Darjeeling and Sikkim: Tea Hills, Gangtok and Khangchendzonga

1. Day 1: Arrive at Bagdogra, up to Darjeeling

   Bagdogra Airport (IXB) to Darjeeling

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Dinner
   • Stay in Darjeeling
   Day 1 details

   Your See Sight Tours guide meets you at Bagdogra Airport (IXB), the airport for the Darjeeling and Sikkim hills, with flights from Delhi, Kolkata and other Indian cities. From the tea gardens of the plains the road climbs about 70 km and roughly 2,000 m to Darjeeling, about three to three and a half hours with a tea stop on the way, much of it alongside the narrow-gauge track of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. Darjeeling sits at about 2,050 m on a ridge facing the Khangchendzonga massif, and the first evening is kept gentle on purpose. After you check in, your guide walks the group up to Chowrasta, the open square at the top of town, and along the Mall, where Darjeeling's families take their evening stroll. Your guide explains how the week runs, what the permits for Sikkim involve and what to wear for the 4 am start tomorrow, then we sit down to a welcome dinner.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Bagdogra Airport (IXB)
   • Evening walk to Chowrasta and the Mall
   • Welcome briefing and dinner

   Free time: Time to rest at the hotel before the evening walk

   Activity: Plan to land at Bagdogra by about 1 pm so we reach Darjeeling in daylight; later arrivals are met and join at dinner.

2. Day 2: Tiger Hill dawn and the toy train

   Darjeeling to Tiger Hill, Ghum and Batasia Loop, then the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Darjeeling
   Day 2 details

   This is the one very early morning of the trip, because the light is the point. Jeeps leave at about 4 am for Tiger Hill, at about 2,570 m, about 11 km above town, to watch the first sun turn Khangchendzonga pink and then gold; on a clear day you can also see the tops of Everest and Makalu far to the west. On the way down we stop at the Ghoom monastery, then go back to the hotel for breakfast and a rest. Late morning we ride the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, part of the Mountain Railways of India World Heritage site, on its joy ride from Darjeeling to Ghum and back, looping through Batasia with the war memorial and the mountains behind. After lunch in town we visit the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, founded in 1954 after the first ascent of Everest, whose museum tells Tenzing Norgay's story, and the high-altitude zoo beside it with its red pandas and snow leopards.

   Included

   • Tiger Hill at dawn by jeep, with the viewing ticket
   • Ghoom monastery
   • Darjeeling Himalayan Railway joy ride, Darjeeling to Ghum and back via Batasia Loop
   • Lunch in Darjeeling
   • Himalayan Mountaineering Institute museum
   • Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park

   Easier option: Skip Tiger Hill and sleep in: the view of Khangchendzonga from Chowrasta after breakfast is the same range, without the sunrise.

   More active option: After the institute, walk down through the town's back lanes to the Japanese Peace Pagoda, about an hour on steep paths.

   Free time: Evening free in Darjeeling, with dinner on your own

   Activity: A 4 am start, then a rest. The zoo is closed on Thursdays, and the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute's closing day is confirmed when we book; if day 2 falls on a Thursday, we swap the afternoon with the morning of day 3.

   

3. Day 3: Darjeeling town to a tea estate

   Darjeeling to a tea estate in the Darjeeling hills

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Tea estate, Darjeeling hills
   Day 3 details

   A slower morning after yesterday's dawn start. We walk the old town with your guide: the bazaar below the Mall, St Andrew's Church, and the Tibetan Refugee Self Help Centre, set up in 1959, where you can watch carpets being knotted. Lunch is in town, at one of the old tea rooms if the group wants the full Darjeeling ritual. In the early afternoon we drive about an hour into the hills to a working tea estate, where we spend the night. The estate's staff take us through the gardens, explaining how the leaf is plucked by hand on these steep slopes, and through the factory, where it is withered, rolled, oxidised and dried. Then comes a guided tasting of the estate's teas, the clearest way to taste why first flush and second flush differ. The late afternoon is yours on the bungalow verandah, looking over the gardens, before dinner at the estate.

   Included

   • Guided walk through Darjeeling's old town and bazaar
   • Tibetan Refugee Self Help Centre
   • Lunch in Darjeeling
   • Tea garden walk, factory visit and tasting at a working estate
   • Dinner at the tea estate

   More active option: A longer walk through the estate's gardens and the village below with one of the estate's staff, about two hours on steep paths.

