Bhutan is not a country you stumble into. Every visitor pays a daily fee, every trek is walked with a licensed guide and support crew, and the trails are quiet in a way that has become rare in the Himalaya. That quiet is the reward. On the two treks most people consider first, the Druk Path and the Jomolhari trek, we shared the mountains with yak herders, a handful of other groups and very little else. Both routes are worth the effort and the cost, but they are different in scale, and it helps to understand what the fee actually buys before choosing between them.
The daily fee, in general terms
Bhutan charges every foreign visitor a Sustainable Development Fee, set by the government and calculated per person per night. The amount has been revised more than once since tourism reopened in 2022, and the rules differ for visitors from neighbouring countries, so we will not quote a figure here; the official tourism office publishes the current rate. What matters for planning is the principle. The fee is paid to the state, not to your guide, and it goes towards health, education and the upkeep of the environment. On top of it, you pay for the trek itself: guide, cook, horsemen, ponies, permits, food and camping gear, plus transport and hotel nights before and after. Trekking in Bhutan is therefore not cheap, but it is transparent, and it funds a system in which trails are lightly used and villages are not overrun. Independent trekking without a guide is not permitted on these routes, and camping is at designated sites.
The Druk Path: four to six days between Paro and Thimphu
The Druk Path links the two main valleys of western Bhutan across the ridge that separates them, a distance of roughly 50 km over four to six days. It starts above Paro (2,200 m) near the museum and climbs through blue pine and rhododendron to the ruined Jili Dzong at about 3,480 m, then follows the ridge north-east past yak pastures at Jangchulakha. The middle days are the best: a chain of small lakes, Jimilang Tsho at 3,870 m and Simkotra Tsho at 4,110 m, set in bowls of dwarf rhododendron, with camps beside the water. The high point is Phume La at about 4,210 m, where on a clear morning the view runs along the northern border to Jomolhari and Gangkar Puensum, the highest unclimbed mountain in the world at 7,570 m. From there the trail drops to the monastery complex of Phajoding, a place of retreat hermitages spread across the hillside, and descends steeply to Thimphu at about 2,320 m. It is a moderate trek by Himalayan standards, with no pass above 4,300 m, and a good first taste of the country.
The Jomolhari trek: to the base of a 7,326 m peak
The Jomolhari trek is a bigger undertaking. It begins north of Paro at Gunitsawa, close to 2,850 m, and follows the Paro Chhu upstream through forest for two days to Thangthangka at about 3,610 m, where the summit of Jomolhari first appears at the head of the valley. The third day reaches Jangothang at 4,080 m, the base camp meadow beneath the ruins of a small fortress, with the east face of Jomolhari (7,326 m) rising almost 3,000 m above the tents. A rest day here is standard, and it is well spent walking up to the twin Tshophu lakes at about 4,380 m, where blue sheep graze the slopes and the neighbouring peak of Jichu Drake (6,794 m) comes into view. From Jangothang there are two ways on. The shorter loop crosses Bhonte La at roughly 4,890 m and returns to the Paro valley in three days. The longer route, often called the Jomolhari trek proper, crosses Nyile La at about 4,870 m to the village and dzong of Lingzhi, then Yale La at about 4,930 m, and finishes through Shodu and Barshong to the road north of Thimphu, taking eight to nine days in total. We took the longer line and would do so again; Lingzhi, with its fortress on a hill and its barley fields at 4,000 m, is one of the most remote inhabited places we have walked through.
Seasons and what to expect from the weather
Bhutan has two trekking seasons. Spring, from late March to May, brings rhododendrons in flower and clear mornings but a rising chance of afternoon cloud and rain as the monsoon approaches. Autumn, from late September to mid-November, is drier and gives the most reliable views of the big peaks, at the price of colder nights; at Jangothang in late October we recorded minus 10 degrees inside the tent. Summer is wet, with leeches in the forest and the mountains mostly hidden. Winter closes the high passes on the Jomolhari route, while the Druk Path can be walked into December in a good year.
Altitude, fitness and planning
Neither trek is technical, but both go high enough to demand respect. The Druk Path climbs quickly from Paro, and the second night at around 3,800 m can be uncomfortable for people who have flown in from sea level the day before; a couple of nights in Paro, with a walk up to the Taktsang monastery at about 3,120 m, is a sensible way to prepare. The Jomolhari trek gains height more gradually but reaches nearly 5,000 m on its passes, and the rest day at Jangothang should be treated as compulsory rather than optional. Guides carry a first aid kit and are trained to recognise altitude sickness, and the standard response is to descend. Ponies carry the loads, so a daypack is all you need to walk with. Trails are generally good but muddy in the forest sections, and gaiters are worth their weight. Permits for the trekking areas and for the restricted northern zones are handled by the operator as part of the package; you will not deal with them yourself.
Which one to choose
If you have a week and want a first, gentle immersion in Bhutan’s hills and lakes, the Druk Path is the obvious answer and can be combined with the valley sights of Paro and Thimphu. If you have closer to two weeks and want a real Himalayan base camp, a high fortress village and two passes near 5,000 m, the Jomolhari trek is the one to save for. Either way, the daily fee is part of what keeps these trails the way they are, and after a night at Jangothang under the wall of Jomolhari, with no other tents in sight, we did not begrudge a single day of it.