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Southern Bhutan
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Southern Bhutan combines subtropical forests, borderland towns, wildlife corridors and warm river valleys with access to Royal Manas National Park.

Southern Bhutan forms a warmer, lower-altitude belt beneath the country's Himalayan interior, extending along the Indian frontier from the western gateway of Phuentsholing through the broad valleys around Gelephu and Sarpang to Samdrup Jongkhar in the east. It is not a single administrative province, but a practical travel region comprising parts of the southern districts, where Bhutan's steep mountains descend into forested foothills, river plains and humid borderlands. The climate, vegetation and pace of life differ markedly from the high valleys around Thimphu and Paro.
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Phuentsholing is the principal western land gateway and a busy commercial town beside the Indian border. Nearby hills rise rapidly towards Bhutan's interior, while the town itself reflects the movement of goods, travellers and communities across the frontier. Farther east, Gelephu provides access to the Sarpang area and is a useful base for exploring the southern lowlands. Samdrup Jongkhar, Bhutan's easternmost major border town, has a distinct trading relationship with Assam and serves as a gateway to the eastern districts. Samtse and the smaller settlements of the southwestern foothills offer a quieter, more dispersed experience, although transport connections are less frequent than in the main gateway towns.
The region's most important natural asset is its subtropical forest. Royal Manas National Park, reached principally through southern approaches, protects riverine woodland, sal forest and grassland along the Manas basin. It is known for exceptional biodiversity, including Asian elephants, golden langurs, hornbills and, in suitable habitats, tigers and other large mammals. Access is more involved than visiting Bhutan's western cultural centres, and arrangements, local conditions and permitted routes can vary; the reward is a landscape of wildlife corridors, forest roads and rivers rather than a conventional sightseeing circuit.
Southern Bhutan also reveals the country's cultural complexity. Dzongkha is widely used in national administration, while communities across the south include Nepali-speaking Bhutanese and other groups with their own religious, culinary and cultural traditions. Buddhist temples and small local shrines stand alongside busy markets, tea shops and produce stalls. Rice, maize, chillies, oranges, ginger and other subtropical crops are more prominent here than in the colder highlands, and southern cooking often has a stronger connection with rice-based meals, curries and Indo-Himalayan flavours.
Travel in the south is best approached as a series of gateways and landscapes rather than a concentrated list of monuments. Border towns are convenient for arrival and supplies, but journeys between them can be long because roads follow winding valleys and mountain contours. Visitors who allow time for forest excursions, river valleys, local markets and the changing vegetation between the plains and the hills will encounter a side of Bhutan that is more humid, commercially connected and ecologically diverse than the country's better-known western heartland.

When is the best time to visit Southern Bhutan?

Best: March, November–December · 22–25°C
Average daytime high and rainfall by month
MonthHigh (°C)Rainfall (mm)
January2115
February2120
March (best)2525
April2835
May3160
June33120
July34180
August34170
September32120
October2960
November (best)2525
December (best)2215

Getting to and around Southern Bhutan

How to get there

Most international visitors reach southern Bhutan overland from India after completing Bhutan's entry formalities. Phuentsholing is the principal western gateway and is connected by road to Jaigaon in West Bengal; Gelephu serves the Sarpang area from the Assam side, while Samdrup Jongkhar is an eastern gateway near Assam. Bhutan's main international airport is at Paro, outside the region, and visitors arriving there can continue south by road, although mountain journeys are lengthy. Land-entry arrangements, permits and visa requirements depend on nationality and should be confirmed through Bhutan's official channels or an authorised travel provider before travel.

Transportation

Road travel is the practical way to move around southern Bhutan. Main towns are linked by paved highways, but routes through the foothills are winding and journey times can change with rain, roadworks or landslides. A private vehicle with a driver is useful for reaching dispersed settlements, forest approaches and national-park access points. Local taxis are available in larger towns, while bus services connect major centres but may be less convenient for complex itineraries. Walking is suitable within towns and for short local excursions; remote forest travel should be undertaken with appropriate local guidance rather than independently.

