Things to do in Thimphu

Landmark · Kuenselphodrang

A 51-metre gilded Buddha seated above the valley, with more than a hundred thousand smaller Buddhas housed inside it.

Local tip: Come at dusk when the statue is lit and the whole Thimphu valley is laid out below. The surrounding nature park has quiet trails almost nobody walks.

Landmark · North Thimphu

The fortress-monastery housing the throne room, government ministries and the central monastic body.

Local tip: Visitors are admitted only after office hours on weekdays, and longer at weekends. Proper dress is enforced — this is a working seat of government, not a museum.

Food · Riverside, Chang Lam

The country's largest market — chillies by the sack, datshi cheese, dried yak, incense and areca nut.

Local tip: Go Saturday morning when growers come in from the districts. Cross the traditional cantilever footbridge to the handicraft stalls on the far bank while you're there.

Nature · Motithang

A wooded reserve for the takin, Bhutan's improbable national animal — described by most visitors as a bee-stung moose.

Local tip: It's a short walk uphill from town and takes twenty minutes to see. Combine it with the forest trail that continues above the preserve for valley views.

Culture · City centre

The national stadium and archery ground, where Bhutan's national sport is played with enormous ceremony and mockery.

Local tip: Watch a traditional archery match rather than a football game. Targets sit 145 m apart, teams sing and dance to distract opponents, and it's the best free afternoon in the city.

Nature · North of Dechencholing

A 17th-century monastery reached by a steep hour's climb from the head of the Thimphu valley, past Tango monastic college.

Local tip: Locals do this as a morning walk, not an expedition. Start early, take the Tango trail on a separate day, and you'll have both largely to yourself midweek.