Festival
Thimphu Tshechu Festival Tour
The capital's great autumn festival at Tashichho Dzong, with the Tiger's Nest before it and the warm valley of Punakha after.
Price on request
Festival
Paro Tshechu Festival Tour
Eight days built around Paro's spring festival, ending with the dawn unveiling of the great thongdrel on the last morning.
- Length
- 8 days / 7 nights
- Grade
- Easy
- Festival dates
- 18 to 22 March 2027
- Best months
- March
- Price
- Price on request
Overview
The Paro Tshechu is the best known festival in Bhutan: five days of masked dances at Rinpung Dzong, watched by what seems like the whole valley in its finest clothes. In 2027 it is expected to run from 18 to 22 March.
This trip would start on 16 March. It sees Thimphu and Punakha first, while they are quiet, and arrives in Paro for the last three days of the festival. That way you are there for the closing morning, when a vast silk appliqué of Guru Rinpoche, the thongdrel, is unrolled down the wall before dawn and rolled away again before the sun can touch it.
Paro has few hotels for the crowd this festival draws. Rooms for March are usually taken months ahead, so the earlier you ask the better the choice.
Festival dates follow the lunar calendar. Those given here are from the official tentative list for 2027, last read on 3 October 2026, and can still move by a day or two. We confirm them with you before you book flights.
Highlights
- Two days of masked dances at the Paro Tshechu
- The thongdrel of Guru Rinpoche, shown once a year before sunrise
- The Tiger's Nest on a festival day, when the trail is quieter
- Punakha Dzong, in the warmth of early spring
- Thimphu and the crossing of Dochu La
Route
- Thimphu
- Punakha
- Paro
Day by day
Day 1 Arrive in Paro, drive to Thimphu
Tuesday 16 March on the planned dates. From the airport you go straight to Thimphu, an hour away, leaving Paro for the end. An easy first afternoon: the Memorial Chorten and the Buddha Dordenma.
- Drive
- 54 km, about 1 hour
- Night in
- Thimphu
- Meals
- L, D
Day 2 Thimphu
The crafts school, the Textile Museum and Changangkha Lhakhang by day, and Tashichho Dzong in the evening. It is worth seeing a dzong empty before you see one full.
- Night in
- Thimphu
- Meals
- B, L, D
Day 3 Thimphu to Punakha
Over Dochu La and down to Punakha, which in March is already warm and green. You walk to Chimi Lhakhang on the way in and visit the dzong in the afternoon.
- Drive
- 76 km, 2 to 3 hours
- Night in
- Punakha
- Meals
- B, L, D
Day 4 Punakha to Paro, and the festival
An early walk up to Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten, then the drive to Paro. If the road is kind you reach the festival ground beside Rinpung Dzong for the afternoon's dances and your first sight of the crowd.
- Drive
- 128 km, 3 to 3.5 hours
- Night in
- Paro
- Meals
- B, L, D
Day 5 The Paro Tshechu
A full day at the festival. The dances are performed by monks and laymen in brocade and carved masks, each telling an episode from the life of Guru Rinpoche or the triumph of Buddhism over older spirits. Between them come folk dances and the atsaras, masked clowns who tease dancers and audience alike.
Your guide finds you a place and explains what is going on. You come and go as you please; nobody sits through it all.
- Night in
- Paro
- Meals
- B, L, D
Day 6 The Tiger's Nest
While the valley is at the festival, the trail to Taktsang is at its quietest of the week. Four to five hours there and back. If you have energy left there is time to return to the dances for the late afternoon.
- Night in
- Paro
- Meals
- B, L, D
Day 7 The thongdrel
You leave the hotel in the dark to be at the dzong when the thongdrel is unrolled. Simply to see it is held to wipe away wrongdoing, and the valley turns out for it. It is taken down as the sun rises.
The final dances follow. The rest of the day is free.
- Night in
- Paro
- Meals
- B, L, D
Day 8 Depart from Paro
Transfer to the airport.
- Meals
- B
What is included
Included
- The Sustainable Development Fee, US$100 a night for each adult at the current rate
- Visa fee of US$40 and the visa application made for you
- 7 nights in hotels, in a twin or double room
- All meals from lunch on day 1 to breakfast on day 8
- A licensed English-speaking Bhutanese guide throughout
- A private vehicle and driver, including airport transfers
Not included
- Flights to and from Paro
- Travel insurance
- Entry fees at monuments and museums
- Drinks, laundry, tips and personal spending
Practical details
- Accommodation
Hotels in Thimphu, Punakha and Paro. During the festival Paro's hotels are full, and we may suggest a good hotel a little out of town.
- Meals
Breakfast and dinner at your hotel and lunch at a local restaurant on the way. Tell us about any dietary need when you book; vegetarian food is easy everywhere.
- Transport
A private vehicle with a driver for the whole trip. The road is paved and winding, so drives are slower than their distance suggests.
- Guide
One licensed guide stays with you from arrival to departure. A guide is required by the authorities inside dzongs and monuments. At a festival your guide explains each dance as it happens, which changes what you see.
- Visa and permits
We apply for your visa once the trip is confirmed; it is normally issued within five working days. You need a passport valid for at least six months. See our pages on the [visa](/bhutan-travel-guide/visa/) and the [Sustainable Development Fee](/bhutan-travel-guide/sustainable-development-fee/).
Questions about this trip
What should I wear at a festival?
Long sleeves and long trousers or a long skirt, as for any visit to a dzong, and no hat once you are inside. Bhutanese people wear their best clothes to a tshechu, so it is a day to dress neatly.
Keep out of the dance ground itself, and ask before photographing anyone close up. On the morning a thongdrel is shown the start is before sunrise, so bring something warm.
How early should I book a festival tour?
As early as you can. Festival dates are published well over a year ahead, and flights and hotels for those days are the first to fill, above all in Paro for the Paro Tshechu.
The published dates are tentative, because they follow the lunar calendar. Check them with us before you book a flight.
Do I need a visa for Bhutan?
Yes, unless you are an Indian national, in which case you need an entry permit instead. The visa costs US$40, is applied for online, and is normally decided within five working days.
When you book with us we make the application for you. You send a scan of your passport, which must be valid for at least six months, and a recent passport photo. See Bhutan visa and entry permits.
What is the Sustainable Development Fee?
A fee every visitor pays to the government of Bhutan for each night in the country. It is US$100 a night for adults and US$50 for children aged 6 to 11; children under 6 pay nothing. Indian nationals pay Nu. 1,200 a night.
It is paid with your visa application. When you travel with us we collect it with the tour payment and pass it on. See the Sustainable Development Fee.
Places on this trip
More tours
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