This itinerary is indicative and does not constitute a contract. Prices are subject to availability, currency movement and written confirmation. Bhutan visa issuance is at the discretion of the Department of Immigration, Royal Government of Bhutan. © 2026 OMG Experience.
Bhutan Discovery
Everything on the Essential route plus the one thing most first trips miss - a night in the Phobjikha valley, the glacial bowl the black-necked cranes fly to from Tibet every winter.
- Return Bangkok–Paro flights on Bhutan Airlines
- Sustainable Development Fee included
- Bhutan visa applied for and included
- Private guide, driver and vehicle
- All meals, every day
- Your own dates, your party only
Day by day
Times are indicative and move freely around your flights, the weather and how you are feeling on the day.
Day 1 Into Paro, on to the capital
Arrive 09:55 · 1 h 30 drive · 2,320 m
One of the world's most dramatic approaches - the aircraft banks between ridgelines into the valley. Your licensed guide and private driver meet you in the arrivals hall.
Drive · Paro to Thimphu · 1 h 30 · 54 km
The seat of Bhutan's government and the summer residence of the Je Khenpo, the chief abbot. The King's throne room is inside these walls.
A circuit of the capital on foot and by car: the National Memorial Chorten, where Thimphu's elders walk the stupa from first light, the Sangaygang viewpoint above the city, the National Library, and the main street where a white-gloved officer still directs the only busy junction by hand.
Day 2 Over Dochula to Punakha
2 h 45 driving · 3,150 m at the pass · Punakha Dzong
One hundred and eight chortens stand in rings on the saddle at 3,150 m, built to bless the country and everyone crossing. The Druk Wangyel Lhakhang above them is painted with the royal family.
Drive · Dochula down to Punakha · 2 h · 54 km
A half-hour walk out through the paddy fields and village to the fifteenth-century temple of Drukpa Kunley, the Divine Madman. Couples come from all over Bhutan to ask here for a child.
Drive · Chimi Lhakhang to the dzong · 20 min · 12 km
The Palace of Great Happiness, built in 1637 where the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu rivers meet. It is the finest building in the country, the winter seat of the central monk body, and where every King of Bhutan has been crowned.
A short walk down onto the river bed below the dzong, where the cantilever bridge crosses the Mo Chhu and the whole fortress stands above you.
Day 3 Into the Phobjikha valley
2 h 30 drive · 3,000 m · Gangtey Goenpa
The road climbs out of the rice country into dwarf bamboo and rhododendron forest, crosses the Lawala pass at 3,360 m and drops into the widest glacial valley in the country.
Drive · Punakha to Gangtey · 2 h 30 · 78 km
The only Nyingma monastery of its size in western Bhutan, founded in 1613 by a grandson of the treasure-finder Pema Lingpa. The village of gomchen - married lay monks - around it descends from its original caretakers.
A flat walk through potato fields and farmhouses along a valley that has no mains electricity on its floor by choice - the cables were buried so they would not endanger the cranes.
Day 4 Back to Paro the long way
5 h 30 driving · Buddha Dordenma · A travel day
The long run back west over Lawala and Dochula. It is the biggest drive of the trip and also the best of the scenery, so we start early and stop often.
Drive · Gangtey to Thimphu · 4 h · 130 km
A 51.5 m gilded bronze Buddha on a hillside throne at Kuensel Phodrang, with 125,000 smaller Buddhas inside the meditation hall beneath it.
Drive · Thimphu to Paro · 1 h 30 · 54 km
Cross the Nyamai Zam cantilever bridge to the 1644 fortress-monastery that still houses both the district government and around 200 monks.
A round 1649 watchtower turned national museum in 1968 - thangka paintings, festival masks, textiles, armour and Bhutan's celebrated postage stamps.
Day 5 The climb to the Tiger's Nest
Full day · 4–5 h hike · 3,120 m
An early start to beat both the heat and the crowds. The path climbs steadily through blue pine hung with prayer flags.
Drive · Hotel to the trailhead · 20 min · 12 km
Tea and a rest at the halfway house, looking straight across the gorge at the monastery.
Down a flight of stone steps, across the waterfall and up again into the monastery itself, built in 1692 around the cave where Guru Rinpoche is said to have meditated.
Back down at your own pace, with a long and thoroughly earned lunch waiting in the valley - red rice, ema datshi and whatever is in season.
Founded in 659 by the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo, among the oldest temples in the country. The orange trees in the courtyard are said to fruit all year.
The single main street of painted shopfronts - textiles, prayer flags, thangkas and yathra wool from Bumthang - ending with butter tea in a traditional teahouse.
Day 6 Departure
Depart 10:35 · Airport transfer
A relaxed morning before your driver takes you to Paro International. Timings shift freely if you are extending your trip or connecting onward.
Drive · Hotel to the airport · 15 min · 6 km
Into Bangkok at 16:05 the same afternoon.
