Bhutan, valley by valley

Paro

Almost every trip begins and ends in Paro, the only valley in Bhutan with an international airport. It is broad, fertile and lined with traditional farmhouses, and many visitors find it the most beautiful valley in the country.

What to see

• Paro Taktsang (Tiger's Nest): the monastery on a cliff about 900 m above the valley, reached by a 2½–3 hour hike.
• Rinpung Dzong: a 17th-century fortress-monastery and the setting of the spring Paro Tshechu.
• National Museum: housed in the Ta Dzong, a round watchtower above Rinpung Dzong.
• Kyichu Lhakhang: one of the oldest temples in Bhutan, traditionally dated to the 7th century.
• Drukgyel Dzong: a restored fortress at the head of the valley, built to commemorate victory over Tibetan invaders.

Drive to Thimphu: about 1 hour. Drive to Haa via Chele La: about 2 hours.

Thimphu

Thimphu is a small capital, with a police officer directing traffic by hand at the main junction instead of traffic lights. It is the best place to see living Bhutanese culture: the arts schools, the government in its dzong, and families at the weekend market.

What to see

• Tashichho Dzong: the seat of government and of the central monastic body. Visiting hours for tourists are limited, and we plan around them.
• Buddha Dordenma: a 51-metre gilded Buddha on the hillside above the city.
• National Memorial Chorten: where Thimphu residents walk and pray from dawn to dusk.
• National Institute for Zorig Chusum: students learning the thirteen traditional arts, from thangka painting to embroidery.
• Royal Textile Academy and Folk Heritage Museum.
• Motithang Takin Preserve: Bhutan's unusual national animal.
• Centenary Farmers' Market: busiest from Friday to Sunday.

Drive to Punakha over Dochula: about 3 hours.

Punakha & Wangdue

Punakha sits much lower than Thimphu. It is warm in winter, with rice terraces, orange trees and two rivers. It was Bhutan's capital until the 1950s, and the head of the monastic body still spends the winter here.

What to see

• Dochula pass (3,100 m): 108 memorial chortens and, on clear days, a view of the eastern Himalaya.
• Punakha Dzong: built in 1637–38 at the meeting of the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu, and famous for its jacarandas in spring.
• Chimi Lhakhang: the fertility temple of the 'Divine Madman' Drukpa Kunley, reached by a short walk through the fields.
• Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten: a hilltop temple with views up the valley, about an hour's walk up.
• Punakha suspension bridge: one of the longest in Bhutan, strung with prayer flags.

Phobjikha & Gangtey

Phobjikha is a wide, bowl-shaped valley of farmland and marshes on the western slopes of the Black Mountains. It is the winter home of the endangered black-necked crane, which arrives from Tibet in late October or November and leaves by March. Electricity cables were laid underground here to protect the birds.

What to see

• Gangtey Goenpa: a large monastery of the Nyingma school on a hill above the valley.
• Gangtey Nature Trail: a gentle 1½–2 hour walk across the valley floor.
• Black-Necked Crane Information Centre, and the Black-Necked Crane Festival, held each year on 11 November.

Drive from Punakha: about 3 hours. On to Trongsa: about 4 hours.

Trongsa

Trongsa sits at the centre of the country. Its dzong once controlled the only route between east and west, and by tradition the crown prince serves as Trongsa Penlop, the governor of Trongsa, before becoming king.

What to see

• Trongsa Dzong: the largest dzong in Bhutan, stepped down a ridge above the Mangde Chhu gorge.
• Tower of Trongsa Royal Heritage Museum: in the Ta Dzong watchtower above the town.
• Chendebji Chorten: a white stupa in the Nepali style, on the road from Pele La.

Bumthang

Bumthang is a group of four valleys: Chumey, Chokhor, Tang and Ura. Bhutan's oldest temples stand here, along with sites linked to Guru Rinpoche and the 15th-century treasure-revealer Pema Lingpa. It is also known for buckwheat pancakes, local cheese and yathra wool weaving.

What to see

• Jambay Lhakhang: founded in the 7th century, and home to a fire festival each autumn.
• Kurjey Lhakhang: where Guru Rinpoche is said to have meditated and left the imprint of his body in rock.
• Tamshing Lhakhang: founded by Pema Lingpa in 1501, with some of the oldest paintings in the country.
• Jakar Dzong and the Mebar Tsho (Burning Lake) in the Tang valley.
• Ura village: cobbled lanes and old farmhouses in the highest of the four valleys.

Domestic flights link Bumthang (Bathpalathang) and Paro on some days; otherwise it is two days' drive back west.

Haa

Haa only opened to visitors in 2002, and it still sees few of them. The road from Paro climbs to Chele La (3,988 m), the highest road pass in Bhutan, with views of Jomolhari on clear mornings. Haa has good homestays, and its summer festival in July celebrates nomadic herding life.

What to see

• Chele La: prayer flags, alpine flowers in summer, and a ridge walk from the pass.
• Lhakhang Karpo and Lhakhang Nagpo: the White and Black Temples of the valley.
• Village homestays, with dinner cooked by your hosts.

Eastern Bhutan

Few visitors reach the east, and that is a large part of its appeal. The road east of Bumthang crosses Thrumshing La, one of the highest passes in the country, then drops into deep river valleys. Lhuentse is the ancestral home of the royal family and known for kishuthara silk weaving. Trashigang and Trashi Yangtse have some of the most dramatic dzongs and chortens in Bhutan. Trips to the east can end overland at Samdrup Jongkhar, on the Indian border.

Ask us about Eastern Bhutan itineraries.