Thimphu Tour - Attractions, Transfer, Weather, Hotels & Restaurants 2020/2021

Top Places to Visit in Thimphu

Searching for mystery of happiness? You’ve got the right place. Thimphu will always present you the best beyond your expectation, including beautiful natural scenery, peaceful Buddhist temples, interesting folk customs, special dresses and much more. Surely, you can’t miss the great Himalayan views and sacred National Memorial Chorten. Exploration of local Bhutanese flavors and daily life in Weekend Market is pleasant surprises in the short trip. Read more about >>places to visit in Thimphu.

Top Featured Activities in Thimphu

Praised as “A Happy Kingdom Kissed by Buddha” and “the Land of Thunder Dragon”, Bhutan is endowed with magnificent Buddhist culture. Meanwhile, isolation from chaos, perfect harmony with nature, positive value of development, traditional way of living, all those cultivate an abundant local culture and happiness of Bhutanese. To help you catch a glimpse of the long history and colorful culture of Bhutan, we select three top local activities and festivals below in Thimphu for your trip, and you can read more about >>things to do in Thimphu.

How to Get to Thimphu

Currently, there is no airport serving Thimphu, and Paro Airport is the only international airport in Bhutan, which is about 50km from Thimphu for 1.5 hours’ driving. Besides, Bhutan opens 3 land ports of Bhutan-India border areas. Therefore, tourist planning to travel to Thimphu can either fly to Paro first or have an overland driving from India via one of the land border ports.

Paro to Thimphu: Driving from Paro to Thimphu is the most convenient and popular way to reach Thimphu. If you travel to Bhutan by flight, your first destination is Paro. You are suggested to spend a couple of days to tour the major attractions of Paro first, and then transfer to Thimphu from Paro by 1.5 hours’ driving on well-paved roads. Travelers can enjoy gorgeous natural views of rivers, valleys and nice-decorated local houses, temples en route.

India to Thimphu: Phuentsholing, Gelephu and Samdrup Jongkhar located in Southern Bhutan regions in Bhutan-India border are the only three land ports opened to tourists. After crossing the Phuentsholing in the southwest, you will have a about 6 hours’ driving trip for 170km to Thimphu, while it takes about 10 hours from Gelephu in central-south and at least 3 days from Samdrup Jongkhar in southeast area to get to Thimphu. >> How to Get to Bhutan
Best Time to Visit Thimphu

Weather and climate of Bhutan vary widely in different regions according to altitude changes and the influence of monsoon from the Indian Ocean in the south. Due to the location of the valley and large area of forests, Thimphu (alt: 2,500m) belongs to a moderate climate zone with clear seasonal features and great temperature variation within a day. In general, months from September to November in autumn are the best time to visit Thimphu, because the weather and climate are mild and comfortable, the sky is clear blue and many colorful and splendid festivals like Dromchoe and Tsechu are held in Thimphu during this period.

Spring of Thimphu starts from March to May, when the average maximum daytime temperature is 11℃~17℃ and the average lowest temperature goes between 0℃~5℃. During spring, it is kind of chilly in Thimphu, and often sprinkles in the morning and evening, even thunder shower happens occasionally. The following summer months from June to August comes to Thimphu with warmer, but much more rainfalls days. With an average temperate of 17.7℃, July is the month with the highest temperature of a year. However, too much rainfall makes it the less-chosen season to travel to Thimphu. Winter of Thimphu begins from December to February, when the weather is cold and dry, probably snow a little in high-elevation areas. >> Thimphu Weather and Climate
Where to Stay - Hotels in Thimphu

Tourists don’t need to worry about accommodation in Thimphu, because it offers lots of choices covering from luxury hotels, budget hotels to local homestays or guesthouses. Whenever you stay, you will be well treated with clean, comfortable rooms, warm hospitality and excellent services by the hotels.

Best Hotels in Thimphu - If you would like to experience luxury lodging during your stay in Thimphu, there are word class 5 star hotels with perfect amenities, service and amazing environment you can choose from. Le Meriden, Amankora, Taj Tashi are the three top ranking hotels in Thimphu. Le Meriden is centrally located, close to the Clock Tower Square and offers the Himalayan views, spacious rooms with internet access and relaxation spa and fitness center. Built in traditional Bhutanese style, Taj Tashi is in downtown Thimphu with magnificent mountain views. Amankora Hotel which is only few minutes’ walking distance to Motithang Takin Preserve provides guests more authentic, pristine feast like being at home.

Budget Hotels in Thimphu - There are still many 3 star and 4 star hotels in comfortable class and reasonable rate in Thimphu. Druk Hotel, Hotel Norbuling, Hotel Thimphu Tower and Osel Hotel are most valued budget hotels with good location, tidy and clean rooms, amazing room views and kindly services from hotel staff. Adventures who like to get closer to local life and culture can accommodate in a Bhutanese homestay or farmstay. >> Hotels in Thimphu and Bhutan
Restaurants in Thimphu

To make you taste more flavors and relax yourselves in cozy places, Thimphu offers tourists large collection of restaurants at moderate price, including western standard cafes, bars, and lots of nice restaurants of traditional Bhutanese food, Asian cuisines, Indian dishes, and etc. Above all, most restaurants in Thimphu and Bhutan are vegetarian friendly restaurants.

