Seven days between Paro, Thimphu and Punakha, sleeping in the valley lodges we rate highest
The lodges in the western valleys are not interchangeable. One sits above the rice terraces with a view straight at Taktsang, another is built into a pine slope above the Punakha river. This week uses two of them as the base and keeps the driving under three hours a day, so the room, the bath and the fire are part of the trip rather than a place you fall asleep. Your guide travels with you the whole way instead of handing over at a district line.
Travellers who book the room first and the itinerary second, and want the west without a rushed pace
Your guide meets you at the aircraft steps and the luggage goes straight to the vehicle. Check in to a lodge above the terraces, then take tea on the terrace rather than a sightseeing stop. Dinner is a set menu with the fire lit.
Leave at 6:30 for the Taktsang trail with a packed breakfast at the tea house, and return by early afternoon. A hot stone bath is booked for the late afternoon, and nothing follows it except dinner.
Butter lamps at Kyichu Lhakhang before the day warms up, then the river road to Thimphu for a heritage wing room. The afternoon is the craft school if you want it, or the room.
Cross Dochula early for the range view, then descend into the warm valley and check in to a lodge on the river. Lunch is at the lodge and the afternoon is unscheduled.
Walk the dzong with your guide in the morning, then drive to a farmhouse in Lobesa for a private lunch cooked by the household. Return for a second spa hour or the riverbank.
A flat morning walk to Chimi Lhakhang across the paddy fields, then the drive back over Dochula with a stop for tea. The last night is back at the Paro lodge with a private dinner.
Breakfast at leisure, then the short transfer to the terminal with the guide staying until check in closes.
Travel insurance strongly recommended: cover mountain medical care, altitude evacuation, and Paro weather flight delays. Read the travel insurance note
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