Bhutan Tour via Nepal - 8 days

Your Bhutan journey begins in Kathmandu. On arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport, our team will be waiting to receive you and transfer you to your hotel!

Once you have had time to freshen up, we will meet you for a short briefing about the days ahead. We will walk you through tomorrow's flight to Paro, what to expect on arrival in Bhutan, and answer any questions you have about the trip.

Kathmandu can be a lot to take in after a long flight, with its traffic, noise and crowded streets, so we keep this first day light on purpose. The rest of the day is yours to rest, recover from jet lag if you have travelled from far away, and get ready for an early start tomorrow.

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.

As the plane begins its final approach, the scenery changes quickly, dropping into a narrow green valley with pine-covered ridges, terraced farmland, farmhouses and small monasteries appearing just before landing. 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, the capital of Bhutan, 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 city.

Along the way, you will get your first look at rural Bhutanese life, with traditional farmhouses, prayer flags along 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!

Today starts with a short but rewarding hike, before moving into a full afternoon of sightseeing around the capital. After breakfast, you will drive around 25 minutes north out of Thimphu town to Dodena, where the paved road ends at a small bridge over the Thimphu Chhu.

This is the starting point for the walk to Cheri Monastery. Cross the wooden bridge, pass a chorten and a rock painting of Guru Rinpoche near the base of the trail, and begin the climb through pine forest.

The path is well marked and steady rather than technical, and it takes most people around 45 minutes to reach the top, though this can vary depending on your pace. Cheri Monastery was built in 1620 by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the Tibetan lama who unified Bhutan and gave the country much of the identity it still carries today, including its laws, its national dress and the Dzongkha language.

It is regarded as one of the oldest monasteries in Bhutan and remains an active retreat site where monks come for meditation. At the top, take some time to look around the monastery grounds and enjoy the view back down the valley before making your way downhill to rejoin your vehicle.

From Cheri, you will drive back into Thimphu for an afternoon of sightseeing around the capital. Start at the National Memorial Chorten, a large white stupa built in memory of the third King of Bhutan, where you will often see local residents of all ages walking around it and spinning the prayer wheels as part of their daily routine.

From there, continue to Buddha Dordenma, the enormous seated Buddha statue that sits on a hillside overlooking the Thimphu valley and has become one of the city's most recognisable landmarks.

Next, head to the Motithang Takin Preserve, a forested enclosure where you can see the takin, Bhutan's unusual national animal, which looks like a cross between a goat and an antelope. Continue on to Tashichho Dzong, the large fortress and monastery complex that houses government offices, the throne room of the King, and the central monk body of Bhutan.

Depending on the time of day and what is happening inside, you may be able to walk through parts of the courtyard. From there, visit the Folk Heritage Museum, a restored traditional farmhouse that gives you a good sense of how ordinary Bhutanese families lived before modern conveniences arrived.

To close the day, take an easy evening walk around Clock Tower Square in the centre of town, where you can browse the small shops, look at local handicrafts, and get a feel for everyday life in Bhutan's capital.

This is a full and varied day, taking you from the capital, over a high Himalayan pass, and down into the warmer, lower valley of Punakha. Leave Thimphu after breakfast and begin the drive east.

Not far out of the city, you will stop at Simtokha Dzong, one of the oldest fortresses in Bhutan and a good introduction to the style of dzong architecture you will see throughout the trip.

As the road starts to climb towards Dochula Pass, keep an eye out for small roadside stalls where farmers sell fresh local apples, often packed loosely in plastic bags, which make a good snack for the road when they are in season.

At Dochula Pass, you reach 3,100 metres above sea level, the highest point on this part of the route. This is home to the 108 Druk Wangyal Chortens, a dramatic cluster of stupas built on the ridgeline and strung together with colourful prayer flags. Take some time here to walk among the chortens, and if the weather is clear, look north towards the high Himalayan skyline.

On a good day you can see a line of snow covered peaks, including Gangkar Puensum, which at 7,570 metres is Bhutan's highest mountain and one of the tallest unclimbed peaks anywhere 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 steadily downhill through forests of pine and rhododendron, and the air noticeably warms as you descend towards the Punakha valley. You will pass through the village of Thinleygang before reaching Lobesa, where you leave the main road for a short walk through rice paddies and farmland to reach Chimi Lhakhang.

This small temple is associated with Lama Drukpa Kunley, a 15th century Buddhist teacher known in Bhutan as the Divine Madman for his unconventional and often humorous approach to spreading Buddhist teachings, and the temple remains an important site of local pilgrimage today.

After this walk, continue into Punakha and check in to your hotel. In the afternoon, visit Punakha Dzong, built in 1637 and 1638 by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal at the striking meeting point of the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu rivers.

For many years, this dzong served as the seat of Bhutan's government, and it was here in 1907 that the country's first hereditary King was enthroned, an event that marked the beginning of the modern Bhutanese monarchy. To end the day, walk across the nearby Punakha Suspension Bridge, one of the longest suspension bridges in Bhutan, strung with prayer flags and offering good views over the river below.

After the busy previous day, today is a more relaxed drive back towards Paro, with one worthwhile stop along the way. After breakfast, you will retrace the road back towards 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 towards 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 towards 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 get out of the vehicle, stretch your legs, and take a short walk across the bridge to look at the confluence of the two rivers before continuing on. 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 a scenic backdrop of the valley and Rinpung Dzong visible on the hillside above!

This is the day most travellers 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, catch your breath, and get your first proper 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, a transformed manifestation of his consort Yeshe Tsogyal, in order to subdue evil spirits in the area.

He is said to have meditated in a cave on this cliff and appeared in eight different manifestations, and this legend is central to why Taktsang became one of the most sacred Buddhist pilgrimage sites in the entire Himalayan region. This is presented here as tradition and legend rather than verified history, but it is deeply woven into how Bhutanese people understand this site, and your guide will be able to 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 for souvenirs!

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.