Central heartland
Trongsa
The fortress at the hinge of the kingdom.
Overview
Trongsa Dzong appears across the gorge an hour before you reach it: a vast white staircase of a fortress on a spur above the Mangde Chhu, the largest dzong in Bhutan and the one from which the country was unified. Every king is first invested as Trongsa Penlop before he takes the throne.
The town is small and the valley steep, at around 2,200 metres, with forests dropping to the river and the road clinging to the hillside. Above the dzong, the round watchtower of Ta Dzong now houses one of the finest museums in the country, telling the story of the Wangchuck dynasty.
Trongsa is the hinge between west and east, and the natural place to break the long road to Bumthang. We give it a night, an unhurried morning in the dzong, and the walk down to the old bridge below.
- Altitude
- 2,200 m
- From Paro
- About 8 hours via Punakha and the Pele La; usually broken with a night en route.
- Best months
- March, April, May, October, November
- Region
- Central heartland
Best time to visit
Four seasons, two of them famous.
Spring and autumn are peak. Monsoon is green and quiet. Winter is cold, clear and empty.
Spring
March to May
Rhododendrons on the Pele La and Yotong La, mild days in the gorge. A good season for the walk to the old bridge.
Monsoon
June to August
Cloud fills the gorge and the dzong drifts in and out of mist. Dramatic, damp and very quiet.
Autumn
September to November
Clear air for the great views of the dzong across the valley, harvest in the terraces and comfortable driving weather. Peak season.
Winter
December to February
Cold and clear; the Trongsa Tshechu usually falls around the turn of the year, and the passes can see brief snow. Verify dates yearly.
Highlights
What Trongsa does better than anywhere.
The Tower of Trongsa museum
Eleven galleries inside the old watchtower trace the Wangchuck kings from their origins as Trongsa Penlops to the present day, with the Raven Crown and royal relics on display.
The walk to the old bridge
A path drops from the dzong through forest to the stone bridge over the Mangde Chhu that the old mule trail from the east once crossed. Steep, shaded and utterly quiet.
The view from the viewpoint
Fifteen minutes before town the road rounds a corner and the whole dzong appears across the gorge, sun on its white walls. We always stop.
Dzongs & temples
Whitewashed walls, red roofs, and the people still inside them.
Trongsa Dzong
Begun in 1647 on the site of a hermitage founded by Ngagi Wangchuk in 1543, and the largest fortress in Bhutan: a maze of courtyards, temples and corridors stepping down the ridge. Once every traveller between east and west had to pass through its gates.
Long sleeves and trousers in the dzong; no photography inside shrine rooms.
Ta Dzong
The watchtower built above the fortress to guard it, with a temple to the epic hero Gesar inside. Restored and opened as the Tower of Trongsa museum in 2008 to mark a century of the monarchy.
Long sleeves and trousers in the dzong; no photography inside shrine rooms.
Stays
Where to sleep in Trongsa.
Placeholder names until partner agreements are signed. Prices per person per night, SDF included.
Journeys
Journeys that pass through Trongsa.
Questions
Before you go.
It can be, but the dzong and museum deserve a full morning and the valley rewards a night. We rarely drive through without stopping.
About two and a half hours over the Yotong La (3,425 m) and down into the Chhume valley, with weaving villages on the way. Roads are paved; the bends are many.
In the courtyards, yes. Inside the temples and shrine rooms, no, as everywhere in Bhutan. Long sleeves, long trousers or skirts and no hats are required.
Begin
Build a journey around Trongsa.
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