Essential Bhutan Motorcycle Tours

The ride starts early (by 7am), and sees us ride from the hotel to the border town of Phuentsholing. Today, you ride through the thick jungles of the famous Dooars - the foothills of Himalayas. You’ll ride through enchanting woods, rivers and streams and cross lush green tea plantations - known around the world as the Darjeeling Tea Estates. We will stop for some local tea flavours en route, and then ride through typical North Bengal towns to reach Jaigaon or Phuntsholing - the border towns of Bhutan. We plan to reach Phontsholing by 10am.

On this day, we will also complete border formalities and vehicle permits. We will stay overnight at a hotel in Phuntsholing. The change in culture and, of course, traffic conditions could drastically change as you step into Bhutan. You are in a kingdom that is just not in a hurry.

Today, you’ll embark on a journey through misty and winding roads. Note that it could rain and be foggy for some or most of your ride, but this will only add to the mystical and nature filled destination you are now entering. On the way, we’ll make a few stops at local teahouses and Dantak food canteen. There are a few places your permits will be stamped. All going well and with the weather on our side, winding through the mountain roads, we should be in our hotel in the beautiful valley of Paro by late afternoon or evening.

This is not a riding day; instead, we’ll trek up to the Taktsang Palphug Monastery, more popularly known as the Tiger’s Nest. This is one activity we strongly recommend for everyone. It is the number 1 'thing to do' in Bhutan and the most revered seat of Buddhism. Guru Padmasambhava meditated here, who is believed to have introduced Buddhism in Bhutan.

Those who are not joining the trek can do the halfway walk to a beautiful café where they can savour Godly views of Taktsang instead. In the evening, just ride around the town or go and see the Drukgyal Dzong (built in 1647).

After a relaxed morning and breakfast at the hotel, we ride out to the capital city of Thimphu. There are no traffic lights in Bhutan, hence some circuitous routes to your hotel will be necessary.

We visit the memorial Chorten built in the memory of the late King and also ride to the Shakyamuni Buddha statue - Buddha Dordenema, which was built to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the fourth King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck. In the afternoon, we visit Motithang Zoo to see Takin, the national animal of Bhutan (a goat and a cow cross, found only in this part of the world). On the way back from the zoo, we can take a walk around the majestic Thimphu Dzong and local market place.

Today, it’s a good ride through the beautiful Dorchula Pass, also known as the gateway to Central Bhutan. We’ll stop for some photo ops at the Pass and the 108 Chortens (a war memorial built to commemorate the victory of Bhutan Army over the Assamese insurgents). On a good day, you’ll get the best of Himalayan views from here. It’s then a nice ride all the way to Punakha Dzong, also known as Pungtang Dewa Chhenbi Phodrang (meaning a place of great happiness or bliss), which was built by Ngwang Namgyal, 1st Zhabdrug Rinpoche in 1637-38. It is the most photogenic Dzong in Bhutan. Our resort is about 4kms up the hill, affording you some of the finest views of Punakha Valley.

Today, we begin retracing our steps with a long ride back to Phuntsholing on the way to Dooars. We should be in the local North Bengal town of Chalsa, by late afternoon for a stay in a serene hotel in the Himalayan foothills. This is your last night of the ride, so do some catch up of the days gone by.

It’s a couple of hours ride doing just about 100kms. We will leave the hotel in the late morning and reach the busy town of Siliguri by noon. The bikes are returned and you’re free to fly out at a time that suits you. We shall arrange your drop to the airport.

On this day the ride would start early morning by 7 am, from Siliguri hotel for the border town of Phuentsholing. This is the day you ride through the thick jungles of famous Dooars - the foothills of Himalayas. You’ll ride through enchanting woods, rivers and streams and cross lush green tea plantations - known to the world as Darjeeling tea. An amazing landscape through jungles and tea gardens is a fun thing to do. We would have a tea halt at an awesome location in Dooars. With some more ride you through typical North Bengal towns we take a turn off thWe depart early morning by 7 am, to ride from your hotel in wilderness to the Bhutan border town of Phuntsholing. We will stop for some local tea flavours enroute, and then ride through typical North Bengal towns to reach Jaigaon or Phuntsholing. We plan to reach Bhutan by 10 am. This is also the day to complete border formalities and vehicle permits. We will stay overnight at a hotel in Phuntsholing. The change in culture and of course traffic conditions would drastically change as you step into Bhutan.

Its a day we ride with our packed breakfasts. You’ll embark on the journey - through the misty and winding roads. It could rain through some or more part of your ride. That adds to the mystical and nature filled destination you are now entering. On the way we’ll make a few stops at local tea houses and Dantak canteen. There are a few places your permits will be stamped. Once closer to Thimphu - you slow down and ride into the capital city. All going well and weather on our side and not too bad, we should be in our hotel by late afternoon. There are no traffic lights in Bhutan and hence some circuitous routes to your hotel would be evident. Thimpu is also a place to obtain permits for your journey into central and eastern Bhutan in days to come.

