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Haifa B-1/107 Asi Rd  0542 231 2960; map. Laidback place serving approximations of Middle Eastern dishes ? including hummus, fresh-baked pittas and falafel ? as well as the more usual Indian fare. The ?Middle Eastern thali? (a selection of mezze with pitta) is a great deal at Rs150. Daily 7.30am?10pm.

Bread of Life B-3/322 Sonapura Rd  0542 227 5012; map. Bakery providing brown bread, cinnamon rolls (Rs35) and confectionery, with a small, clean restaurant serving Western food such as minestrone (Rs80) and veg moussaka (Rs100), plus a few Chinese options. Profits go to charity, but service is slow. Daily

Madhur Milan Dashaswamedh Rd, just past Vishwanatha Lane  95650 63977; map. Cheap and very popular café, great for dosas, sweets, kachoris and samosas (Rs10; watch them being fried out front, and grab them while they?re piping hot). Thalis Rs60?150.

Manikarnika Ghat North of Lalita lies Varanasi?s pre-eminent cremation ground, Manikarnika Ghat.

Dashaswamedh Ghat Dashaswamedh Ghat is Varanasi?s most popular and accessible bathing ghat, with rows of pandas sitting on wooden platforms under bamboo umbrellas, masseurs plying their trade and boatmen jostling for custom. It?s the second and busiest of the five tirthas on the Panchatirthi Yatra. Its Brahmeshvara lingam is supposed to have been planted by the god Brahma. South of here, a flat-roofed building houses the shrine of Shitala, which is likewise extremely popular, even in the rainy season when devotees have to wade to the temple or take a boat. Man Mandir Ghat to Lalita Ghat

Tulsi Manas Temple Durga Kund Rd ? Daily 5.30am?noon & 3.30?9pm The Tulsi Manas Temple is open to all. Built in 1964 of white-streaked marble, its walls are inscribed with verses by Goswami Tulsidas, the poet and author of the Ramcharitmanas, the Hindi equivalent of the great Sanskrit epic Ramayana.

Scindia Ghat Bordering Manikarnika to the north is the picturesque Scindia Ghat, its tilted Shiva temple lying partially submerged in the river, after falling in as a result of the sheer weight of the ghat?s construction in the mid-nineteenth century. Above the ghat, several of Varanasi?s most influential shrines are hidden within the tight maze of alleyways of the area known as Siddha Kshetra (the ?Field of Fulfilment?).

Bharat Mata Vidyapeeth Rd About 3km northwest of Godaulia, outside the Old City, the modern temple of Bharat Mata (?Mother India?), inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi, is unusual in that it has a huge relief map in marble of the whole of the Indian Subcontinent and the Tibetan plateau, with mountains, rivers and the holy tirthas all clearly visible. Pilgrims circumambulate the map before viewing it in its entirety from the second floor. The temple can be reached by rickshaw from Godaulia for around Rs50.

Ramnagar Fort Ramnagar (south bank of the river) ? Museum Daily 10am?5pm ? Rs150 (Rs20)

Bharat Kala Bhawan Museum

At Cantonment railway station, you can phone your hotel of choice, who will send someone to pick you up (the tourist office will even do this for you). If you want to make your own way to the hotels of the old town, walk away from the bus or railway station to the main road, find a non-English-speaking cycle rickshaw driver, and ask to be taken to Godaulia, 3km southeast ? a Rs50 ride.

Seeing bodies being cremated so publicly has always exerted a great fascination for visitors to the city, but photography is strictly taboo; even having a camera visible may be construed as intent, and provoke hostility.

Seeing bodies being cremated so publicly has always exerted a great fascination for visitors to the city, but photography is strictly taboo; even having a camera

To the north is Lalita Ghat, renowned for its Ganga Keshava shrine to Vishnu and the Nepali Temple (daily 5am?8pm; Rs15), a Kathmandu-style wooden structure which houses an image of Pashupateshvara ? Shiva?s manifestation at Pashupatinath, in the Kathmandu Valley ? and sporting a small selection of erotic carvings.

Saket Museum of Ramayana Correlogram Tues?Sun 10am?5pm ? Free A short walk south of the Raj Mahal, the small Saket Museum of Ramayana Correlogram has an intriguing collection of Hindu folk art from across India. Highlights include Mithila paintings (produced using paint made from cow?s milk) from Bihar and colourful masks from Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.

Money You can change travellers? cheques at Canara Bank on Jhansi Rd, just off the main square, and there is a State Bank of India ATM on Tikamgarh Rd, close to the bus stand.

Lakshmi Narayan Mandir

Chatturbuj Mandir

Hardaul ka Baithak