Festival
Crane Festival, Phobjikha
Six days to Gangtey for the black-necked cranes — and the November festival the valley throws to welcome them home.
Duration
6 Days
Max altitude
3,000 m
Grade
Easy
Group
8–12
Overview
Each autumn the black-necked cranes leave the Tibetan plateau and glide into the glacial bowl of Phobjikha, circling Gangtey monastery — the story goes — three times before they land. The valley answers with a festival: on the eleventh of November the monastery courtyard fills with crane dances, schoolchildren in black-and-white costume, and a whole community giving thanks for its winter guests.
This six-day journey sets the festival inside a slow western circuit — Thimphu and the Dochu La on the way out, a full day for the hides and boardwalk trails of the crane reserve, and Paro to finish. It is the gentlest kind of wildlife travel: no chases and no hides before dawn, just a valley that has chosen to share itself.
Day by day
Arrive Paro and spend an evening in the capital, then drive east over the Dochu La and up through oak forest into the wide, treeless bowl of Phobjikha.
Festival day at Gangtey Goemba: masked dances and the children’s crane dance in the courtyard, with the real birds calling from the marsh below.
The Gangtey Nature Trail through dwarf bamboo, the crane centre and its telescopes, and an unhurried afternoon among the farmhouses — potatoes, buckwheat and woodsmoke.
West again with a stop at Punakha Dzong in the warm valley, and a last Paro morning — the climb to Tiger’s Nest as an optional finale for early risers.
What’s included
Included
- A licensed Bhutanese guide & private driver
- All hotels & farmstay nights, with meals
- Visa, permits & the Sustainable Development Fee
- Airport transfers & all road travel
- Entry fees to dzongs, temples & museums
Not included
- International flights to Paro
- Travel & medical insurance
- Drinks & personal items
- Tips for your guide & driver
Best time to go
The festival falls on 11 November each year, and the cranes stay from late October until the end of February. Come in festival week for the dances, or any winter month for the birds alone — cold, bright days and the valley at its quietest.
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