The Buddha himself spoke about four main places worthy of pilgrimage for his followers.

1.  Lumbini, his birth place, in Nepal 
2. Bodh-Gaya, the place in India where he achieved enlightenment 
3. Sarnath (near Varanasi), where he delivered his first teaching. 
4. Kusinagar, where he passed into Parinirvana.

Four other sites also became considered to be important places of pilgrimage.  The other four are:

• Shravasti, where the Buddha spent the largest amount of time and conducted 22 rainy season summer retreats. This is also the place where began performing a series of miracles to convince skeptics. 
• Rajgir, where the Buddha taught the Perfection of Wisdom and subdued an angry elephant through his compassion. 
• Sankasia, where the Buddha is said to have descended from Tushita Pure Land after having taught there his deceased mother during the three month period of a summer retreat
• Vaishali, where the Buddha ordained the first female nuns and where he received an offering of honey from a monkey.