Fly to Bhutan's Paro Valley (7,300 feet). Our guide will receive you and check you into your hotel. A quick rest and we’ll visit the National Museum located above the town. The museum’s collection of artifacts, some dating as far back as 2000 BC, serves as a good primer on Bhutan’s rich cultural heritage. You’ll spend the afternoon sight-seeing and acclimatizing. Carved by glacial ice, Paro Valley is a great visual introduction to the kingdom. It’s stunning paddy fields and traditional homes vying with concrete buildings and a growing town tell of a nation on the cusp of change. Overnight in hotel.

After breakfast drive to the Paro Dzong (also called Rinpung Dzong, the fortress of jewels). Built by the great Buddhist Saint, the Zhabdrung, in the 16th century, the fortress is also where a chunk of the 1993 Hollywood film "Little Buddha’ with star Keanu Reeves was shot. Today the fortress is the stage for one of the most colorful and iconic cultural festivals in the world. Witness various sacred and ancient mask dances believed to purify your negative karma just by watching it. Mingle with the locals who throng the fortresses’ cobbled-stoned courtyard in their finest traditional attires. Great opportunity for photography! Observe the amusing but outrageously lewd ‘atsara’ (the festival’s traditional clown) who carry wooden penises around and is ready to take aim at any slight provocation. But for the most part, the ‘atsara’ is just happy to take a picture with you. Later, a lovely stroll downhill from the fortress over an old cantilever bridge will wrap up an eventful second day in this magical kingdom. Overnight in hotel.

After breakfast, drive to Thimphu, Bhutan’s capital and the best place to witness the country’s newly embraced modernity. Thimphu is also the only place on earth where the traffic is guided by a policeman using hand gestures. Pay visit to one of the tallest Buddha statues (51.5m) built on a ridge overlooking the capital. Walk alongside local parents to Changangkha Lhakhang, a 12th-century monastery popular for providing blessings to newborns. Gain insight into rural Bhutanese life at the Simply Bhutan Museum, a replica of a traditional mud-and-timber farmhouse. Observe the iconic Memorial Chorten/stupa and witness thousands of devotees circumambulating it. End your excursion at a wildlife sanctuary for the takin, Bhutan's national animal, described as having the body of a cow and the head of a goat. Overnight in hotel.

Travel to the beautiful alpine valley of Phobjikha (10,000 feet), the largest wintering site for the endangered black-necked crane. Along the way, the environment changes from semi-tropical to pine forest, and then to an alpine zone that is home to several species of rhododendron, dwarf bamboo, and Grey Langur monkeys. Enroute stop over at the Dochula Pass 10,000 feet with its magnificent 108 stupas, and gaze at a 200-mile panorama of Himalayan peaks (weather permitting). Overnight in hotel.

Delve deeper into Phobjikha on a private tour of the valley. Observe the black-necked center created to support the endangered black-necked crane. Gain insight into rural Bhutanese life through the Gangtey Nature Trail hike, which heads up to the Gangtey Goemba temple complex, located on top of a ridge, via plump rolling meadows and a beautiful forest of lichens known as ‘old man’s beard’. One of the oldest Nyingma monasteries in Bhutan, Gangtey Goemba has recently been renovated, allowing us to examine the fine workmanship of Bhutan’s best woodcarvers, sculptors, and painters. Drive for two hours to Punakha to your hotel for the night. Overnight in hotel.

Punkaha is the ancient capital of Bhutan. This morning experience an invigorating hike through rice terraces and forests to Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten, a spectacularly situated temple and be rewarded for your efforts with incredible views of the valley below. Then visit the Punakha Dzong, an impressive fortress guarding the southern end of the valley at the confluence of Pho (male) and Mo (female) Rivers. Bhutan’s first king was crowned at the dzong in 1907. After lunch, visit Chimi Lhakhang, a small but famous temple in the center of the golden Punakha Valley. Known as the Fertility Temple of the Divine Mad Man- Lam Drukpa Kuenley- the temple is known to bless barren couples with children soon after the visit. Drive for two hours to Thimphu to your hotel for the night. Overnight in hotel.

Delve deeper into Thimphu on a private tour of the valley. Visit the National Institute for Zorig Chusum, an arts-and-crafts school where we can watch students practicing traditional arts such as woodworking, painting and ceramics. Next visit the Bhutan Postal Museum where Bhutan’s finest stamps are showcased and then from there to the National Textile Museum, where Bhutan’s finest weavings and brocades are on display. Located next to the Museum is a single line of small bamboo huts which sells traditional authentic Bhutanese art and craft items. This is your chance to shop for souvenirs for your loved ones back home. In the evening, we’ll visit the Tashichhodzong, the office of the Dragon King of Bhutan.
Drive to Paro for the night. Overnight in hotel.

Your journey through Bhutan culminates at the kingdom’s most iconic site: Taktsang Lhakhang, famously called the Tiger’s Nest Monastery. This majestic structure is poised high above the Paro valley, built dramatically on the ledge of a granite cliff face. Make the steep, strenuous trek to the temple or hike to a nearby viewpoint, taking in a landscape dotted with pine trees, prayer flags, and ancient shrines. The hike takes about 2-3 hours uphill to an 800m elevation. Enjoy lunch at the home of a local farmer before returning to Paro. In the evening visit a traditional farmhouse to enjoy the famous hot stone water bath, alfresco under the stars, including afterwards a Bhutanese traditional food. Overnight in hotel.

After breakfast, drive to Paro International Airport where your guide and driver will bid you farewell. Hope you had a pleasant stay in the magical Land of the Thundering Dragon! Hope to see you in Bhutan again.