Southern Bhutan, Bhutan Travel Guide

Discover the serene beauty and cultural richness of Southern Bhutan, where lush landscapes, vibrant wildlife, and spiritual sanctuaries await your exploration.

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Southern Bhutan

Southern Bhutan is a treasure trove of natural beauty, rich culture, and serene landscapes. Nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, this region offers travelers a unique blend of lush forests, vibrant wildlife, and traditional Bhutanese hospitality. The area is less touristy compared to other parts of Bhutan, providing a more authentic and peaceful experience. Explore charming towns such as Gelephu and Phuntsholing, which serve as gateways to Bhutan. These towns are bustling with local markets where you can immerse yourself in the local way of life and sample delicious Bhutanese cuisine. The region is also home to several sacred monasteries and temples, offering spiritual solace and a glimpse into the country's deep Buddhist roots. Nature lovers will be delighted by the Royal Manas National Park, a biodiversity hotspot teeming with exotic flora and fauna. Trekking through its dense jungles, you might encounter elephants, tigers, and rare bird species. The park's pristine rivers and waterfalls add to the magical allure of Southern Bhutan, making it an ideal destination for eco-tourism and adventure activities.

From Eve

Know before you go

Hi, I'm Eve. Here are a few practical things to know before exploring Southern Bhutan.

Carry local currency as ATMs and card acceptance may be limited in rural areas.
Visit during the winter months (November to February) for cooler weather and clear skies.
Respect local customs, especially when visiting religious sites; dress modestly and ask for permission before taking photos.
Hire a local guide to enhance your experience and gain deeper insights into the culture and nature.
Try traditional Bhutanese dishes like Ema Datshi and Suja (butter tea) at local eateries.

Top City Travel Guides in Southern Bhutan

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

Thimphu

Paro

Punakha

Wangdue Phodrang

Bumthang

Destinations in Southern Bhutan

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

Phobjikha Valley

Punakha Valley

Chhukha District

Sarpang District

Trongsa District

Best landmarks in Southern Bhutan

Top-rated picks

Best Landmarks

Browse the full guide

All Landmarks

Buddha Dordenma Statue སྟོན་པ་རྡོར་གདན་མ།

Experience peace and tranquility at the Buddha Dordenma Statue, a monumental symbol of Bhutan's rich spiritual heritage and breathtaking views.

4.7

National Museum of Bhutan འབྲུག་གི་འགྲེམས་སྟོན་ཁང་།

Explore the National Museum of Bhutan in Paro, where history and culture come alive through captivating exhibits and stunning views.

4.3

National Memorial Chhorten རྒྱལ་ཡོངས་རྗེས་དྲན་མཆོད་རྟེན།

Discover tranquility and cultural depth at the National Memorial Chhorten, a stunning Buddhist temple in the heart of Thimphu, Bhutan.

4.5

Punakha Dzong སྤུ་ན་ཁ་རྫོང་།

Discover the beauty and history of Punakha Dzong, a breathtaking fortress and monastery at the heart of Bhutan's cultural heritage.

4.8

Best restaurants in Southern Bhutan

Top-rated picks

Best Restaurants

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All Restaurants

Ambient Cafe

Discover the heart of Bhutanese cuisine at Ambient Cafe in Thimphu - your go-to spot for breakfast and brunch delights.

4.5

Sonam trophel restaurant

Experience authentic Indian and Bhutanese cuisine at Sonam Trophel Restaurant in Paro - where flavor meets tradition.

4.0

Zombala Restaurant

Experience authentic Bhutanese cuisine at Zombala Restaurant in Thimphu - where every dish tells a story.

4.5

San Maru Restaurant

Experience authentic Korean flavors at San Maru Restaurant in Norzin - a culinary haven for food enthusiasts.

4.4

Best bars in Southern Bhutan

Top-rated picks

Best Bars

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All Bars

Mojo Park

Discover the vibrant nightlife of Thimphu at Mojo Park, a lively bar and restaurant offering great food, drinks, and live music in a welcoming atmosphere.

4.4

Namgay Artisanal Brewery

Experience the art of craft brewing in Bhutan at Namgay Artisanal Brewery, where tradition meets innovation in every sip.

4.4

The Zone

Discover the flavors of Bhutan at The Zone, a vibrant restaurant and pub in Thimphu, blending local and international cuisines in a cozy atmosphere.

4.3

PARK 76 Cafe & Pub

Discover the vibrant nightlife of Paro at PARK 76 Cafe & Pub, where live music and delicious food create an unforgettable experience.

4.4

Best nightclubs in Southern Bhutan

Top-rated picks

Best Nightclubs

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All Nightclubs

Viva City

Experience the vibrant nightlife of Thimphu at Viva City, where music, dance, and culture come together in a lively atmosphere.

4.5

DG Wanderlust Club @Thimphu hongkong market/oppesite of Thimphu BOB main Branch office

Discover the vibrant nightlife of Thimphu at DG Wanderlust Club, where music, dance, and socializing come together for an unforgettable experience.

5.0

Space 34 DOS

Discover the chic nightlife at Space 34 DOS, Thimphu's premier night club with vibrant ambiance and exquisite drinks.

4.5

ACE CLUB, Thimphu

Discover the ultimate nightlife experience at ACE CLUB in Thimphu, where tradition meets modern entertainment in a vibrant setting.

4.5

Best shops in Southern Bhutan

Top-rated picks

Best Shops

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All Shops

Centenary Farmers Market

Discover fresh produce, local crafts, and delicious flavors at Thimphu's vibrant Centenary Farmers Market, a cultural gem in Bhutan.