After an early breakfast at the hotel, we ride to some tourist spots in Thimphu and then in athe afternoon we ride off to beautiful Paro valley. We check in to our hotel and take a trip to the National Museum located at Paro. Rest of the evening is free to explore the local market, archery or dart games. Paro is a beautiful valley with some nice cafes and bars ...

This is not a riding day, but a day to trek and hike up the Tigeress Nest and be back by afternoon - this one activity we strongly recommend for everyone - it is the number 1 'Do' in Bhutan and the most reverred seat of Buddhism. For those who are not taking the trek- you could ride around the town seeing Paro Dzong. Or just laze around the beautiful resort, sit by the gushing mountain stream, watch the plane landing on Paro airport or just read a book. Its a day at leisure

This day begins with a good ride into hills back to Thimphu on the way to Central Bhutan. This time we would not enter Thimphu but would take a bye pass road to Dorchula. You’ll stop over for some photo ops at Dorchula Pass - 108 Chortens - a war memorial built to commemorate the victory over Assamese insurgents. On a good day you get the best of Bhutan himalayan views from here. It’s then a nice ride all the way to Punakha Dzong - the most photogenic Dzong in Bhutan. Before reaching Punakha we would take an interesting detour to the Temple of the Mad Lama - Chimi Lakhang - and listen to the story of flying phalluses.

You then ride some nice village roads to reach the Punakha Dzong and hotel - time permitting we would see the Dzong this evening. Or else would postpone to next morning. Our resort is about 4 kms up the hill, to affford you some of the finest views of Punakha valley.

The road today would be a mixed bag due to widening of road happening all through the central and Eastern Bhutan. Overnight stay will be at the picturesque hotel.

This again is a rough day ride due to reconstruction and road widening happening in Central Bhutan, which may take another year or two to finish. We need to ride steady to reach the Phobjikha valley. It is world famous for the rare black necked cranes that fly here in winters from Tibetan plateau. We spend a night here immersing in the pristine nature of the valley. In the evening you could walk up to the Gangtey Monastery and listen to the fable of black necked cranes.

After an early breakfast we ride towards Trongsa, the beautiful thin road that takes you to the Central Bhutan. Trongsa has a beautiful Dzong that would become visible as you ride down the hill towards the town. There will be a halt for lunch and refueling at Trongsa. You could also stroll down the Dzong - if one is keen. We then quickly ride out to another lonely, winding and nice road to be in Bumthang valley before evening. You could spot the archery practicing clubs as you ride. Getting into the Bumthang valley - is like entering the Swiss country side. A lovely ride it is through the day - roads are rough at many places, due to road widening - except at places where the widening of road is going on. If we are in good time we would ride straight to the famous Red Panda Beer Garden and see the Bumthang Micro Brewery. Overnight stay will be at a beautiful resort over looking the Bumthang valley.

Its a long day ride today. The day would begin with an optional visit to one of the oldest temple in Bhutan. This day is really full of nature stuff. As you ride deeper into the unexplored Bhutan, you’ll find solitude - its just you and the nature and you often want to stand by the road side and soak this pristine natural environment - do not miss the classic vistas of Ura Valley and the Cloud Valley. The entire day is spent riding some of the most exotic valleys, roads and passes. The roads are mostly thin but nice today. The happiness of this untouched raw natural landscapes is part of you by now. You’ll ride to the mountain top hamlet of Mongar, your place for overnight stay.

You have a late morning start today. Before the ride, you can walk around the town in the morning - and you would see first hand the simplicity of this bustling town, just coming to terms with modernism. On this day you ride out to the eastern most tip of Bhutan that borders Arunachal Pradesh. We cross the town over to reach our resort - one of the best location to spend the evening. Overnight we stay at this beautiful Lodge in Trashigang.

Today will be a long ride as you travel back to India, via the beautiful town of Deothang and Samdrup Jongkhar that borders Assam. This day we would begin pretty early. In the course of day, the weather goes from cold to cool to warm to somewhat hot n humid. You’ll cross back into India and leave Bhutan with your hearts filled with memories unparalleled.

Based on your itinerary and time of start there are various option for halts today - we may either stay at Somdrup Jongkhar or Cross border and then take a turn west on some broken village roads to Manas National Park. The road to the national park is not so good. Overnight stay is either at Manas National Park. We shall decide this before start of the ride.

This is your last day of ride. We ride out in the morning and ride long stretches to be in Siliguri by afternoon. You would pass through some of the most beautiful landscapes of rural Assam and North Bengal. We would again take a route passing through the tea gardens. Overnight stay at the hotel in Siliguri.

This day, we shall ride back to Siliguri, deposit our bikes and check into our hotel. transfer you to the airport for your flight back home. You could also take an add on tour to Darjeeling or Gangtok (Optional). Please let us know of this beforehand and we would be happy to organise eveything for you.