Bhutan was high on my bucket list for a long time, but not intensely so. I wanted to go—for the sake of completion; because I wanted to compare it to Nepal and Tibet—but going wasn’t essential to my happiness as a traveler.
To put it another way, I didn’t have especially high expectations for my trip to Bhutan. And when I got there, I didn’t have a particular benchmark I expected the trip to clear. I just wanted to see what it was about.
So, is Bhutan worth visiting? It’s certainly an unforgettable, unique country with a lot of things going for it. But it’s also got plenty of downsides, especially when compared with its neighboring countries—a travel paradise it is not.
Why it Took Me So Long to Bhutan
Before I get to whether or not I think Bhutan is worth visiting, I should explain why it took me until nearly 20 years after I got my first passport to go myself. The first reason is the most obvious. Up until 2022, you not only needed an organized tour to visit Bhutan, but had to pay what was essentially an entry fee, equal to a minimum of 250 USD per day. Both of these requirements were unacceptable to me.
When the Bhutanese government repealed the first and lowered the other (to 100 USD per day) after covid-19 in a bid to revive the country’s moribund tourism industry, it piqued my interest. However, it still took me over a year to book my trip, and nearly another year after that to execute. I always wanted to visit Bhutan, but I never had a burning desire to do so.
5 Things I Didn’t Love About Bhutan
Thimphu gives a terrible first impression
I can’t lie: I hated Thimphu from the moment I arrived there. From the coldness and incompetence at the staff of my hotel, to the extremely low ratio of attractions to the otherwise dirty, dusty and residential cityscape, Thimphu seriously pales in comparison to other Himalayan capitals like Kathmandu and Lhasa (and even to Bhutan’s Paro).
Service and hospitality in Bhutan are often lacking
I mentioned how lackluster staff at my hotel in Bhutan were, and while this wasn’t necessarily the rule during my trip, I encountered it more than once. According to many, part of what makes Bhutan worth visiting is the kindness of the people. However, kindness doesn’t get you far if the people you’re dealing with are either incompetent or simply lazy.
Bhutan’s guided tour industry is a total racket
Taking into account the former “SDF” fee of 250 USD per day and similar daily prices for the formerly compulsory guided tours, it was easy to drop 500-600 USD per person, per day for even the most bare-bones trips to Bhutan. This might lead you to believe that Bhutan is a rich country and that you’d get that value for your money; in fact, the guided tour industry is simply a massive racket that I would argue keeps local people (including local tourism industry works) poor.
Non-guided tourism in Bhutan is the Wild West
Indeed, it was only once I began treating Bhutan as if it was a low-income developing country—because it is—that I started to see it as an exciting exploration to explore. $500-per-pay tours don’t make Bhutan worth visiting; haggling $25 taxi rides the entire way down the tourist trail do. It’s also wonderful to be able to put money directly into someone’s pocket, rather than making some tour company owner rich.
Bhutan is just not an exciting destination
Spoiler alert: I do now consider myself a fan of Bhutan—I have a lot of fondness for the country, and toward my experience there. At the same time, the main word I use to describe it is “peaceful” which, let’s be frank, is not that far off from “boring.” I wish Bhutan would nix the SDF fee entirely, to be honest, because I’d happily park myself in Paro for a week and work if that were the case.
Would I Ever Go Back to Bhutan?
Although it took me a long time after arriving to love Bhutan, I really did fall in love with the country. I felt genuinely sad when I left! I comforted myself within an internal promise that I would return in spring someday, probably in 2026 (I visited in fall 2024). The idea of seeing the country’s rhododendrons was practically thrilling to me!
Now, given that it’s not yet even 2025 when I write this, I will have to see whether I still feel enthusiastic about returning to Bhutan by the spring of 2026. It could be that I’ve doubled down more on my “core” countries of Japan, Thailand and Taiwan, or simply that I no longer feel Bhutan is worth visiting for a second time. At the moment, however, it remains on my radar.
Other FAQ About Visiting Bhutan
Is Bhutan good for tourists?
Bhutan is an excellent country for well-heeled tourists who are fine shelling out hundreds of dollars per day for the luxury tours that were required to visit prior to covid-19. However, the country’s infrastructure for independent travelers still leaves a lot to be desired.
Can US citizens go to Bhutan?
US citizens are welcome in Bhutan, though like citizens of most other countries, we do need a visa. The good news is that it’s now easy to get a tourist visa online, and it often takes just a few days to proceed. So, if you really want to visit Bhutan, it’s not extremely hard to do so.
Why is Bhutan difficult to visit?
Bhutan is not difficult to visit, per se, but you can’t just get on a plane and go. You’ll need to apply and be approved for a tourist visa in advance and, if you don’t book an organized tour, create an itinerary that allows you to move around the country alone. Moreover, you’ll need to travel to one of the few cities with nonstop flights to Bhutan, such as Bangkok, Delhi or Kathmandu.
The Bottom Line
Is Bhutan worth visiting? Well, I’m happy I finally made it to the hermit kingdom after wanting to go there for more than a decade. There’s no other place in the world like it, even neighboring countries like Nepal and Tibet. On the other hand, the peacefulness of Bhutan can sometimes feel boring; people there have clearly still not adapted fully to the new era of independent tourism. If you come in with sky-high expectations, my feeling is that you’ll probably end up leaving disappointed. Need personalized help putting your Bhutan trip together? Consider hiring me as your Travel Coach!
