The Buddhist circuit in India, without crossing to Nepal

It helps to know the story before you go, because the sites themselves are often quiet ruins, stupas and modern temples whose meaning comes from what took place there. This is the sequence we follow, with the nights we suggest at each.

The order that best fits the roads begins in Varanasi and ends near Gorakhpur. Fly into Varanasi, see the ghats and spend an afternoon at Sarnath. Drive about 250 km east along the Grand Trunk Road to Bodh Gaya, 5.5 to 6 hours. From Bodh Gaya, Rajgir is about 75 km and 2 hours, with Nalanda 12 km further.

The longest day is Rajgir to Kushinagar, about 350 km and 9 hours with stops, crossing the Ganges at Patna and visiting Vaishali and Kesaria on the way, following the route of the Buddha's final journey. Some travellers split it with a night in Patna, which also allows a visit to the Bihar Museum. From Kushinagar, Gorakhpur airport is about 55 km away.

The route also works in reverse, flying into Gorakhpur and out of Varanasi. Patna and Gaya airports give other options. Flight schedules on these smaller routes change often, so check current status before you travel.

• Varanasi and Sarnath: 3 nights
• Bodh Gaya: 3 nights, with the Barabar caves and Sujata village
• Rajgir: 2 nights, with Nalanda
• Vaishali and Kesaria: on the road north
• Kushinagar: 2 nights, then Gorakhpur airport

The season runs from October to March. December and January are the peak pilgrim months, when Buddhist teaching gatherings, often including Tibetan Monlam prayer festivals, fill Bodh Gaya with monks and lay pilgrims from across Asia. The atmosphere is remarkable, but hotels book out and mornings are cold and foggy, with temperatures around 6 to 8 °C at dawn and fog that can delay trains and flights.

October, November and February are calmer and still pleasant. Buddha Purnima, the full moon of Vaishakha in April or May, marks the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and passing, and brings celebrations to Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kushinagar, but by then afternoons approach 40 °C. From June to September, heat and then monsoon humidity make long drives tiring.

Outside Varanasi, the circuit does not have luxury hotels, and we prefer to say so before you book. In Varanasi, Taj Nadesar Palace and BrijRama Palace are as fine as anywhere in India. In Bodh Gaya, Marasa Sarovar Premiere and The Royal Residency are comfortable, modern hotels used to international pilgrims. In Rajgir, the Japanese-influenced Indo Hokke Hotel is quiet and well kept. In Kushinagar, the better pilgrim hotels are clean and simple.

We choose the best rooms available at each stop and balance the simpler nights with longer stays in Varanasi. For travellers who want the atmosphere of monastic life, several monasteries in Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kushinagar offer simple guesthouse rooms, which we can arrange.

Food along the circuit is simple and good. Hotels serve Indian, Chinese and continental dishes, and in Bodh Gaya several restaurants cater to Thai, Tibetan and Japanese pilgrims. Vegetarian meals are easy to arrange throughout, and many pilgrims prefer them.

These are living places of worship, not only monuments, and pilgrims from many countries come to pray, prostrate and meditate. A few simple customs make visits easier for everyone.

• Walk clockwise around stupas, temples and the Bodhi tree.
• Remove shoes where asked and carry socks for cold stone in winter.
• Dress modestly, covering shoulders and knees.
• Keep voices low and phones silent; phones are not allowed inside the Mahabodhi Temple complex.
• Do not climb on stupas, ruins or statues, and do not pick leaves from the Bodhi tree.
• Ask before photographing monks or pilgrims at close range, and never use flash near people in meditation.
• Small donations at temples and monasteries are welcome but never required.

The sites of the Buddhist circuit reward slow visits at the right hours more than long lists. At each place, we follow a similar rhythm, adjusted for the season and for what you want from the journey.

Dawn is the most important time. At Bodh Gaya the Mahabodhi Temple opens at about 5 am, and in the first hour the courtyard is filled with chanting, butter lamps and pilgrims prostrating on wooden boards. At Rajgir, the walk up Vulture Peak before sunrise ends on a terrace where the valley slowly appears. At Kushinagar, the gardens around the reclining Buddha are almost silent. Midday is for rest, a long lunch and reading; the light is flat and the sites are at their busiest with day groups.

Late afternoon brings the second visit: a walk through the ruins of Nalanda or around the Dhamek Stupa at Sarnath, the fields of Sujata village at sunset, or the Ramabhar stupa as the brick turns warm. Evenings at the larger sites have chanting and lamps, and at Bodh Gaya you can return after dark for a guided meditation near the Bodhi tree. A guide who knows the texts and practices makes each visit far more meaningful, linking the place to the episode in the Buddha's life that happened there.

Lumbini, the Buddha's birthplace, lies in Nepal about 170 km from Kushinagar, 4 to 5 hours by road including the border at Sonauli. It needs a Nepal visa for most nationalities, available on arrival at the border for many passports. Adding two nights there completes the four principal sites.

Shravasti, where the Buddha spent many rainy seasons at the Jetavana monastery, lies in northern Uttar Pradesh, about 175 km from Lucknow. Sankassa, where tradition says he descended from heaven, is in western Uttar Pradesh. Both are further from the main route and have simpler facilities, but we can include them for pilgrims who want all the Indian sites. Check current status before you travel for border rules and road conditions.