How to Reach Bhutan From Lucknow

Lucknow, the ‘City of Nawabs’ or the ‘Golden City of India’, is a wonderful heritage tourist destination in India. The capital city of Uttar Pradesh, this city has a golden past; one can still feel the essence of its royalty and elegance from the historical landmarks, flamboyant palaces, and other architectural marvels. Also famed as the ‘Constantinople of the East’ and ‘Shiraz-e-Hind’, Lucknow witnessed several sultanates including the Nawabs, Mughal, and East India Company; thus, the city has an extremely rich and diversified past!

Known for its rich cultures, range of authentic delicacies, this city is also esteemed as one of the fastest growing cities in the world. The city has a well-extended connectivity with other major corners of India via railways links, air traffic and roadways. Visitors from this city can reach out to any major tourist destinations across the globe. Even if you are thinking about how to reach Bhutan from Lucknow, you will get an array of options to reach the ‘Land of Thunder Dragons’ from this magnificent city.

How to Reach Bhutan from Lucknow by Air

Though Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow has very good flight connectivity with major Indian cities, it unfortunately doesn’t have any flight connectivity with Bhutan. To reach Bhutan by air from Lucknow, visitors should fly to any of these airports: 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 of these airports have direct flights to Paro International Airport in Bhutan.

Since, West Bengal and Assam are the nearest Indian states to Bhutan, airports in these two states would be more preferable. From these airports, visitors can book direct flights to Paro International Airport in Bhutan. Both Druk Air and Bhutan Airlines have regular flights; including connecting flights via Kathmandu (Nepal), from all the aforementioned airports.

How to Reach Bhutan from Lucknow by Train

Bhutan, the Happiest Himalayan Kingdom, has no international railway connectivity. Thus, visitors cannot reach Bhutan from Lucknow by train in a single stretch. In order to complete this journey, they should compete a major part of this journey by train, and the remaining via road.

Kolkata, New Jalpaiguri, New Alipurduar, and Hasimara railway stations in West Bengal are the nearest railway stations to reach Bhutan form Lucknow by train. Upon arriving any of these railway stations, visitors should embark on a road journey to reach a town called Jaigaon, which is located just at the Indo-Bhutan International Border. From this town, one can step onto the Land of Thunder Dragons through Phuentsholing town which is also one of the most popular entry points to Bhutan.

Guwahati and Bongaigaon railway stations in Assam are also ideal options to reach Bhutan by train from Lucknow. From Guwahati, visitors can undertake a road trip through the Samdrup Jongkhar entry point which is around 150km (3 hours’ drive) away from Guwahati. The other option to reach Bhutan from Guwahati is the Bongaigaon-Gelephu entry point. This point is only 50km from Bongaigaon, which is around 186km (4 hours’ drive) from Guwahati.

How to Reach Bhutan from Lucknow by Road

Anyone planning for a road journey to reach Bhutan form Lucknow, s/he can reach the final destination – Bhutan, via Kolkata. As Kolkata – the City of Joy, is the nearest Indian metropolitan city that offers an array of options to enter the Bhutanese land, a trip between Lucknow-Kolkata would be a great choice. To complete this trip, one can follow: Lucknow – Sultanpur – Allahabad – Varanasi – Kolkata route.

Once in Kolkata, visitors should start driving towards Alipurduar district of West Bengal to reach a town called Jaigaon. Upon reaching the town, visitors can make their way to Bhutan through the Bhutanese town called Phuentsholing.