Paro, the valley you land in

About Paro

Paro is many travellers' first sight of Bhutan: the plane banks between forested ridges and lands on a runway beside the river, a few minutes from town. The valley is broad and fertile, dotted with whitewashed farmhouses, and it holds some of the country's oldest and most important sites.

The town itself is small, just one main street of painted wooden shopfronts, cafés and craft shops, which makes Paro a relaxed base at the start of a trip, when you are adjusting to the altitude, and a good place to slow down at the end.

Things to do in Paro

1. 1

   Hike to the Tiger's Nest

   Paro Taktsang clings to a cliff 900 metres above the valley floor. The hike takes most of a day and is the highlight of many trips. See our full Tiger's Nest guide.

2. 2

   Rinpung Dzong (Paro Dzong)

   Built in 1646, the 'fortress on a heap of jewels' houses the district administration and the monk body. Cross the covered wooden bridge below it on foot, and come back in spring for the Paro Tshechu.

3. 3

   National Museum (Ta Dzong)

   A round watchtower above the dzong, now Bhutan's National Museum, with masks, thangka paintings, weapons and a gallery on the country's natural history.

4. 4

   Kyichu Lhakhang

   One of Bhutan's two oldest temples, traditionally dated to 659 AD. Elderly Bhutanese circle it with prayer wheels every morning. It's a quiet, lived-in place of worship.

5. 5

   Chele La and the Haa valley

   The road west climbs to Chele La, at 3,988 m one of the highest roads in Bhutan, with prayer flags and, on clear days, views of Jomolhari. Beyond it lies the quiet Haa valley, only opened to visitors in 2002.

6. 6

   A farmhouse dinner and hot stone bath

   Paro's farmhouses host home-cooked dinners and the traditional dotsho: a wooden tub heated with river stones and scented with herbs.

A slow day in Paro town

Paro town is one main street and a few side lanes, and you can walk the length of it in ten minutes. The shopfronts are wooden, painted with flowers and clouds, and most sell the same mix of groceries, textiles and prayer flags. Look up and you'll see people's washing hanging off carved balconies above the shops.

If it's a weekend, ask your guide where the archery is. Bhutan's national sport is played with bamboo or carbon bows at a target about 145 metres away, and the teams sing, dance and tease the other side every time an arrow lands. Nobody minds visitors watching, as long as you stand well back from the line of fire.

For coffee or a beer afterwards, see our list of cafés and restaurants in Paro. Namgay Artisanal Brewery, on a ridge a few minutes above town, has been brewing since 2016 and runs short tours of the brewhouse.

Beyond the headline sights

Most people see Paro Dzong, the museum and the Tiger's Nest and move on. If you have an extra half day, these are the places our guides like to add:

• Tachog Lhakhang, on the road between Paro and Thimphu. You reach the temple across an iron chain bridge first built by the saint and engineer Thangtong Gyalpo in the 15th century. It was restored in 2005, and some of the original chains are still in it. It sways a bit.
• Dzongdrakha, a cluster of small temples on a cliff above Bondey village. Locals call it the little Tiger's Nest, and it takes about half an hour to walk up.
• Kila Goemba, a small nunnery built into the rock below Chele La, where a community of nuns lives and studies. The drive up to the pass takes you right past it.
• Bumdra, an overnight hike from Sang Choekhor monastery up to a meadow of prayer flags at almost 4,000 m, looking down on the Tiger's Nest. You camp by a small temple and walk down past Taktsang the next morning.
• A night in a Paro farmhouse. You eat what the family eats (usually red rice, ema datshi and a meat dish), and in the evening they heat river stones in the fire and drop them into a wooden tub for a dotsho, the traditional hot stone bath.

How we fit Paro into a trip

Paro sits at about 2,200 m, so the first day is always gentle: the dzong, the museum, a walk across the covered bridge and an early night. We usually leave the Tiger's Nest for your last full day. By then you've been at altitude for a week, and the climb feels far easier than it would on day two.

That also means most trips pass through Paro twice, once on arrival and once before you fly out. If you only have five days, two nights here at the end works better than one at the start.

Best time to visit Paro

Spring (March to May) brings clear mornings, blossom and the Paro Tshechu, one of the biggest festivals in the country. Autumn (late September to November) has the most reliable views of the mountains.

Winter is dry, sunny and quiet, with cold nights; the summer monsoon (June to August) turns the rice terraces bright green but brings afternoon rain.

Month by month across the country: the best time to visit Bhutan.

Getting to Paro

Druk Air and Bhutan Airlines fly into Paro from Delhi, Kolkata, Kathmandu, Bangkok, Singapore and a few other cities. See our guide to flights to Bhutan. Thimphu is about an hour's drive away.

Most itineraries spend the first night in Thimphu or Paro and save the Tiger's Nest for the end of the trip, when you are acclimatised.

Paro on the map