Bhutan Tour Booking Terms & Cancellation

Booking & Payment

Your booking is confirmed once the required payment has been received. Until then, quoted rooms, guides and flights are held provisionally and cannot be guaranteed.

Payment deadlines and conditions are stated clearly in your quotation or booking confirmation. Nothing is left to be discovered later.

Cancellation & Refunds

Plans change, and we would rather be clear about what that costs than leave you guessing. The scale below reflects the commitments we make on your behalf — rooms held, guides retained, permits filed — most of which become non-refundable to us well before you arrive.

Cancellation received

Refund

30 days or more before arrival

90%

15 – 29 days before arrival

75%

8 – 14 days before arrival

60%

4 – 7 days before arrival

50%

Within 72 hours of arrival, or no-show

No refund

How the timing is counted

The percentages above are measured against your date of arrival in Bhutan, not the date you booked or the date you paid.
A cancellation takes effect on the day we receive it in writing — by email to our office. A phone call is welcome, but please follow it up in writing so the date is unambiguous.
We acknowledge every cancellation in writing, confirming the date received and the refund that applies.

What may be deducted

The refund percentage applies to what we hold. Certain costs are committed to third parties before you travel and cannot be recovered by us once paid:

Airline tickets. Drukair and Bhutan Airlines fares are often non-refundable or carry their own change and cancellation penalties. These are set by the airline, not by us.
Hotel deposits in peak season. The best lodges take non-refundable deposits for October, November and festival weeks.
Government fees already remitted, including the Sustainable Development Fee and visa processing, which follow the authorities' own rules.
Permits and special arrangements — trekking permits, reserved festival seating, privately arranged blessings.

Where any of these apply we will itemise them, so you can see exactly what was deducted and why.

Other situations

Part of your party cancels. The remaining guests keep their booking, but the per-person price may change — a room booked for two and occupied by one usually attracts a single supplement.
Bookings with their own conditions. Some journeys, lodges and festival departures carry separate cancellation terms. Where they do, this is stated in your quotation before you pay, never afterwards.
If we cancel. Rare, but if we are unable to operate your journey for a reason within our control, you receive a full refund or an alternative of equal value — your choice.
Refund method. Refunds are returned by the same route the payment arrived. When we acknowledge your cancellation we confirm the amount, the expected timescale, and any bank charges that apply — in writing, so there is no ambiguity.

Cancelling for a reason covered by your travel insurance — illness, family emergency, a missed connection — is normally recoverable from your insurer. This is the single strongest argument for holding a policy with cancellation cover, and it is why we ask about it early.

Visa & SDF

We can assist with your Bhutan visa or entry permit.

For most international visitors the Sustainable Development Fee is currently USD 100 per person, per night, subject to applicable government rules and concessions. Government fees and requirements may change.

What Is Included

Your personalised quotation states exactly what is included — accommodation, transport, guide services, meals, sightseeing, permits and selected experiences.

Each journey page also carries its own included and not-included list.

Travel Insurance

Comprehensive travel insurance is strongly recommended, and proof of cover is required for your visa application. Please arrange it as soon as your booking is confirmed — a policy bought the week before departure will not cover a cancellation that happens before that.

What your policy should cover

Medical treatment and hospitalisation in Bhutan and, if needed, in the country you are evacuated to.
Emergency evacuation and repatriation. Check the limit is a realistic figure rather than a token one. In the mountains, helicopter rescue is the only practical option and it is expensive.
Trip cancellation and interruption — this is what returns your money if you have to cancel for a covered reason, and it is the cover most often left out.
Baggage, delay and personal belongings, including items carried by pack animals on trek.
Personal liability.

Read the exclusions carefully

Altitude limits. Many standard policies stop covering you above 3,000 or 4,000 metres. Our Jomolhari route crosses a pass at 4,890 m and the Druk Path camps above 4,000 m. If you are trekking, the altitude ceiling is the first clause to check.
Adventure activities. Trekking, rafting and mountain biking are frequently excluded unless you add a specific rider.
Pre-existing conditions must normally be declared. An undeclared condition can void an otherwise valid claim.
Remote-area clauses. Some insurers restrict cover a set distance from a hospital — worth checking for eastern Bhutan and any trek.

Practical points

Bhutan has good clinics in Thimphu and Paro, but serious cases are normally evacuated to Bangkok or Delhi. That is what the evacuation limit is for.
Send us your policy number and your insurer's 24-hour emergency line before you travel. If something happens we can start the call while you are being looked after.
Carry a copy with you and leave one with someone at home.

Flights & Accommodation

Flights and accommodation are subject to availability, and may be affected by schedule changes or circumstances outside our control. Paro is a visual-approach airport, so departures and arrivals are weather dependent, particularly during the monsoon.

Where a change is necessary we will find you a suitable alternative and tell you promptly. We build a buffer day into every itinerary for exactly this reason.

Itinerary Changes

There are three kinds of change, and they are treated differently.

Changes you request before travel

Small adjustments — a different room category, an extra activity, a swapped rest day — are usually straightforward and we will requote in writing.
Changing dates, length or route after confirmation may involve additional costs, because suppliers apply their own amendment charges. We will tell you the cost before anything is committed, and you decide.
A change close to departure may be treated as a cancellation and rebooking under section 02, if that is how the underlying suppliers treat it.

