How to Reach Paro From Bangalore

Bangalore or ‘Bengaluru’ – the IT Capital of India which is fondly called the ‘Garden City of India’, is a bustling tourist hub in India. Located in the southern part of the country, this metro city is a global meeting ground of visitors from across the globe. As the city has a very well laid connectivity; be it air, train, or road, it attracts a large number of visitors who yearns to visit both national and international tourist destinations.

Owing to the great connectivity with other parts of India and a range of foreign destinations, Bangalore could also be a befitting point to plan a trip to Bhutan, the ‘Land of Thunder Dragons’. And in case, you too are wondering about how to reach Paro from Bangalore, here are the options you should go for if you are in Bangalore right now.

How to Reach Paro form Bangalore by Air

Bangalore, the ‘Garden City of India’ hosts a large number of flights everyday to some of the major tourist destinations across the globe. However, if you are trying to find out how to reach Paro from Bangalore by air, you should not waste time in finding direct flights between these two destinations. Unfortunately, Bangalore doesn’t have any direct or connecting flights to Bhutan.

However, if you fly to some of these Indian airports, you can book a direct flight from there and reach Paro, Bhutan. These airports are: Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata, Bodhgaya Airport in Gaya, Bagdogra Airport in Siliguri (West Bengal), and Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati (Assam).

Two of the Bhutan’s official air carrier: Druk Air and Bhutan Airlines, offer both direct and connecting flights (flying via Kathmandu, Nepal) from the above-mentioned airports to Paro International Airport in Paro. Fly to any of these five Indian airports to reach Paro by air, and enjoy an amazing tour across the scenic locales of Paro Valley in Bhutan.

For those international visitors, who yearns to fly directly to Paro without touching any of the Indian cities or airports, they can book flight tickets from multiple foreign destinations. Singapore, Dhaka (Bangladesh), Kathmandu (Nepal), and Bangkok (Thailand) also has regular flights to Paro International Airport operated by Druk Air.

How to Reach Paro from Bangalore by Train

One can reach almost every state or major cities in India via train journeys from Bangalore. However, since Bhutan has no direct railway connectivity with India, visitors cannot reach Paro directly from Bangalore. However, the good news is that, even though a direct train journey is not possible between Paro and India’s IT Capital, there are other exciting ways to complete this journey by covering most of it by train journeys.

West Bengal and Assam are the two Indian states that shares boundaries with Bhutan, the Land of Thunder Dragons. If you are wondering about how to reach Paro from Bangalore by train, you can take a train journey from Bangalore to either West Bengal or Assam.

In west Bengal, you can travel up to Kolkata, New Jalpaiguri, Siliguri Town, New Alipurduar, or Hasimara railway stations. From these railway stations, you should take a drive to Jaigaon town in Alipurduar district of West Bengal. Jaigaon shares its boundaries with Phuentsholing in Bhutan. From Phuentsholing, you can drive along the Thimphu-Phuentsholing Highway, and dive another 143km (4 hours’ drive) to reach your final destination – Paro in Bhutan.

Again, if you take a train journey to Assam, you can embark on your quest to reach Paro from Bangalore, either from Bongaigaon or Guwahati. From Bongaigaon, you should enter Bhutan via the Gelephu entry point (50km / 1 hour), and finally reach Paro Valley by covering 250km (8 hours’ drive) through the Wangdue-Tsirang Highway.

If you travel up to Guwahati, you can make your Bhutan entry through Samdrup Jongkhar point, which is around 150km or 3 hours’ drive from Guwahati city. Here onwards, you should follow the NH-27 route and drive further by 459km (10 hours’ drive), and you will be in Paro.

The below-mentioned trains are the best options to reach West Bengal and Assam from Bangalore:

Yesvantpur Junction Howrah Junction Premium (02864)

Anga Express (12253)

Guwahati Express (12509)

Yesvantpur Junction Dibrugarh Express (05901)

Dibrugarh Express (15901)

Muzaffarpur Express (15227)

Duronto Express (12246)

Mysore Junction Howrah Express (22818)

How to Reach Paro from Bangalore by Road

If you are excited about how to reach Paro from Bangalore by road, you should first plan a road trip to Kolkata as it is the nearest metropolitan city to Bhutan. And to complete this road trip, you can choose from two different route maps:

Route 01 (1875 km): Bangalore – Tirupathi – Nellore – Vijaywada – Vishakapatnam – Bhubaneshwar – Kolkata

Route 02 (2060 km): Bangalore – Kurnool – Hyderabad – Vijaywada – Vishakapatnam – Bhubaneshwar – Kolkata

Upon arrival in Kolkata, you would again have two different, yet equally exciting options to reach Paro. First, you can directly head towards the Esplanade Bust Stand within the city, and book a direct bus to Thimphu in Bhutan. These buses are run by the Royal Bhutanese Government, and take almost 18 hours to reach the capital city of Land of Thunder Dragons. Following your arrival in Thimphu, you can either take local buses or hire private taxis to travel another 50km (1 hours’ drive) to reach Paro.

In case, you don’t wish to take a prolonged bus journey to Paro, you can plan another road trip from Kolkata to reach a tiny, yet scenic Bengali town called Jaigaon in Alipurduar district of West Bengal. From this town, you can get an easy access to Phuentsholing; Jaigaon shares boundaries with this Bhutanese town. From Phuentsholing, you should drive another 143km (4 hours) through the Thimphu-Phuentsholing Highway to finally reach Paro.

Also, if you are somewhere in the Indian state of Assam, you can enter into the Bhutanese land through Gelephu or Samdrup Jongkhar entry points. Gelephu is around 50km (1 hours’ drive) away from Bongaigaon Town, and Samdrup Jongkhar is around 150km (3 hours’ drive) away from Guwahati City. Paro is about 250km (8 hours’ drive via Wangdue-Tsirang Highway) away from Gelephu point, and almost 459km (10 hours’ drive via NH-27) from Samdrup Jongkhar point.