Bhutan with children in 9 days

There is also a budget point that matters more here than anywhere. The Sustainable Development Fee is waived for children under six and charged at half for children aged six to twelve. On a family of four that changes the total considerably, and it is the reason Bhutan is sometimes cheaper for a family than for two adults travelling alone.

Who it suits: families with children roughly six and up. Younger works, with more rest days. Teenagers do well here.

Your specialist: your named Bhutan specialist, with our Delhi office arranging the visas and the ground.

Day by day

Day 1: Fly into Paro, stay in Paro. We do not drive to Thimphu on arrival day with children. Paro at about 7,300 feet (2,225 m) is fifteen minutes from the airport, and the afternoon is for the hotel garden and an early night.

Day 2: Paro. A gentle first day at altitude. The National Museum in the old round watchtower, which children like because it is a fort. The Rinpung Dzong and the covered bridge below it. Afternoon on an archery ground with an instructor: Bhutan’s national sport, done with bows children can actually draw, and the single activity that most reliably works on this trip.

Day 3: Paro to Thimphu. An hour’s drive. The Buddha Dordenma above the city, the takin preserve, which takes twenty minutes and contains an animal that looks assembled from spare parts, and the Royal Textile Academy if the weather turns. Late afternoon at the dzong.

Day 4: Thimphu to Punakha. Three hours over the Dochula pass at 10,170 feet (3,100 m), with a stop at the chortens and a hot drink. Break the descent at a viewpoint. Arrive in Punakha at about 4,300 feet (1,310 m) in time for lunch, and spend the afternoon in the water or the pool. This is the warm part of the trip.

Day 5: Punakha. Punakha Dzong in the morning, which is a genuine castle at the meeting of two rivers and reads as one to a child. Then the Punakha suspension bridge, which is 590 feet (180 m) of swaying steel and prayer flags and is the thing they will remember. Afternoon: a gentle raft float down the Mo Chhu, suitable from about age six with the operator’s own decision on the day, or the walk to Chimi Lhakhang through the rice.

Day 6: Punakha, farmhouse day. A morning walk between villages, then lunch and an afternoon at a farmhouse: butter tea, red rice, a kitchen with a wood stove, and usually other children. A hot stone bath before dinner if everyone is up for it. Bhutanese households do not treat visiting children as a problem to be managed, which parents notice within about ten minutes.

Day 7: Punakha to Paro. Back over the pass, four to five hours with proper stops. Afternoon free in Paro town.

Day 8: Tiger’s Nest, or the alternative. For families who want it, the climb to Paro Taktsang, around 1,700 feet (520 m) of ascent to roughly 10,200 feet (3,120 m). Realistic from about age eight for a child who walks. The cafeteria at the halfway point is a fine place to stop and it has the view. For families who would rather not, the alternative day is Kyichu Lhakhang, one of the oldest temples in the country, the ruins at Drukgyel Dzong and a picnic up the valley.

Day 9: Departure. Transfer to Paro airport.

What is included

Full board throughout, family rooms or connecting rooms where the hotel has them, private vehicle sized for your group with a Bhutanese driver, a licensed English-speaking guide throughout, all entry fees, the archery session with an instructor, the farmhouse lunch, the visa applications, the Sustainable Development Fee for all eight nights itemised per person and with the child reductions applied, and a WhatsApp group with your specialist and our Delhi office.

What we would change, and when

• Children under six? Cut day 8 to the alternative, add a second Paro rest day, and expect to move slowly. The fee is waived for them, so an extra night costs less than you think.
• Teenagers who want to walk? Add two nights and the two-day Bumdrak walk out of Paro, which camps one night above the tree line and comes down past Tiger’s Nest from above.
• School holidays in July or August? That is monsoon. We will tell you what the weather will do rather than sell you a season we do not believe in.
• Want the cranes? Late October to mid-February, add Phobjikha. Cold, and children like the valley.

Honest notes

The fee is per person per night and it applies to children over six at half rate. It is still the biggest line in the quote for a family of four, and we show it broken out so you can see exactly what changes if you add or remove a night.

Drives are winding. Motion sickness is common on Bhutanese roads and it is worth arriving prepared for it rather than discovering it on the Dochula descent. We sit children in the front where the vehicle allows and stop more often than the schedule strictly needs.

There is not much here that is designed for children. No theme parks, no aquariums, no playgrounds to speak of. What there is instead is a country where children are included in things: archery grounds, farmhouse kitchens, monastery courtyards. Families who enjoy Bhutan are the ones who wanted that.

Altitude on this route sits between 4,300 and 10,200 feet (1,310 to 3,110 m). That is high enough that children may be tired and headachy on the first two days, which is why day 1 has nothing in it and day 2 is gentle.

The Tiger’s Nest climb is genuinely steep and it is not a family walk in the ordinary sense. We do not put it on day two, we do not hurry it, and we treat turning back as a normal outcome rather than a failure.

Built by your named Bhutan specialist, and checked by our Delhi office before it goes out.

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