Top city travel guides in Southern Bhutan

The cities of Southern Bhutan, and the easiest places to base yourself.

Destinations in Southern Bhutan

Resorts, valleys and scenic spots worth a trip of their own.

Best attractions in Southern Bhutan

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Best landmarks in Southern Bhutan

Phuentsholing's Zangto Pelri Lhakhang is one of the southern region's most recognisable religious buildings, its colourful design presenting a compact expression of Bhutanese Buddhist imagery within a busy border town. Karbandi Monastery, set on a wooded hillside above Phuentsholing, is significant both as a pilgrimage site and for its elevated views across the town and the Indian plains. The international boundary at Phuentsholing is also a defining civic landmark: unlike a remote mountain pass, it is embedded in an active urban and commercial landscape. Farther east, the forested valleys and river systems surrounding Royal Manas National Park form the region's most important natural landmark, marking the transition from cultivated foothills to protected lowland habitat. The broad Manas landscape is more visually expansive than monumental, with sal forests, grasslands and waterways carrying ecological importance across the Bhutan–India frontier. In Gelephu and Samdrup Jongkhar, market streets, administrative buildings and temples provide a contemporary architectural record of Bhutan's southern gateway towns rather than a single grand historic monument.

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Explore Southern Bhutan on the map

Plan your trip on one map. See where the top cities, national parks and sights are, and book hotels and experiences in a few clicks.

Best restaurants in Southern Bhutan

Southern Bhutan's food reflects the warmer climate and the region's close connections with the plains of India and neighbouring Himalayan communities. Rice is a daily staple, accompanied by vegetable curries, lentils, pickles, chilli-based dishes and preparations influenced by Nepali, Assamese and broader North Indian cooking. Ema datshi and other Bhutanese favourites are widely available, but southern tables may also feature stronger use of mustard greens, seasonal vegetables, freshwater fish in some areas and locally grown citrus, ginger, maize and chillies. In Phuentsholing, Gelephu and Samdrup Jongkhar, informal restaurants and cafés serve Indian, Bhutanese and Nepali meals, while market stalls provide tea, snacks and inexpensive breakfasts. Rural accommodation may offer simpler home-style menus based on seasonal produce. Hygiene standards and choice vary outside the main towns, so visitors with dietary restrictions should explain them clearly and carry suitable provisions during excursions into forest or remote valley areas.

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Best bars in Southern Bhutan

Evening life in southern Bhutan is concentrated in the larger border and commercial towns rather than in a dedicated club scene. Phuentsholing has the widest selection of cafés, restaurants, hotel lounges and informal bars, with activity reflecting its busy trading role and cross-border population. Gelephu and Samdrup Jongkhar offer smaller selections, while evenings in rural areas generally centre on family homes, local eateries, modest bars or the accommodation itself. Bhutanese beer and spirits are available where licensed, but alcohol is not necessary to experience the region's social life. Live music and late-night entertainment can be occasional and venue-dependent rather than a permanent feature, so visitors should rely on current local information instead of expecting fixed opening patterns. In wildlife areas, quiet nights are part of the experience and help avoid disturbing nearby communities and animals.

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Best nightclubs in Southern Bhutan

Evening life in southern Bhutan is concentrated in the larger border and commercial towns rather than in a dedicated club scene. Phuentsholing has the widest selection of cafés, restaurants, hotel lounges and informal bars, with activity reflecting its busy trading role and cross-border population. Gelephu and Samdrup Jongkhar offer smaller selections, while evenings in rural areas generally centre on family homes, local eateries, modest bars or the accommodation itself. Bhutanese beer and spirits are available where licensed, but alcohol is not necessary to experience the region's social life. Live music and late-night entertainment can be occasional and venue-dependent rather than a permanent feature, so visitors should rely on current local information instead of expecting fixed opening patterns. In wildlife areas, quiet nights are part of the experience and help avoid disturbing nearby communities and animals.

