Nepal, India, Bhutan
Fourteen private nights from Kathmandu to Paro by way of Darjeeling and Gangtok. Nepal's monarchy ended in 2008 and Sikkim's Chogyals ruled until 1975; Bhutan still has its king. This route lets you stand on each border they drew.
Photo: Roman Saienko / Pexels
Kathmandu, 3 nights
The car collects you at 05:15 for Buddha Air's Everest flight, booked on the first full morning so two more dawns remain if cloud grounds it. By 09:30 you are on the road to Bhaktapur, capital of its own Malla kingdom until 1769.
Photo: Bigyan Khanal / Unsplash
Day 4
A 45-minute flight to Bhadrapur, a 21 km drive to Kakarbhitta, then you walk the Mechi bridge into India. The Treaty of Titalia, signed on 10 February 1817, handed the hills beyond back to Sikkim. Your watch goes back 15 minutes on the bridge.
Photo: Sushanta Rokka / Unsplash
Darjeeling, 3 nights
Three nights at 2,045 m (6,710 ft): Tiger Hill at first light, the steam joy ride to Ghum, and Bhutia Busty, the Sikkim monastery that left Observatory Hill after Nepali troops destroyed it around 1788.
Photo: Kiran Sankar Das / Unsplash
Gangtok, 2 nights
A Sikkim-registered SUV climbs to Tsomgo, 3,753 m (12,310 ft), and your guide keeps the stop to about an hour. At 16:30 your guide takes you up the palace ridge to Tsuklakhang, the chapel where Sikkim's Chogyals were crowned.
Photo: NSG / Unsplash
Day 9
Gangtok to the Bhutan Gate at Phuentsholing is 230 km and about seven hours with stops, across the Dooars that Bhutan ceded in 1865. It can be split with a night in Kalimpong or the Dooars, which adds a night to the journey.
Photo: Sagar Madha / Unsplash
Thimphu and Paro, 5 nights
The Tiger's Nest waits until your legs hold twelve days of hills. The next morning Chele La, 3,988 m (13,080 ft), the highest point a road reaches in Bhutan, shows Jomolhari to the north. You never sleep above 2,320 m (7,610 ft).
Photo: Sujan Mongar / Unsplash
When to go
March and April suit walkers; mid June to mid September is monsoon. The journey is priced from ₹5,70,000 per person, two sharing, at the Indian-national rate. Foreign passports need a regular Indian visa, as Panitanki does not admit e-Visa holders.
Photo: Rama Krushna Behera / Unsplash