Bhutan Tours for Small Groups, on Fixed Dates

A Bhutan tour with Roof of Asia is a scheduled group departure: you pick a published date, book a seat, and travel with up to 11 others and a licensed Bhutanese guide. Every departure is guaranteed to run once four seats are sold, and the government's daily fee is already inside the price you see.

Bhutan does not allow independent tourism. Every visitor needs a licensed guide, a government-approved itinerary and a visa arranged through an operator, so the real choice is between a private tour for your own party and a group like ours. A group splits the guide, driver and vehicle between several people, and that is what brings the per-person price down.

All three start and finish at Paro, Bhutan's international gateway. Prices are per person, twin-share, and every seat on every date is shown live on the Bhutan departures list.

Which Bhutan tour suits you

First time in Bhutan and short on days? Take the 8-day Cultural Highlights. It covers the three western valleys where most of the kingdom's dzongs stand, and it saves the Tiger's Nest hike for the last full day, when your legs are used to 2,300 m.

If you want to walk rather than drive between the capital and Paro, the Druk Path Group Trek spends five nights in tents on the ridge between the two valleys, passing the trout lakes at Jimilang Tsho and the monastery at Phajoding. It is one of the shortest camping treks in Bhutan, and it still tops out at 4,210 m.

For the country beyond the western valleys, the Bumthang Valleys & Festival Tour crosses the Pele La into central Bhutan. Each departure is timed to a village tshechu, either Jambay Lhakhang Drup, Jakar or Ura Yakchoe, and you spend a full day among the masked dances.

A Bhutan tour costs $2,450 to $3,190 per person with us, and roughly 28 percent of that is the government's Sustainable Development Fee. The SDF is USD 100 per adult per night, and the government has fixed it at that rate until 31 August 2027.

Here is where the money goes on each tour.

"Everything else" is the hotel or camp, three meals, the guide, the driver and vehicle, entrance fees and, on the trek, the cook, camp crew and pack ponies. When you compare Bhutan tour prices, subtract the SDF first. What is left is the operator's actual cost per day, and it is the only number that tells you what you are getting.

What is included

• Bhutan visa and the Sustainable Development Fee
• Paro airport transfers on arrival and departure
• 3-star hotels, twin-share (farmhouse nights in Bumthang; tents on the Druk Path)
• All meals
• A licensed Bhutanese guide and driver, with the group's own vehicle
• Entrance fees to dzongs, temples and museums

What is not included

• Flights to Paro, which we can book for you
• Travel insurance
• Drinks, tips and personal spending
• A horse for the Tiger's Nest climb, about USD 25, if you want one
• A room to yourself: $380 on Cultural Highlights, $360 on the Druk Path, $420 on Bumthang

Children and Indian nationals

Children aged 6 to 12 pay USD 50 a night in SDF, and children under 6 pay none. Indian nationals pay the SDF in rupees, INR 1,200 a night, and need an entry permit rather than a visa. Tell us your passport country when you enquire and we will send the adjusted price.

Departures after 31 August 2027 are priced at today's SDF rate. The government has not yet announced the rate beyond that date.

A 25 percent deposit holds your seat, and the balance is due 60 days before departure. The full schedule is on our booking conditions page.

Bhutan's rules make a solo trip expensive. You cannot travel without a licensed guide, and the guide, driver and vehicle cost the same whether they carry one person or ten. On a private tour one traveller carries that cost alone. On a group departure it is shared.

Most people on our Bhutan departures come alone. Twin-share is the default, and we pair you with another traveller of the same gender who has asked to share, so you pay no single supplement. If you would rather have your own room, the supplement is shown on each trip page before you book.

How big the group is

Our Bhutan groups run between 4 and 12 people, and the Druk Path caps at 10 because the campsites are small. Four is the number that makes a date run. Once a departure shows Guaranteed on the dates list, it goes ahead whatever the final count.

What happens if a date does not fill

We confirm every departure at least 45 days before it starts. If a date has not reached four travellers by then, you choose between a full refund and a free move to another date. You will never be told at the airport. The full explanation of how fixed departures work is on our journal.

Who you travel with

Our guides are Bhutanese and licensed by the Department of Tourism. They carry the permits, handle every dzong entry and set the walking pace to the slowest person on the day, not the fastest.

