How to Reach Thimphu From Kerala

How to reach Thimphu from Kerala? If this is the question that is not allowing you to plan a trip to Bhutan’s capital city form God’s Own Country, you should scroll down to the end of this page!

Kerala, a name synonymous to pristine beauty of Mother Nature, is a wonderful tourist destination in India. Well-connected with the rest of the country, this scenic state attracts a large volume of visitors every year. Owing to its excellent connectivity, it also serves as a wonderful destination to reach out to numerous other tourist destinations as well.

Whether within or away from the country, you can plan trips to almost all the corners of the world from within Kerala. Thimphu – the capital city of Bhutan, is also counted in the list of destinations that can be easily accessed from Kerala. Let’s see how you can fly, take a train ride, or embark on a road trip from Kerala to Thimphu and discover the magical beauty of Thimphu.

How to Reach Thimphu from Kerala by Air

Paro International Airport; the sole international airport in Bhutan has flight connectivity only with a few international destinations. Even though India is included in this list, not all the airports in the country have flights to this airport; unfortunately, Kerala is not included in this list.

Thus, if you are trying to find out how to reach Thimphu from Kerala by air, you won’t be able to take a direct flight. However, since there are other Indian airports that have direct flights to Paro in Bhutan, you can fly to these airports and take a flight from there to reach Paro International Airport. Once in Paro Valley, you can take the local buses or hire cabs to take a quick drive to Thimphu city.

Indian airports that have flight connectivity with Paro International Airport

Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati (Assam)

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata

Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi

Bagdogra Airport in Siliguri (West Bengal)

Bodhgaya Airport in Gaya (Bihar)

NOTE: Foreign national can also fly directly to Paro; they can book flights from Bangkok (Thailand), Kathmandu (Nepal), Singapore, and Dhaka (Bangladesh).

How to Reach Thimphu from Kerala by Train

The Land of Thunder Dragons doesn’t have any railway connectivity with any foreign destinations; not even with its closest neighbour India. Thus, you won’t be able to book a train journey directly from Kerala to Thimphu. However, since Assam and Kolkata are the two closest Indian states to Bhutan, you can easily book a train journey from Kerala to either of these states, and finally reach Thimphu by taking a roadway journey from these two states.

If you want to book your train tickets till West Bengal, you have to alight at Kolkata, New Jalpaiguri, Siliguri, New Alipurduar, or at Hasimara railway stations. From these stations, you should embark on a roadway journey to Jaigaon town in Alipurduar district in West Bengal. From the town of Jaigaon, you can enter Bhutan through Phuentsholing town, and continue driving through the Thimphu-Phuentsholing Highway to reach Thimphu.

In Assam, you can alight the train at either Bongaigaon Railway Junction or at Guwahati Railway Station. Starting from Bongaigaon, you should drive towards Gelephu point for you Bhutan entry, and continue driving through the Bhutanese terrains to reach Thimphu. On the other hand, you can enter Bhutan through the Samdrup Jongkhar point if you start from Guwahati to reach Thimphu.

To reach Assam and West Bengal, you can book these trains from Kerala:

Guwahati Express (12507)

Shalimar Express (16323)

Shalimar Express (22641)

Gurudev Express (12659)

Guwahati Express (12515)

Dibrugarh Vivek Express (15905)

Dibrugarh Express (06336)

Note: Details of the road journeys will be discussed in the next section.

How to Reach Thimphu from Kerala by Road

A road journey from Kerala to reach Thimphu could be an ultimate experience for you! To plan this trip, you should drive straight from God’s Own Country to the ‘City of Joy’ – Kolkata. You can choose from two different route maps to complete this drive:

Route 01: Kerala – Bangalore – Tirupathi – Nellore – Vijaywada – Vishakapatnam – Bhubaneshwar – Kolkata

Route 02: Kerala – Bangalore – Kurnool – Hyderabad – Vijaywada – Vishakapatnam – Bhubaneshwar – Kolkata

Upon reaching Kolkata, you can take a bus from the city’s Esplanade Bus Stand to complete an 18 hours’ roadway journey to reach Thimphu. These buses are operated by the Royal Bhutanese Government, and are available daily on a regular basis.

In case, you wish not to take this bus journey, you can plan another road trip of 705km (17 hours) from Kolkata to Jaigaon in the Alipurduar district of West Bengal. After reaching Jaigaon, you can enter Bhutan through the Phuentsholing town. From this town, you can either board the local buses or hire other vehicles to reach Thimphu, which is around 147km (4 hours’ drive) away from Phuentsholing.

To note here, in case, you have booked your flight to the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati or your train tickets are till Assam, you can plan out an exciting roadway journeys to reach Thimphu from Guwahati and Bongaigaon.

From Bongaigaon: You should start driving towards Gelephu in Bhutan; Gelephu is only 50km (1 hours’ drive) away from Bongaigaon. As you reach Gelephu, you would have the options of government run local buses or private taxis to traverse another 243km (7 hours) to reach Thimphu.

From Guwahati: Samdrup Jongkhar, which is located around 150km (3 hours’ drive) away from the city would give you access to enter Bhutan. From this point, you can go with the local transport options to drive a last stretch of 419km (11 hours) to reach Thimphu.