Bhutan Tours

Bhutan routes, by how many days you have

How we work with our partner in Bhutan

Bhutan requires every visitor to travel with a licensed guide and to pay a daily Sustainable Development Fee, and both are arranged by the partner as part of the price they quote you. We are a Tibet-only operator: they quote, you pay them directly, and we take nothing on top. We list these routes because our guests ask for them — and because so many of them pair Bhutan with Tibet.

Longer and specialist Bhutan journeys

The routes above cover the classic country. Beyond them, Bhutan rewards travellers who give it two or three weeks, and our partner arranges several journeys that most visitors never hear about.

The long-distance trekking routes. Bhutan has some of the finest high trekking in the Himalaya — multi-day routes over passes above 4,000 m, through rhododendron forest and past remote herders’ settlements. The longest of them runs the length of the country and takes the best part of a month, and it is a serious undertaking rather than a walk. Others are shorter and more accessible, and can be added to a cultural journey. These are seasonal and permit-limited, so they are planned months in advance.

Festival timing. Each district holds its own tshechu, a religious festival of masked dance that falls on dates set by the Bhutanese calendar. Travelling to a particular tshechu is the single best reason to fix a Bhutan trip on particular dates rather than a particular month, and it is worth planning half a year ahead if a specific festival is your goal.

Birdwatching. Bhutan sits on the eastern Himalayan flyway, and the winter months bring black-necked cranes down into the central valleys, along with a remarkable list of other species in country that is still largely forested. Specialist birding days are arranged with a naturalist guide.

Longer journeys on foot and by road. Three weeks lets you cross the whole country rather than the western half, taking in the central and eastern valleys, the old trade routes and the monasteries that sit at the end of them.

Tell us how much time you have and what you want out of it, and the partner will come back with a draft itinerary and a cost. As with everything on this page, they quote you directly and we add nothing on top.

Good to know before you book

March to May and September to November are the classic months, with clear skies, comfortable temperatures and the main tshechu festivals. Winter is quiet and bright but cold; the summer monsoon brings cloud and rain to the valleys.

Your Bhutan visa is arranged by the licensed partner as part of the booking and is normally issued before departure. We will ask them to confirm the current process and the exact fees for your nationality.