The simplest way into Bhutan for most of our travellers is the Kathmandu to Paro flight. It takes about an hour on Drukair or Bhutan Airlines, and on a clear day it passes four of the five highest mountains on Earth.

Sit on the left side of the aircraft on the way into Paro. Everest, Lhotse, Makalu and Kangchenjunga pass that window, and morning flights usually get the clearest view.

Paro also connects to Delhi, Kolkata, Bagdogra, Guwahati, Bangkok and Singapore. We can book any of these flights for you.

Adding Nepal to a Bhutan tour

Our office is in Kathmandu, so a Bhutan tour pairs easily with a Nepal trip. Finish the Langtang Valley Group Trek or the Everest Base Camp Group Trek in Kathmandu, spend a rest day, then fly to Paro. We can book the connecting hotel night and the airport transfers in Kathmandu.

Arriving in Paro

The approach into Paro winds between ridges before a steep final turn onto the runway, and only a small number of certified pilots are cleared to land there. Your guide meets you outside the terminal, in national dress, and the drive to Thimphu takes about an hour and a half along the Paro and Wang Chhu rivers.

The best time for a Bhutan tour is March to May or late September to November. Skies are clearest in autumn, and spring brings the rhododendrons into flower on the Dochu La at 3,100 m. Our departures run in both windows, with no summer dates.

Festivals and the tshechu calendar

Tshechus follow the Bhutanese lunar calendar, so their Western calendar dates move every year. Thimphu Tshechu usually falls in late September or October, Paro Tshechu in March or April, and Punakha's in February or March. In central Bhutan, Jambay Lhakhang Drup and Jakar Tshechu fall in the autumn and Ura Yakchoe in the spring.

The Black-Necked Crane Festival at Gangtey is the exception: it is held on 11 November every year. Our 9 November 2026 Bumthang departure reaches Phobjikha on that date. Ask us how the day's timing works for the group before you book.

Festival departures fill first. Hotels in Thimphu and Paro are booked out months ahead of the big tshechus, so a seat on a festival date is worth securing early.

Every visitor to Bhutan except citizens of India, Bangladesh and the Maldives needs a visa, and it can only be applied for through a licensed operator. The fee is USD 40, paid once, and the Department of Tourism reviews applications within five working days.

We lodge the application for you once your deposit is paid. We need a scan of your passport, valid for at least six months after your return date, and a recent photo. Your visa approval letter comes to you by email and is stamped into your passport on arrival at Paro.

Indian nationals need an entry permit instead, issued on a passport or voter ID. We apply for it the same way.

Insurance

Travel insurance is a condition of joining every departure. For the Druk Path, make sure your policy covers trekking to 4,300 m and emergency evacuation.

Days on our Bhutan tours start after breakfast and end at the hotel by late afternoon. The walking on the Cultural Highlights and Bumthang tours is short, one to two and a half hours a day, and the rest of the time is spent at dzongs, temples, markets and farmhouses.

The Tiger's Nest hike, step by step

Paro Taktsang sits at 3,120 m, and the path climbs about 500 m from the car park. Most walkers take four to five hours for the round trip, with tea at the cafeteria halfway up, where the first full view of the monastery appears across the gorge. The last section drops down roughly 700 steps to a waterfall and climbs back up to the gate. A horse can carry you to the cafeteria for about USD 25, but you walk the steps.

Dress and conduct at dzongs

Dzongs and temples ask for long sleeves and long trousers or a skirt below the knee. Hats come off at the entrance, and photography is not allowed inside temple rooms. Walk around chortens and prayer wheels clockwise. Your guide will be in a gho or kira, the national dress, and will show you where to stand during ceremonies.

Food

Bhutanese food is built on red rice and chillies. Ema datshi, chillies cooked in cheese, is on every table. Hotels serve a milder buffet alongside it, and vegetarian meals are easy because Bhutan bans the slaughter of animals inside its borders. Meat is imported, mostly from India.

Money and phones

The ngultrum is pegged one to one with the Indian rupee, and rupees are accepted everywhere. ATMs work in Paro and Thimphu but are unreliable further east, so carry cash for Bumthang. B-Mobile and TashiCell sell tourist SIM cards at Paro airport, and your guide can help you register one on arrival.