₹1,75,000 per person, twin sharing, with private boats, guides and a mix of river and garden hotels. The Taj Mahal and Varanasi in six nights is from ₹2,90,000, and Dev Deepawali on the ghats is four nights from ₹2,30,000.