Punakha, 1,200 m (3,940 ft)
Punakha Dzong fills the point where the Pho Chhu meets the Mo Chhu, the male and female rivers. You reach it down 49 km (30 mi) of hairpins from Dochu La, as the air softens and the rice terraces begin.
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1637 and 1638
The Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the lama who unified Bhutan, built the dzong in 1637 and 1638. Legend says his master builder saw the plan in a dream. Bhutan's first king was crowned here in 1907.
Photo: Nilanjan Haldar / Pexels
The southern courtyard
In the Machey Lhakhang of the southern courtyard, the Zhabdrung's embalmed body lies in a casket that is never opened. You stand outside it, not inside.
Photo: Raul Taciu / Unsplash
Winter
Each winter the Je Khenpo, the chief abbot, moves in with the central monk body. The courtyards fill with maroon robes and chanting, and a dzong in residence is fuller, louder and partly closed to visitors.
Photo: Unma Desai / Unsplash
The visit
Walk in over the covered bridge, climb the steep wooden stairs to the upper temples, and take the courtyards at the monks' pace. The foreign-visitor entry fee became Nu 1,000 on 18 September 2026.
Photo: Daniel Grandfield / Unsplash
A short walk away
About 15 minutes on foot from the dzong, a long suspension bridge crosses the Pho Chhu and moves as you cross. If wind closes it or the river runs high, the riverside path below the dzong is the calmer choice.
Photo: Jaanam Haleem / Unsplash
February 2027
The Punakha Drubchen is published for 13 to 15 February 2027 and the Tshechu for 16 to 18 February; the dates are lunar and still tentative. At 1,200 m it is shirtsleeve warm here then, while Paro is still frozen.
Photo: Anil Sharma / Pexels
Planning
Punakha sits some 1,100 m (3,610 ft) below Thimphu and is the lowest bed of most Bhutan weeks, which is why we place it between the capital and the higher valleys. The Western Valleys gives it two nights.
Photo: Darshan Chudasama / Unsplash