Travel in Thimphu

Three private itineraries stop in Thimphu, and between them they are the whole Bhutan programme. All three handle the capital the same way: two nights at the Hotel Thimpu Tower, and one full day of sightseeing between arriving and driving on. There are no group departures — you travel with your own guide and driver on dates set around you, and a German-speaking guide is included on every one.

Two of the routes put Thimphu first. The land of happiness (six days, from EUR 2,160) and The Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon (eight days, from EUR 2,500) both land at Paro in the morning and reach the capital, at 2,320 metres, the same day. The Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon drives on immediately; The land of happiness takes in the Rinpung Dzong at Paro first, and time permitting the Tachogang Lhakhang suspension bridge. Either way the rest of the day is free to settle in. The magic of the gigantic Himalayas (eight days, from EUR 2,010) runs the other way round. It heads for Punakha on arrival and only reaches Thimphu on day three, crossing back over the Dochula Pass at 3,080 metres and stopping at Semtokha Dzong, the oldest dzong in the country, on the way into town.

All three day plans open on the same detail: no traffic lights, and traffic directed by police officers by hand at the residents' own request. After that they diverge, so it is worth knowing which Thimphu day you are buying.

The Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon and The magic of the gigantic Himalayas spend the day on the cultural institutions — the manuscripts in the National Library, and the painting school, the Zorig Chusum institute, where students train for six years in thirteen traditional crafts. The magic of the gigantic Himalayas keeps going, adding a hospital of traditional medicine, a silversmith, a workshop making paper by hand, the zoo, and a walk through the art market and the shopping streets. The land of happiness takes the gentler version: a walk through pine forest up to the Wangduetse Temple for the view over the valley, an astrological monastery school, and the market, which trades Friday to Sunday.

Two landmarks are shared, but not by the same pair. Kuenselphodrang — Buddha Point — and its 61-metre golden Buddha above the valley is on The land of happiness and The magic of the gigantic Himalayas. The King's Memorial Chorten, built in traditional Bhutanese style, is on The land of happiness and The Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon. The Tashichhoedzong, built entirely of wood and heavily guarded because it houses both the government and Bhutan's highest spiritual leader, appears on The land of happiness in the evening and on The magic of the gigantic Himalayas on the way into the city. No single Thimphu sight is on all three routes.

At 2,320 metres the altitude is modest, and the two itineraries that arrive here first leave the first afternoon free for that reason. What follows is higher: the Dochula Pass at 3,080 metres on all three, the Chelela Pass at 3,988 metres on The magic of the gigantic Himalayas, and a night camped at around 3,800 metres below Bumdra Monastery on The Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon. All three trips are graded easy.

From Thimphu the routes split — back over the Dochula Pass to Punakha on two of them, on to the Ha Valley on the third — and all three finish at the Tiger's Nest above Paro. Punakha is as far east as any of these routes go.