Paro Festival Tour

Day 01: Arrive Paro via flight – Thimphu
Your flight to Paro will provide you a wonderful experience with a view of various high snow capped mountains of Bhutan and Mt. Everest on a clear day. Upon arrival at Paro, our representative will receive you at the Airport. Drive to Thimphu for 1 hour. After checking in at the hotel you could have rest for a while, and later walk around the city to see the life of urban Bhutan or the capital city. Overnight stay in Thimphu.

Day 02: Thimphu sightseeing
Visit the school of Arts and Crafts which was established to preserve and promote our age old practice. The students here are taught 13 different traditional arts and crafts. Visit the folk Heritage museum, to see the house of living traditions in some of the rural areas or the living house in olden days. Drive to Buddha point to see one of the largest statues of the Buddha in the world. And visit the mini zoo to see the Takins which is our national animals.

After lunch you can visit the Handicraft emporium for your souvenir shopping. Visit the Memorial stupa which was built in the memory of our beloved 3rd King in1974. Overnight halt at the hotel in Thimphu.

Day 03: Thimphu – Punakha
After breakfast drive to Punakha for 2 ½ hours with short stop at Dochula pass (3100 meters). If the weather is clear, you could have a superb view of the Bhutan’s Himalayas from the pass. Upon arrival in Punakha, check into the hotel first. And have lunch in Punakha town and visit beautiful Punakha Dzong built in 1637 by Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. Based on the prophecy of Guru Padmasambava the dzong is situated between two famous rivers, Pho Chu (Male River) and Mo Chu (Female River). Punakha was also the capital of Bhutan until 1955.

Later visit a farm house to see how people live with their subsistence farm in the rural village. You can taste their traditional Butter tea with local homemade snacks, and taste Ara which is a distilled local wine. Nighthalt stay at the hotel in Punakha.

Day 04: Punakha – Phobjikha
Drive to beautiful Phobjikha valley for 2 hours. Phobjikha valley is a roosting place for the Blacked Necked Cranes in winter. Upon arrival at Phobjikha, visit the Crane Information Centre and take a leisure walk around the valley which will give you a warm feeling of rural Bhutan and the valley is really beautiful to do so. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 05: Phobjikha – Paro
Drive back to Paro for 5 ½ hours with your lunch stop en-route. Overnight at the hotel in Paro.

Day 06: Attend Paro Festival
Today you will attend the Paro festival’s different sacred mask dances and traditional dances whilst you also see local folks dressed up in their finest attires with best picnic lunches normally enjoyed with their family and friends. Overnight in Paro.

Day 07: Paro festival and sightseeing
In the morning you can still witness the festival until lunch time if you like. After lunch, you will visit the National museum, the museum which houses numerous collections of arts and artifacts. This museum is also rated as one of the best museum in Asia. It was originally built in the 17th Century as a watch tower for the dzong below. So visit the Paro Ringpung dzong built in 1646 and now serves as head of the administration for Paro district. After lunch, visit Kyichu monastery dating back to the 7th Century. This is one of the oldest monasteries in Bhutan built by Tibetan king Songtshen Gempo to pin down the ogress. Afterwards visit the historical Drugyel Dzong which is a ruin fortress now, built by Shabdrung in 1649 to commemorate the winning victory over the Tibetans in 1644. Thus Drugyel Dzong means the Bhutanese victorious fortress. You can stroll around the town in the evening for your last minute souvenirs shopping. Overnight stay in Paro.

Day 08: Paro – Taktshang hike
After your breakfast drive till the road end and begin your hike up hill. Walking time will be around 4 ½ hours for a round trip.

Taktsang monastery is perched on the face of a cliff 800 Mts, above the Paro valley. It is a memorable spiritual journey. It was here that the great Tantric master, Guru Padmasambhava flew in from Tibet on the back of a flying tigress to propagate his teachings in Bhutan. If you cannot continue your hike inside the monastery, you can stop at the Cafeteria from where you can have a spectacular view of the Tiger’s Nest. Lunch at the cafeteria or you will be served catering lunch from a restaurant. Overnight stay in Paro.

Day 09: Paro – Flight departure
Our guide and driver will drop you at the airport for your flight departure to Bangkok.