Our aim at Blue Poppy Tours and Treks is to make your dream holiday in Bhutan a reality – and a trip to remember for ever. We offer cultural tours, treks ranging from 3 days to 3 weeks, or just day hikes, festival visits or a mixture of all of these. You will have the opportunity to see monasteries and temples, enjoy the stunning beauty of Bhutanese landscapes and scenery, visit a traditional Bhutanese festival and experience a unique and traditional Bhutanese culture almost unchanged by time.

We can help you get off the beaten track and gain access to whatever interests you. Whether you want to go on a meditation course or learn archery, go mountain biking or bird-watching, or learn to cook traditional Bhutanese food – if it's possible, we'll make it happen.

We offer homestays with a local farmer and his family, allowing you to experience traditional village life at its purest, and the opportunity to try the restorative properties of a hot stone bath. If you prefer to experience one of Bhutan's luxury hotels instead (or as well!) we can arrange this also.

For those of you who prefer to book a 'ready-made' itinerary, have a look at our sample cultural tours. Remember, these can be used simply as rough guides for you to get an idea of what's on offer – you can leave out or add in as much as you want. For more ideas for what to do on your trip, contact us, letting us know how long you want to visit for, the time of year and what your interests are, and we'll put together some suggestions for you.

If you are thinking of a trekking holiday have a look at these trekking itineraries.  Find out more information here about trekking in Bhutan, including when to go, what to bring, and what is provided for you.

If you would like to attend a festival have a look at the festival dates for 2010.  The main festivals visited by tourists are Paro, Thimphu, Punakha, Ura and Bumthang Drup.  There is no reason why you can't go to one of the less commonly visited festivals, although you should be prepared to find yourself as much the centre of attention as the masked dancers in that case!  If you let us know which festivals you are interested in visiting we can put together a suggested itinerary for you. Click here for sample itineraries for Thimphu festival, Paro festival and Ura festival.

Or join our group tour for Thimphu festival in September 2010.

In 2008 our group of 7 hardy trekkers was successful in completing the Snowman Trek.  This is a tough trek in the remote mountain region of Lunana and you need to be prepared for long climbs at altitude over snow covered passes.  We need a group of around 8 trekkers to run this trek because of the complicated logistics involved and the long supply lines.  But if you are interested let us know and we will see if we can gather enough people to make up a group for September 2009.  You can see further information about the itineraries and prices of the 2008 expedition below - we ran a long route and a short route last time to accommodate the differing requirements of those travelling.  The plans for 2009 will depend on the preferences of those who sign up and the numbers involved, but we are happy to discuss options and preferences in more detail at any time.  The first route was 27 trekking days (including 4 rest days) and the whole trip lasted 32 days (15th September to 16th October 2008).  The second route was 20 trekking days (including 3 rest days) and the whole trip lasted 26 days (21st September to 16th October 2008).  Truly the trek of a lifetime - find out more about the 2008 trip here.

In 2007 we worked with 2:09 Events to offer the first mountain marathon in Bhutan.  The event was a popular success both with locals and visitors and we plan to repeat it in August 2009, but this time we have chosen a less taxing course to make it more widely accessible.  In addition to the marathon, the tour includes a day walk to Taktshang monastery, a two day trek into the mountains so that you can acclimatise, some sightseeing in Paro and then the race is followed by time to visit the historic and cultural sights of the capital - assuming your legs will still carry you round! 

We are also running several bird watching trips, a botanical tour and a textile tour, all for private groups.  Or you may be interested to try the Nabji Trail - a new six-day low altitude trek which opened for the first time in October 2006. The trail runs through Jigme Singye Wangchuk National Park, so if you are interested in a gentle nature trek take the opportunity to try this route which is of both botanical and cultural interest.  Contact us for more details of all of these.