You will most likely arrive in Varanasi in the morning, as flights and trains to the city are not scheduled at night. The drive from Lal Bahadur Shastri Airport to the center takes around forty minutes if you are not caught in a traffic jam on the Ring Road. I do not recommend trying to see anything on the first day because of jet lag and the overall hustle and bustle of the city – we will have ample time for exploring later. Upon arriving at the hotel, we head to Dashashwemedh Ghat for the evening Ganga Aarti, which traditionally begins at around 6:45 pm IST in the winter and 7:45 pm IST in the summer. It is not widely known, but you have the option of seeing the ceremony from a boat on the river, from which the view of all the flickering flames is much better. You will, of course, have to pay extra for this, while also giving up on a birds-eye view of the densely populated steps, which may be too much for some during the peak season. If this is the case, just let me know, and we will use the boat for everything. We also spend the night in a heritage hotel with views of the river, if rooms are available.

We wake up early and, around 5:15 am, set off on a rowing boat upstream from Assi Ghat to see the sunrise over the city. This is the second day of your arrival, so we do not rush, and you have the option of sleeping in until seven or eight, if you feel tired. On our way, we pass through the most famous bathing ghats, slowly making our way towards Kashi Vishwanath Temple, which is better viewed from a distance, while most visitors are busy taking photos right on the banks – a walk here always takes at least twenty minutes. I prefer to be brutally honest and straightforward in my reviews rather than sugarcoat unpleasant situations, so I ask you to take this into account when looking at the ghats. Having breakfasted at the hotel, we proceed to Kashi Vishwanath, where you will have to pass through a thorough security check at the temple gates, handing over all metallic objects at the Gate 4 counter. I recommend asking at the ticket counter about the best time to visit the jyotirlinga, as the queue there, although seemingly long, is divided into segments. At the end of the day, we walk back from the temple through the alleys of old Varanasi, stopping by shops selling sweets that have been around for three generations. Again, we sleep at the same hotel.

A trip to Sarnath, the place where Buddha delivered his first sermon, is organized on the third day, as it is located about 10 kilometers from the center and reaches a travel time of thirty-five minutes to an hour from the city, depending on the traffic. We start off around 8:00 am, leaving the most serous part of the journey behind us until the end of the day, when we have enough time to return to Varanasi before the heat sets in. At the center of Sarnath is the Dhamek Stupa, an ancient monument with a height of 56 meters, entirely made of brick, around which pilgrims walk for an hour in silence while contemplating the history of Buddhism. What few realize is that it is the Mulagandha Kuti Vihar temple in Sarnath that houses the best preserved 1930s-era wall paintings by the Japanese artist Kosetsu Nosu, so we spend more time here in particular since it will most likely become your favorite place out of all that we see. The Archaeological Museum with the lion capital of Ashok is also worth seeing, but only if your group has at least two hours, as it is closed on Fridays, and we have the option of swapping the days 3 and 2, if needed. We finish the day at Deer Park, returning to the city in the evening.

We head about twenty minutes by ferry to the other side of the river, where, in contrast to the numerous, noisy hotels on this side, Ramnagar Fort is somewhat deserted, although in reality, parts of it are dilapidated and hardly presentable. It is worth spending an hour here, if your return flight allows for it, but it is better to skip it, if you are in a hurry. The transfer to the airport consumes at least two or three hours, since, given the time of day and the traffic, heading directly from the hotel to the airport through the center of Varanasi will be too long to risk. This is, in fact, the entire Varanasi Tour Package with Japanese Speaking Guide: four days spent without rushing, having carefully measured out the places and activities to leave enough time for both those desirable and those that, on the contrary, you want to avoid.