Kashi Vishwanath Temple
- Entry
- Free
- Hours
- 3:00 AM – 11:00 PM
- Needs
- 1–1.5 hours including the queue
Turn for the guide’s part →
Licensed tour guides · Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
Hire a tour guide in Varanasi
A licensed guide in Varanasi is ₹1,500 for a full day of eight hours and ₹900 for a half day of four, in English — 10 languages are available, from ₹1,200 to ₹3,000 a day. This page carries all 4 of the city's main monuments with their entry fees and opening hours, a half-day and a full-day itinerary, and the licence basis you can check before you pay.
Full day · 8 hours
₹1,500
Half day · 4 hours
₹900
Languages
10 available
Monuments covered
4
Guiding in Varanasi
What a guide is actually for in Varanasi
Varanasi is the city on this list where a guide is least about monuments and most about conduct. Two of the ghats are working cremation grounds, the temple has a security regime, and the lanes of the old city are genuinely unnavigable on a first visit. What a good guide here mostly does is tell you where to put your camera away, when to stand still, and what you are actually looking at — which is not a sight but a city doing what it has done continuously for three thousand years.
Orientation. The ghats run for about seven kilometres along the western bank, from Assi in the south to Raj Ghat in the north. Dashashwamedh, where the evening aarti is performed, is roughly in the middle, with Kashi Vishwanath temple a few hundred metres behind it through the lanes. Sarnath is ten kilometres north-east.
What it costs
Guide rates in Varanasi
The fee below is for an English-speaking guide. The guide fee is set by language rather than by city, so the ten-language table underneath applies in Varanasi exactly as it does in Delhi. The vehicle half of a bundled day is the site's published 4 hr / 40 km and 8 hr / 80 km rental package — every total here is two published rates added together.
Half day
4 hours, 40 km included
₹900guide only
With a vehicle and driver
- Sedan (Swift Dzire / Honda Amaze) — 4 seats
- ₹2,400
- SUV (Ertiga / Innova) — 6–7 seats
- ₹3,100
- Innova Crysta — 7 seats
- ₹3,700
Guide ₹900 plus the published 4 hr / 40 km rental package. Monument entry tickets are paid at the gate and are not included.
Full day
8 hours, 80 km included
₹1,500guide only
With a vehicle and driver
- Sedan (Swift Dzire / Honda Amaze) — 4 seats
- ₹4,000
- SUV (Ertiga / Innova) — 6–7 seats
- ₹5,000
- Innova Crysta — 7 seats
- ₹6,000
Guide ₹1,500 plus the published 8 hr / 80 km rental package. Monument entry tickets are paid at the gate and are not included.
The half-day guide fee is 60% of the day rate, rounded up to the nearest ₹50. Monument entry is extra and listed by monument below.
All ten languages, in Varanasi
| Language | Half day | Full day | Who it serves | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hindi हिन्दी | ₹750 | ₹1,200 | Domestic travellers from across India, and NRI families returning with relatives | Hindi in Varanasi |
| English English | ₹900 | ₹1,500 | United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Singapore, South Africa | English in Varanasi |
| Russian Русский | ₹1,500 | ₹2,500 | Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Armenia | Russian in Varanasi |
| French Français | ₹1,700 | ₹2,800 | France, Belgium, Switzerland, Québec, Morocco, Tunisia | French in Varanasi |
| German Deutsch | ₹1,700 | ₹2,800 | Germany, Austria, German-speaking Switzerland, South Tyrol | German in Varanasi |
| Italian Italiano | ₹1,700 | ₹2,800 | Italy, Italian-speaking Switzerland, San Marino | Italian in Varanasi |
| Portuguese Português | ₹1,700 | ₹2,800 | Brazil, Portugal, Angola, Mozambique | Portuguese in Varanasi |
| Spanish Español | ₹1,700 | ₹2,800 | Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru, United States (Hispanic travellers) | Spanish in Varanasi |
| Japanese 日本語 | ₹1,800 | ₹3,000 | Japan — independent travellers and organised group tours | Japanese in Varanasi |
| Mandarin 中文 | ₹1,800 | ₹3,000 | Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia | Mandarin in Varanasi |
What you will see
Varanasi's monuments, and what they cost at the gate
Every figure is taken from this site's own published guide to that monument, linked from each card and row. None of them closes for a weekly rest day.
Varanasi monuments · 1 of 4
Kashi Vishwanath Temple
- Entry — Indian
- Free
- Entry — foreign
- Free
- Hours
- 3:00 AM – 11:00 PM
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours including the queue
Turn a card for the guide’s part
Kashi Vishwanath Temple
Strict security. Phones, cameras and bags are not admitted — leave them in the car. Several aartis through the day, each with its own timing.
The ghats and the Ganga aarti
- Entry
- Free
- Hours
- Aarti 6:30 PM – Aarti ends about 7:30 PM
- Needs
- 1.5 hours
Turn for the guide’s part →
The ghats and the Ganga aarti
Performed nightly at Dashashwamedh Ghat. Best seen from a boat on the water rather than from the steps.
Sunrise boat ride on the Ganges
- Hours
- Boats 5:00 AM – 8:00 AM; evening boats 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
- Needs
- 1.5–2 hours
Turn for the guide’s part →
Sunrise boat ride on the Ganges
The only way to see the ghats as a single sequence. Rowed, not motorised, if you want to hear anything.
