Bhutan Solo Female Travel Safety Tips and Advice

On this page you will find first-hand, unbiased, and real safety tips, advice and reviews from women traveling solo, submitted directly from their personal experiences in the country.

Their opinions are unfiltered and submitted independently as part of the Solo Female Travel Safety Index, a ranking of 210 countries and regions based on how safe they are for women traveling solo.

The safety scores range from 1 to 4 with 1 being the safest and 4 being the most dangerous for solo female travelers.

You don’t need to login to read the below reviews. But do sign up or login to share your solo travel experiences, country safety rating and comments.

Bhutan Country data

We have compiled a few data points below that can help you better understand Bhutan and have more context when thinking about travel safety.

Official country name: Kingdom of Bhutan.

Etymology: Named after the Bhotia, the ethnic Tibetans who migrated from Tibet to Bhutan. "Bod" is the Tibetan name for their land. The Bhutanese name for the country "Druk Yul" means "Land of the Thunder Dragon".

Capital: Thimphu.

Independence / foundation: Following Britain’s victory in the 1865 Duar War, Britain and Bhutan signed the Treaty of Sinchulu, under which Bhutan would receive an annual subsidy in exchange for ceding land to British India. Ugyen Wangchuck, who had served as the de facto ruler of an increasingly unified Bhutan and had improved relations with the British toward the end of the 19th century, was named king in 1907.

Three years later, a treaty was signed whereby the British agreed not to interfere in Bhutanese internal affairs, and Bhutan allowed Britain to direct its foreign affairs. Bhutan negotiated a similar arrangement with independent India in 1949.

Population: 876,181

Currency: Bhutan Ngultrum (BTN)
1 USD = 82 - 84 BTN
1 EUR = 90 - 91 BTN

Time zone: UTC+6

Languages spoken: Sharchopkha 28%, Dzongkha (official) 24%, Lhotshamkha 22%, other 26% (includes foreign languages).

Religions: Lamaistic Buddhist 75%, Indian-and Nepali-influenced Hinduism 22%, other 3%.

Climate: Varies. Tropical in the southern plains, cool winters and hot summers in central valleys, and severe winters and cool summers in the Himalayas.

Real GDP (ppp – purchasing power parity): $9 billion.

Real GDP per capita (ppp): $11,600.

Main airports: Paro International Airport.

World heritage sites in Bhutan

There are over 1,100 world heritage sites spread across more than 165 countries. New ones are added every year, and some may be removed from the list for various reasons.

Number of UNESCO listed sites: 0.

Top world heritage sites:

N/A

Interesting facts about Bhutan

- Bhutan is the first country in the world with specific constitutional obligations on its inhabitants to protect the environment and preserve the 70% covered in forests. This also makes it the first carbon-negative country as the large amount of tree cover has made it possible for Bhutan to absorb more carbon dioxide than it produces.

- Bhutanese are not allowed to kill animals or birds. If they eat meat, it's imported from other countries.

- Bhutan remained largely closed to the outside world until 1984 and it was the last country to introduce TV, in 1999.

- Instad of tracking Gross Doemstic Product (GDP), Bhutan tracks Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH).

- Since 2022, Bhutan charges $200 per visitor as a fee that goes towards offsetting visitor's footprint and upskill the local tourism industry. This fee is lower for Indians and does not apply to Bangladeshis and Maldivians.

Further reading: https://www.onceinalifetimejourney.com/once-in-a-lifetime-journeys/asia/18-surprising-facts-about-bhutan/

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Bhutan Travel tips

More about Bhutan on Solo Female Travelers

Coming soon.

Did you spot any errors? We do our best to keep this information updated and accurate, but things change. If you saw anything that is not right, let us know so we can fix it: [email protected].

About the Solo Female Travel Safety Index

Safety matters to solo female travelers, you told us so in our annual Solo Female Travel Survey, where year after year, women prove that this is their most important concern when traveling solo.

We wanted to do something about it, so we built these country-specific pages where you can find reviews and scores for 7 key variables affecting the safety of women traveling solo.

How to use the Safety Index

On this page, you will find the country score and the personal opinions on safety of other women traveling solo.

You can sort the comments by:

• The level of experience traveling solo of the reviewer (beginner = <5 trips solo, Intermediate = 5 to 10 trips solo, Experienced = >10 trips solo).
• The age of the traveler.
• Whether they are a visitor or local.
• The date they were posted.

The safety scores range from 1 to 4 with 1 being the safest and 4 being the most dangerous for solo female travelers. 

Thus, the lower the score, the safer the country.

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Looking for more safety resources?

This entire website is devoted to helping women travel solo. Check out the links below to learn more:

Solo Female Travel Stats: Results from the the largest, most comprehensive and only global research study on solo female travel trends, preferences and behaviors published.

Thanks to Jacobo Vilella for creating the Solo Female Travelers Safety Index ❤️