How to Reach Bhutan From Kerala

While Bhutan boasts of being the ‘Happiest Himalayan Kingdom’, Kerala in India takes the pride of being ‘God’s Own Country’! Though both these tourist destinations have their own unique charm and are located thousands of miles away, their happiness quotient, colourful outlook and traditional essence connects them. Whether you are in Kerala or in Bhutan, you would feel a connected to the untouched beauty of Mother Nature.

Having so much in common, one must visit the Land of Thunder Dragons from God’s Own Country. However, as often seen, visitors always wonder about how to reach Bhutan from Kerala! Well, if you too are planning for a wonderful trip to Bhutan, here is what you should do to reach the Happiest Himalayan Kingdom from Kerala.

How to Reach Bhutan from Kerala by Air

God’s Own Country – Kerala, has an amazing air connectivity within as well as outside the country. However, this Indian state doesn’t have any direct air connectivity with Bhutan. Thus, if you are wondering about how to reach Bhutan from Kerala by air, you should first fly to some of the cities or airports in India that gives access to take a flight to Paro International Airport in Bhutan. You can fly to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata, Bodhgaya Airport in Gaya, Bagdogra Airport in West Bengal or Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati.

All these airports have direct as well as connecting flights to Paro International Airport. Also, since both Druk Air and Bhutan Airlines have flights from these airports, you can choose your flight according to your convenience. Note: connecting flight to Bhutan flies via Kathmandu (Nepal).

How to Reach Bhutan from Kerala by Train

As Bhutan doesn’t have any railway connectivity with India, you won’t be able to reach the country by trains directly. However, since Kerala has a number of railways stations and junctions that are well-connected via railway tracks with most of the corners of India, you can possibly reach to the nearest Indian point to Bhutan, and finally make your way into the Land of Thunder Dragons by road.

In order to reach Bhutan from Kerala by train, you should first book a train to the either of the Indian states: West Bengal or Assam. In West Bengal, Kolkata, New Jalpaiguri, Hasimara, and New Alipurduar are the closest railway station to reach Bhutan. Upon arrival at any of these train stations, you can finally enter into the Bhutanese land by driving from these stations to reach a town called Jaigaon in West Bengal’s Alipurduar district. As Jaigaon shares its boundaries with Phuentsholing town of Bhutan, you can make your entry through this Bhutanese town.

In case, you are planning to take a train journey from Kerala to Assam, you can either deboard the train at
Bongaigaon Railway Station or at Guwahati Railway Station. From Bongaigaon, you can follow the Bongaigaon-Gelephu route and enter Bhutan through the Gelephu entry point. This journey is around 50km and should take an hour to complete. On the other hand, if you deboard the train at Guwahati Railway Station, you should drive to the Samdrup Jongkhar entry point to enter into the Bhutanese territory; to complete this drive of 150km, you may require 3 hours.

Here are some of the most popular trains between Kerala-Kolkata and Kerala-Guwahati:

Guwahati Express (12507)

Shalimar Express (16323)

Shalimar Express (22641)

Gurudev Express (12659)

Guwahati Express (12515)

Dibrugarh Vivek Express (15905)

Dibrugarh Express (06336)

How to Reach Bhutan from Kerala by Road

If you are planning for a road trip to reach Bhutan from Kerala, you should first complete the Kerala-Kolkata circuit. Kolkata being the nearest Indian metropolitan city to Bhutan, serves as an ideal pitstop for this road trip. Upon reaching Kolkata, you can either get some rest, or start driving to Jaigaon, a small town on the Indo-Bhutan border. Located in the Alipurduar district of West Bengal, Jaigaon shares its limits with Phuentsholing town of Bhutan. Once you reach Jaigaon, you can easily make an entry to Bhutan through the Jaigaon-Phuentsholing entry point.

Here are two ideal route maps to complete the Kerala-Kolkata circuit:

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

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