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Best shops in Southern Bhutan

Shopping in Southern Bhutan is strongest in the border towns, where local produce, household goods and imported merchandise circulate alongside Bhutanese handicrafts. Phuentsholing has the broadest practical choice, including clothing, textiles, small religious objects, packaged foods and everyday supplies, while Gelephu and Samdrup Jongkhar serve as smaller commercial centres for surrounding agricultural districts. Markets and independent shops are useful places to look for chillies, ginger, citrus, pickles, tea, rice products and seasonal fruit, although availability changes with harvests and transport. Bhutanese woven textiles, prayer items, handmade paper and carved or painted objects can be found in established craft outlets, but buyers should distinguish locally made work from factory-produced souvenirs and avoid purchasing anything made from protected wildlife. Rural shopping is limited, so stock up on medicines, snacks and cash before heading towards national parks or remote valleys.

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Southern Bhutan essentials

Currency and Payment
Bhutan's currency is the ngultrum, coded BTN, and it is used throughout the southern region as in the rest of the country. Cards and contactless payments are more dependable in established hotels, larger shops and urban businesses than in rural areas, although connectivity can affect transactions. Carry small amounts of cash for local taxis, food stalls, market purchases and services away from the main towns. Indian rupee notes are commonly encountered in southern border commerce, but acceptance, denominations and change arrangements can vary; do not assume that every business will accept foreign cash.
Safety
Southern Bhutan is generally suited to careful independent movement within towns and organised travel beyond them, but visitors should take ordinary precautions with money, passports and luggage in busy border markets. Lowland heat, humidity, mosquitoes and strong sun can cause discomfort, while forest areas require care around slippery paths, rivers and wildlife. Mountain roads may be affected by rain and landslides, and driving after dark is best avoided on unfamiliar routes. Drink treated or reliably purified water, follow park guidance and take sensible health advice for travel in subtropical areas.
Emergency Situations
Bhutan's national emergency arrangements apply in the south: police can be contacted on 113, fire and rescue on 110, and ambulance services on 112. Mobile coverage is variable outside the larger towns, so keep accommodation details, identification and local driver or guide contacts accessible. In a serious road, river or forest incident, alert local authorities or park staff as soon as possible rather than relying solely on mobile data. Ask accommodation providers about the nearest functioning medical facility before travelling into remote foothill areas.
Do's and Don'ts
Dress modestly when visiting monasteries, temples and public offices, and remove shoes or headwear when local instructions require it. Seek permission before photographing people, ceremonies, military installations or official buildings. Do not climb on religious structures, touch sacred objects casually or enter restricted areas. In markets and border towns, bargain politely only where bargaining is customary, and respect queues and local traffic conditions. Do not remove plants, stones or wildlife from protected areas, and follow the instructions of guides and park staff around rivers and forests.
Local Tips
Use the main southern towns as distinct bases: Phuentsholing is strongest for border access and supplies, Gelephu for the Sarpang lowlands and approaches towards Royal Manas, and Samdrup Jongkhar for eastern connections. The temperature may be far higher in the south than in Paro or Thimphu on the same day, so pack for both heat and cooler mountain journeys. Ask locally about road conditions before setting out, particularly during the monsoon, and leave flexibility for slow travel through the foothills.
Eve, your Evendo local guide

From Eve

Local phrases worth knowing

You don't need to get them perfect. A few words go a long way, and locals appreciate the effort.

