India Nepal Bhutan Tour: Recommended Tour Packages to the Best of the Himalaya

1. When is the best time to visit Nepal and Bhutan?

Nepal, India, and Bhutan all have climates that can be considered to be amicable for a multi-country vacation. There are enough similarities in their weather and temperatures to allow a trip to all three countries together easily. As a combined tour, the best time to visit India, Nepal and Bhutan is from October to March, when the weather in all three destinations is generally dry and the skies are relatively clear. However, while Nepal and Bhutan have very similar climates, India has hotter periods from February to March in the eastern areas of the country, making it harder to travel there.

All three destinations lie within the Himalayas, which makes the depths of winter unsuitable for some activities in the areas of the high mountains. The colder weather and often heavy snowfall on the Himalayas mean that these parts of the country are best visited from February to March, when it is not so cold.

It is suggested to avoid Visiting Indian, Nepal and Bhutan during Monsoon Season

All three destinations also have monsoon periods in their summers. In India, the summer is short and very wet in most of the country, while in Bhutan and Nepal, the rains are more spread out from June to August. This is the time to avoid traveling in India, Nepal, and Bhutan, as the wetter weather can make travel hard and rains can make your vacation uncomfortable and unpleasant.

2. What are the visa requirements for an India Nepal Bhutan Tour?

Unless you have a visa-free availability for Nepal and India, you will need to obtain visas for both countries either before you travel or on arrival.

India Visa
For the tour in India, only Maldivian, Nepali, and Bhutanese citizens can travel visa-free. And only citizens of Japan and South Korea can apply for their visas on arrival. However, India has a very good E-visa service which can be used by almost everyone else, including Japan and South Korea. Nationals of several Middle Eastern and African countries, plus North Korea, are required to apply for their visa in advance at an Embassy, and Pakistani citizens are required to have government clearance in advance as well.

Nepal Visa
For the tour in Nepal, you can easily get the visa on arrival upon arrival in Kathmandu Tribhuvan Airport or at the overland border with India and China. Only Indian citizens have freedom of movement without a visa, though some countries get their visa-fees waived.

Bhutan Visa
Bhutan has a very different policy for visa application. In order to get a Bhutan visa, you must first book a pre-arranged tour with a registered travel agency. Once the booking is completed and paid for, we will make the application for your visa on your behalf with the Immigration Department.

After your visa is issued, we will forward the Visa Approval letter, which you will need to show to immigration when you arrive to have the visa stamped into your passport. It is not possible to book or board a flight to Bhutan without prior Visa Approval.

3. How to arrange the India Nepal Bhutan tour order? To visit which country first?

While you may think it is not important which country you visit first, there is actually a better way to travel these three destinations in an order that makes sense. And one that means you are not backtracking on yourself.

Since both India and Nepal have direct flights to Bhutan, you can choose either country as your starting or ending destination. The main concern really is to put Bhutan in between the two, so that you are not traveling to a third-party country once your trip is over. For example, if you start in India, then head for Nepal, and Bhutan last, you will need to go back to Nepal or India after visiting Bhutan, which requires another visa to enter.

The main thing to think about in terms of which to visit first and last is the convenience of flights to and from your home or resident country. One thing to consider when deciding this is whether you can get direct or short flights to Nepal for the start of the tour from your home country. While Nepal does have a lot of international flights, all of its inbound international flights are from either Asia or the Middle East, with no direct flights from Oceania, North America, and Europe.

India, on the other hand, has flights from all around the world, including direct flights from several countries in Europe, from Sydney in Australia, and several cities in the United States and Canada. For most people, this makes a better option for travel to the region of the Himalayas to start with, while heading back from Nepal via connecting flights is not too hard. Many travelers can get connecting flights back through the airport in India at which they arrived, using the standard transit allowance period.

4. What currency should I bring for an India Nepal Bhutan tour?

While the most common currency used by tourists around the world is the US Dollar, Indian Rupees are widely accepted in both Nepal and Bhutan.

Nepal has the Nepalese Rupee, while Bhutan has the Ngultrum, as their official currencies. However, as both are linked 1-1 with the Indian Rupee, it is generally accepted all over both countries. If you are entering Nepal and Bhutan from India, you can take a small amount of India Rupees.

US Dollars are still the easiest currency to carry and get your money changed once you arrive. In Nepal, it is best done in Kathmandu, while in Bhutan you can get currency exchanged at Paro Airport or the major banks in the larger cities of Thimphu and Paro. In India, you can find money changers and banks that have Forex all over the country, and ATMs dispense in local currencies in all three destinations, though charges are generally high.

It is advisable to prepare enough cash for the visit to Bhutan before you fly, and then change the currency once you arrive for what you need to use.