Bhutan: Paro, Thimphu and Punakha

1. Day 1: Arrive in Paro

   Paro International Airport to your hotel in Paro, then Rinpung Dzong and the National Museum

   • Drive about 15 min
   • Lunch and welcome dinner
   • Stay in Paro
   Day 1 details

   Land at Paro International Airport (PBH), Bhutan's only international airport, where your See Sight Tours guide and our licensed Bhutanese guide meet you outside arrivals. Flights here operate in daylight only and most land in the morning, and the hotel is about ten minutes away, so the day starts gently. Paro sits at about 2,200 m, and we keep the first afternoon slow on purpose. After lunch together in town we walk down to the Paro Chhu and over the covered wooden bridge below Rinpung Dzong, the fortress-monastery completed in 1646 that still houses the district's monks and offices. Your guide explains how a dzong works, what to wear inside and why hats come off at the gate. Above it, the round Ta Dzong watchtower holds the National Museum, a good first lesson in masks, thangka paintings and Bhutanese history. In the evening the group meets for a short briefing on the week, then a welcome dinner.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Paro International Airport (PBH)
   • Lunch in Paro
   • Rinpung Dzong and the covered bridge over the Paro Chhu
   • Ta Dzong National Museum
   • Welcome briefing and dinner

   Free time: Time to rest at the hotel before the evening briefing

   Activity: Plan to land by about midday to join lunch and the afternoon walk; later arrivals are met and join at dinner.

2. Day 2: The Tiger's Nest walk

   Paro to the Taktsang trailhead, the cafeteria viewpoint and the monastery, then Kyichu Lhakhang and a farmhouse

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Paro
   Day 2 details

   We leave the hotel at about 7:30 am for the 20-minute drive to the trailhead at about 2,600 m, so we are on the path before the heat and the main flow of walkers. Paro Taktsang, the Tiger's Nest, clings to a cliff about 900 m above the valley floor, around the cave where, by tradition, Guru Rinpoche meditated in the 8th century. The trail climbs through blue pine and oak hung with prayer flags to the cafeteria viewpoint, about an hour and a half up, facing the monastery across the gorge. Everyone can stop here, and the view is the classic one. Those who want to go on walk about another hour, down and up several hundred steps past a waterfall, to the monastery itself, where bags and cameras are left at the gate. We all meet for a sit-down lunch at the cafeteria, walk down together, and stop at Kyichu Lhakhang, one of Bhutan's oldest temples. In the evening a Paro farmhouse heats river stones for a traditional hot stone bath, followed by dinner with the family.

   Included

   • Guided walk to the Tiger's Nest (Paro Taktsang) cafeteria viewpoint, with the option to continue to the monastery
   • Sit-down lunch at the Tiger's Nest cafeteria
   • Kyichu Lhakhang
   • Hot stone bath and dinner at a Paro farmhouse

   Optional experiences

   • A pony from the trailhead to the cafeteria (uphill only, paid locally)

   Easier option: Stop at the cafeteria viewpoint: tea and the full view of the monastery across the gorge while the others go on, then lunch together.

   More active option: Continue from the cafeteria to the monastery, about an hour each way on steps, and go inside the temples with our Bhutanese guide.

   Free time: Late afternoon free at the hotel before the farmhouse evening

   Activity: The hardest morning of the trip: about 4 to 6 hours on the trail for the full walk, or about 3 hours to the cafeteria and back. Walking poles and layers help; the descent is steep and dusty.

3. Day 3: Along the river to Thimphu

   Paro to Tachog Lhakhang and Chuzom, then Thimphu

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Thimphu
   Day 3 details

   After a slower breakfast we drive about an hour and a half east along the Paro Chhu to Thimphu, the capital. On the way we stop at Tachog Lhakhang, where an iron chain bridge in the style of the 15th-century bridge-builder Thangtong Gyalpo crosses the river to a small temple, and at Chuzom, where the Paro and Thimphu rivers meet below three chortens in Bhutanese, Tibetan and Nepali style. We reach Thimphu, at about 2,300 m, in time for lunch, then visit the National Memorial Chorten, built in 1974 in memory of the third king, where older residents walk clockwise around it and spin the prayer wheels through the afternoon. Late in the day we drive up to Buddha Dordenma, the giant gilded Buddha on the ridge south of the city, to see the valley in low light, then go down to Tashichho Dzong, which opens to visitors after office hours, as the monks and civil servants who share it finish their day.

