Paro valley
Western Bhutan

Paro

The valley every journey begins in, and the cliff where most hearts are lost.

Altitude 2,200 m valley floor Best season March to May, September to November Worth 2 to 3 nights Getting there Home of the international airport

Paro is the first of Bhutan most travellers see, and it sets the terms for everything after.

The flight in threads between ridgelines and lands beside willow lined fields, and within an hour you can be standing under the white walls of Rinpung Dzong listening to the river. The valley holds some of the kingdom’s oldest temples, its best known trail, and farmhouses that still work the land between them.

Most journeys give Paro their first and last nights. It rewards more — a slow day here, with time for an archery match or a farmhouse hot stone bath, is worth two rushed ones.

While You Are Here

Things worth your time

  1. 01 Walk to Taktsang, the Tiger's Nest The monastery on the cliff. Four to five hours return, with a teahouse halfway and the best reason in the kingdom to acclimatise first.
  2. 02 Rinpung Dzong and the old wooden bridge Enter the way people have for centuries — across the cantilever bridge and up through the watchtower shadow.
  3. 03 Kyichu Lhakhang One of Bhutan's two oldest temples, seventh century, with orange trees that fruit at altitude and grandmothers circling the prayer wheels.
  4. 04 Drive to Chele La at dawn At 3,988 metres, the highest road pass in Bhutan — prayer flags, blue sheep if you are lucky, and Jomolhari on a clear morning.
  5. 05 A farmhouse evening Ara, red rice, ema datshi and a hot stone bath under the rafters — the quietest luxury Paro offers.

Paro Tshechu fills the dzong courtyard each spring, closing with the unfurling of a giant thongdrel at dawn. Read about Paro Tshechu

Where You Stay

Rooms we trust here

Thimphu Tshechu Village Lodge Taj Paro Amankora Paro

All stays

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