Kathmandu: Thimi Pottery, Mask Painting & Cooking Tour

Discover Thimi, a Newar town near Kathmandu, on a guided tour. Try your hand at pottery, paint a mask, and cook a Newari lunch with a local family.
Experience the living traditions of Thimi, an old Newar town near Kathmandu, on a hands-on cultural tour combining pottery, traditional mask painting, and Newari cooking.

Spend the day with a local family and discover how traditional crafts are made. Try your hand at a working potter's wheel, paint your own papier-mâché festival mask, and prepare a delicious Newari lunch using traditional recipes.

Explore Thimi's historic lanes, visit local temples, and learn about the customs and festivals that continue to shape Newari culture. Your local guide will share stories and explain the traditions, while your host family gives you a personal glimpse into everyday life and traditional craftsmanship.

Continue your experience in nearby Bhaktapur, exploring quieter back lanes and enjoying a traditional curd tasting away from the main ticketed area.

At the end of the experience, take home a finished pottery piece and the mask you painted yourself — meaningful souvenirs made during your time in Thimi.

Tentative Itinerary

08:30 – Private pickup from your hotel in Kathmandu

09:15 – Explore old Thimi, walking through traditional lanes and visiting the Balkumari Temple and a working pottery courtyard

10:00– Pottery experience
Try the potter's wheel and shape a small cup or lamp. Since clay cannot be fired on the same day, you will receive a finished piece from the family's own stock to take home.

11:30 – Traditional mask painting
Paint a small papier-mâché mask and learn about its role in local Newari festivals and traditions.

13:00– Newari cooking and lunch
Join the family in preparing two traditional dishes, such as bara or chatamari, before sitting down together for a homemade Newari lunch.

14:30 – Bhaktapur cultural walk and curd tasting**
Continue to nearby Bhaktapur and explore its quieter back lanes. Enjoy a tasting of traditional local curd, kept outside the main Durbar Square ticketed area.

Around 16:00 – Hotel drop-off in Kathmandu

To guarantee availability book as soon as possible. Early booking is worth consideration especially if you planning the trip during high season like public holidays or weekends.

This excursion you can cancel with no cost up to 24 hours before the start of the trip. If you cancel it after 24 hours or not show up on the excursion you will still be charged the full price of the activity. Being late on pick-up or departure will be considered as not showing up.