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What kind of trips does Insiders' Bhutan offer?
We offer both pre-designed and custom designed tours and treks. All our trips are all-inclusive packages. Travelers pay one price, and everything they need for a complete trip within Bhutan is included, leaving out-of-pocket expenses to a minimium.
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In what language are your trips conducted?.
All our scheduled trips are in English. In special cases, we can also make arrangements for Japanese, German, French and Itilian speaking guides.
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How do I know what each trip is really like?
This website should provide a good idea. We recommend you go through the Quick Tour, visit our “Recent Trip Journal & Review", “Insiders' Bhutan Trips Index” and "Testimonials" Pages, and read our sample itineraries. If you still have questions, please email us.
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Can I create a custom itinerary and/or book a private trip?
We are more than happy to put together special dates and arrangements that fit your needs. You can choose to take over one of our pre-designed trips on this web site and then email us to discuss the best dates, guides, accommodations, special emphasis, or other considerations. Or, if you're interested in a custom tour, visit our custom trip planning section.
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How do I choose a trip?
Choosing the right trip is important. You have three options:
1. Choose one of our Pre-designed Trips from our Trip Index page;
2. Create a Private or Custom Trip using our Private Trip Planning Guidelines page
3. Short on Time?
Just fill out our Trip Match Request Form and, we'll find and email brief itineraries of trips that best match your interest
You can also contact us by email for any questions you may have.
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Who travels with Insiders' Bhutan?
Our guests come from different walks of life and live in all corners of the world.They all have an open mind and one common interest -- they love to travel in a way that brings them face-to-face with the people and culture of the places they visit. They choose Insiders' Bhutan to fulfill this interest in Bhutan. If that is what you are looking for, we're here to serve you!
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Do you offer trips during off-season?
We are more than happy to put together a private custom trip for you (and your group) during the off-season. Weather during off season months like June in summer, and December in winter are usually good. In June, it usually rains only at night and in December we do not get snow and, it’s just a little cold in mornings and evenings, but the days are warm with clear blue skies. You will be paying much less and will hardly meet any other tourist in the country. If you are seriously interested, we have guests who have traveled with us during these months and would be happy to share their experience with you. Please email us for more information.
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Do you cancel any trip prior to departure for insufficient sign-up?
All our trips are guaranteed to operate for as few as a single traveler. So, you shouldn't worry about the trip not taking place after you sign up with us.
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What is a trek and how difficult are your treks?
In Himalayas, trekking is the term that we use for the kind of activity that is called backpacking in the West. It is a mountain hike and camping from one place to another, rather than day hikes from a fixed base. A trekking trip allows you to explore less accessible places by foot, and offers opportunity to experience unique culture, history and traditions of mountain villages and people. You sleep in high quality spacious tents and eat freshly prepared meals.
It is important to be physically fit enough to complete and enjoy the treks. Good cardiovascular conditioning is a vital part of having an enjoyable trek. Pre-trekkers should be running, walking with back pack and boots on, and using the Stairmaster or similar equipment to improve fitness. Each of our treks has been assigned a “Trip Rating”. We encourage you to use the rating assigned to each trek as a guide and email us if you have any questions.
TREKKING GRADE
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Do I have to cook and set up tents?
No. All our treks are full-service. Pack animals, horses and yaks, carry all luggages, equipment and food. You walk with just a light daypack containing the personal items desired for that day's activity. Our staff puts up and takes down camp, prepares all meals, and basically takes care of everything.
What is the best time to trek in Bhutan?
Spring and fall are the best times to trek in Bhutan. Check out the Trekking Season information.
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What about Altitude?
All our trips have been carefully planned to allow for acclimatization, with gradual ascents, an emphasis on adequate hydration and lots of useful advice from our experienced trek guides. Altitude-related problems are not something that you should worry about unduly when considering a trek, and we are happy to give advice to anyone concerned about their likely reaction to high altitude.
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What is a Tour? And how difficult are your tours?
A tour is a trip taken by a group of people who travel together and follow a pre-planned itinerary. This is the most comfortable style in which to explore the cultural and natural attractions of our country. We drive from one valley town to another visiting temples, monasteries, dzongs, villages, and the people. We walk around villages and traditional arts and crafts schools, and experience beautiful Bhutanese architecture in old monuments and present day houses. We drive through changing vegetation from temperate, subtemperate, to subtropical in just few hours with breathtaking views of himalayan mountain ranges. Your itinerary may also include optional day hikes to Gompas (meditation monasteries) and remote villages.
All our tours are physically non-demanding and most of our itineraries are designed to add and subtract activities to make the trip suitable for a range of abilities. There is no upper age limit and no requirement of previous outdoor experience. We also always work with a flexible itinerary to take advantage of unexpected opportunities as we go along.
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Trip Pricing?
Pricing for all our all-inclusive tour/trek packages are based on the tarrif fixed by the government. All our trips are all-inclusive packages. Travelers pay one price, and everything they need for a complete trip within Bhutan is included, leaving out-of-pocket expenses to a minimium. There are also no additional taxes and other surprises.
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What's included in the price of Insiders' Bhutan trip?
Everything:
All lodging, double-occupancy, in the areas finest accommodations.
All meals,
Flexible handcrafted itineraries
Expertise and services of experienced English-speaking guides
Good camping equipment, experienced guides, support staff and porters for trekking trips.
A maximum 8:1 guide-to-guest ratio.
All land transportation.