6 phrase groups · English, local and pronunciation

Basics
EnglishLocalSay it
Helloབཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལགས།[Kuzu zangpo]
Goodbyeགང་བཞིན་གནང་བ།[Tshewa zhey]
Yesཨེ[A]
Noམེད།[Med]
Please/You're welcomeཁྱེད་ལ་བསྟན་བརྗོད།[Khyed la jamtsho]
Thank youཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེ།[Thukje che]
Excuse me/Sorryང་གིས་གནང་བ།[Nga gi zhen]
How are you?ཁྱེད་ལ་ངེས་གནང་བ།[Khyed la nges zhen]
Fine. And you?ང་གིས་བདེ་ཆེ། ཁྱེད་ལ་གང་བ།[Nga gi de che. Khyed la gang zhen?]
Do you speak English?ཁྱེད་ལ་དབྱངས་ཀྱི་སྐད་པ་བཤད་གི་ཡོད།[Khyed la dzongkha khey gi yod?]
I don't understandང་གིས་མ་གཏོགས།[Nga gi med]
Eating & Drinking
EnglishLocalSay it
I'd like to see the menu, pleaseང་གིས་བསྐྱར་བའི་བསྡུར་མངོན་གནང་བ།[Nga gi kyarey menu nang zhen]
I don't eat meatང་བྱ་བ་མེད།[Nga ja med]
Cheers!འབྲི་བཞིན།[Tashi delek]
I would like to pay, pleaseང་གིས་ཕོ་བྲལ་གནང་བ།[Nga gi pay zhen]
Emergencies
EnglishLocalSay it
Help!ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེ།[Thukje che!]
Go away!འགྲོ་བསྡོམས།[Go away!]
Call the Police!དངོས་ལམ་པ་གཞི་བརྗེད།[Call the police!]
Call a doctor!གསོ་བའི་མཁས་པ་བརྗེད།[Call a doctor!]
I'm lostང་འགྲོ་གནང་མེད།[Nga ngat]
I'm illང་སྤྱི་འཕེལ་ཞིང་བཞིན།[Nga ngat]
Shopping
EnglishLocalSay it
I'd like to buy...ང་གིས་བདག་བསྐྱར།[Nga gi ngul shong]
I'm just lookingང་གིས་སྟོན་བའི་བསྟན་བོ་བཅོས།[Nga gi tsering]
How much is it?ང་གིས་ག་ཀྱི་འབྲེལ་བའི་ཡོད།[Nga gi ga kyi zhen?]
That's too expensiveམི་བཀོད་ཅན།[Med kony]
Can you lower the price?ཁྱེད་ལ་མང་རྩིས་བཟོ་ན་ཡོད།[Khyed la mang zhe?]
Time & Numbers
EnglishLocalSay it
What time is it?དེ་རིང་རེ་བ་ག་རེ།[De Rin re]
It's one o'clockདངོས་འདུག་པ།[Nga du]
Half past (10)བཅོ་སྔོན།[Bho]
Morningདགོངས་ནོར།[Dong]
Afternoonདགོངས་བཞིན།[Dong]
Eveningདགོངས་སངས།[Dong]
Yesterdayདམིགས་ཤོམས་རང།[Mik]
Todayདམིགས་ཤོམས་རང།[Mik]
Tomorrowདམིགས་ཤོམས་རང།[Mik]
1དངོས་ 1[Dug]
2དངོས་ 2[Ney]
3དངོས་ 3[Ney]
4དངོས་ 4[Ney]
5དངོས་ 5[Ney]
6དངོས་ 6[Ney]
7དངོས་ 7[Ney]
8དངོས་ 8[Ney]
9དངོས་ 9[Ney]
10དངོས་ 10[Ney]
Transport & Directions
EnglishLocalSay it
Where's a/the...?དངོས་ལམ་པ་ག་རེའི་ཡོད།[Galu]
What's the address?དངོས་ལམ་པ་ག་རེ་ལམ་ཡོད།[Galu]
Can you show me (on the map)?ཁྱེད་ལ་མི་སོག་འབྲེལ་བརྗེད།[Khyed la zhen?]
When's the next (bus)?དངོས་ལམ་པ་ག་རེ་ལམ་ཡོད།[Galu]
A ticket (to ....)དངོས་ལམ་པ་ག་རེའི་ཡོད།[Galu]

History of Southern Bhutan

Early Southern Settlements and Trans-Himalayan Trade

The southern foothills have long connected the Himalayan interior with the plains of present-day India. River valleys and forest tracks formed routes for movement, exchange and seasonal livelihoods, while the region's warmer climate supported crops that could not be grown easily in Bhutan's higher valleys. Archaeological evidence and local traditions point to long-established settlement across the broader foothill zone, although much of its early history is preserved through scattered sites and oral memory rather than monumental remains. The south's geography has consistently made it a meeting ground between Bhutanese mountain communities and the cultures of Assam, West Bengal and the eastern Himalayan borderlands.

