Signature Journeys
Ten ways into the kingdom
Every one of these is a starting point rather than a fixed package. Tell us which shape appeals and we will redraw it around you.
Aether Bhutan Tours and Travel
Thimphu, Bhutan | +975 77391059 | somfinsoguide@gmail.com
How this works
Nothing here is fixed
These ten journeys are the routes we know best and return to most often. Each one is private, guided by one person from arrival to departure, and rewritten as often as it takes to fit you. Lengthen one, shorten another, take the first week of one and the second of another — most of what we actually run began as a page on this list and ended up somewhere else.
Our signature route
The Dragon’s Spine
The full traverse, Paro to Trashi Yangtse, crossing every major pass including Thrumshingla at 3,780 m. Two big driving days, and a part of Bhutan most visitors never reach.
Sixteen days is our shape for it. Yours might be twelve, or twenty.
16 Days · West to East
Cultural
Temples, craft and the long way across the kingdom.
2 journeys
Cultural
16 Days · West to East
The Dragon’s Spine
The full traverse, Paro to Trashi Yangtse, crossing every major pass including Thrumshingla at 3,780 m. Two big driving days, and a part of Bhutan most visitors never reach.
Cultural
11 Days · Living Crafts
Threads of the Kingdom
Weavers, thangka painters and papermakers, and the valleys they work in. For people who would rather sit with one weaver for two hours than see four more temples.
Festival
Timed to a tshechu, with seating and access arranged.
2 journeys
Festival
8 Days · Paro Tshechu
The Thongdrel at Dawn
Two days at Bhutan’s great spring festival, built around the Guru Thongdrel unfurled in darkness before sunrise on the final morning.
Festival
12 Days · Bumthang
Fire, Mask and Midnight
The mewang fire ceremony and the tercham danced by firelight at midnight, at one of the oldest temples in the kingdom. Attended almost entirely by Bhutanese.
Trekking
Camping at altitude, with a full crew and ponies.
2 journeys
Trekking
8 Days · Druk Path
The Old Way to Thimphu
Five days on the old trading route between Paro and Thimphu, camping beside glacial lakes at around 4,000 m. The best introduction to walking in Bhutan.
Trekking
12 Days · Jomolhari
Beneath the Mountain Goddess
Seven walking days to base camp beneath an unclimbed 7,326 m face, returning over a pass at 4,890 m. Demanding, and the finest mountain scenery in the country.
Adventure
On foot, on water and on two wheels.
2 journeys
Adventure
13 Days · Trans Bhutan Trail
The Old Road
Walking restored sections of the route that crossed the kingdom before the highway. Day walks with vehicle support — no camping, no pack weight.
Adventure
9 Days · Raft · Bike · Camp
Rapids and Ridgelines
Rafting the Mo Chhu beneath Punakha Dzong, riding down from the Dochula, and a night camped above Taktsang so you reach it from above, and early.
Luxury
The best rooms in the country, and the access to match.
2 journeys
Luxury
12 Days · Luxury Circuit
The Five Lodges
One lodge circuit across five valleys, west to east, with a private blessing and a heritage farmhouse dinner arranged around it.
Luxury
9 Days · Wellness
Stillness
Three valleys, long stays, and mornings that begin with meditation rather than a departure time. Built around doing considerably less.
None of the above
Or start from nothing
About half of what we run each season does not appear on this page. A photographer wanting only the eastern valleys. A family with two teenagers and nine days. A couple returning for the fourth time who have seen all of it and want a week in one valley.
If none of these fit, that is genuinely useful information. Tell us what you actually want and we will draw it from scratch.
Where to start
Tell us roughly what you want
A season, a length, a feeling. We will come back with a route and the reasoning behind it — and we will tell you if what you have in mind does not work.