Bhutan Festival Circuit: Punakha & Wangdue Phodrang Tshechu
Destination: Punakha
Duration: 7 days / 6 nights
Difficulty: Easy
Best season: Apr 2027 — May 2027
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 1 — Arrival, and Thimphu Paro to Thimphu, and an afternoon at the capital to begin the pattern of the week: the Buddha Dordenma on the hill, and the Tashichho Dzong as it lights up. Bhutanese tshechu dates follow the lunar calendar, so the exact days in the current cycle are confirmed against the published calendar before…
Day 2 — To Punakha Over the Dochula Pass at 3,010 metres with the 108 chortens facing Gangkar Puensum, and down to the Mo Chhu valley at Punakha. The dzong in the afternoon, and then the walk along the riverside below it — which on a tshechu week is where the town's own celebrations happen, and where you will be walk…
Day 3 — Punakha Tshechu — first day Punakha Tshechu is generally held over three days in the spring month, and the maskers appear in the courtyard of Punakha Dzong on the first morning. The cham dances run through the day in several rounds, with the great slow dances at the close. Go early, sit on the ground, and let the crowd be mos…
Day 4 — Punakha Tshechu — second day The second day brings different maskers and a different programme, and the courtyard is fuller and louder than the first. The afternoon is free; the walk out to the riverside and back is short, and there is a very good reason to do it every evening of a tshechu week. Most guests go twice.
Day 5 — Punakha Tshechu — third day The final day, including the early-morning procession of the maskers through the streets below the dzong and the burning of the ceremonial structure at the close. After that, Punakha is a town again. The afternoon is free: Chimi Lhakhang above town, or the riverside, or a hotel pool, depending on h…
Day 6 — Wangdue Phodrang Tshechu Two hours west to Wangdue Phodrang, on the river the tsechu is named for. The dzong here no longer stands at the confluence where it was built — the 1950s road forced it to be moved uphill, and the old foundations are still there on the sandbar below. The festival is a separate and smaller event fr…
Day 7 — Departure Return to Paro through Thimphu, four to five hours depending on how long you stop at the National Memorial Chorten, and in time for the flight.