Valleys of the Black-necked Crane

The flight into Paro is part of the adventure: on a clear day the Himalaya slides past the window before the plane banks between forested ridges and settles onto the valley floor. Your guide meets you outside the small terminal with a white kata scarf, the traditional Bhutanese welcome, and a private vehicle is waiting.

The road follows the Paro Chhu down to Chuzom, where three chortens in Bhutanese, Tibetan and Nepali style mark the meeting of two rivers, then climbs gently up the Wang Chhu to the capital. In the late afternoon, walk to the National Memorial Chorten, built in memory of the Third King, where Thimphu's elders circle clockwise, spinning prayer wheels and telling their beads — a gentle first hour in Bhutan.

Drive: Paro to Thimphu, about 1 hour
Overnight: Thimphu

Morning at Buddha Dordenma, the giant seated Buddha above the city, and the Motithang preserve, where you can see the takin, Bhutan's curious national animal. Then visit the Royal Textile Academy, where the intricate patterns of Bhutanese weaving are explained piece by piece.

In the afternoon, visit the Institute for Zorig Chusum on a weekday, or the Centenary Farmers' Market at the end of the week, and finish with the view of Tashichho Dzong in evening light. Over dinner, your guide will brief you on the road to Phobjikha and on how to watch the cranes without disturbing them.

Sightseeing by vehicle with short walks
Overnight: Thimphu

Cross the Dochula pass and its 108 chortens, then descend towards Wangdue Phodrang, whose hilltop dzong has been rebuilt after a fire in 2012. From here the road climbs again through oak, rhododendron and dwarf bamboo to the Lawa La, where yaks sometimes graze beside the road.

Then the forest opens and Phobjikha appears: a wide, flat-bottomed glacial valley of marsh and potato fields, about 3,000 m high, with Gangtey Goenpa on its ridge. In winter the late-afternoon light across the marsh is often the first moment you see — and hear — the cranes feeding.

Drive: Thimphu to Phobjikha, about 5 hours with stops
Overnight: Phobjikha

Start at Gangtey Goenpa, a 17th-century monastery of the Nyingma school whose courtyard looks straight down the valley. Local people say the cranes circle it three times when they arrive in autumn and again before they leave. From the monastery, the Gangtey nature trail descends through pine forest and farmland to the valley floor — about two hours of easy walking.

In the afternoon, visit the Black-necked Crane Information Centre to learn how the valley's families and conservationists protect the birds — the power lines here were laid underground so that the cranes could land safely. Spend time at the viewing area with binoculars, then warm up beside the bukhari stove in your lodge.

Walk: Gangtey nature trail, about 1½–2 hours
Overnight: Phobjikha

Leave the high valley after breakfast — perhaps with one last look at the cranes on the marsh — and descend past Wangdue Phodrang into Punakha, more than 1,500 m lower, where rice terraces and orange orchards replace the pine forest and the air is suddenly soft and warm.

Walk for about half an hour through the rice fields of Sopsokha to Chimi Lhakhang, the fertility temple linked to Drukpa Kunley, the "Divine Madman", whose unconventional teachings explain the painted phalluses on the village houses. Couples still come here to ask for the blessing of a child, and your guide will share some of the saint's more colourful stories.

Drive: Phobjikha to Punakha, about 3 hours
Overnight: Punakha

Visit Punakha Dzong in the morning light, crossing the covered bridge into the fortress at the meeting of the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu — the winter home of the central monk body and the place where Bhutan's kings are crowned and married.

Leave the Punakha valley after breakfast and climb back to Dochula — the view is often quite different in the other direction, and a second cup of tea at the pass is never wasted. Continue past Thimphu and down the Wang Chhu to Chuzom and the Paro valley. Late afternoon at Rinpung Dzong and the cantilevered Nyamai Zam bridge in Paro.

Drive: Punakha to Paro, about 4–4½ hours
Overnight: Paro

Paro Taktsang, the Tiger's Nest, clings to a cliff about 900 m above the valley floor. Legend says Guru Rinpoche flew here on the back of a tigress in the 8th century to meditate in the cave around which the monastery was later built. The trail climbs steadily through blue pine and oak hung with prayer flags; most people take two to three hours to reach the top, and a cafeteria halfway up offers tea with a view straight across to the monastery. Ponies can carry you part of the way up.

The final section drops down hundreds of steps to a waterfall and climbs again to the gate; bags and cameras are left in lockers before you enter the temples. After the descent and a late lunch, visit Kyichu Lhakhang, said to have been founded in the 7th century by the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo, with its orange trees and turning prayer wheels. A farewell dinner in Paro closes the journey.

Hike: about 5–6 hours return
Overnight: Paro

Enjoy a last breakfast with the valley outside your window. Your guide and driver accompany you to Paro airport and help with check-in for your onward flight — the farewells are often warmer than travellers expect.

If the cranes captured your heart, ask us about the Black-necked Crane Festival, usually held at Gangtey Goenpa in November, when schoolchildren in crane costumes dance to welcome the birds back.

Drive: hotel to Paro airport, 10–30 minutes