Changes you request during the journey

A great deal can be adjusted on the day at no cost — starting earlier, staying longer somewhere, swapping a museum for a walk. Your guide has the discretion to reshape a day around you and is expected to use it.
Anything that involves a new hotel, a new permit, extra vehicle days or a changed flight has a real cost, and we will confirm it with you before arranging it.
Services included in your journey but not used at your own choice are not refundable.

Changes we have to make

Weather, road closures, landslides, permit decisions or a festival date moving in the lunar calendar can all force a change.
When that happens we substitute something of equal or better standard wherever possible, and we explain the reasoning rather than simply presenting you with a new plan.
We do not charge a fee of our own for rearranging your journey under these circumstances. Genuine third-party costs — an unplanned hotel night after a cancelled flight — are normally the guest's, and are usually recoverable through travel insurance.

Health & Activities

Some journeys involve walking, stairs, uneven ground, altitude or trekking. Please tell us in advance about any health condition, mobility limitation or dietary requirement. The earlier we know, the more we can do about it — particularly outside the western valleys, where choice is narrower.

Respecting Bhutan

Bhutan asks very little of its visitors, and what it does ask is easy to give. Almost every site you will enter is an active place of worship rather than a monument, and the people around you are there to pray. Your guide will brief you as you go, but the essentials are below.

At temples and dzongs

Remove hats, sunglasses and shoes before entering a temple. Your guide will indicate where.
Dress with covered shoulders and knees. Long trousers or a long skirt and a sleeved top are always safe; a shawl in your daypack solves most situations.
Walk clockwise around chortens, prayer wheels, mani walls and monastery buildings.
Do not point at, lean on or touch murals, statues or ritual objects. Do not sit with your feet directed towards an altar.
Photography inside temples is usually prohibited. Where it is allowed, your guide will say so — please do not assume.
Stand rather than sit if monks are performing a ritual, and stay behind the line your guide indicates.

With people

Ask before photographing anyone, including monks and children. A refusal is rare, but asking is the point.
Accept and offer things — tea, a gift, a blessing cord — with both hands.
Please do not give money or sweets to children. If you would like to help, tell us and we will point you to a school or community project instead.
The monarchy is held in genuine affection here. Treat images of the King and royal family with the same care you would a religious image.

The environment and the law

Bhutan is carbon negative and intends to remain so. Carry your litter out, stay on marked trails, and refill rather than buying bottled water where you can.
Do not remove stones, plants or artefacts. Exporting antiques is prohibited, and even non-antique religious items need an export permit — ask us before you buy something significant.
Tobacco cannot legally be sold in Bhutan and personal imports are taxed. Smoking in public places is prohibited.
Tuesday is a national dry day. Alcohol is not served.
Drones require prior permission and are not allowed at most sites. Tell us well in advance if you plan to fly one.

Personal Belongings

Guests remain responsible for their passports, money, valuables and personal belongings throughout the journey. Bhutan is a genuinely safe country with very little theft, and most losses here are simply things left behind — but the responsibility is still yours.

Use the hotel safe where there is one, and carry a photograph or scan of your passport separately from the passport itself.
Leave jewellery and anything irreplaceable at home. There is nowhere on a Bhutan itinerary that calls for it.
Do not leave bags visible in the vehicle. Your driver stays with the car at most stops, but not all.
On trek: your main duffel travels by pack animal and you will not see it between camps. Keep passport, money, medication, camera and a warm layer in the daypack you carry.
Check your baggage allowance with us before you fly — the aircraft serving Paro are smaller than most international carriers and the limits are lower.
If something is lost we will do everything we reasonably can to recover it, including contacting hotels and drivers after you have left. We cannot guarantee recovery, and loss of belongings is a matter for your travel insurance.

Unexpected Circumstances

Bhutan is a Himalayan country with one international airport, a single east–west highway and a monsoon. Occasionally something will not go to plan. This is how we handle it.

What this covers

Weather — snow closing a high pass, monsoon rain, poor visibility at Paro.
Road conditions — landslides and roadworks are common in summer on the central and eastern highway.
Flight disruption, including domestic flights, which are the most weather sensitive.
Government decisions, permit changes, or the closure of a site.
Illness, injury, natural events, or other circumstances no one controls.

What we will do

Your safety comes first, ahead of the itinerary. If our guide judges a road or a walk unsafe, we will not do it.
We will tell you what has happened and what the options are, rather than quietly rearranging things around you.
We will rebook, reroute or reshape the journey to protect as much of it as possible — and we will not charge our own fee for doing so.
Someone in our Thimphu office is reachable around the clock while you are in the country, not only during office hours.

What it may cost

Genuine third-party costs caused by disruption — an extra hotel night, a rebooked flight, an additional vehicle day — are normally the guest's.
These are exactly the costs a good travel insurance policy is designed to return to you, which is why section 05 matters.
Where a portion of your journey cannot be delivered at all and we recover the money from the supplier, we pass that back to you.

Government Requirements

Visa, entry, SDF and other travel requirements are set by the relevant Bhutanese authorities, and may change — sometimes at short notice.

Guests are responsible for providing accurate information and valid travel documents. Your passport should be valid for at least six months beyond your travel dates.

We confirm the requirements that apply to you, in writing, before you commit to anything — and if they change between booking and departure, we will tell you immediately.

Last reviewed September 2026. These terms form part of your booking confirmation. If anything here is unclear, please ask before you pay.

Questions first

Ask before you commit

We would much rather answer an awkward question now than have you discover something after you have paid. Write to us — a real person in Thimphu replies.

Everything, stated plainly