Festival journey · 9 nights
Thimphu and Punakha festival journey
Autumn's great tshechu in the capital, then the warm valley.
Overview
The Thimphu Tshechu is held in the courtyard of Tashichho Dzong over three days in September or October, the largest gathering in the kingdom and one of the most colourful. This journey gives you all three festival days with a hike to the Tango and Cheri monasteries in between, then unwinds in Punakha and Paro. Dates follow the lunar calendar; verify yearly.
Built around Thimphu Tshechu in Thimphu (September / October). Festival dates follow the lunar calendar and are confirmed yearly; we hold your dates flexible until they are.
Day by day
10 days, loosely held.
Every day can bend. This is the shape we would start from.
The valleys are at their most abundant: rice heavy in the terraces, the air washed clean after the monsoon. An hour to Thimphu along the river, and an easy evening walk through a city preparing for its festival.
Stay: Thimphu Boutique House · placeholder name
The Buddha Dordenma, the Memorial Chorten, the painting school and the textile museum, where you will learn to read the kiras you will see in their hundreds this week. Your guide walks you through the dances to come.
Stay: Thimphu Boutique House · placeholder name
The courtyard of Tashichho Dzong is already full by eight; the dancers enter to the long horns and the day unfolds in cham after cham. Dress in long sleeves and trousers, as the whole crowd does, and keep your camera out of the shrine rooms. Lunch is a picnic in the shade of the dzong walls.
Stay: Thimphu Boutique House · placeholder name
A day away from the crowds, hiking up through oak forest to the monastery of Tango and the hermitage of Cheri at the head of the valley. Monks study in both; the paths are old and quiet. Back in time for a Thimphu evening.
Stay: Thimphu Boutique House · placeholder name
The last day brings the Dance of the Judgement of the Dead and the Guru Tshengye, the eight manifestations of Guru Rinpoche, with the whole city in attendance. Your guide finds the best vantage and knows when to slip away for tea.
Stay: Thimphu Boutique House · placeholder name
The pass is at its clearest in autumn, with the peaks of Masang Gang and Gangkar Puensum lined along the north. Down into the warm valley, with Chimi Lhakhang in the afternoon through fields nearly ready for harvest.
Stay: Punakha River Lodge · placeholder name
The dzong at the confluence, the suspension bridge and the chorten walk through the terraces. A gentle raft on the Mo Chhu, or an afternoon of nothing on the lodge terrace.
Stay: Punakha River Lodge · placeholder name
West over the pass and down to Paro by lunch. Rinpung Dzong, the covered bridge and the National Museum in the Ta Dzong watchtower, then an early night before the climb.
Stay: Paro Valley Lodge · placeholder name
Three hours up through pine and flags to Taktsang, where the monastery clings to its cliff above a nine-hundred-metre drop. A hot stone bath in the evening, and a last Bhutanese dinner.
Stay: Paro Valley Lodge · placeholder name
Breakfast, the airport, and the custom of a guide who 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.
- Reserved seating at the festival where it is offered, and a guide who knows the dances by name.
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.
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 $4,050
per person · 9 nights · SDF included · visa fee included
Warm three-star hotels, private guide and driver, all meals. SDF and visa fee included.
Premium
From $7,000
per person · 9 nights · SDF included · visa fee included
Boutique hotels and heritage lodges, upgraded dining, private experiences. SDF and visa fee included.
Ultra luxury
From $14,200
per person · 9 nights · SDF included · visa fee included
The finest lodges in every valley, 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
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 Thimphu and Punakha festival journey.
Tell us when and who. We reply with a first sketch within two working days.