Homestay tour · 8 days, 7 nights

8 Day Bhutan Farmhouse Homestay Tour: Live, Cook and Farm with Bhutanese Families

A week staying with families in certified village homestays in Punakha, Haa and Paro: cook ema datshi and buckwheat dumplings, help in the fields, soak in a hot stone bath and hike to the Tiger’s Nest.

123

Homestays certified by the Department of Tourism

Guest rooms at most per homestay

Valleys

Private

Guide and car

Trip overview

Bhutan from the kitchen and the field

The best way to understand Bhutan is from inside a Bhutanese home. Most people in the country still live in villages, in big three-storey farmhouses of rammed earth and timber, with the family on the upper floors, an altar room for prayers, and fields of rice, chillies or buckwheat all around. Staying with a family shows you how daily life works: what people eat, how they pray, what they grow and how they spend their evenings.

This trip uses village homestays certified by Bhutan’s Department of Tourism, which has approved 123 homestays across the country. Each has no more than three guest rooms, inside the family’s own house, with clean toilets and home-cooked meals. You stay with families in the rice-growing Punakha valley, in the quiet highland valley of Haa, and in Paro, with one night in a Thimphu hotel along the way.

Every day includes something hands-on: cooking, farming, archery, weaving or a hot stone bath. You also see the main sights, including Punakha Dzong and the Tiger’s Nest, but the heart of the trip is the time with your hosts.

Highlights

What you will do

Cook

Ema datshi, momos and Haa's buckwheat dumplings.

Farm

Help in the fields with the season's work.

Hot stone bath

The traditional menchu, in a farmhouse.

Archery

Try a bamboo bow with the neighbours.

Dress

Try on kira and gho with your host family.

Tiger's Nest

The cliff monastery above Paro.

Itinerary at a glance

Eight days, three families

Farm work depends on the season; your hosts decide what’s needed.

Day 1: Arrive, to Punakha

Land in Paro, drive to a Punakha homestay.

Day 2: Punakha village life

Farm work, Chimi Lhakhang, Punakha Dzong.

Day 3: To Thimphu

Dochula, Thimphu’s Folk Heritage Museum, craft bazaar.

Day 4: To Haa

Over Chele La to a Haa homestay.

Day 5: Haa valley

Lhakhang Karpo, village walk, archery.

Day 6: To Paro

Drive to a Paro homestay, hot stone bath.

Day 7: Tiger's Nest

Hike to Paro Taktsang, farewell dinner.

Day 8: Depart

Transfer to Paro airport.

Day 1

To your first family

Your guide meets you at Paro airport and drives you over Dochula to the Punakha valley, about four and a half hours. You arrive at your first homestay, a farmhouse among rice fields, in time for tea and dinner with the family.

Day 2

A day in the rice valley

The morning is spent with your hosts: planting or harvesting rice in season, tending vegetables, or helping in the kitchen. Then you walk through the fields to Chimi Lhakhang and visit Punakha Dzong in the afternoon. In the evening, you help cook dinner.

Day 3

On to Thimphu

You cross Dochula to Thimphu. In the afternoon you visit the Folk Heritage Museum, a traditional farmhouse preserved as it was, and the craft bazaar for handwoven textiles. Tonight you stay in a hotel.

Day 4

Over Chele La to Haa

You drive over Chele La, at about 3,988 metres, the highest road pass in western Bhutan, into the quiet Haa valley. Your second homestay is a farmhouse in a village of buckwheat and potato fields. In the evening, your hosts may teach you to make hoentey, Haa’s buckwheat dumplings.

Day 5

A day in the Haa valley

You walk through the valley to Lhakhang Karpo and Lhakhang Nagpo, the white and black temples. In the afternoon, neighbours may invite you to try archery. Haa sees few tourists, and village life here is unhurried.

Day 6

Back to Paro

You drive back over Chele La to your third homestay in the Paro valley. In the afternoon you visit Kyichu Lhakhang, then your hosts prepare a hot stone bath: a wooden tub heated with river stones roasted in the fire.

Day 7

Hike to the Tiger's Nest

The hike to the Tiger’s Nest takes five to six hours return. In the evening, a farewell dinner with your host family, perhaps in kira and gho.

Day 8

Fly home

After breakfast you say goodbye to your hosts, and your guide drives you to Paro airport.

Where you stay

Certified village homestays, plus one hotel night in Thimphu.

Nights	Place	Where you stay	Why we chose it
1 and 2	Punakha	Certified homestay	Farmhouse among rice fields
3	Thimphu	3-star or 4-star hotel	Central
4 and 5	Haa	Certified homestay	Highland village
6 and 7	Paro	Certified homestay	Farmhouse in the valley

Homestays are clean and simple. Rooms are inside the family home, with shared bathrooms in most houses.

