Varanasi to Lucknow: Buddhist Circuit 11 Nights & Sacred Sites

★★★★★★★★★★ 5.00 (6 reviews)

Free cancellation

1/6

Duration12d

GroupPrivate

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Eleven Days Tracing Buddha's Path From Birth to Final Resting Place

You travel 11 nights across five countries' worth of Buddhist history with a single private guide and driver, staying in hotels with breakfast included and visiting the four holiest pilgrimage sites: Bodhgaya's Mahabodhi Temple and Great Buddha Statue, Kushinagar's Mahaparinirvana Temple where Buddha died, Lumbini's Mayadevi Temple where he was born, and Sarnath's ancient stupas where he first taught. The fixed itinerary and included transport mean you don't arrange hotels, vehicles, or timing between sites—you just show up each morning and move forward.

12d

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Arrival and Varanasi temple tour

Arrive at Varanasi
Transfer to hotel
Visit Bharat Mata Mandir, Durga, Tulsi Manas temples
Visit Sankat Mochan and Vishwanath temples
Attend Ganga Aarti at Dasaswamedh Ghat
Overnight at hotel

Day 2 — Sarnath Buddhist site visit

Breakfast at hotel
Half day tour of Sarnath
Visit Dharmarajika, Chaukhandi and Dhamek stupas
See monastery remains and Lion Capital of Ashoka
Return to hotel for overnight stay

Day 3 — Travel to Bodhgaya and evening prayer

Breakfast at hotel
Drive to Bodhgaya (6-7 hours)
Check into hotel
Attend evening prayer at Mahabodhi Temple
Overnight at hotel

Day 4 — Bodhgaya sightseeing tour

Breakfast at hotel
Visit Great Buddha Statue and Niranjana River
Visit Sujata Temple and Bodhi Tree
Tour Maha Bodhi Temple and Chinese Temple
Visit school of the destitute
Return to hotel for overnight stay

Day 5 — Travel to Rajgir and local sightseeing

Breakfast at hotel
Drive to Rajgir (2 hours)
Check into hotel
Visit Vishwashanti Stupa via chairlift
View Jain shrines and Griddhakuta site
Return to hotel for overnight stay

Day 6 — Patna city tour

Breakfast at hotel
Drive to Patna (80 km)
Check into hotel
Visit Golghar, Gandhi Museum, Patna Museum
See Har Mandir Takht, Qila House or Jalan Museum
Visit ruins of Pataliputra
Return to hotel for overnight stay

Day 7 — Vaishali visit and Kushinagar arrival

Breakfast at hotel
Drive to Vaishali
Visit Vaishali Buddhist site
Continue drive to Kushinagar
Check into hotel
Visit Mahaparinirvana Temple and Rambhar Stupa
Overnight at Kushinagar hotel

Day 8 — Lumbini birthplace visit

Breakfast at hotel
Drive to Lumbini (5 hours)
Check into hotel
Visit Mayadevi Temple, Buddha's birthplace
Overnight at Lumbini hotel

Day 9 — Kapilavastu childhood home tour

Breakfast at hotel
Drive to Kapilavastu
Visit ruins of Buddha's palaces
Overnight at Kapilavastu hotel

Day 10 — Sravasti Buddhist sites visit

Breakfast at hotel
Drive to Sravasti
Visit Anand Bodhi tree and Jetavana monastery ruins
See Sahet Mahet and Angulimal caves
Overnight at Sravasti hotel

Day 11 — Travel to Lucknow

Breakfast at hotel
Drive to Lucknow (5.5 hours)
Check into hotel
Overnight at Lucknow hotel

Day 12 — Lucknow city tour and departure

Breakfast at hotel
Visit Imambara and Rumi Darwaza
Tour other historical monuments
Transfer to airport for departure

The Experience

"Which temple did he actually reach enlightenment in?" your guide asks as the car pulls away from Varanasi, and you realize you're about to spend the next 11 nights answering questions you didn't know you had. This Buddhist circuit tour starts in Varanasi with a morning boat ride on the Ganges and a half-day temple walk through Bharat Mata, Durga, and Sankat Mochan before the Ganga Aarti at Dasaswamedh Ghat. Then it moves methodically through the four holiest Buddhist sites—Sarnath with its Dhamekh Stupa just 10 kilometers away, Bodhgaya where the Great Buddha Statue stands near the Mahabodhi Temple, Kushinagar where the Mahaparinirvana Temple marks where Buddha died, and finally Lumbini in Nepal, his birthplace. The route isn't random; it follows the arc of his life backward and forward, which means you're not just visiting temples—you're walking through a biography written in stone and earth.

The drive from Varanasi to Bodhgaya takes 6 to 7 hours across 247 kilometers, and you'll spend two full days there exploring the Bodhi Tree, the Chinese Temple, and the Niranjana River before heading to Rajgir, where the Japanese-built Vishwashanti Stupa sits on Ratnagiri Hill and can be reached by chairlift. From there you move through Patna (where the Patna Museum holds rare relics), then on to Kushinagar—the place where Buddha took his last breath—and the Rambhar Stupa, his cremation site. The itinerary doesn't rush; each place gets a full day or more, which means you're not sprinting between photo stops. Your private English-speaking guide stays with you for all 12 days, and the air-conditioned vehicle handles the long stretches between sites, so the travel itself becomes part of the rhythm rather than a chore.

Lumbini, Buddha's birthplace, sits across the border in Nepal, and the final leg takes you through Kapilavastu—his childhood home with palace ruins—and Sravasti, where he spent monsoons at the Jetavana monastery and performed most of his teachings. The tour ends in Lucknow with a morning city tour covering the Imambara and Rumi Darwaza before your evening flight. Accommodation is in 3- and 4-star hotels throughout, breakfast is included every morning, and the tuk-tuk ride in Varanasi is built in, so you're not negotiating transport or hunting for meals between sites. The whole thing moves like a pilgrimage should—deliberately, with time to sit and think, not like a checklist.

What’s included

Your 12-day Buddhist circuit includes 11 nights in 3- and 4-star hotels with daily breakfast, private air-conditioned vehicle transport for all journeys between sites, a private English-speaking guide for the entire 12 days, a morning boat ride on the Ganges in Varanasi, a tuk-tuk ride in Varanasi, and entry to all temples and monuments mentioned in the itinerary. Hotel check-ins and transfers are handled at each stop, and meals other than breakfast can be arranged with advance notice for dietary requirements.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessiblePets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Varanasi Excursion

Is this one for you?This tour suits travelers who want to follow Buddha's life chronologically across multiple countries without arranging their own transport, hotels, or timing between sites—the fixed 12-day itinerary and included guide mean you move through each pilgrimage location at a deliberate pace rather than rushing between them.