Paro, 2,200 m (7,220 ft)
Below Rinpung Dzong the lights come on along the covered bridge, and the Paro Chhu sounds louder in the dark. This is the hour to stand on the bridge rather than inside the walls.
Photo: Harsh Suthar
Rinpung
Rinpung means the fortress on a heap of jewels, and it was consecrated in 1646. Visitors walk its courtyards with a guide; at the foreign-visitor rate set on 18 September 2026, entry is Nu 1,000.
Photo: Setu Chhaya / Pexels
On screen
Scenes of Bernardo Bertolucci's Little Buddha (1993) were filmed at the dzong. Each spring it hosts the Paro Tshechu too, which moves after its opening day to the Deyangkha ground below the walls.
Photo: vineet singh / Unsplash
The old way in
From the road below the National Museum, a stone footpath drops to the dzong. Cross the courtyards, leave by the lower gate and walk on down to the roofed bridge: about 90 minutes, almost all downhill.
Photo: Thinho 7 / Pexels
Winter
In winter the low sun turns the whitewash gold, then drops behind the ridge a little after 17:00. Paro is cold after dark and its streets are quiet by 18:00, so bring the warm layer to the bridge.
Photo: Rama Krushna Behera / Unsplash
After dark
From the bridge we drive to a farmhouse where a hot stone bath was booked that morning, and dinner is by the wood stove: red rice, and ema datshi with the chilli set to the heat you agreed with the cook.
Photo: Rama Krushna Behera
Planning
Paro holds the airport, so most Bhutan weeks begin and end in this valley. We put the dzong at dusk on an evening with nothing left to do, often the one after Taktsang, when walking slowly is the point.
Photo: Pema Gyamtsho / Pexels