Varanasi has 88 ghats — stepped stone embankments leading down to the Ganges, stretching for nearly 7 kilometres along the western bank. Each ghat has its own purpose, its own history and its own hour of the day when it is most alive. The city of Kashi — the ancient name for Varanasi — has been building, rebuilding and adding to these ghats for over two thousand years.

Every evening at Dashashwamedh Ghat — as the sun sets over the Ganges — six priests in saffron robes perform the Ganga Aarti simultaneously. Flames, incense, conch shells, bells and Sanskrit mantras rise together above the river. The ceremony has been performed every single evening for thousands of years — through wars, floods, empires rising and falling. It has never stopped.

Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat — the sacred ceremony that has been performed every evening at Varanasi for thousands of years without interruption

Whether you have one day or three in Varanasi, these are the things to do in Varanasi that every visitor should experience. Each one connects you to a different layer of this extraordinary city.

In Varanasi, food and devotion are inseparable. Kachoris are offered at temple doors before they reach your plate. Lassi is served to pilgrims who have bathed in the Ganges. Chai is poured in the same lanes where Sanskrit scholars have walked for centuries. The Uttar Pradesh tourism authority recognises Varanasi's food culture as one of the most distinctive in all of India.

The must-eat foods in Varanasi: kachori with potato curry at Kachori Gali at dawn, papdi chaat at Kashi Chaat Bhandar, rabri malai lassi at the famous Blue Lassi Shop and Banarasi paan at Keshav Tambul Bhandar to finish. For a complete guide to every stop, read our Varanasi food walk guide.

The Blue Lassi Shop deserves special mention — a tiny dark room barely larger than a cupboard, its walls covered in thousands of stamp-sized photographs of visitors from every country in the world. Korean, Spanish, French, German, Japanese — they are all here. A team of Korean tourists named the shop "Blue Lassi" 20 years ago. The owner still does not know exactly why. It became a lucky charm. Important: Malaiyo — Varanasi's most ethereal dessert, a cloud-light saffron cream — is only available between November and February. If you are visiting in summer, it will not be there.

Kachori in a leaf bowl at Kachori Gali — the most famous street food in Varanasi and the traditional breakfast of the sacred city

Banarasi paan — the GI-tagged betel leaf preparation that has been the final taste of every great Varanasi visit for generations

Many travellers choose to explore Varanasi's food walk and ghats with a private guide for a deeper experience of the old city lanes — and a safer, more meaningful introduction to this extraordinary city.

Eleven kilometres from the ghats of Varanasi lies Sarnath — one of the most sacred sites in Buddhism. It was here, in the Deer Park at Isipatana, that the Buddha delivered his first sermon after attaining enlightenment at Bodh Gaya. The Dhamek Stupa — built in 500 CE and rising 34 metres — marks the exact spot.

Sarnath is a half-day excursion from Varanasi — a peaceful contrast to the intensity of the ghats. The Sarnath Museum houses one of the most important collections of Buddhist art in the world, including the Lion Capital of Ashoka — the national emblem of India.