Rivers and Fortresses

Drive About 1.5 hrsAltitude about 2,320 m

Your guide and driver meet you at Paro airport for the drive to the capital, stopping at Tachog Lhakhang and its iron chain bridge for tea. Lunch is your first taste of Bhutanese food, with an introduction to the dishes. After an afternoon to rest and adjust to the altitude, browse the handicraft market and try on a gho or kira, then visit Tashichho Dzong as the working day ends.

• Tachog Lhakhang
• Tashichho Dzong

Altitude about 2,320 m

A slow morning, then light a butter lamp at the National Memorial Chorten and walk the rounds with local elders. From the great Buddha at Buddha Point, a gentle trail of about two hours leads down to Changangkha Lhakhang, with tea at a viewpoint. After lunch and some rest, make your own stamps at the Postal Museum, meet the takin, Bhutan’s national animal, and hang prayer flags at Sangaygang viewpoint. End with the farmers market and the town, and dinner at our family home.

• National Memorial Chorten
• Takin Preserve
• Bhutan Postal Museum
• Prayer flags at Sangaygang

Drive About 3 hrs with stopsAltitude about 1,250 m

Tea among the 108 chortens of Dochula Pass, then down to Sopsokha village and a walk through the rice fields to Chimi Lhakhang. After lunch, Punakha Dzong and the long suspension bridge over the river, then time to rest or walk by the water.

• Chimi Lhakhang
• Punakha Dzong

Drive About 4 hrs with stopsAltitude about 2,200 m

A morning hike of about an hour to Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten, with views down the valley. Time in the village and lunch with a farming family, then the drive back over Dochula to Paro.

• Khamsum Chorten

Hike about 2–3 hrs up, 3,120 m at the topAltitude about 2,200 m

The hike to Paro Taktsang, Tiger’s Nest, taken slowly with plenty of stops and tea halfway. A pony can carry you uphill if you’d like. After visiting the monastery, lunch faces it across the valley. On the way back, Kyichu Lhakhang, one of Bhutan’s oldest temples, then rest, or visit Rinpung Dzong if you have energy left. A hot stone bath before a farewell dinner.

• Tiger’s Nest
• Kyichu Lhakhang
• Rinpung Dzong

After breakfast, the drive to Paro airport and a warm farewell from your guide and driver. With an afternoon flight, the National Museum or a stroll in Paro town.