Bhutan transport: Paro flights, land borders, roads and domestic flights

Flying into Paro: who flies from where

Paro International Airport (PBH) sits on the floor of the Paro valley, 47 km from Thimphu. Gelephu, in the south, is Bhutan's other international airport, but for the western valleys almost everyone lands at Paro. As of November 2026, Drukair and Bhutan Airlines are the only two airlines flying in.

Their timetables decide where you connect. Drukair's November 2026 timetable flies Paro to Delhi and to Kathmandu every day, between Paro and Bangkok every day (nonstop, or via Guwahati or Bagdogra), to Kolkata four days a week (two of them via Gelephu), to Dhaka on Mondays and Fridays and to Gaya on Wednesdays and Sundays, with a Singapore service via Guwahati; its March 2027 timetable adds Dubai. Bhutan Airlines' timetable for 1 December 2026 to 15 February 2027 flies to Delhi and to Kathmandu four days a week each, and to Bangkok five days a week via Kolkata and two via Gaya. From Europe that usually means one connection, in Delhi, Bangkok or Kathmandu.

Little Bhutan put one-way economy fares to Paro in mid-2026 at about USD 220–340 from Delhi, USD 200–280 from Kathmandu, USD 360–490 from Bangkok and about USD 550 from Singapore. Bhutan Airlines' promotional fares, checked on 3 November 2026, started from about USD 246 Delhi–Paro, USD 191 Kolkata–Paro and USD 252 Kathmandu–Paro. Drukair opens online check-in from 72 hours to 4 hours before departure, and its airport counters open three hours before a flight and close one hour before.

Flights in and out of Paro depend on the weather and can be delayed or cancelled, so leave a spare day before an onward long-haul flight, and book separate tickets with that day in hand. For a Delhi connection, our Bhutan entry guide explains when India requires a transit visa.

At the airport there is a taxi rank and no other public transport. Your guide and driver meet you at the terminal, or the hotel or operator arranges the transfer.

Overland from India: Phuentsholing and Samdrup Jongkhar

Tourists enter Bhutan by land at the designated ports of Phuentsholing, Gelephu, Samdrup Jongkhar and Samtse, but with a passport other than Indian or Bhutanese the Indian side decides which you can use. Phuentsholing, opposite Jaigaon in West Bengal, is the default crossing. Bhutan's foreign ministry announced an Indian immigration check post for third-country nationals at Darranga in Assam, opposite Samdrup Jongkhar, from 7 November 2024. Little Bhutan, a DoT-listed operator, says the Indian posts facing Samtse and Gelephu do not handle third-country passports.

Phuentsholing fits a trip with Darjeeling, Kalimpong or Sikkim. Bagdogra airport is four to five hours away by road, and Thimphu 165 km and five to five and a half hours beyond the border, a climb from the plain to the capital that fills the day. Third-country travellers are stamped out of India at the Indian immigration office in Jaigaon before they cross. On the Bhutan side, a Tourism Information Office connects tourists with certified guides; from September 2026 a pre-arranged guide must be registered 48 hours before your travel date, and walk-in tourists register from 18:00 the evening before. You need the guide as soon as you travel beyond the border town.

Samdrup Jongkhar suits only the end of an eastern route: Little Bhutan gives 175 km and six to six and a half hours from Trashigang, and three and a half to four hours on to Guwahati airport. France advises its nationals that Samdrup Jongkhar cannot be reached through Assam (advice updated 18 March 2026); if your own government says the same, leave through Phuentsholing instead. Both crossings use the same visa and SDF as a flight, and a stay of up to 24 hours within the designated zone of a border town pays no SDF, a waiver that runs until August 2027.

India's e-Visa lists Jaigaon and Darranga among the land ports where e-Visa holders may enter India, and lets them leave India through any authorised immigration check post, so an e-Visa covers either crossing in either direction.

