Dzongs on river confluences, a monastery on a cliff face, and a country that counts its success differently.
Altitude
2,320 m at Thimphu, 3,100 m at Dochula
Getting there
Overland from Phuentsholing, 4 hours from Bagdogra (IXB)
Best time
March to May and September to November
How long it needs
5 to 7 nights
About Bhutan
Bhutan is the one trip on this list that feels like a different world rather than a different state, and from Siliguri it is astonishingly close: four hours to the border town of Phuentsholing, where the permits are issued and the road starts climbing.
Thimphu is the capital without a traffic light. Punakha has the finest building in the country, a dzong standing where two rivers meet. Paro has the airport, the national museum, and Taktsang, the Tiger’s Nest, 900 m of switchbacks above the valley floor.
The pass between them, Dochula at 3,100 m, is 108 stupas on a saddle with the eastern Himalaya spread out behind on a clear morning.
What people come for
Taktsang, the Tiger’s Nest monastery at Paro
Punakha Dzong at the meeting of the Pho and Mo rivers
Dochula Pass and its 108 chortens
Tashichho Dzong and the Buddha Dordenma at Thimphu
Chele La, the highest motorable pass in Bhutan
Archery, the national sport, played seriously everywhere
Know before you go
Indian, Bangladeshi and Maldivian nationals enter on a permit rather than a visa. Everyone else travels on a visa arranged in advance through a licensed Bhutanese operator.
Bhutan charges a Sustainable Development Fee per person per night. It is a government levy, it changes by notification, and it is quoted separately on your itinerary rather than buried in the tour price.
The Taktsang walk is 900 m of ascent and takes 4 to 5 hours return. Ponies go part of the way up only, never down.
Permits are issued on working days. A Sunday or a Bhutanese public holiday at the border costs you a day, so we plan the entry date around it.
Packages
2 trips that include Bhutan
Each of these can be lengthened, shortened or recombined. If you want Bhutan on its own, or bolted onto something else entirely, just ask.
Tell us roughly what you want. We will send back a real itinerary.
Dates, how many of you, and anywhere you have your heart set on — that is enough for us to start. You will get a day-by-day plan with named hotels and one all-in price, in writing, before you pay anything.
