Bhutan Tour via Nepal - 7 days

Today, you fly from Kathmandu to Paro, and this short flight is one of the genuine highlights of the trip before you have even set foot in Bhutan.

The route is served by Drukair and Bhutan Airlines, the only two carriers permitted to fly into the country, and the flight typically takes a little over an hour. On a clear morning, you get a rare eye-level view of some of the world's highest mountains from your window seat, and the approach into Paro drops quickly into a narrow green valley with pine ridges and terraced farmland.

Once you land and clear immigration, your Bhutanese guide and driver will be waiting to meet you outside the terminal. From Paro, you will drive to Thimphu, a journey of a little over an hour that follows the Paro Chhu river before joining the Wang Chhu valley on the approach into the capital.

Along the way, you will get your first look at rural Bhutanese life, with traditional farmhouses, prayer flags on the ridgelines and small roadside shrines. Once you check in to your hotel, the rest of the day is free to rest or explore Thimphu at your own pace, so you are ready for tomorrow's fuller day.

This is the fullest day of the trip, so we start early. After breakfast, you will spend the morning visiting a short list of Thimphu's main sights, chosen to fit the time available rather than cover everything.

Start at the National Memorial Chorten, a large white stupa built in memory of the third King of Bhutan, where local residents walk around it and spin the prayer wheels as part of their daily routine.

From there, continue to Buddha Dordenma, the enormous seated Buddha statue on a hillside overlooking the Thimphu valley, and one of the city's most recognizable landmarks. Depending on timing, you will also pass Tashichho Dzong, the fortress and monastery complex that houses government offices and the central monk body of Bhutan, with a stop if the courtyard is open to visitors that day.

By late morning, you will leave Thimphu and begin the drive toward Punakha. Not far out of the city, you may pass Simtokha Dzong, one of the oldest fortresses in Bhutan, before the road starts climbing toward Dochula Pass.

At Dochula Pass, you reach 3,100 metres, the highest point on this trip. This is home to the 108 Druk Wangyal Chortens, a cluster of stupas built on the ridgeline and strung together with prayer flags. T

ake a short stop here to walk among the chortens, and if the weather is clear, look north toward Gangkar Puensum, Bhutan's highest mountain at 7,570 metres and one of the tallest unclimbed peaks in the world. Visibility depends heavily on the season and time of day, so treat a clear view as a bonus rather than a guarantee.

From Dochula, the road winds downhill through pine and rhododendron forest, and the air warms noticeably as you descend into the Punakha valley. You will pass through Thinleygang before reaching Lobesa, where you leave the main road for a short walk through rice paddies and farmland to Chimi Lhakhang, a small temple associated with Lama Drukpa Kunley, the 15th-century teacher known in Bhutan as the Divine Madman.

After this walk, continue into Punakha and check in to your hotel. In the late afternoon, visit Punakha Dzong, built in 1637 and 1638 by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal at the meeting point of the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu rivers, and once the seat of Bhutan's government. To close the day, walk across the nearby Punakha Suspension Bridge, strung with prayer flags and offering good views over the river.

It is a long day on the road with several stops, so expect to arrive in Punakha in the late afternoon or early evening.

After yesterday's full day, today is a more relaxed drive back toward Paro, with one worthwhile stop along the way. After breakfast, you will retrace the road toward Thimphu, climbing once again over Dochula Pass, though today's crossing is simply part of the journey rather than a planned stop.

On the far side, rather than driving back into Thimphu town, you will join the highway that bypasses the city, passing through the Semtokha area and onto the road that leads west toward Paro. Along the way, you will stop briefly at Chunzom, the point where the Paro Chhu and Thimphu Chhu rivers meet to form the Wang Chhu. This is also a road junction and checkpoint, where routes toward Thimphu, Paro and Haa divide, and it is marked by a small cluster of chortens built in different regional styles.

It is a modest stop rather than a major sight, but it is a good place to stretch your legs and take a short walk to look at the river meeting point before continuing. From here, it is a straightforward drive into Paro.

Once you arrive in Paro, check in to your hotel and spend the rest of the day at leisure. This is a good afternoon to rest ahead of tomorrow's hike, do some laundry, or take a gentle walk around Paro town, which is smaller and quieter than Thimphu, with Rinpung Dzong visible on the hillside above.

This is the day most travelers remember most vividly from their time in Bhutan. After breakfast, you will drive around 20 to 30 minutes from your hotel to Ramthangkha, where the trail to Tiger's Nest begins.

The trail climbs steadily through pine forest, and depending on your pace and fitness level, it typically takes between 2 and 3 hours to reach the monastery. There are rest points, benches and a cafeteria partway up where you can pause and get your first close-up view of the monastery across the valley before the final stretch.

Taktsang Monastery, known worldwide as Tiger's Nest, clings to a sheer cliff roughly 900 metres above the floor of the Paro valley. According to Bhutanese Buddhist tradition, Guru Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, flew to this site on the back of a tigress and meditated in a cave here, and this legend is central to why Taktsang became one of the most sacred Buddhist pilgrimage sites in the Himalayan region.

This is tradition rather than verified history, but it shapes how Bhutanese people understand the site, and your guide can tell you more once you are there.

After exploring the monastery buildings and taking in the views over the valley, you will walk back down to Ramthangkha and return to Paro by vehicle.

If your legs are tired after the climb, you can choose to end the day with an optional hot-stone or herbal medicinal bath back in Paro, a traditional Bhutanese way to relax the body after a long hike. This is available at an additional cost and is entirely optional.

Spend the rest of the evening at leisure in Paro, with time for a final walk around town or some last-minute shopping.

After breakfast, transfer to Paro International Airport for your return flight to Kathmandu. As with the outbound flight, this leg often offers good mountain views if the weather cooperates, giving you one last look at the Himalayas before leaving Bhutan.

On arrival in Kathmandu, our team will meet you and transfer you to your hotel. The rest of the day is free. This extra day in Kathmandu is built in deliberately, so that your onward international flight is not dependent on the Paro to Kathmandu flight running exactly on schedule, which can vary with weather and other factors beyond anyone's control.

If you have the energy after your Bhutan trip, you can use this time for some last exploring or shopping in Kathmandu, or simply rest.

Today is your final day with us, and it depends entirely on your flight time. Depending on when your flight departs, you may have some free time in the morning for last-minute shopping or a short walk near the hotel.

When it is time, our HEN team will transfer you to Tribhuvan International Airport for your onward international flight. We make sure the transfer is smooth and comfortable, so your Bhutan and Nepal trip ends on an easy note.