Bhutan

Bhutan is the one Himalayan country that has never allowed volume tourism, and it shows. Entry is by visa, visitors pay a nightly Sustainable Development Fee, and the government rather than the market sets the terms.

The clear windows are March to May and late September to November. Spring brings rhododendron on the passes and the Paro Tshechu; autumn gives the cleanest mountain views of the year, with the black-necked cranes arriving in the Phobjikha valley by November. Monsoon runs June to August. January and February are cold, and very quiet.

Paro is the only international airport and the approach is genuinely demanding: a valley arrival flown in daylight by a small pool of certified crews. OUIJETS plans the connection accordingly, usually through Delhi, Kathmandu, Bangkok or Singapore, and builds slack into the schedule for weather.

Two of our preferred hotel partners operate here, and both are designed as a circuit rather than a single stay. Six Senses Bhutan runs five lodges, in Thimphu, Punakha, Paro, Gangtey and Bumthang, moving guests west to east. Aman's Amankora has five lodges in the same valleys with a quieter, more monastic aesthetic. Ten nights across three or four valleys is the version we recommend most often.