8 Days Bhutan Tour 2026

Arrival in Paro | Bhutan

• Arrive at Paro International Airport and transfer to your hotel.

• Depending on your arrival time, spend the afternoon visiting Rinpung Dzong, a working monastic center where monks continue their daily rituals.

• Continue to Ta Dzong, home to Bhutan’s National Museum, for an early sense of the country’s living culture and history.

• Overnight in Paro

 Kyichu Lhakhang & Drakarpo Monastery

• In the morning, take a roughly one-hour hike to Drakarpo Monastery, perched on a cliff above Shaba at around 2,650 meters. Also known as the “Split Rock,” Drakarpo takes its name from a story of Guru Rinpoche splitting a boulder in two to release an evil spirit hidden within, on his second visit to Bhutan. Sometimes called the “mini-Taktsang” for its cliffside setting, the site has drawn pilgrims for centuries.

• In the cave where Guru Rinpoche is said to have meditated, spend quiet time in silence and reflection, with the option to sit with the stillness of the space. Afterward, share a packed lunch with the resident monks, a simple, genuine moment of connection partway through the day’s hike.

• In the evening, visit Kyichu Lhakhang, believed to be one of the oldest temples in the Himalayas, built in the 7th century by the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo. According to legend, it was one of 108 temples raised in a single day across the Himalayas to pin down a demoness obstructing the spread of Buddhism, with Kyichu marking her left foot. Guru Rinpoche himself is said to have visited and blessed the temple in the 8th century, concealing spiritual treasures within its walls that remain part of its legend today.

• Inside, light butter lamps as an offering, a practice believed to symbolize the removal of ignorance, and complete a kora, three circumambulations around the temple, said to purify negativity and accumulate merit. The temple’s original 7th-century statue and centuries of continuous worship make this less a historical site than a living place of daily devotion.

• Overnight in Paro

Living Buddhism in the Capital

• Drive from Paro to Thimphu, Bhutan’s capital city.

• Visit Buddha Dordenma, one of the world’s largest Buddha statues, home to meditation halls filled with thousands of smaller Buddha images.

• Continue to the National Memorial Chorten, where locals gather daily to circumambulate and chant mantras, a living center of devotion rather than just a monument.

• Visit Changangkha Lhakhang, a temple dedicated to Avalokiteshvara, traditionally associated with blessings for children.

Overnight in Thimphu.

Guided Meditation at Tango Monastery

• Take a gentle, roughly one-hour forest hike to Tango Monastery, founded in the 13th century by Phajo Drugom Zhigpo, the Tibetan lama credited with bringing the Drukpa Kagyu lineage to Bhutan. In 1616, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the unifier of Bhutan, meditated in its caves shortly after arriving from Tibet, and the monastery was later rebuilt into its present form in 1688. Its name, meaning “horse head” in Dzongkha, refers to Hayagriva, the wrathful deity enshrined within.

  Today, Tango remains one of Bhutan’s most important centers of Buddhist learning, where monks undertake years of study before becoming religious leaders. Join a guided meditation session here, led by a resident monk and arranged in advance specifically for this tour, a rare chance to sit within a monastery still actively used for serious religious training rather than one preserved only for visitors.

• In the afternoon, drive toward Punakha via Dochula Pass, stopping to see the 108 chortens built for peace. Continue on to Punakha.

• Overnight in Punakha

Transfer to Phobjikha

• Take a roughly 45-minute to one-hour hike to Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten, crossing a suspension bridge over the Mo Chhu river along the way. Built between 1992 and 1999 at the command of the Queen Mother, Ashi Tshering Yangdon Wangchuck, the four-story chorten took nine years to complete and is dedicated to bringing peace to the world and clearing obstacles for Bhutan. Inside, its walls hold intricate mandala paintings, and from the rooftop, a wide view opens across the Punakha Valley.
• In the afternoon, visit Punakha Dzong, widely regarded as the most beautiful dzong in Bhutan, set at the confluence of two rivers.
• Continue to Chimi Lhakhang, a pilgrimage temple associated with Lama Drukpa Kunley, where visitors traditionally receive a blessing from the resident monk.

• Continue by road to Phobjikha Valley, arriving by evening.

  Overnight in Phobjikha.

Phobjikha to Paro 

• In the morning, visit Gangtey Monastery, seat of the Nyingma tradition in this region, perched above the valley floor. Below it stretch the marshy wetlands of Phobjikha Valley, home each winter to the rare black-necked cranes (late October to mid-February).

• Walking meditation is the spirit of this next stretch. The Gangtey Nature Trail winds through pine forest and dwarf bamboo, one of the few genuinely flat trails in Bhutan. Along the way, you’ll pass a small village of traditional farmhouses and a modest roadside chorten. The trail crosses the Nakey Chhu river near Khewa Lhakhang before ending. Its gentle, level terrain is rare in a country of steep hikes.

• Drive back to Paro in the evening.

• Overnight in Paro.

Hike to Tiger’s Nest

• Hike to Taktsang Monastery, known as Tiger’s Nest, perched on a cliff roughly 900 meters above the Paro valley. This is Bhutan’s most revered pilgrimage site. Guru Rinpoche is said to have flown here on the back of a flying tigress in the 8th century. He meditated in the cave for three years, three months, three weeks, and three days, subduing evil spirits and hiding sacred treasures for future generations. The monastery seen today was built around that cave in 1692.

• Enter the temple complex and visit Pelphug Lhakhang, home to the very cave where Guru Rinpoche meditated. Offer butter lamps and prayers within, in a space still considered one of the most sacred in the Himalayan Buddhist world.

• Continue on to Zangdopelri, a smaller temple built in 1853 on a separate cliff spur roughly 200 meters from the main complex and set noticeably higher. It’s a perspective few visitors take the extra time to reach.

• Hoist a string of prayer flags as an offering for peace and compassion. (Optional)

  Traditional Bhutanese hot stone bath for relaxation after the hike. (Optional evening)

• Overnight in Paro.

Departure

• Our guide will drop you at Paro international airport as per your flight schedule. Farewell for your onwards journey.