Before the City Stirs A morning walk through Varanasi

Varanasi wakes in layers, one trade at a time. Before the shops lift their shutters, milk arrives in steel cans, flower sellers string marigolds for the first offerings and temple bells start up in lanes too narrow for a car. This walk is timed for that hour, when the old city belongs to the people who live in it and the heat has not yet arrived.

Your guide leads a route through one neighbourhood behind the ghats, chosen for the season and for your pace. Along the way you stop for a few small tastings, perhaps chai in a clay cup, a kachori from a lane-side kitchen or something sweet, so the walk stays the main event. The guide explains what you pass: the household shrines set into walls, the trades that open first and the small rituals that begin a Banarasi day.

This is a walk first and a meal second. If you would rather make breakfast the centre of the morning, A Banarasi Morning is built around food. The two cover similar ground at the same hour, so we suggest one or the other, or placing them on different days.