A tour of Bhutan can turn into a procession of dzongs. They are magnificent, and after the fourth you will want to do something with your legs. Here are ten things worth making room for, with what each takes.
1. Walk to the Tiger's Nest
The one walk nobody skips: four to five hours there and back, to a monastery on a cliff at 3,120 m. See hiking to the Tiger's Nest.
2. Take a shorter walk in every valley
There is a good walk of one to four hours almost everywhere you stop: to Tango or Cheri monastery above Thimphu, to the ridge-top temple of Lungchutse from Dochu La, through rice terraces to Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten in Punakha, and across the Phobjikha valley on its nature trail. Say that you like to walk, and they are built into your tailor-made tour.
3. Raft the Mo Chhu
About 10 km of easy rapids at Punakha, taking an hour and a half. The Pho Chhu, beside it, is longer and rougher. The season is March to May and September to December.
4. Watch a tshechu
Masked dances in a dzong courtyard, with the whole valley in its best clothes. The largest are at Paro in spring and Thimphu in autumn. See the dates for 2027.
5. See the black-necked cranes
They winter in Phobjikha from about November to March. The crane centre in the valley, run by the Royal Society for Protection of Nature, charges Nu. 200, and the valley holds a festival for the birds on 11 November.
6. Try archery
Archery is the national sport, and a match at the ground in Thimphu is worth watching if one is on.
7. Meet the takin
Bhutan's national animal looks like nothing else. The preserve above Thimphu is open from 9am to 5pm, and entry is Nu. 300.
8. Spend a night in camp
You do not need a week to trek. The Bumdra trek is a single night on a ridge above Paro, with the Tiger's Nest on the way down.
9. Watch the crafts being made
At the school of traditional arts in Thimphu, students learn painting, carving, embroidery and the other crafts in classrooms you can walk through. It is open from 9am to 4.30pm, and entry is Nu. 200. For buying, the Department of Tourism suggests the craft bazaar, the shop at the Textile Museum, the farmers' market and the OGOP shops, which sell direct from the makers.
10. Cross a high pass slowly
Dochu La, between Thimphu and Punakha, has 108 chortens at 3,100 m and, on a clear morning, a long line of snow peaks. Chele La, above Paro, is higher still, at 3,988 m. Stop, get out and walk for half an hour: it is the easiest mountain view you will ever earn.