All entrance fees
Pre-departure information and extras listed on trip itineraries.
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What is not included in the price of Insiders' Bhutan trip?
International airfare and en route stopovers
Druk Air airfare (Bangkok/Delhi/Kathmandu/Calcutta to Paro, Bhutan)
Excess baggage charges and airport taxes
Visa fees (US$ 20 for two weeks)
Departure taxes (approximately US$10)
Transfers, expenses and services outside of Bhutan
All types of personal expenses like alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, bottled water, gratuities to trip leaders as deemed appropriate, laundry, mail, phone calls, and cables.
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Do you charge for delayed arrival or departure?
There will be no charge for the number of days of delay in your arrival or departure due to weather conditions, Druk Air problems or road blocks.
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How do you accommodate guests of varying abilities?
If you are generally in good health, have an interest in nature and history, and want to break out of your day to day routines by visiting an exotic land and experiencing a unique culture, it's most likely that one or more of our pre-designed trips will match your imagination.
All our cultural tours are physically non-demanding and most of our itineraries are designed to add and subtract activities to make the trip suitable for a range of abilities. There is no upper age limit and no requirement of previous outdoor experience. We also always work with a flexible itinerary to take advantage of unexpected opportunities.
We have indicated a “Rating” for each of our treks. We encourage you to use the rating as a guide. On treks, when you travel in a group, every trip has participants of varying abilities so there's usually someone else traveling at your pace. This makes for an optimal arrangement for friends and couples, as they can spend the day with similarly fit travelers and then reunite for the evenings. Whatever the activity, you're free to go at your own pace, alone or in the company of others, and there is always time to slow down and, enrich your mind and spirit.
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How long will we be active each day?
Depending on the trip and options you choose, you'll typically spend four to nine hours a day being active.
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Can I extend my trip?
Yes, it is possible to link together two or more of our trips, which can prove to be very economical since you will save a substantial amount on airfare. There are plenty of opportunities to extend your trip with our trip extension options or by combining one of our cultural tours with a short trek. Click here to have a look at trip extension options.
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What are standard accommodations on your trips?
Your Bhutanese Home on our trips will be the best available hotels and guesthouses in all places we visit, on a double occupancy basis and almost always with private bath (unless otherwise specified in your detailed trip itinerary).Wherever available, we prefer small scale comfortable accommodations which provide a real sense of Bhutanese culture and traditional lifestyle. By adapting to local surroundings, we avoid letting superflous comforts insulate our guests from the indigenous culture and natural environment. Western Bhutan has better hotels while in the Central and Eastern part of the country, accommodation establishments are simple and offer minimum facilities. There is no star categorization of hotels, and five star luxeries are not available in the country.
On treks we provide high quality sleeping tents and spacious dining tents in spectacular campsites
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If I'm traveling alone, can I have a private room?
For many trips, requests for single rooms are confirmed at the time of reservation. On some trips single rooms are limited, therefore we suggest that you register for your trip as early as possible to ensure availability. There will be a single supplement charge of US$ 20 per night.
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I'm traveling alone, will you match me with a roommate?
If you are traveling alone and wish to share accommodations, we will match you with another trip member.
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Who are our guides?
Guides are the single most important factor in the success of every Insiders' Bhutan trip. All our trips are escorted by highly experienced Bhutanese guides, who have extensive knowledge of our history, culture, and relegion as well as an irrepressible enthusiasm for sharing it with others. All of them speak fluent English and often converse in local dialects distinct from our national language.
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What kind of transportation do you use?
We use comforatable coaster buses, mini-vans, 4WD SUVs and luxury sedan cars.
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What kind of food do we eat?
You will eat well. We provide superb meals even in the most remote areas of Bhutan. Our selected hotels and restaurants offer delicious Chinese, Continental, Bhutanese and Indian Cuisine. On trek, well trained cooks prepare dishes suitable to western taste ranging from Continental to Chinese and Bhutanese to Indian
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Can I have access to Internet for web surfing or to send emails to friends, family or collegues at work?
Unless you are on a trek in the mountains, most places you travel on cultural tours have some basic internet/email services.
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What about telephone, fax and mail?
Bhutan has an excellent all-digital telephone system for international direct dialing (both telephone & fax). However, if you go on a trek, you will not be able call or fax anyone till you get back to a town. You can send or receive mail but it takes approximately 10 to 14 days to receive mail from anywhere in USA or Europe.
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What will I need to bring?
On our treks, you will need to bring a sleeping bag and a self-inflating or form camping pad (Therm-A-Rest), your water bottle, walking pole, and most important of all - your spirit of adventure. We'll send you a detailed clothing and equipment list in your pre-departure information packet.
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Do I have to carry my own luggage or gear?
On our tours, all luggage is transported in our coaster buses and vans between different places that you visit. On treks, pack animals carry everything. The only thing you will need to carry is a light daypack containing the personal items desired for that day's activity.
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How large are your groups?
We limit the group size of each of our trips to enhance the quality of our programs and to ensure better personalized service. The average group size on all our trips is 6 to 8. The maximum number is 16. With a small group, we can blend in and go to places where no tourist has gone before! Have tea with a Bhutanese family, visit a weaver or master traditional painter or a monk in his prayer room.
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I like what you advertise you do, can I correspond by email or talk to someone who has actually taken a trip with you?
Absolutely! e-mail us, we will be happy to refer you to a guest who has traveled with us.
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What do the past participants say about your trips?
Please check our Guestbook
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