The Drukpa State and Southern Dzongs

From the seventeenth century, the consolidation of the Drukpa state brought southern valleys more firmly within Bhutan's political and religious system. Dzongs and administrative centres served as seats of authority, repositories of grain and places from which officials managed routes towards the plains. In the south, these institutions were especially important because control of passes, rivers and trading corridors was closely tied to security and taxation. The landscape lacks the concentration of monumental dzongs found in some western valleys, but the political legacy of the Drukpa period remains visible in district administration, Buddhist institutions and the continued importance of routes linking the interior with the border.

The Duars and the Treaty of Sinchula, 1865

The southern foothills became central to nineteenth-century conflict between Bhutan and British India over the Duars, a belt of fertile lowland and forest at the Himalayan edge. Disputes over revenue collection, frontier authority and the conduct of local officials led to the Duar War of 1864–65. The Treaty of Sinchula, signed in 1865, transferred control of the Bhutan Duars and established a new political relationship with British India. Its consequences are still reflected in the international boundary and in the commercial importance of towns such as Phuentsholing, Gelephu and Samdrup Jongkhar, which stand near historic routes from the plains into Bhutan.

Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Migration

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, people from neighbouring parts of Nepal and India settled in Bhutan's southern districts, joining earlier communities and contributing to agriculture, trade and the development of market towns. Nepali-speaking Bhutanese, commonly known as Lhotshampa, became particularly numerous in the south and developed distinctive religious, linguistic and cultural institutions. This history is inseparable from the difficult citizenship and political disputes of the late twentieth century, when many people left Bhutan or were displaced after unrest and government measures in the 1980s and 1990s. The subject remains sensitive, and the south's present social landscape should be understood as historically diverse rather than reduced to a single narrative.

Modern Border Towns and Economic Change

After Bhutan's modern state institutions expanded, southern border settlements developed into important gateways for trade, transport and public administration. Phuentsholing became the principal western commercial entry point, while Gelephu and Samdrup Jongkhar grew as eastern and central-southern links with India. Roads, schools, markets and agricultural schemes transformed access to the foothills, though journeys remain shaped by steep terrain and seasonal weather. The south's economy continues to combine farming and forest-based livelihoods with cross-border commerce, logistics, construction and public services, giving it a more outward-facing commercial character than many remote Himalayan valleys.

Conservation in the Southern Forests

The creation and development of protected areas changed the way Bhutan's southern forests were managed. Royal Manas National Park, established in 1966 as Bhutan's first national park, protects a major cross-border ecosystem linked to India's Manas landscape. Conservation has sought to preserve forests, rivers and wildlife while accommodating the needs of nearby communities. The park and surrounding corridors are significant for elephants, hornbills, primates and other species moving between lowland and foothill habitats. This conservation history underpins the south's growing importance for carefully managed nature travel, although access remains dependent on local permissions, infrastructure and conditions.

Southern Bhutan in Photos

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Planning a trip to Southern Bhutan? Let Evendo be your ultimate travel companion. This free app provides detailed information on the best attractions, landmarks, shops, bars, nightclubs, restaurants, hotels, tours, experiences, and activities in Southern Bhutan. Imagine visiting the iconic Samtse Dzong, exploring the lush tea gardens of Lhamoizingkha, or dining at the famous Tashi Yangkhil Restaurant in Gelephu with expert recommendations at your fingertips.

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