The Zone, Ambient Café, Seasons Restaurant are the top rated western-style restaurants which locate conveniently in town center with good food and warm ambience. Here you can enjoy many excellent foods, such as burger, cake, pizza, sandwich, spaghetti, fries, rice, and martini and so on. Pizza lovers can’t miss the Seasons Restaurant! Zombala Thimphu is a local small restaurant famous for delicious Tibetan dishes, including Momo, chicken fried rice, chicken noodles, chilli chicken and Red Panda - the local beer.

Bhutanese Restaurants - When in Rome, do as Romans do. The best way to know about Bhutan’s culture is to try some authentic Bhutanese cuisine. The Folk Heritage Museum Restaurant, Bhutanese Restaurant, Bhutan Orchid Restaurant, Bhutan Kitchen are highly recommended places to experience specialty of Bhutan. They mainly serve vegetarian food and they customized the cuisines for tourists for the original Bhutanese food is casual and too spicy. Indian restaurants in Thimphu - Ama Restaurant, Chh’a Bistro & Bar, Sinchula Indian Cuisine and Chula serve well-cooked Indian dishes with decent price.

Useful Bhutan Thimphu Travel Notes

1. How to Plan a Bhutan Tour
A classic Bhutan tour usually takes about 6 days involving Paro, Thimphu and Punakha. Apart from the arrival and departure days, you get 4 full days to explore the landmarks in Bhutan - three days in the towns of Paro, Thimphu and Punakha, and another day in Taktsang Monastery (Tiger’s Nest). If you want an in-depth tour to central Bhutan, you are suggested to spend extra 4 days to Bumthang via Wangdu Phodrang and Trongsa. Many travelers prefer an overland tour in Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan to discover the Himalaya Kingdoms. If time permits, you can take a one-hour flight from Bhutan to Nepal, where you can admire the medieval architectural wonders and marvelous landscape of Himalayan Peaks. After that, take an overland driving journey to the holy city Lhasa via Mount Everest, Tibet.
2. How to Get a Bhutan Visa
Except Indians, Bangladeshis and Maldivians, all foreign tourists wishing to travel to Bhutan are required to obtain Bhutan Visa Clearance Letter prior to departure. It is a single-entry visa that can only be applied by licensed Bhutanese tour operator and their international partners (like Tibet Discovery). If you travel with us, you only need to send us a clear scanned copy of your passport for a minimum one week visa processing. Once issued, a Visa Clearance Letter will be emailed to you for taking flights to Bhutan. After arrival in Paro Airport, the immigration officer will stamp the Bhutan Visa on your passport after checking the Visa Clearance Letter. Then you can start the dream trip in the kingdom of Bhutan.
3. How to Get to Bhutan
There are two choices to get to Bhutan – by international flights from connected Asian countries (Nepal, India, Thailand, Singapore and Bangladesh) and by overland driving from India. Since Paro is the only international airport, all the flights to Bhutan lands on Paro. Meanwhile, there are three accessible land ports connected Bhutan and India, including Phuentsholing, Samdrup Jongkhar and Gelephu. Phuentsholing is the primary one which connects Chhukha of Bhutan and West Bengal of India. From Phuentsholing, it takes about 6 hours to drive to Paro or Thimphu. The other two ports are located in central and eastern remote area of Bhutan.
4. Useful Bhutan Thimphu Travel Tips
1.) Other Tourist Destinations in Bhutan. Apart from Thimphu, there are many other destinations worthy of your visit, including Paro, Punakha, Phobjikha, Wangdue Phodrang, Trongsa, Bumthang etc. Special theme Bhutan tours, like trekking, bird watching and local festival sightseeing can be customized based on your needs. 2.) The north region of Bhutan is located at southern Himalayas with elevations of 3,000m and above, but Thimphu (altitude: around 2,500 m) located at Wang Chhu Valley is a destination generally tourists don’t need to worry about high altitude sickness. 3.) Packing & Wearing Ideas. Thimphu generally enjoys a moderate climate all year around. But temperature will vary widely between day and night, and it can drop to below zero at night during spring and winter. Also Bhutan is a religious country full of monasteries, Dzongs (fortresses) and sacred religious sites, therefore, long pants and long sleeved tops should be worn to show respect while visiting those places. Better dress in layers and prepare warm clothes for winter tour and high-altitude destinations

Most Recommended Thimphu Tour Packages

Following are some other recommended Thimphu tour packages that you may be interested in. All of our Tibet tour packages are customizable to meet your personal requirements. You can also contact us to customize a trip if you want.

Paro / Thimphu / Punakha / Paro

5 Days Bhutan Classic Tour (Paro & Thimphu & Punakha)

Taktsang Monastery, Rinpung Dzong, National Memorial Chorten, Punakha Dzong
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Paro / Thimphu / Punakha / Phobjikha / Paro

6 Days Last Shangri-La Bhutan Highlights Tour

Taktsang Monastery, Kychu Monastery, Punakha Dzong, Folk Heritage Museum
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Paro / Thimphu / Punakha / Haa / Paro

7 Days Bhutan Adventure Tour with Haa Valley

Taktsang Monastery, Punakha Dzong, Wangdue Phodrang Dzong, Lhakhang Karpo, Chele La Pass
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