Paro is 2,235 metres. That is the number that surprises people flying in from Bangkok (sea level). r/BhutanTravels threads about motion sickness and altitude are asking the same thing: will I be miserable at 9,000 feet? Most visitors are not. A few are. Plan as if you might be the few.
This is acclimatization, not a second first-timer dump. Pace the landing day with A first-timer's guide to Paro. The climb itself is Hiking to Tiger's Nest.
Heights you will actually hit
- Paro / Thimphu: ~2,200–2,400 m. Sleep here first.
- Dochula: ~3,100 m. A stop, not a sleep, on the way to Punakha.
- Tiger's Nest cliff: about 900 m above the valley — you climb it, you do not sleep on it.
- Punakha: ~1,200 m. The recovery night.
Chele La, if you add it, is higher still. That is a weather-and-lungs day, not a landing-day outing.
When to hike Tiger's Nest
Do not schedule Taktsang on the afternoon you land. On a 5 day 4 night circuit, hike on day 4 or 5.
Drink water, skip the second beer on night one, walk the town slowly. A headache that worsens with rest is a stop-and-tell-the-guide moment. Diamox starts with a clinic in Bangkok, not with us.
Pack layers — cold at dawn is part of the altitude. See what to pack.
