The Great Traverse: West to East

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.

After lunch, walk down through Rinpung Dzong — the "fortress on a heap of jewels" — with its carved galleries and monks crossing between prayers, and over Nyamai Zam, the covered wooden bridge below. Above the dzong, the round Ta Dzong watchtower houses the National Museum, a good introduction to Bhutanese art, masks and natural history. Finish along Paro's main street of painted wooden shopfronts. Meet your guide properly over dinner to talk through the whole journey, from one side of the kingdom to the other.

Drive: airport to hotel, 10–30 minutes
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.

Hike: about 5–6 hours return
Overnight: Paro

Drive towards the capital, stopping at Tamchog Lhakhang, a private temple reached by a swaying bridge of iron chains in the style of the 15th-century bridge-builder Thangtong Gyalpo, and at Chuzom, where two rivers meet.

In Thimphu, visit Buddha Dordenma and the takin preserve, watch students of the thirteen traditional arts at the Institute for Zorig Chusum (weekdays), and end the day at the National Memorial Chorten and with the evening view of Tashichho Dzong.

Drive: Paro to Thimphu, about 1½ hours with stops
Overnight: Thimphu

Climb out of Thimphu to the Dochula pass, about 3,100 m, crowned by the 108 Druk Wangyal chortens built by the Queen Mother. On a clear morning — most likely between October and February — the snow peaks of the northern border line the horizon. Take tea at the pass before the long descent through rhododendron, oak and then warmer forest into the Punakha valley, more than a thousand metres lower.

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. Then visit Punakha Dzong at the meeting of the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu.

Drive: Thimphu to Punakha, about 3 hours with stops
Overnight: Punakha

Today the road leaves the western valleys behind, climbing through forest to the Pele La, about 3,420 m, the traditional divide between west and central Bhutan, where dwarf bamboo covers the slopes. Beyond the pass, stop at Chendebji Chorten, a whitewashed Nepali-style stupa beside the river on the line of the old mule track.

The first view of Trongsa Dzong comes from across the gorge, long before you arrive — a fortress spread down its ridge, once the key to all travel between east and west. Its governor, the Trongsa Penlop, became Bhutan's first king.

Drive: Punakha to Trongsa, about 5–6 hours with stops
Overnight: Trongsa

Visit Trongsa Dzong in the morning, then climb to the Ta Dzong watchtower above it, now a museum of the Wangchuck dynasty and its sacred treasures.

Cross the Yotong La, about 3,400 m, into the Chumey valley, the first of Bumthang's four valleys, where families weave yathra — thick, brightly patterned woollen cloth — on looms outside their houses. Continue to Jakar, Bumthang's main town.

Drive: Trongsa to Jakar, about 3 hours with stops
Overnight: Bumthang

Spend the day among the oldest temples in the country. Jambay Lhakhang is said to date from the 7th century; at Kurje Lhakhang, Guru Rinpoche is said to have left the imprint of his body in the rock; and across a small suspension bridge, Tamshing Goenpa was founded in 1501 by the treasure-revealer Pema Lingpa.

Climb to Jakar Dzong, the "castle of the white bird", in the afternoon, and taste Bumthang's buckwheat pancakes and noodles at dinner — fuel for tomorrow's crossing into the east.

Walks between temples, about 2–3 hours in total
Overnight: Bumthang

This is one of the great road journeys of the Himalaya. Stop first in Ura, a village of cobbled lanes and stone houses, then climb to the Thrumshing La, about 3,750 m, the highest point of the east–west road, through forests of fir and rhododendron.

On the far side the road descends almost 3,000 m in a few hours — through cloud forest, past waterfalls and along cliffs hung with ferns and orchids — into the warm, deep valleys of eastern Bhutan. Mongar sits on a ridge, unusually for a Bhutanese town, rather than in a valley.

Drive: Bumthang to Mongar, about 7–8 hours with stops
Overnight: Mongar

Visit Mongar Dzong in the morning, a relatively modern dzong built in the traditional way, and walk through the small town on its ridge. Then follow the Kuri Chhu and Drangme Chhu rivers through subtropical valleys of maize, bananas and bamboo.

Trashigang is the largest town in the east and a trading centre for villagers from the surrounding hills, some of whom still wear the distinctive dress of the Brokpa herders of Merak and Sakteng. Spend the evening in the small town square, where the whole community seems to meet.

Drive: Mongar to Trashigang, about 3 hours
Overnight: Trashigang

Drive north to Trashi Yangtse, stopping at Gom Kora, a small temple beside the river where Guru Rinpoche is said to have meditated. In Trashi Yangtse, visit Chorten Kora, the great white stupa modelled on Boudhanath in Kathmandu.

Trashi Yangtse is known for its wood-turners, who make the lacquered wooden bowls (dapa) used across Bhutan, and for its branch of the school of traditional arts. Return to Trashigang in the evening.

Drive: about 2 hours each way with stops
Overnight: Trashigang

Visit Trashigang Dzong, built in 1659 on a spur high above the meeting of two rivers, one of the most dramatically sited fortresses in the country.

In the afternoon, your guide takes you to a nearby village to meet a farming family and see how life is lived in the east — perhaps with a taste of ara, the home-distilled grain spirit.

Short drives and village walks
Overnight: Trashigang

The long road south passes Khaling, home of the national handloom centre, where you can see some of the finest weaving in Bhutan. The road then winds down through forest into the foothills, with the plains of India spreading out below.

Samdrup Jongkhar is a small, friendly border town and the last stop in Bhutan. Enjoy a final Bhutanese dinner with your guide and driver, who have crossed the whole kingdom with you.

Drive: Trashigang to Samdrup Jongkhar, about 7–8 hours with stops
Overnight: Samdrup Jongkhar

After breakfast, say goodbye to your guide and driver and complete Bhutanese exit formalities at the border. We can arrange onward transport to Guwahati, about three hours away, for your flight or train.

Please check the Indian visa and entry rules that apply to your passport well before you travel — your guide will make sure the Bhutan side of the crossing goes smoothly.

Drive: Samdrup Jongkhar to Guwahati, about 3 hours