Sarnath
- Entry
- ₹20 · ₹200 foreign
- Hours
- 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Needs
- 2–2.5 hours
Turn for the guide’s part →
Sarnath
Where the Buddha preached his first sermon. The Dhamek Stupa, the excavated monastery, and the museum with the Ashokan lion capital.
| Monument | Entry — Indian | Entry — foreign | Hours | Closed | Time needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kashi Vishwanath Temple | Free | Free | 3:00 AM – 11:00 PM | Open all days | 1–1.5 hours including the queue |
| The ghats and the Ganga aarti | Free | Free | Aarti 6:30 PM – Aarti ends about 7:30 PM | Open all days | 1.5 hours |
| Sunrise boat ride on the Ganges | Not published | Not published | Boats 5:00 AM – 8:00 AM; evening boats 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM | Open all days | 1.5–2 hours |
| Sarnath | ₹20 | ₹200 | 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM | Open all days | 2–2.5 hours |
3 of 4 carry a published entry fee. Where one is not shown it is because this site holds no verified figure for it, and a gap is better than an unchecked number.
The shape of the day
A half day and a full day in Varanasi
Both plans are written against this city's own monument opening hours, which is why the start times are what they are.
Half day · ₹900 guide
Sunrise on the river and the old city on foot
Varanasi’s half day starts in the dark. There is no version of this that begins at nine.
- 04:45
Hotel pickup
The car can only reach the top of the ghat; the last few hundred metres are on foot, and your guide walks them with you.
- 05:15
Boat from Assi or Dashashwamedh
An hour and a half rowing north along the ghats as the light comes up and the city comes down to the water — bathers, washermen, wrestlers, and the two burning ghats, which your guide will tell you how to pass.
- 07:00
The lanes behind the ghats
On foot. Vishwanath Gali, the brass and silk shops, the small shrines in the walls. Unnavigable alone and the best hour of the morning with someone who knows it.
- 08:00
Kashi Vishwanath
Phones and bags stay in the car. The queue and the security are the slow part; the aarti timings decide when it is worth going in.
- 09:15
Drop
Back at the hotel for breakfast, which is the right end to this morning.
Full day · ₹1,500 guide
Sunrise boat, the old city, Sarnath and the evening aarti
A split day with a long break in the middle, because this is the one city where the middle of the day has nothing to offer and the two ends have everything.
- 04:45
Hotel pickup
Early start. The guide meets you at the lobby and walks you down to the water.
- 05:15
Sunrise boat ride
Ninety minutes on the river along the full sweep of the ghats.
- 07:00
Old-city lanes and Kashi Vishwanath
Two hours on foot, ending at the temple.
- 09:30
Back to the hotel
Breakfast and a break. The driver and guide return in the afternoon; nobody benefits from being out between ten and three here.
- 15:00
Sarnath
Ten kilometres out. The Dhamek Stupa on the spot of the first sermon, the monastery excavations, and the museum — the Ashokan lion capital in it is the original of the Indian state emblem.
- 17:30
Back to the ghats
Through the evening traffic, which is the slow leg of the day.
- 18:15
Ganga aarti from a boat
The nightly ceremony at Dashashwamedh, watched from the water rather than the crush on the steps. Ends about 19:30.
- 20:00
Drop at hotel
The 8 hr / 80 km package covers the split day as laid out, including the Sarnath run.
The fare, stated plainly
What is in the price and what is not
What the fare covers
- A Ministry-of-Tourism licensed Regional Level Guide for the Northern Region
- The guide’s licence card photographed and sent on WhatsApp at confirmation, before anything is paid
- An AC vehicle with a driver on the published rental package, if you take the bundled rate
- Driver waiting at every stop for the full package duration — no re-booking between sights
- Fuel, tolls within the package distance, parking at the monuments, and the driver’s allowance
- Ticket-counter help: which tier to buy, which gate to use, and which queue is the short one
What it does not
- Monument entry tickets, paid at the gate — the Varanasi figures are in the table on this page
- Meals, shopping and any optional activity during the day
- Distance beyond the package’s included kilometres, at the published per-km rate
- Guide and driver gratuity, customary but never compulsory
- Monument camera or video charges where the monument levies them
Ministry of Tourism, Government of India
Regional Level Guide (RLG)
- Language examined in
- Ten languages
- Licensing region
- Northern Region
- Full day · 8 hours
- ₹1,500
- Half day · 4 hours
- ₹900
Every licence card carries a photograph, a licence number, the issuing region and the languages the holder is examined in. We send a photograph of the card on WhatsApp when a booking is confirmed, before you pay anything, so you can check the number, the region and the language against the guide who meets you.
The credential
What a government guide licence is, and how to check one
A Regional Level Guide licence is issued by the Ministry of Tourism after a written examination, an interview and a training course run through the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management. It is issued for a tourism region, not for the whole country, and it names the foreign languages the holder is examined in.
Archaeological Survey of India monuments admit licensed guides and turn away unlicensed ones at the ticket gate. An unlicensed "guide" who approaches you outside the Taj Mahal or Amber Fort cannot accompany you inside, which is why the pitch is always made in the car park.
In Varanasi: Northern Region — Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh
Questions people ask
Guides in Varanasi
FAQs
No. Manikarnika and Harishchandra are working cremation grounds and photographing them is both prohibited and, more to the point, an intrusion on a family burying someone that morning. Your guide will tell you where the boundary is before you reach it, and will also tell you to ignore anyone who offers to take you closer for a donation — that approach is a known scam and the money does not reach the families it claims to.
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Book a licensed guide in Varanasi
Send your dates, the language you want and whether you need half a day or a full one. We come back with a licensed guide, a photograph of their licence card, and the total in writing before anything is paid — from ₹900 for a half day in English.
We send the guide’s licence card before you pay anything. Nothing is charged to confirm.