Luxury lodge circuit · 10 nights
Luxury lodge circuit
Five valleys, five lodges, one unhurried arc across the kingdom.
Overview
A circuit of the finest lodges in each valley, two nights in every one, with the drives between them kept short or replaced by air where it helps. Each lodge is built around the view of its own valley: the capital's forest edge, the Punakha riverbank, the crane marsh of Phobjikha, the temple fields of Bumthang and the cliffs of Paro. This is Bhutan at its most spacious.
Day by day
11 days, loosely held.
Every day can bend. This is the shape we would start from.
Your guide meets the aircraft, and the drive to the capital ends at a lodge set in blue pine above the valley. The afternoon is for the spa, for the terrace and for a first look at the city lights below.
Stay: Thimphu Boutique House · placeholder name
A private morning at the Buddha Dordenma, then the Memorial Chorten and a visit to a weaver's home rather than a shop. Tashichho Dzong late in the day as the monks return to the courtyard. Dinner is prepared around Bhutanese produce with the lodge's own garden at the centre.
Stay: Thimphu Boutique House · placeholder name
Butter tea among the chortens at the pass, then down to the lodge on the river where the rice fields come to the door. Chimi Lhakhang in the afternoon, and a walk back along the terraces.
Stay: Punakha River Lodge · placeholder name
The dzong before the day's visitors arrive, the suspension bridge, and a picnic lunch at Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten above the Mo Chhu. The lodge's riverside hot stone bath at dusk.
Stay: Punakha River Lodge · placeholder name
The road climbs into oak and rhododendron, and the valley opens as a wide bowl of marsh and meadow at 3,000 m. The lodge looks across to Gangtey Goemba, and from late October to February the black-necked cranes winter on the marsh below.
Stay: Phobjikha Wellness Lodge · placeholder name
The Gangtey nature trail in the morning, a farmhouse visit for ara and buckwheat, and the afternoon with the lodge's wellness team: a meditation session with a monk from the goemba, then a hot stone bath as the mist comes in.
Stay: Phobjikha Wellness Lodge · placeholder name
By road this is the long day of the journey, broken by a private tour of Trongsa Dzong and lunch above the Mangde gorge; by helicopter it is forty minutes along the Himalaya, weather permitting. Either way the day ends in a farmhouse lodge among the buckwheat fields of Choekhor.
Stay: Bumthang Heritage Farmhouse · placeholder name
Jambay Lhakhang, Kurjey and Tamshing in the morning with a lama who knows each mural, then the burning lake in the Tang valley. The evening is a private dinner in the farmhouse kitchen, the stove lit and the valley dark outside.
Stay: Bumthang Heritage Farmhouse · placeholder name
The domestic flight from Bumthang follows the peaks to Paro in half an hour, with Jomolhari on the right as you descend; when the schedule does not allow, a helicopter transfer is arranged. The lodge in Paro sits high on the valley side with Taktsang in the distance.
Stay: Paro Valley Lodge · placeholder name
An early private start up to Taktsang, with a lodge picnic at the halfway teahouse and the monastery reached before the mid-morning quiet ends. The afternoon is for the spa and the farewell dinner, prepared at the lodge from the valley's produce.
Stay: Paro Valley Lodge · placeholder name
A slow breakfast with the valley below, then the short drive to the airport. Your guide waits until you are through the doors.
Inclusions
What is in the price, and what is not.
Included
- Sustainable Development Fee (SDF) for every night in Bhutan, the per-person-per-night fee that funds free healthcare, education and conservation and keeps the kingdom high value, low volume. Verify against https://www.bhutan.travel before launch.
- Bhutan visa fee and visa processing, arranged by our Bhutanese partner operator. Verify against https://www.bhutan.travel before launch.
- Licensed Bhutanese guide throughout, required for all travel outside Thimphu and Paro and, in our view, the best reason to come.
- Private driver and private vehicle for the whole journey, from the airport steps to the airport steps.
- All meals in Bhutan: breakfast, lunch and dinner, from lodge dining rooms to farmhouse kitchens.
- All monument, museum and dzong entry fees.
- Accommodation as described, with upgrades available at every tier.
- Airport transfers in Paro and all transfers between valleys.
- Your dedicated Dzong House specialist, from the first message to the day you fly home.
- Domestic flight Bumthang to Paro, or helicopter transfer where the schedule or weather makes it the better choice (ultra tier).
- Private tours timed before or after the day's visitors at every dzong.
Not included
- International flights to and from Paro (we book them for you at cost; Paro is Bhutan's only international airport).
- Travel insurance, which we require for every traveller.
- Alcoholic and soft drinks beyond water, tea and coffee at meals.
- Tips for your guide, driver and lodge staff (we will suggest a range).
- Personal items, laundry and anything of a purely personal nature.
- Spa treatments beyond those named in the itinerary.
Pricing
Per person, sharing, all-in.
Every figure below includes the Sustainable Development Fee (100 USD per adult per night) and the 40 USD visa fee. Fees verified as of 2026-10-14.
Comfort
From $4,400
per person · 10 nights · SDF included · visa fee included
The same route with warm three-star hotels in each valley, private guide and driver, all meals. SDF and visa fee included.
Premium
From $8,000
per person · 10 nights · SDF included · visa fee included
Boutique hotels and heritage lodges in each valley, upgraded dining, private experiences. SDF and visa fee included.
Ultra luxury
From $16,800
per person · 10 nights · SDF included · visa fee included
The finest lodge in every valley with two nights in each, helicopter transfers where useful. SDF and visa fee included.
Prices shown in your selected currency are approximate conversions from USD. Children and Indian nationals pay a different SDF; we adjust the quote accordingly. Verify fees at https://www.bhutan.travel.
Route
Where the road goes.
Map placeholder
Paro → Thimphu → Punakha → Phobjikha & Gangtey → Trongsa → Bumthang
An interactive route map (Mapbox / Google Maps) slots in here.
Stays on this journey
Where you will sleep.
Placeholder names until partner agreements are signed.
Begin
Begin the Luxury lodge circuit.
Tell us when and who. We reply with a first sketch within two working days.