What the price covers

Included and not included

Included

Bhutan visa (USD 40) and the Sustainable Development Fee for every night
Hotels as listed, 3-star as standard, with 4-star and luxury upgrades on request
Certified homestays and one hotel night as listed
All meals, home-cooked in the homestays
Cooking, farming and archery activities
Hot stone bath in Paro
A licensed English-speaking guide for the whole trip
Private car or SUV with a Bhutanese driver, and all transfers
Entry fees to dzongs, temples and museums
Bottled water in the car

Not included

International flights into and out of Paro (we can book them for you)
Travel insurance, which we strongly recommend
Drinks, laundry and other personal costs
Tips for your guide and driver
Anything not listed under included

Price on request

Tell us your budget and we will send our best price

We don’t publish one fixed price, because hotels, season and group size change the total a lot. Tell us your dates, who is travelling and the budget you have in mind. We will reply within 24 hours with our best price for this farmhouse homestay tour.

How we price

What decides the cost of this trip

Government fees

The SDF is USD 100 per adult per night until 31 August 2027, plus a USD 40 visa. These are fixed by the Government of Bhutan and paid through us.

Hotels you choose

Homestays are good value. Group size and the season make the main difference.

Season and dates

Spring and autumn are peak season. Winter and summer dates are often easier to price well.

Group size

Guide and car costs are shared, so the price per person drops for two, three or four travellers.

We send a written, itemised quote before you pay anything. No booking fees.

Good to know

Planning a homestay trip

What a certified homestay is

Bhutan’s Department of Tourism certifies and registers village homestays. A certified homestay has no more than three guest rooms, with up to two guests per room, all inside the family’s own house. It must have at least one clean toilet with running water, and the family provides home-cooked meals. Certificates are valid for three years and are displayed in the house, so you know the homestay has been checked.

Life in a Bhutanese farmhouse

Traditional farmhouses have three floors. The ground floor was once for animals and storage, the family lives above, and the top floor is often open for drying hay and chillies. Every house has an altar room, the most important room in the home. Take your shoes off at the door, ask before entering the altar room and never point your feet towards the altar.

What the farming looks like by season

In Punakha, rice is planted in June and July and harvested in October and November. Haa grows buckwheat, potatoes and wheat. In spring, families plant chillies and vegetables; in autumn, they dry chillies on the roofs. Your hosts will choose tasks that fit the season and your energy.

Food in a homestay

Meals are home-cooked and simple: red rice, ema datshi, vegetables from the garden, sometimes meat, and plenty of butter tea and suja. Hosts will happily make food less spicy. Tell us about any allergies or diet before you travel, and we will let your hosts know.

Who it suits

Homestays suit curious travellers who are happy with simple comforts and want to meet people. Families with children love them. If you prefer hotels every night, we can mix hotel nights with one or two homestay evenings, or see our 7 day Bhutan tour.

Temple etiquette

Cover shoulders and knees in dzongs and temples, take off hats, and walk clockwise around chortens and prayer wheels. Photography is not allowed inside shrine rooms. Your guide explains each place before you go in. Read more in our Bhutan travel rules guide.

Visa, SDF and guide rules

Every visitor except Indian nationals needs a visa, which costs USD 40 and is issued online before you fly. The Sustainable Development Fee is USD 100 per adult per night until 31 August 2027, with half rates for children aged 6 to 11. A Department of Tourism notice from April 2026 confirms that visitors travel with a licensed guide. We file the visa and pay the SDF for you. Read more in our Bhutan visa guide and SDF guide.

Flying into Paro

Only Drukair and Bhutan Airlines fly into Paro, mainly from Bangkok, Delhi, Kathmandu, Kolkata and Singapore. Pilots land by sight between the ridges, so morning flights are the most reliable. We suggest a night in your hub city on the way in. Our flights to Bhutan page lists every route.

Bhutan homestay tour: questions

How much does the farmhouse homestay tour cost?

It depends on your hotels, group size and dates. Tell us your budget and we will reply within 24 hours with our best price, including the SDF, visa, hotels, meals, guide and car.

Are Bhutan homestays safe and clean?

Yes. Certified homestays are checked by the Department of Tourism and must meet set standards.

Do homestays have private bathrooms?

Some do. Most have shared bathrooms inside the house.

Do I have to work on the farm?

No. You join in as much or as little as you like.

Can children come?

Yes. Families often enjoy homestays most of all.

Is the food spicy?

Hosts can make it mild on request.

Can I mix homestays and hotels?

Yes. We can adjust the balance.