Your guide, your driver and the car

You can book every part of the trip yourself, but a guide certified by the Department of Tourism must be with you at all times, and you may stay only in DoT-certified hotels, homestays or campsites. That rule shapes how you move. Self-drive cars cannot be hired in Bhutan, so the Department of Tourism's advice is to hire a vehicle and driver from a car rental company or a tourism service provider such as a Bhutanese tour operator; hotels can also arrange transport. With a certified guide no route permit is needed for most of the country.

In practice, "the operator's car" means one vehicle with its own driver for your whole stay, collecting you at the airport or border and taking you between valleys, to trailheads and back to the hotel each evening. Bhutan Travel Bureau, a licensed operator, describes its fleet as four-wheel-drive SUVs and Toyota station wagons for small parties and Toyota Coaster and Hiace buses for groups. Operators fold the guide, driver and car into the trip price rather than listing them separately, as Little Bhutan's published tour prices do; our Bhutan trip cost guide prices the whole package. Guided Bhutan quotes guide-only or guide-and-driver prices for your dates and route, and calls USD 10–15 a day from each traveller typical as a tip for the guide and USD 5–10 for the driver, paid in cash at the end.

You may drive your own car into Bhutan if it meets the requirements of the Road Safety and Transport Authority: a valid driving licence (an Indian licence is accepted), insurance, pollution-control papers, an entry permit and a vehicle in reasonable condition. The charge is Nu 4,500 per car per day, the same for a motorbike, and a certified guide still rides with you at extra cost.

Drive times between the valleys

Bhutan has one main east-west road, the National Highway, which Bhutan Travel Bureau describes as a 3.5 m strip of tarmac over passes, along cliffs and across bridges, being widened to two lanes in stretches. Plan by hours, not kilometres. The times below are licensed operators' published estimates and leave out photo stops and lunch.

The western loop of Paro, Thimphu and Punakha never asks more than four hours of a day. Phobjikha, the crane valley, is a morning's drive beyond Punakha through Wangdue Phodrang and over the Lawa La pass; our Phobjikha valley guide covers the nights there. Central Bhutan is a different scale: 212 km from Punakha to Bumthang takes about eight hours, so most routes break it in Phobjikha, from where Bumthang is 188 km and five to six hours, or fly.

The road climbs a lot. Dochula, the pass between Thimphu and Punakha, lies at about 3,100 m, and Chele La, on the road from Paro to Haa, at 3,988 m; snow can close the Chele La road without notice, so your guide decides on the morning.

Monsoon, landslides and driving by day

Travel by road in daylight only, even with a driver, and in the monsoon, June to September, allow for landslides that can close roads for days. The UK's travel advice asks visitors to avoid night travel where possible and warns that monsoon landslides can cut off some roads for days.

In practice your driver sets off early on long days, and between June and September a good operator builds in slack on the routes that rely on a single road, Punakha to Bumthang above all. Car and motorbike accidents are among the biggest causes of injury and death in Bhutan, so wear a seatbelt and travel in a well-maintained vehicle. Our best time to visit Bhutan guide sets out the seasons month by month.

Domestic flights: Bumthang, Yonphula and Gelephu

Drukair runs the domestic flights, all from Paro. Its November 2026 timetable flies Paro to Bumthang six days a week, every day except Monday, in 35 minutes; to Yonphula, in the east near Trashigang, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, in 45 minutes; and to Gelephu, in the south, on Wednesdays, with two more weekly flights on the Kolkata route on Mondays and Fridays. The Bumthang flight replaces a drive of about eight hours from Punakha, and the Department of Tourism calls domestic flights often the fastest way to cover long distances.

Yonphula's altitude and micro-climate make its summer flights especially prone to delay or cancellation, the Department of Tourism warns, so fly in one direction and drive the other, and a cancelled flight costs a day rather than a connection. The checked-baggage allowance on domestic flights is 20 kg in economy. Your operator books the seats with your passport details and adds the fare to the quote.

Buses, taxis and helicopters

Bhutan has domestic buses and town taxis, and the airport has a taxi rank, but with a guide at your side at all times almost every visitor travels in the guide's car, and public buses rarely fit a tourist's day. For special itineraries, the Department of Tourism points to helicopter charters with Royal Bhutan Helicopter Services and Heli Bhutan, arranged through your operator.