   Included

   • Tachog Lhakhang and its iron chain bridge
   • Chuzom, the confluence of the Paro and Thimphu rivers
   • National Memorial Chorten
   • Buddha Dordenma (Buddha Point)
   • Tashichho Dzong after office hours

   Free time: An hour or two free at the hotel after lunch

   Activity: Crossing the chain bridge at Tachog is optional; the walk down to it is short but uneven. Tashichho Dzong's visiting slot after office hours is short and changes by season; if it is closed that evening, we visit it the next morning, on day 4.

4. Day 4: Thimphu at your own pace

   Sangaygang viewpoint, the Takin Preserve, the Folk Heritage Museum and Zorig Chusum

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Thimphu
   Day 4 details

   A morning of Thimphu's quieter sights, and an afternoon that is yours. We start at Sangaygang, the hillside viewpoint by the broadcasting tower, where prayer flags frame the whole valley and the city spread along the Wang Chhu. Just below is the Motithang Takin Preserve, a fenced forest where Bhutan's national animal, the takin, grazes. Back in town we visit the Folk Heritage Museum, a restored three-storey farmhouse of rammed earth and timber that shows how rural families lived, and, on weekdays when classes run, the National Institute for Zorig Chusum, where students train in the thirteen traditional arts, from thangka painting to wood carving. From Friday to Sunday the Centenary Farmers Market by the river is at its busiest, and we walk through it, past heaps of red chillies and rounds of dried yak cheese. After lunch together the afternoon and evening are free: browse the craft shops, sit in a café, or join the walk to Wangditse Lhakhang. Dinner is your choice tonight.

   Included

   • Sangaygang viewpoint
   • Motithang Takin Preserve
   • Folk Heritage Museum
   • National Institute for Zorig Chusum (weekdays)
   • Centenary Farmers Market (busiest Friday to Sunday)

   Easier option: Spend the afternoon at the hotel or in the cafés and craft shops of the town centre.

   More active option: Walk with your guide from Sangaygang through pine forest to Wangditse Lhakhang, about 1.5 to 2 hours with gentle climbs.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free; dinner on your own

   

5. Day 5: Over the Dochula Pass to Punakha

   Thimphu to the Dochula Pass, Sopsokha and Chimi Lhakhang, then Punakha

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Punakha
   Day 5 details

   Cloud usually builds over the pass by late morning, so we leave Thimphu at 8 am to reach Dochula, at about 3,100 m, while the northern horizon is clearest. On a good day, most often in autumn, the snow peaks of the high Himalaya line up beyond the 108 Druk Wangyal chortens, built in 2004 on the saddle. There is time for tea and a walk among the chortens before the road drops through forest, about 1,900 m in all, into the warm Punakha valley, where rice terraces line the rivers at about 1,200 m. Lunch is at a farm restaurant near Sopsokha. Then we walk about 20 to 30 minutes through the village, its house walls painted with protective phallus symbols, and between terraced rice paddies to the low hill of Chimi Lhakhang, the temple built in 1499 for Drukpa Kunley, the Divine Madman, where couples still come for fertility blessings. We reach our hotel by mid-afternoon, and the rest of the day is free.

   Included

   • Dochula Pass and the 108 Druk Wangyal chortens
   • Lunch near Sopsokha
   • Walk through the rice fields to Chimi Lhakhang

   Free time: Late afternoon free at the hotel

   Activity: The road is narrow and winding on both sides of the pass; if you are prone to motion sickness, take a front seat and medication before we leave.

