For most travellers from Hyderabad, Bengaluru or Chennai, Sikkim is the cheaper and simpler Himalayan trip, and Bhutan is the more foreign and more organised one. Both start from Bagdogra airport. Sikkim needs no border crossing, no daily fee and no mandatory guide, and our Sikkim trips start from ₹19,345 per person. Bhutan needs an entry permit, a certified guide and a Sustainable Development Fee of ₹1,200 per adult per night, and our Bhutan trips start from ₹28,500 before that fee. What the difference buys is dzongs still in daily use, national dress in the streets and quiet mountain roads. If you are weighing Bhutan or Sikkim, here is the comparison line by line, as of September 2026.
Side by side
| Bhutan | Sikkim | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry for Indians | Free permit, passport or Voter ID | No border; special permits for some areas |
| Daily fee | ₹1,200 per adult per night | None |
| Guide | Certified guide mandatory | Not required |
| Airport | Paro, or Bagdogra and the road | Bagdogra |
| Our 6-day trips from | ₹28,500, plus the fee | ₹19,345 |
| Best for | Dzongs, the Tiger's Nest, culture | Kanchenjunga views, lakes, tea towns |
Getting there: the same airport, a different last stretch
Bagdogra, near Siliguri in West Bengal, is the gateway to both. Of the three southern cities, only Hyderabad and Bengaluru had non-stop flights there in September 2026; from Chennai the quickest connection took close to six hours. Budget very roughly ₹17,000 to ₹40,000 per person for a return economy ticket, a typical range rather than a quote.
From Bagdogra, a Sikkim trip drives up along the Teesta to Gangtok. A Bhutan road trip drives about 162 km, usually four to five hours, to the border at Phuentsholing, then about 144 km, typically five to six hours, to Thimphu the next day. Bhutan can also be reached by air: Drukair and Bhutan Airlines fly to Paro from Delhi and Kolkata every day, which costs very roughly ₹40,000 to ₹60,000 return from South India. Flights are not part of our land packages for either side.
Permits, fees and the guide
Bhutan: Indians get a free entry permit, applied for online before travel or at the point of entry, on a passport valid for six months from the day you leave Bhutan or an original Voter ID. The Sustainable Development Fee is ₹1,200 per adult per night, ₹600 for children aged 6 to 11 and free under 6. A guide certified by the Department of Tourism must accompany you, and you stay only in approved hotels. The details are in Bhutan permit and SDF for Indians.
Sikkim: it is part of India, so there is no border to cross, no daily fee and no mandatory guide. Tsomgo Lake, Nathu La and North Sikkim need special permits that registered local operators arrange; which places need them and whether the North Sikkim roads are open can change, so check for your dates. The Sikkim trips linked below list permits among their inclusions; on the six-day Gangtok Darjeeling trip, Nathu La is an optional extra.
What a six-day trip costs two people
| Line, for two | Bhutan by road | Sikkim |
|---|---|---|
| Land package, twin sharing | ₹77,980 | ₹48,564 |
| Sustainable Development Fee | Up to ₹12,000 | None |
| Return flights to Bagdogra | ₹34,000 to ₹80,000 | ₹34,000 to ₹80,000 |
| Before food and tickets | ₹1.24 to ₹1.70 lakh | ₹83,000 to ₹1.29 lakh |
The Bhutan column uses our 6 Days Bhutan Escape from Siliguri at ₹38,990 per person: hotels in Phuentsholing, Thimphu and Paro with breakfast and dinner, private road transfers, an English-speaking guide and the Tiger's Nest hike. The Sikkim column uses the 6 Days Gangtok Darjeeling Escape at ₹24,282 per person: three nights in Gangtok and two in Darjeeling with breakfast, a private cab, the Tsomgo Lake and Baba Mandir day trip, and permits, tolls, parking and fuel. Both are per person on twin sharing, without flights. Before meals and tickets, Bhutan costs two people up to about ₹41,000 more. The Sikkim trip includes breakfast only, so budget more for its lunches and dinners, while the monument fees on the Bhutan road trip come to roughly ₹2,300 to ₹3,200 a person.
What Bhutan does better
- It feels like abroad: national dress in the streets, strict building rules and dzongs that are working government and monastic offices.
- Two great sights: the Tiger's Nest on its cliff at 3,120 metres, and Punakha Dzong where two rivers meet.
- Calm, organised travel: a certified guide, approved hotels and quiet mountain roads, a style many couples and families like.
- A foreign trip with no visa: a Voter ID works, and the ngultrum is pegged to the rupee, which is widely accepted.
What Sikkim does better
- Cost: no SDF and no mandatory guide, and the 6 Days Darjeeling Gangtok Kalimpong Getaway starts at ₹19,345.
- Kanchenjunga: our trips take in the range from Tashi View Point in Gangtok and at sunrise from Tiger Hill in Darjeeling.
- High lakes and valleys: Tsomgo Lake on the six-day trips, Yumthang on the 7 Days Sikkim Darjeeling Yumthang Escape (₹32,230) and Gurudongmar on the 7 Days Gangtok Gurudongmar Darjeeling Adventure (₹26,499), subject to permits and road conditions.
- A simple domestic trip: no permit application for Gangtok or Darjeeling, no foreign exchange, and a wider choice of routes on our Sikkim tour packages.
When to go
Spring and autumn are the safer picks for either. The two sit on the same stretch of the eastern Himalaya, so the rains that cloud Bhutan's passes and slow the Phuentsholing highway generally bring the same landslide risk to Sikkim's hill roads, and winter is cold in both. For Bhutan the best windows are March to May and late September to November; the month-by-month detail is in the best time to visit Bhutan.
Who should pick which, or do both
- Pick Bhutan for a foreign trip without a visa, a calm culture-and-mountains holiday, or if the Tiger's Nest is the reason you are going. Start with the 6 day Bhutan itinerary.
- Pick Sikkim if the budget is tight, if you want Kanchenjunga views and high lakes, or if you would rather not pay a daily fee or keep a guide with you throughout.
- Do both on the 11 Days Bhutan Sikkim Darjeeling Grand Escape (from ₹61,000 per person, plus up to ₹6,000 per adult in SDF): Phuentsholing, Thimphu and Paro, then about 223 km, a long day's drive, to Gangtok for Tsomgo Lake and Nathu La, and about 99 km on to Darjeeling.
Questions we are asked most
Is Bhutan more expensive than Sikkim?
Usually, yes. Indians pay Bhutan's SDF of ₹1,200 per adult per night and must travel with a certified guide, and neither applies in Sikkim. Our six-day trips start at ₹28,500 for Bhutan and ₹19,345 for Sikkim per person, without flights.
Do Indians need a permit for Bhutan and Sikkim?
For Bhutan, yes: a free entry permit on a passport or Voter ID, plus the SDF, as of September 2026. Sikkim has no border to cross, but places such as Tsomgo Lake, Nathu La and North Sikkim need special permits that registered local operators arrange.
Can we cover Bhutan and Sikkim in one trip?
Yes. Phuentsholing on the Bhutan border is about 223 km by road from Gangtok, a long day's drive, and Darjeeling is about 99 km beyond. Our 11 Days Bhutan Sikkim Darjeeling Grand Escape starts from ₹61,000 per person.
The full Bhutan budget is in the Bhutan trip cost from India guide. Still torn? Send the planner your dates, your departure city and your group size from the Bhutan tour packages page or any of the Sikkim trips above, and ask for both side by side; the Bhutan quote shows the SDF separately wherever it is not already included, and flights are priced separately on request.
