• Distance: Approximately 50km
• Duration: Four to five days
• Start point: Paro
• End point: Thimphu
• Difficulty: Moderate

The Druk Path trek is easy-going, varied, and is much of a cultural adventure as a hiking one. For these reasons this is the Bhutan trek I usually recommend for casual hikers or people on a limited schedule but who still want to get a few days’ trekking during their visit to Bhutan.

It’s a point-to-point trek between Paro and Thimphu – around 50km in distance, spread over four or five days of actual hiking. On the way you visit several monasteries where young monks still live and study. At Phajoding Monastery, I spent a quiet half hour watching the smoke from a cooking fire drift through the prayer flags. (Most itineraries add on a visit to the famed Taktsang Monastery, or Tiger’s Nest, although this isn’t part of the hike itself.)

Between the monasteries you get to see all of Bhutan’s natural beauty up close. One day you’re climbing through fragrant pine forests; the next, you’re walking along high ridgelines with vast views of the Himalayas. When I did the trek in spring, the rhododendrons were just starting to bloom.

Among Bhutan’s multi-day treks, the Druk Path is probably the most accessible and while it’s a proper hike – expect several hours of walking each day with altitudes rising above 4,000 metres – it’s manageable for most reasonably active travellers. If you enjoy long walks and don’t mind a bit of effort, you’ll be fine. The altitude is the main factor to be aware of; I took it slow and stayed well-hydrated, and had no problems adjusting.

The only downside is it’s one of the few Bhutan treks you could call ‘busy’ (although still nothing like the popularity of neighbouring Nepal treks). If you want more solitude, there’s the Dagala Thousand Lakes trek and if you want more of a challenge you can look at the Jomolhari, Laya or even the daunting Snowman treks.