Travel style · Bhutan
Festivals in Bhutan
Masked dances, fairs and harvest days
Tshechus in Bhutan, Hemis in Ladakh, Losar across the Buddhist Himalaya, Kullu Dussehra, Ziro's music festival and the Black-necked Crane festival. Planned around lunar dates that move every year.
Photo: PgyamtshoBT · CC0 · CommonsMost Himalayan festivals follow lunar calendars, so their dates move by weeks from year to year. We confirm dates with monasteries and organisers before you book, and you should check current status before you travel.
Bhutan is a Himalayan kingdom of about 38,394 sq km where every valley is run from a dzong and every tourist pays a nightly Sustainable Development Fee. Indians pay ₹1,200 a night and can drive in from Siliguri via Phuentsholing; most other visitors pay USD 100 and fly into Paro. Go March–May or late September–November.
Trips
Festivals trips in Bhutan
Photo: Christopher J. Fynn · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Comfort
Paro, Thimphu and Punakha in comfort, 6 nights
Private car with driver
5 places
Where to go
Photo: PgyamtshoBT · CC0 · Commons
Bumthang (Jakar)
Four valleys of temples, buckwheat and yathra wool
Photo: Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Dochu La
108 chortens on the pass between Thimphu and Punakha
Photo: xiquinhosilva · CC BY 4.0 · Commons
Paro
Bhutan's front door, with the Tiger's Nest on its cliff
Photo: Christopher J. Fynn · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Thimphu
A capital without traffic lights, run from a dzong
Photo: Thomas Wanhoff · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons
Trongsa
The dzong that could shut its gates and split the country
Experiences
Days that fit the style
Photo: Christopher J. Fynn · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Jambay to Kurjey: the temple walk of Choekhor
A gentle 3–4 km walk up the Choekhor valley linking Jambay Lhakhang, Kurjey Lhakhang and, across a footbridge, Tamshing…
Photo: Doctor 17 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Membartsho, the Burning Lake in Tang valley
A short drive and a five-minute walk lead to a deep pool in the Tang Chhu gorge, revered as the place where Pema Lingpa…
Photo: Prof Ranga Sai · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Buckwheat kitchen and yathra looms
Learn how Bumthang feeds and dresses itself: a farmhouse session making puta buckwheat noodles and khuli pancakes, then…
Photo: Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Sunrise over the chortens and high peaks
Reach the pass early on a clear winter morning to see sunlight move across Bhutan's highest peaks, then walk among the …
Photo: dhaag23 · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Druk Wangyel Tshechu on 13 December
A modern festival held each 13 December on the ground in front of the Druk Wangyal Lhakhang, with dances performed by t…
Photo: Thomas Wanhoff · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons
Walk down the Lumitsawa ancient trail
Follow a 4.7 km stretch of the old Thimphu–Punakha footpath from Dochu La down through rhododendron, hemlock and oak fo…
Photo: Original: Nina R from Africa Derivative work: … · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Hike to Taktsang, the Tiger's Nest
The classic Bhutan day: a steady climb of about 500 m from the car park to the cafeteria viewpoint, then on to the mona…
Photo: Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Rinpung Dzong and the National Museum on foot
Walk from the town across the covered cantilever bridge, up through the dzong's courtyards and on to the round Ta Dzong…
Where to sleep
Stays in these places
Photo: PgyamtshoBT · CC0 · Commons
Budget
Swiss Guest House, Jakar
A farmhouse-style guesthouse on a hillside a few minutes above Jakar, one of Bumthang's first places for foreign t…
Photo: Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Mid
Hotel Druk, Thimphu
A long-running city hotel on Clock Tower Square in central Thimphu, open since 1985. Spacious rooms, a restaurant,…
Photo: Xiaojun Deng · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Mid
Zhiwa Ling Heritage, Paro
A hand-built Bhutanese hotel at Satsam Chorten in the Paro valley, opened in 2005 after five years of work by Bhut…
Photo: xiquinhosilva · CC BY 4.0 · Commons
Luxury
Amankora
Aman's circuit of five lodges in Paro, Thimphu, Punakha, Gangtey and Bumthang, designed to be travelled in sequenc…
Photo: xiquinhosilva · CC BY 4.0 · Commons
Luxury
COMO Uma Paro
A 29-key resort on a pine-covered hill above Paro town, on a 37-acre estate a short drive from the airport. Rooms,…