Bhutan by Road: Thimphu, Punakha & Paro, 8 Nights

Our driver meets you at Bagdogra airport for the four-hour run through tea gardens to Jaigaon, where you walk under the painted Bhutan Gate and the noise simply stops. Evening at the Zangto Pelri temple square while we lodge your permit papers for the morning.

Immigration first thing — carry your passport or voter card and two photos — then the highway climbs five thousand feet through cloud forest. Stop at the Kharbandi monastery garden for the last look back at the Indian plains, and reach Thimphu by late afternoon for a first walk down Norzin Lam.

The Buddha Dordenma first, fifty-one metres of gilded bronze above the valley, then the Memorial Chorten where the town’s elders circle all day with prayer wheels. After lunch the Motithang preserve for the takin — Bhutan’s improbable national animal — the paper factory, and Tashichho Dzong as the flag comes down at dusk.

Your route permit comes through in the morning and the road crests Dochula at 3,100 metres among its 108 chortens — on a clear day the whole eastern Himalaya stands on the horizon. Descend into the warm Punakha valley through rhododendron forest, with the short walk to Chimi Lhakhang across the rice terraces before check-in.

The whole morning belongs to Punakha Dzong at the meeting of the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu — the most beautiful building in the kingdom, entered over a cantilevered wooden bridge. In the afternoon cross the 160-metre suspension bridge under its prayer flags, and paddle-shy travellers can swap the optional river rafting for a farmhouse visit.

Back over Dochula — second chance at the peaks if cloud beat you on day four — and down the Wang Chhu gorge to Paro. Afternoon at Rinpung Dzong and the National Museum in its round watchtower, then walk the willow-lined main street where every shopfront is painted by hand.

The day the whole trip points at. Start walking by seven, tea at the cliff-face cafeteria, and the final stone staircase to Paro Taktsang at 3,120 metres — allow five to six hours round trip, ponies available to the halfway point. The afternoon is deliberately empty; a hot-stone bath at a farmhouse is the optional and correct reward.

A gentle last full day. Kyichu Lhakhang, one of the two oldest temples in Bhutan, then the Drukgyel Dzong ruins up the valley with Jomolhari filling the head of it on a clear morning. After lunch find a village archery match — there is nearly always one — and stock up on yathra weave and incense in town.

An early start for the long descent to Phuentsholing, exit stamps at the border, and the run to Bagdogra for an evening flight. Book departures after 6 pm, or tell us and we will add a night in the tea gardens at no planning charge.