Your flights
| Leg | Departs | Arrives | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| OutboundB3 701 | 06:30BKK Bangkok | 09:55PBH Paro | 4h 30m1 stop · Kolkata (CCU) · Airbus A320 |
| ReturnB3 700 | 10:35PBH Paro | 16:05BKK Bangkok | 4h 30m1 stop · Kolkata (CCU) · Airbus A320 |
Times are local. Bhutan Airlines flies Bangkok–Paro daily. As the airline's appointed sales agent in Thailand we hold your seats and your tour on the same booking, so the two cannot come apart.
How the Bhutan visa works
Five steps, four of which are ours. Here is the whole of it.
- Send us your passport
A scan of your photo page with six months' validity left, plus one passport photograph. That is the whole of your paperwork.
Two minutes - We apply on your behalf
We lodge it with Bhutan's Department of Immigration as your licensed operator. Travellers cannot apply independently.
We handle it - The fees are already paid
Your USD 40 visa fee and the USD 100 per night Sustainable Development Fee sit inside the package price. Nothing is collected at the border.
Included - Clearance arrives by email
Your approved visa clearance letter comes back to you by email, normally within five to seven working days.
5–7 working days - Stamped on arrival
Show the letter at Paro and the visa goes straight into your passport. Your guide is waiting in the arrivals hall.
At Paro
- Visa fee
- USD 40 · included
- Processing
- 5–7 working days
- Passport validity
- 6 months
Bhutan does not issue visas on arrival and travellers cannot apply for one themselves. A licensed Bhutanese operator has to lodge the application, which is what we do for you.
Places you will visit
The 7 headline stops on this itinerary, so you can hold this page against anybody else's quotation.
- Paro
Paro Taktsang, the Tiger's NestBhutan's most photographed building grips a granite cliff 900 metres above the valley floor.
Altitude: 3,120 m · Ascent: 900 m · Round trip: 4–5 hours · Dress code: Legs and shoulders covered - Gangtey
Gangtey Goenpa and the Phobjikha valleyA seventeenth-century monastery on a wooded spur above the widest glacial valley in Bhutan.
Founded: 1613 · Altitude: 3,000 m · Cranes: Late October to February · Valley: Glacial, roadless floor - Punakha
Punakha DzongThe Palace of Great Happiness, raised in 1637 on the spit of land where the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu - the father and mother rivers - come together.
Built: 1637 · Altitude: 1,200 m · Visit: About 1 h 15 · Best light: Late afternoon - On the Thimphu–Punakha road
Dochula PassOne hundred and eight chortens stand in concentric rings on the saddle of the pass at 3,150 metres, built by the eldest Queen Mother to bless the country.
Altitude: 3,150 m · Chortens: 108 · Best time: Clear mornings · Stop: About 45 minutes - Paro
Rinpung Dzong“Fortress on a heap of jewels”, built in 1644 on a bluff above the river.
Built: 1644 · Altitude: 2,280 m · Visit: About 1 hour · Note: A working monastery - Punakha
Chimi LhakhangThe temple of Drukpa Kunley, the Divine Madman, who taught in the fifteenth century through scandal, drink and obscenity rather than scripture, and is loved for it.
Founded: 1499 · Walk: 30 min each way · Known for: Fertility blessings · Visit: About 1 h 30 - Thimphu
Buddha DordenmaA 51.5 metre bronze Buddha finished in gold, seated on a meditation hall on the ridge at Kuensel Phodrang.
Height: 51.5 m · Altitude: 2,600 m · Statues inside: 125,000 · Visit: About 1 hour
What the price covers
What is included
- Return Bangkok–Paro flights on Bhutan Airlines
- Licensed English-speaking guide, private driver and private vehicle throughout
- Five hotel nights in Thimphu, Punakha, Gangtey and Paro with all meals
- All monument, museum, dzong and temple entry fees
- Sustainable Development Fee, USD 100 per night for 5 nights
- Bhutan visa fee and application handled for you
- Bottled water in the vehicle throughout
What is not
- Tips for your guide and driver, about USD 3 and USD 2 per person per day
- Travel insurance, which we strongly recommend
- A traditional hot-stone bath, if you would like one arranged
- Pony hire on the Tiger's Nest trail, about THB 500
- Drinks outside meals, laundry and personal spending
- Baggage beyond the airline's 30 kg allowance
- Anything not listed as included
Bhutan does not operate an official star rating. Hotels on this package are standard class, the grade Bhutan itself uses for this tier and broadly equivalent to three-star elsewhere. They are drawn from a small set of properties approved by the Tourism Council of Bhutan in each town. Your hotels are confirmed in writing when you reserve and book, and remain subject to availability.
To book, or to ask anything at all
Call +66 2 630 4600 or email info@omgexp.com
Tell us your dates and the size of your party and we will come back with your confirmed hotels, the exact quotation and your flight options. Nothing is payable until you have that in writing.
Prepared