Bhutan Festival Circuit: Punakha & Wangdue Phodrang Tshechu
Destination: Punakha
Duration: 7 days / 6 nights
Difficulty: Easy
Best season: Apr 2027 — May 2027
Price: from 5,400 USD per guest
Seven days timed to the great spring tsechu, when masked cham dances fill the courtyards of Punakha and Wangdue Phodrang for five days.
Highlights
Five days of cham mask dances at Punakha Tshechu
The thongdrel, a giant thangka of Guru Rinpoche carried through the town
Wangdue Phodrang Tshechu, smaller and far less crowded
Spring blossom along the Punakha river walks
What is included
Licensed guide with festival expertise throughout
Private vehicle and driver for all seven days
Six nights in heritage lodges, including festival-week rooms
All breakfasts, lunches and dinners
All permits, SDF and entry fees
Reserved viewing at the cham dances and the thongdrel
Airport meet & greet and all internal transfers
Day-by-day itinerary
Day 01 — Paro to Thimphu to Punakha, in festival week Land in Paro and drive straight over the Dochula Pass to Thimphu, where the capital is dressing itself for its own tshechu a fortnight away. Continue down the Wang Chhu to Punakha in the afternoon, checking in with time to walk to the festival ground and understand the layout before the crowds arri…
Day 02 — Punakha Dzong and the first day of dances A morning inside Punakha Dzong, the most graceful of the dzongs, built on the spit where the Mo Chhu and Wang Chhu meet. The afternoon is the first full day of cham dances in the courtyard below it, and a good introduction to the choreography, the masks and the ground rules of watching a tsechu wit…
Day 03 — Thongdrel day: the great thangka comes out The day the valley gathers. The thongdrel — a thangka of Guru Rinpoche many metres tall — is unveiled at dawn and carried through the town on a great pole by a team of lamas, preceded by a procession of mask dancers. You will be in the courtyard for the unveiling and the kora, then have the afterno…
Day 04 — The second festival day and the lamas' kora The final day of the tsechu proper, ending with the kora of the lamas around Punakha Dzong, which is a different event entirely from the dances — quieter, more ordered, and the moment most Bhutanese consider the heart of the festival. Evening is a night of music with a Punakha family ensemble.
Day 05 — Wangdue Phodrang Tshechu & the suspension bridge Drive an hour north to Wangdue Phodrang, where a smaller and much less crowded tsechu is held two days after Punakha's — the same dances, a fraction of the spectators, and a courtyard you can actually stand inside. After the dances, walk the new suspension bridge 180 metres above the Wang Chhu, wit…
Day 06 — Rigu Gompa, the orchards and the drive to Paro A slow morning walking up to Rigu Gompa, a treasury of early wall paintings with the finest view in the Punakha valley, then an hour in the raspberry orchards below town before climbing back over the Dochula to Paro. Night in Paro, with your bags packed for the morning.
Day 07 — Paro valley and the flight home An early walk through the Paro valley's spring blossom and a final blessing at a family lhakhang, with the flight home arranged for the afternoon. Your guide handles the SDF reconciliation and the departure formalities; festival dates follow the lunar calendar, so we confirm each year as they are p…