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Travelling to Bhutan - Pricing Policy and Travel
This webpage contains information on travelling to Bhutan and Bhutan's pricing poilcy.
If you wish to download of copy of this information, click here.
Click straight to Bhutan's Pricing Policy.
Travelling to Bhutan. You can only travel within Bhutan using a recognised Agent; you cannot organise it yourself (for flights, see Drukair below). You can either fly or drive or a mixture of both. There are now three official road crossings (all on the southern Bhutanese border with India) making access to the more remote eastern side of Bhutan easier. The Bhutanese Government monitors visitors into and out of Bhutan; they do not restrict.
You are strongly recommended to engage with us at an early stage of your travel plans to take advice on dates and the number of nights that you intend to stay in Bhutan. Drukair for example does not fly into Bhutan on a daily basis from each of the cities that it serves (Bangkok is the exception). A 6 month lead in time is considered minimum if you wish to secure the dates that you want especially over Festival periods; more if you can.
Travel and Trek has extensive experience of organising and adjusting your itinerary to take all of this into account.
On entry into Bhutan, you will be met by your Guide who will escort you everywhere. He will be with you until you depart Bhutan.
Drukair. Drukair is Bhutan’s National airline and is the only major airline to serve Bhutan.
Clients can now book flights with Drukair directly on line. This has the advantage of getting an instant confirmation of flights allowing you to book associated international flights.
With the exception of Bangkok, Drukair does not fly to every city every day and therefore you need to be aware of its schedule to fit in with your travel plans. Its schedule can be downloaded from the Drukair website (www.drukair.com.bt).
Drukair can change its schedule and routings without notice (see Buffer Time).
Factor in a Buffer Time. We strongly recommend that you factor in at least a spare day/night (buffer time) on the end of your stay in Bhutan to counter any changes or delays in your departure (only if departing by air). Paro is Bhutan’s only international airport and is located in a fairly mountainous area with unpredictable weather. It is far better to factor in an inexpensive night in Kathmandu for example (or other city) than to risk missing a costly international flight to the UK.
Driving. It is possible to drive into Bhutan from India. The most well established and used crossing is at Puntesholding, 5hrs driving south of either Paro or the capital Thimphu. The other two crossings are not so well used due to their distance from airports.
Puntesholing is approx 4hrs from the Indian airport of Bagdogra (or Bhadrapur in Nepal (they are just across the border from each other)), from which you can fly to Kolkata or Kathmandu. You can also drive up through West Bengal to Darjeeling and or Sikkim thereby making what can be a good circuit.
Travel and Trek can design an itinerary that combines Bhutan, India and/or Nepal.
Pricing Policy. Bhutan charges a straighforward flat fee per person per night (pppn) (not per day) regardless of what you are doing in the country. For that fee, you receive all of the services that you require during your stay such as hotel accommodation, all food, all ground transport, a Guide and entrance fees to all sights such as Monasteries. The full list of inclusions are contained in the box on the right hand side of this webpage.
From 1st Jan 2012, Bhutan's rates will change:
The nightly rates are (all figures are US$):
For the months of Jan, Feb, Jun, Jul, Aug and Dec:
- $220 pppn provided that you in a group of 3 or more.
- $240 pppn if the group consists of 2 persons.
- $250 per night for a single person travelling alone.
For the months of Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct and Nov:
- $250 pppn provided that you in a group of 3 or more.
- $270 pppn if the group consists of 2 persons.
- $280 per night for a single person travelling alone.
Be sure to ask about our discounts!
A reduction of $18 pppn is given on stays of longer than 9 nights. It applies to the 10th night onwards.
Download Bhutan's Pricing Policy
Paying for your trip. The deposit required to secure your trip per person is $300 + the full Drukair fare (assuming that you do not book the flight on line). The remaining balance is due 10 weeks prior to departure. The US$ will be converted to £UK at the appropriate rate.
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