   

6. Day 6: Punakha Dzong and the valley

   Punakha Dzong, the Punakha Suspension Bridge and Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Punakha
   Day 6 details

   The light on Punakha Dzong's whitewashed walls and red-roofed towers is best in the morning, so we cross the wooden cantilever bridge over the Mo Chhu soon after it opens to visitors. Built in 1637 to 1638 by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal where the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu rivers meet, it was the seat of government until the capital moved to Thimphu in the 1950s, and the central monk body still spends the winter here. Inside, the courtyards open one after another, the first with a great bodhi tree beside a white chorten, and your guide explains the murals in the assembly hall. Then a short drive upriver to the Punakha Suspension Bridge, strung with prayer flags high over the Pho Chhu. The active option climbs about 45 minutes through rice fields to Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten for the view up the valley; the easy option visits the Sangchhen Dorji Lhuendrup Nunnery on its ridge, reached by road. A picnic lunch by the river, then a free afternoon.

   Included

   • Punakha Dzong with your guides
   • Punakha Suspension Bridge
   • Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten or Sangchhen Dorji Lhuendrup Nunnery
   • Picnic lunch by the river

   Easier option: Drive up to the Sangchhen Dorji Lhuendrup Nunnery for the valley view instead of the chorten hike.

   More active option: Hike about 45 minutes up through rice fields to Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten and climb to its roof for the view.

   Free time: Afternoon free

   Activity: Punakha is warmer than Paro and Thimphu; bring sun protection.

   

7. Day 7: Back over the pass to Paro

   Punakha to the Dochula Pass and Thimphu, then Paro

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Paro
   Day 7 details

   This is the trip's one long drive, about 125 km and four to four and a half hours on a winding road, and there is no shorter way: Punakha and Paro lie on either side of the Dochula Pass and the Thimphu valley. We break it into three parts. After breakfast we climb back up to Dochula for tea and a stretch among the chortens, with another look at the mountains if the sky is clear. Then we carry on down to Thimphu, about halfway, for a sit-down lunch, and finish the last hour and a half along the Paro Chhu, reaching Paro by mid-afternoon. The rest of the afternoon is free on Paro's main street, two short rows of painted wooden shopfronts, for handicrafts, a coffee and a last walk. If there is a match on, the archery ground near town is worth a look: Bhutan's national sport is played at targets about 145 m away, with songs and dances for every hit. In the evening we sit down together for a farewell dinner.

   Included

   • Tea stop at the Dochula Pass
   • Sit-down lunch in Thimphu
   • Farewell dinner in Paro

   Free time: Late afternoon free in Paro

   Activity: The longest day in the vehicle, a little over the 4-hour cap, broken by tea at Dochula and lunch in Thimphu.

8. Day 8: Leave from Paro

   Your hotel in Paro to Paro International Airport

   • Drive about 15 min
   • Breakfast
   Day 8 details

   Breakfast at the hotel, then a transfer of about ten minutes to Paro International Airport. Flights out of Paro operate in daylight only and most leave in the morning, so plan to be at the airport about two hours before departure; your guides see you to the terminal and help with check-in before saying goodbye. If you fly to Kathmandu or Delhi, ask for a window on the right-hand side (the north side): on a clear morning the high Himalaya can run along the horizon, though the view depends on the weather and the route flown. If your flight leaves later in the day, the morning is free in Paro, and your guide can suggest a short walk in the valley or a last visit to the shops on the main street, with a later transfer. If you would like to stay longer in Bhutan, ask us when you book and we can quote extra nights in Paro, though each extra night also carries the government's Sustainable Development Fee.

   Included

   • Drop-off at Paro International Airport (PBH)

   Free time: Morning free if your flight leaves later

   Activity: Book any flight out of Paro; all departures are in daylight and the airport is about ten minutes from the hotel.

Wildlife and weather: Late September to November brings the clearest skies and the best chance of seeing the Himalaya from Dochula, with cold nights in Paro and Thimphu. March to May is warmer, with rhododendrons in flower on the pass and more haze over the peaks. June to August is the monsoon, with cloud, rain and landslides on the roads, so we do not run departures then.

• Paro2 nights
• Thimphu2 nights
• Punakha2 nights
• Paro1 night