Highlights of Bhutan & Nepal

Welcome to Bhutan and the start of your holiday! You'll be met at Paro Airport and transferred to your hotel to enjoy the rest of the day at leisure.

We begin our journey at the 17th-century Ta Dzong watchtower, home to Bhutan's National Museum. After a guided tour, we visit the nearby Rinpung Dzong monastery, which appears in the Hollywood film Little Buddha.

Later this afternoon we drive to the capital city of Thimphu and visit the weekend market, where local vendors set up shop and sell their produce every Friday through Sunday.

After breakfast, we embark on a scenic hike (2-2.5 hrs) to the Khamsum Yuelley Namgyal Chorten, a small but majestic hill temple looking down on the Punakha Valley. We'll also drive to the picturesque villages along the valley ridge. After stopping for a picnic lunch, we visit Sangchen Dorji Lhendrup Nunnery, with fantastic views of the Punakha and Wangdue valleys. Apart from religious training, the nuns are taught skills such as embroidery, tailoring and statue making. After our visit to the nunnery, we drive to back to Paro.

Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, seamlessly merges ancient tradition with cosmopolitan crowds. In the morning we visit the significant worship site of Bodhnath stupa, home to spinning prayer wheels and prostrating pilgrims. We then travel to the ancient town of Bhaktapur, a World Heritage site famed for its art and architecture, including the vast Bhaktapur Durbar Square. We'll watch local families make the unique Ju Ju dhau (yoghurt), and try crafting pottery ourselves.

Our final stop is the old Newari city of Patan, which has its own Durbar Square. We end the evening with dinner and a traditional Nepali dance performance.

On day 9 we travel by road to Chitwan National Park (approx 5 hr drive), arriving in time for lunch. Chitwan is hailed as one of Asia's finest game parks, home to more than 500 species including the endangered one horned rhino, various types of deer, Indian elephant and the elusive Bengal tiger.

Over the next two days we enjoy a selection of activities offered by the lodge including a jeep safari, hoping to encounter the one horned rhino, various types of deer, boar, monkey, leopard and if we're very fortunate the Bengal tiger. Other activities at the lodge include a local village walk and nature walk in the jungle, a scenic dugout canoe ride down the Rapti River and bird watching. We'll also watch a traditional Tharu dance performance one evening with dinner.

Today we take a short flight from Chitwan to Pokhara. Arriving early afternoon the rest of the day is free to relax and take a stroll around this scenic lakeside town. Pokhara is the gateway to the magnificent Annapurna Range, which boasts five mountains over 7200m and has one of the Himalayas most distinctive mountains - Machhapuchare with its unique ‘fishtail' peak.

This morning, watch the sunrise from the Pokhara World Peace Pagoda, which offers impressive views of the Annapurna range from its hilltop location. A two-hour walk through Raniban forest takes us down to Lake Phewa for a short cruise.

In the afternoon we visit a Tibetan refugee camp and a local school, before observing daily prayers at Matepani Monastery.

Today is a free day for you to explore Pokhara and participate in optional activities such as paragliding, ultra-light flight, zip line, bungy jump, mountain biking, cycling, boating and horse riding, or if you prefer, simply relax down by the lake.

This morning, we take a short flight back to Kathmandu. We continue exploring the city in the afternoon, admiring the views from the beautiful Swayambhunath stupa before walking to Kathmandu Durbar Square, home to over 50 incredible temples and shrines. We'll also traverse the city streets by rickshaw, from Hanuman Dhaka to Thamel, immersing ourselves in Kathmandu's daily life. We finish the day with an evening walk around the vibrant Thamel Market.

Our tour comes to an end today with a transfer to Kathmandu Airport. An optional Everest scenic flight is offered on the morning of day 8 or day 15 (subject to availability) so if you'd like to book this please ensure that your onward flight on day 15 does not depart before midday.