Bhutan Luxury Escape

Your guide meets you at Paro International Airport, and the first day stays gentle while you get used to the height of the valley, about 2,200 m.

Drive up to the National Museum in Ta Dzong, the round watchtower of 1649, where thangkas, masks and bronzes make the dzong below easier to read. Then walk down to Paro Dzong, properly Rinpung Dzong, consecrated in 1646 and still home to the district monk body and offices. Cross the administrative courtyard, look up at the carved windows and the five-storey central tower, and leave on foot over Nyamai Zam, the covered wooden bridge over the Paro Chhu. The route is downhill all the way and ends in town, in the best of the late-afternoon light.

Today belongs to Tiger's Nest, the monastery fixed to a cliff about 900 metres above the valley. From a car park about 20–30 minutes from town, the trail climbs through pine forest to a cafeteria with the first clear view, then to a ledge level with the temples. Stone steps drop to a waterfall and climb again to the gate. Most people take 2.5–3.5 hours up and spend about an hour inside, where bags and cameras stay at the entrance. Go at a pace where you can still talk.

On the way back, stop at Kyichu Lhakhang, one of Bhutan's oldest temples, beside the road to town. Your guide arranges your private butter-lamp blessing on one of your two days in Paro, and this evening is for the lodge spa.

The drive from Paro to Thimphu takes about 1.5 hours, and the first thing you see of the capital is Buddha Dordenma on the hill above the southern approach. Stop there on the way in: a gilded bronze Buddha more than 50 metres tall, with 125,000 smaller gilded Buddhas inside the statue and its throne, a shrine hall lined with them, and a wide view of the valley from the terrace.

Later, visit Tashichho Dzong at the northern end of town, which holds the throne room, the King's offices and, in summer, the central monk body. Visitors are let in only at set times, so your guide plans around them, and the late sun on its white walls and golden roofs is worth waiting for. Dress for the dzong: shoulders and knees covered, hats off inside.

Today is your private city tour of Thimphu, at an easy pace. Start at the National Memorial Chorten, built in 1974 for the Third King, where older residents walk clockwise and turn the big prayer wheels all day.

Go on to Changangkha Lhakhang on its ridge above town, one of the oldest temples in Thimphu, where parents bring newborn babies for blessings and names. Then the Textile Museum of the Royal Textile Academy, with a gallery of the weaves of each region and a weaving centre where you can watch the work, and the craft workshops your guide has set up for the afternoon. Dress for the temples: shoulders and knees covered, hats off inside.

Punakha is about 2.5–3 hours from Thimphu by road. After 45 minutes to an hour you reach Dochu La, at about 3,100 m, where 108 white chortens stand in three tiers around a hillock in memory of the Bhutanese soldiers who died in 2003. On a clear day the eastern Himalaya is on show, Gangkar Puensum among the peaks, so bring a warm layer. Lunch is a picnic at the pass.

The road then drops almost 1,900 m to the warm valley. At Sopsokha, walk about 20 minutes through the rice fields to Chimi Lhakhang, the temple of 1499 on a site blessed by Drukpa Kunley, the Divine Madman, where couples come for a fertility blessing.

A full day in the Punakha valley. Cross the Mo Chhu by the covered cantilever bridge to Punakha Dzong, built in 1637–38 where the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu meet. Climb the steep wooden entrance steps and walk through the courtyards to the Kuenrey, the great assembly hall, with its murals of the life of the Buddha and gilded statues. Allow 1.5–2 hours, in the morning or late afternoon, as the courtyards get hot.

Walk up the Pho Chhu to the suspension bridge, which sways as you cross. Later, a path climbs about 30 minutes from the footbridge at Yepaisa, through rice fields and pine, to Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten, with wide views of the valley. The evening ends with a hot stone bath at the lodge.

Leave Punakha early for the drive back over Dochu La to Thimphu, about 2.5–3 hours, and on to Paro International Airport, about 1.5 hours further. If the mountains were hidden on the way out, the pass gives you a second chance, as the weather there changes fast. Your guide and driver stay with you to the airport, Bhutan's only airport for international flights, where the trip ends.