Festival journey · 8 nights
Paro Tshechu festival journey
Masked dances in the dzong, and a thongdrel unfurled at dawn.
Overview
The Paro Tshechu is the kingdom's best-loved spring festival, five days of masked cham dances in the courtyard of Rinpung Dzong and on the festival ground below it, ending with the unfurling of a giant embroidered thangka before sunrise. This journey places you in Paro for the final days, after a quieter week in Thimphu and Punakha. Dates follow the lunar calendar; verify yearly.
Built around Paro Tshechu in Paro (March / April). Festival dates follow the lunar calendar and are confirmed yearly; we hold your dates flexible until they are.
Day by day
9 days, loosely held.
Every day can bend. This is the shape we would start from.
A first glimpse of Rinpung Dzong from the aircraft window, then the river road to the capital. Spring is just arriving: peach blossom in the orchards and a thin snow line on the ridges. An easy evening in Thimphu.
Stay: Thimphu Boutique House · placeholder name
The Buddha Dordenma, the Memorial Chorten, the textile museum, and Tashichho Dzong at the end of the day. Your guide explains the cham dances you will see later in the week, so the festival will read as story rather than spectacle.
Stay: Thimphu Boutique House · placeholder name
Over the pass of 108 chortens with the high peaks on the horizon, then down through magnolia and rhododendron to the rice valley. Chimi Lhakhang in the afternoon, and the first warm evening of the journey.
Stay: Punakha River Lodge · placeholder name
The dzong at the confluence, the suspension bridge and the climb to Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten. In the afternoon, time beside the river to do very little.
Stay: Punakha River Lodge · placeholder name
An early start west and straight to the trailhead so that the climb to Taktsang is done in the cool of the morning. The afternoon is for the hot stone bath and for resting before the festival days.
Stay: Paro Valley Lodge · placeholder name
The festival ground beneath Rinpung Dzong fills with families in their finest kira and gho, and the dances unfold one after another from mid-morning: the Black Hat dancers, the Lords of the Cremation Grounds, the atsara clowns moving through the crowd. Your guide finds you a seat and tells the stories as they turn. Dress respectfully and keep cameras low and discreet.
Stay: Paro Valley Lodge · placeholder name
The long central dance of the festival, in which Shinje Chhogyel weighs the deeds of the dead and the audience reads its own future in the balance. Between dances there are picnics, archery on the far side of the ground and tea in the shade. A quiet evening in the valley.
Stay: Paro Valley Lodge · placeholder name
Before first light the great appliqué thangka of Guru Rinpoche is unrolled down the wall of the dzong, four storeys high, and the valley walks past it in silence to receive its blessing. By full sunrise it is rolled away for another year. The rest of the day is a slow one: Kyichu Lhakhang, a farmhouse lunch, and the last evening.
Stay: Paro Valley Lodge · placeholder name
Breakfast, the short drive to the airport and farewells with your guide. Festival journeys fill a year ahead; we recommend confirming early.
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 ground 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 $3,700
per person · 8 nights · SDF included · visa fee included
Warm three-star hotels close to the festival ground, private guide and driver, all meals. SDF and visa fee included.
Premium
From $6,400
per person · 8 nights · SDF included · visa fee included
Boutique hotels and heritage lodges, upgraded dining, private experiences. SDF and visa fee included.
Ultra luxury
From $13,000
per person · 8 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 Paro Tshechu festival journey.
Tell us when and who. We reply with a first sketch within two working days.