4.4

Jungshi handmade paper factory

Immerse yourself in the traditional craft of Bhutanese paper-making at Jungshi Handmade Paper Factory in Thimphu, a unique cultural experience.

4.1

Samdrup jongkhar town

Experience the vibrant market life and natural beauty of Samdrup Jongkhar Town, a hidden gem in Bhutan.

4.5

iDesire, Thimphu

Explore Thimphu with iDesire - your go-to cell phone store for the latest gadgets and unbeatable customer service.

4.9

Explore Southern Bhutan on the Map

A handpicked selection of must-see spots in Southern Bhutan, mapped for you.

Southern Bhutan Essentials

Southern Bhutan is accessible primarily via air and road. The nearest international airport is Paro International Airport, located in the western part of Bhutan. From Paro, you can take a domestic flight to Gelephu, the main gateway to Southern Bhutan. Alternatively, you can travel by road from Thimphu or Paro to Gelephu, which takes approximately 8 to 10 hours. Make sure to arrange your travel permits in advance, as Bhutan has strict entry regulations.
Once in Southern Bhutan, transportation options include taxis, buses, and hired cars. Taxis are readily available in major towns like Gelephu and Samdrup Jongkhar, and they can be hired for local travel or long-distance trips. Buses operated by the Bhutan Post and private operators connect various towns and villages. Renting a car with a driver is also a convenient option for exploring the region at your own pace.
The official currency in Bhutan is the Ngultrum (BTN), which is pegged to the Indian Rupee (INR). Credit cards are accepted in some hotels, restaurants, and shops, but it is advisable to carry cash, especially in smaller establishments and rural areas. ATMs are available in major towns like Gelephu and Samdrup Jongkhar, but it is wise to withdraw sufficient cash before traveling to more remote areas.
Southern Bhutan is generally a safe destination for tourists. However, it is advisable to take standard precautions. Avoid walking alone at night in unfamiliar areas and keep an eye on your belongings in crowded places. There are no specific high-crime areas targeting tourists, but it is always best to stay vigilant and aware of your surroundings.
In case of emergency, dial 113 for police assistance and 112 for medical emergencies. Major towns like Gelephu and Samdrup Jongkhar have police stations and medical facilities. It is recommended to have travel insurance that covers medical emergencies. For minor health issues, there are pharmacies in the towns where you can purchase over-the-counter medications.
Fashion: Do dress modestly, especially when visiting religious sites. Avoid wearing revealing clothing. Religion: Do respect local customs and traditions. Always remove your shoes before entering temples and monasteries. Public Transport: Do be respectful and give up your seat to elderly passengers. Don't eat or drink on public transport. Greetings: Do greet people with a 'Kuzuzangpo' (Hello) and a handshake. A slight bow of the head is also a sign of respect. Eating & Drinking: Do try local delicacies and accept food offerings graciously. Don't refuse hospitality, as it is considered impolite.
To experience Southern Bhutan like a local, visit the local markets where you can buy fresh produce and traditional Bhutanese goods. Engage with locals, as they are often friendly and willing to share stories about the region's history and culture. Don't miss visiting the numerous monasteries and temples, which offer a glimpse into Bhutanese spirituality and architecture. For a unique experience, attend a local festival (Tsechu), which features traditional dances, music, and vibrant costumes.

When is the best time to visit Southern Bhutan?

With Eve

Useful Local Phrases for Southern Bhutan

You don't need to speak the language perfectly. Even learning a few simple words can make conversations warmer—and locals usually appreciate the effort.

— Eve

6 phrase groups English + pronunciation

Here are the phrases I use most often in Southern Bhutan. Try a few—you'll be surprised how far they go! 😊
❤️

- 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]
- 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]
- 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]
- 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?]
- 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]
- 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

Southern Bhutan, known as Lhoyul in ancient times, was part of a larger kingdom that existed long before the unification of Bhutan. The region was known for its dense forests and fertile valleys, which supported early settlements and small communities that thrived on agriculture and trade. Ruins and artifacts from this era provide a glimpse into the early civilization that once flourished here.
Southern Bhutan has been significantly influenced by Indian Buddhism due to its proximity to India. This influence dates back to the 8th century when Guru Rinpoche, also known as Padmasambhava, introduced Buddhism to Bhutan. Monasteries and stupas built during this time in Southern Bhutan reflect a blend of Bhutanese and Indian architectural styles, symbolizing the cultural and religious exchange between the two regions.
During the 19th century, Southern Bhutan came into contact with British India. The British influence is evident in the development of trade routes and the introduction of modern administrative systems. This period also saw the establishment of tea gardens and other plantations, which brought economic changes to the region.
The Duar Wars (1864-65) between Bhutan and British India had a profound impact on Southern Bhutan. The conflict arose over control of the Duars, the fertile plains at the foothills of the Himalayas. The Treaty of Sinchula, which ended the war, resulted in Bhutan ceding the Duars to British India, significantly altering the political and economic landscape of Southern Bhutan.
Southern Bhutan is home to a diverse mix of ethnic groups including the Lhotshampa, an ethnic Nepalese community. The Lhotshampa migrated to Bhutan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and have contributed significantly to the region's cultural tapestry. Their influence can be seen in local festivals, cuisine, and language, adding to the rich cultural mosaic of Southern Bhutan.
Phuentsholing, the gateway town in Southern Bhutan, has grown into a bustling commercial hub. Its strategic location on the border with India has made it a focal point for trade and commerce. The town's development over the years showcases the economic transformation of Southern Bhutan and its role in bridging Bhutan with the outside world.