ULTIMATE GUIDE TO BHUTAN – Enchanting

This ultimate guide to Bhutan is based on a recent trip we made there from Dubai via a new, direct flight to a key cultural city – Paro taking  just 4 hours.

Learn about the Bhutan essentials in relation to required documentation and the overall mechanics of how a trip works in our guide to Bhutan

We also tell you about accommodation and what to see, we talk about the food and culture as well as provide an example day by day itinerary for a memorable 6 day trip of a lifetime.

Guide to Bhutan  – what do you know ? 

Probably that it’s a small, mountain kingdom ruled by a long serving monarchy, and that it’s  one of the if not the Happiest Place on Earth!

Maybe you know it’s a Buddhist country with an abundance of stunning monasteries, stupas (memorials) prayer wheels and generally very characterful, traditional architecture and cheerful people.

It was also till about a year ago a very expensive place for tourists to visit, charging a flat sustainable development fee or SDF of US dollars 200 per person per night in addition to any accommodation costs.

That fee has now been reduced to US dollars 100 per person per night for all passport holders other than those for the SAARC – that’s Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. But all visitors to Bhutan still need visas.

Bhutan is also unusual in that tourists can only access a stay there if they do so in conjunction with a registered or recognized tour operator or hotel group.  You can’t just book a flight and hotel and turn up, you won’t be permitted to go to any cultural sights or even be allowed entry to the country.

Guide to Bhutan – how to get to Bhutan

The only city that has an international airport in Bhutan at the moment is PARO. It’s not the capital though, that’s Thimpu about a 90 minute drive away. You can fly to Paro on direct flights from cities in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Singapore and recently also from Dubai in the UAE!

Their national carrier is Druk Air and they have just invested in some new planes.

You have to look carefully at the schedule for the time of year you want to fly as it tends to change seasonally depending on your destinations. There is also a helicopter service to take you to cities in Bhutan.

We chose to fly direct to Paro on the new Druk Air flight from Dubai.

Click How to Get to Bhutan to read about our experience starting from Dubai and everything that’s useful to know.

Guide to Bhutan

 – about hotels in Bhutan – where to stay

Bhutan has a variety of places to stay from simple home stays and basic hotels through to mid-range chains right up to luxury brands like COMO, Six Senses, Aman and newly opened &Beyond property by the riverside in Punakha.

There are also more hotels being built; a 100 room Hilton hotel is coming to Paro soon. Most hotels especially at the higher end will organize all your visas, SDF and provide you with a tour guide and transport for your sightseeing too.

There seemed to be a pretty similar road map of what people experience in terms of sites. But good hotels should be able to arrange everything and even customise things for you and that’s very helpful.

We chose to stay at the very reputable, Singapore owned COMO branded hotels for our Bhutan trip and were delighted with our hotel partner choice.

Click Where to Stay in Bhutan to read about our experience with the brand. Our stay included the documentation, tour guides, transportation and food as well as actual accommodation. The location and facilities of both the Uma Paro and stunningly beautiful Uma Punakha are well worth it.

Guide to Bhutan– what to see in Bhutan

In a way you absorb and take in a great deal in Bhutan just by being there without going to any formal, tourist sites, but there is so much rich heritage and culture to be experienced via visiting some of its main sites. It’s hard not be totally enchanted by Bhutan.

Obviously monasteries are a must in Bhutan as are the Dzongs or fortresses. But you could also opt to see some smaller, more remote temples reached by short hikes across the country side too.

There is the famous Tigers Nest monastery reached via a hard, long hike and hundreds of steps. So that one really isn’t for the unfit.. although you can do part of the journey on a small horse.

Depending on how long your trip to Bhutan is and where exactly when you go, you can experience a huge amount of culture and a completely different landscape and even climate.

It also depends on the time of year you visit, we visited in November with cold, crisp, chilly mornings and evenings but generally bright sunny days.

But April is when Bhutan has a Rhododendron flower festival and the valleys are filled with colourful wildflowers.  If you venture further than the standard Paro and Thimpu and go to the Gang Tey valley and Bhumtan,  you have a a very different experience with an almost Switzerland like feel.

Click on What to See in Bhutan to find out exactly which sites we decided to visit on our trip that took in both Paro and Thimpu.

Food in Bhutan

Bhutanese food is influenced by Indian, Chinese and Nepalese cuisine. You can eat at high end 5 star hotel restaurants sitting on gorgeous terraces with breathtaking valley or forest views and drink good wine and taste Bhutanese whiskey too.

But you could also experience basic farm house food sitting in simple but authentic surroundings or do something like have a snack at a street side coffee shop chain like Mountain Café.

There is quite a lot of cheese featured in typical Bhutanese cuisine including a dish called Chilly Cheese! Vegetables and fruits are fresh and full of flavor, there is plenty of non-vegetarian food, no one will go hungry but you have to search for what you like!

What should I buy in Bhutan

No trip to a new country would be complete without a What to Buy in Bhutan section so if you want to see what we bought in Bhutan Click What to Buy in Bhutan. 

Follow on the DoinDubai Instagram for videos and stories that bring all my words to life and will I think entice you to visit Bhutan!

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