Bhutan travel operator and number of days
 

We're zoning in on our Bhutan itinerary and selection of a tour operator. Per people's suggestion, we've emailed several tour operators and have begun to receive responses. Two stand out so far (Snow White and Sakten) so my question is how much do operators vary in price assuming we do luxury hotels? I don't want to waste someone's time so would like to pick one earlier in the process but not if a price check is needed?

Itinerary as follows:

Fly from Paro to Bhumtang
3 nights Bumthang (festival and get acclimated) - Aman
2 nights Gangtey - Gangtey Goenpa Lodge
3 nights Paro - Uma
3 nights Punakha - Uma

We'd like to do a one or two night trek and not sure if we should do the Bumdra Wilderness Camp or if there's a good one in Bumthang? The above is total nights so if we did one or two night trek we'd reduce nights elsewhere.

Thinking we'll skip Thimphu as much more interested in the countryside.

Hi TJinSOMA,

Generally, the prices offered by tour operators for luxury travels vary depending on the no. of tourists and duration of stay. It will be difficult to estimate the price differences offered by tour operators. However, in your case where you will be staying for approx. 11 days, it could prove to be significant, especially if you have a large no. of travelers.

Bumdra Wilderness is the shortest trek available in Bhutan along with the Punakha Winter Trek (2 days). Alternatives include Bumthang Owl Trek and Bumthang Cultural Trek, both 3-day treks, offering wonderful and scenic views. If you prefer anything shorter, hikes are recommended.

Consider the Noble Traveler (owned by son of sherpa who summited Mt Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary and his lovely wife Sonam), also Champaca Journeys by John Leopold before deciding.

We highly recommend the Ziwa Ling as luxury hotel in Paro. It is built by and run by Bhutanese and extremely lovely.

We are not going for the same level of luxury - doing a combination of homestays (for a deeper cultural experience) and Le Merediens in Paro and Thimphu -over Thimphu Tschetchu (an amazing deal using Starpoints).

We are booking Le Merediens on our own (points + cash), and have been offered discounts from different tour companies ranging from:
- $0
-$40/$50 per night
-$80 per person per night

So there's definitely quite a range...

Good luck planning. Sakten was on our short list (probably a runner-up), very responsive and their itinerary was well thought out. We ended up with a different agency mainly because of accommodations (very unique homestays) offered outside of large cities (we are traveling during what seems to be the busiest time of the year).