Бутан

Dzongkha is the official language, but English is the medium of instruction in schools and is spoken confidently by guides, hotel staff, and most people working in tourism. Road signs and menus in tourist areas are usually in English as well as Dzongkha, so navigation is not a real problem.

A tourist SIM card can be bought on arrival at Paro International Airport or from a shop in Thimphu, with your passport needed for registration. Data speeds are good in the main towns but drop off in remote valleys, and some high mountain passes have no signal at all, so do not count on constant connectivity outside Thimphu and Paro.

Tap water is not safe to drink untreated; stick to bottled or filtered water, which is available everywhere your itinerary takes you. Pharmacies are concentrated in Thimphu and Paro, with only basic supplies in smaller towns, so bring any regular medication with you.

No vaccinations are mandatory for entry, but make sure routine vaccines are up to date before you travel. Travel and medical evacuation insurance is no longer a visa requirement, but it is still worth having given the altitude and how remote much of the country is.

Nearly all foreign nationals need a visa, arranged in advance through a licensed Bhutanese tour operator or the government's online Sustainable Development Fee portal, together with payment of the fee itself. Citizens of India, Bangladesh and the Maldives enter under separate, simplified rules with a reduced fee and do not need the same advance visa.

Visa and entry requirements change frequently. Verify current requirements with the official immigration authority or your country's embassy before travel.

Bhutanese religious sites are still active places of worship, and visitors are expected to behave accordingly.

• Dress modestly at dzongs and temples: covered shoulders and knees, no shorts or short skirts.
• Remove shoes and hats before entering a temple hall or shrine room.
• Photography is usually banned inside shrine rooms; ask your guide before taking any photo indoors.
• Walk clockwise around chortens, stupas, and prayer wheels — locals circle National Memorial Chorten in Thimphu every morning, and the same applies at sites like Druk Wangyal Chortens (Dochula Pass).
• Avoid pointing your feet at people, monks, or a shrine when sitting.
• Smoking in public places is tightly restricted by national law; ask your guide where it is allowed.

Government offices close on weekends, while most shops and restaurants in towns open daily, including weekends. Expect closures or reduced hours around major religious festivals (tshechus) and national holidays, when many Bhutanese travel to their home village or a dzong for the celebrations.

• By air: domestic flights connect Paro with Gelephu and with Bumthang, a useful shortcut over long mountain drives.
• By road: almost all sightseeing happens by private car with a driver arranged through your tour operator; distances that look short on a map take hours on narrow, winding mountain roads.
• By bus: local buses connect towns cheaply, but are slow and used mainly by residents rather than visitors on a guided itinerary.

Traffic drives on the left. Most visitors fly directly into Paro; a smaller number enter overland from India through Phuentsholing.

Bhutanese food centers on chilies, treated as a vegetable rather than just a spice, cooked into a thick cheese sauce for the national dish, ema datshi. Meals are built around red rice, a nutty, slightly sticky local grain, served with one or two chili-and-cheese or meat dishes, usually pork, beef, or yak. Momos, steamed or fried dumplings, are the most common snack. Butter tea, suja, salty rather than sweet, is drunk throughout the day, and ara, a home-distilled spirit made from rice or maize, appears on special occasions.

Restaurants aimed at tourists soften the chili level noticeably compared to home cooking; ask if you want a dish prepared the traditional way. Away from hotel dining rooms, small local eateries serve simple set meals rather than an à la carte menu.

Bhutan's classic route runs through a handful of valleys in the west and center of the country.

The western valleys, where most trips begin and end, hold the country's best-known sights: Paro, home to Taktsang Palphug Monastery, Rinpung Dzong, and the ancient temple Kyichu Lhakhang; Thimphu, the capital, with Tashichho Dzong, Buddha Dordenma, and National Memorial Chorten, plus the historic Simtokha Dzong just outside town; and Punakha, reached over Druk Wangyal Chortens (Dochula Pass), where Punakha Dzong sits at the meeting of two rivers near the revered fertility temple Chimi Lhakhang.

Central Bhutan sees fewer visitors but rewards the extra driving time: Wangdue Phodrang, home to Wangdue Phodrang Dzong; the Phobjikha valley around Gangtey, where black-necked cranes winter near Phobjikha Valley; and Bumthang, the country's spiritual heartland around Jakar Dzong and Kurjey Lhakhang, with the historic Trongsa Dzong on the way.

Entry towns on the southern border, Phuentsholing and Gelephu, see less tourism themselves but are the main overland crossing points from India.