   Free time: Late afternoon free at the tea estate

   Activity: The factory works in the plucking season, roughly March to November; on a December departure the visit may focus on the gardens and tasting.

   

4. Day 4: To Kalimpong

   Tea estate to Kalimpong, then Durpin and Deolo

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Kalimpong
   Day 4 details

   A quiet breakfast at the estate, then we drive about two and a half hours east, down to the Teesta river and up the other side to Kalimpong, at about 1,250 m. Kalimpong was the old trading town on the route to Tibet, and it is calmer and warmer than Darjeeling. After lunch in town we visit Zang Dhok Palri Phodang on Durpin hill, a Gelugpa monastery consecrated by the Dalai Lama in 1976, with its rare collection of scriptures and wall paintings. Then we stop at one of the town's flower nurseries, for which Kalimpong is known, and climb Deolo hill, the highest point of the town, for the late view down into the Teesta valley and, on a clear evening, across to the Sikkim hills where we go next. This is the one single night of the trip, placed here so tomorrow's road to Gangtok is short.

   Included

   • Lunch in Kalimpong
   • Zang Dhok Palri Phodang monastery on Durpin hill
   • A Kalimpong flower nursery
   • Deolo hill viewpoint

   Free time: Evening free in Kalimpong, with dinner on your own

   Activity: Gentle day: short walks around the monastery and Deolo hill, under an hour each.

5. Day 5: Into Sikkim: Gangtok

   Kalimpong to Rangpo, then Gangtok

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Gangtok
   Day 5 details

   We leave Kalimpong at about 9 am and drop back to the Teesta, following it upstream to Rangpo, the checkpoint into Sikkim. Foreign visitors need a Sikkim Restricted Area Permit, which we apply for online before you arrive, so the stop is a passport check. From Rangpo the road climbs to Gangtok, Sikkim's capital at about 1,650 m, about three hours from Kalimpong in all. After lunch in town and check-in we walk MG Marg, the car-free main street, then climb to the Do Drul Chorten, a white stupa ringed by prayer wheels, built in 1945. Your guide explains how Sikkim, a Buddhist kingdom until 1975, became India's 22nd state, and what the permits and the next two days involve. Dinner tonight is together, and your guide confirms the Tsomgo Lake permit for tomorrow.

   Included

   • Sikkim Restricted Area Permit, applied for online before arrival
   • Lunch in Gangtok
   • Walk along MG Marg
   • Do Drul Chorten
   • Dinner in Gangtok

   Free time: Late afternoon free in Gangtok

   Activity: Carry your passport and Indian visa for the Rangpo checkpoint; we send you the permit details before travel. The day's walking is easy, on Gangtok's steep streets.

   

6. Day 6: Tsomgo Lake

   Gangtok to Tsomgo Lake and back

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Gangtok
   Day 6 details

   We leave Gangtok at about 7:30 am with the Protected Area Permit arranged in advance through a registered Sikkim agent, because the lake is clearest before the midday cloud rolls up the valley. The road climbs about 38 km and some 2,100 m in roughly two hours, past waterfalls and army posts, to Tsomgo (Changu) Lake at about 3,750 m, a glacial lake held sacred by Sikkimese Buddhists and Hindus. At this height we walk slowly. Your guide leads a short walk along the shore, about 30 to 45 minutes, and explains why the lake changes colour with the seasons and why Nathu La on the China border, a little further up, is closed to foreign visitors. Yak rides on the shore are offered locally. We stop for a hot lunch at one of the lakeside cafes, then drive back down to Gangtok by mid afternoon. The rest of the day is free.

   Included

   • Tsomgo Lake Protected Area Permit handled by us
   • Guided walk along the shore of Tsomgo Lake
   • Lunch at the lake

   Optional experiences

   • A short yak ride on the shore (paid locally)
   • The Gangtok ropeway in the late afternoon (paid locally)

   Easier option: Stay with the vehicle or in a lakeside cafe with tea and the view, rather than walk the shore at altitude.

   More active option: Climb the steps above the lake shore for the view back down over the water, about 30 minutes at a slow pace at 3,750 m.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Gangtok, with dinner on your own

   Activity: The 4 hours on the road are two legs of about 2 hours, up in the morning and down after lunch. The highest point of the trip, at about 3,750 m. Snow can close the road, mostly from December; if it does, we visit Hanuman Tok, Ganesh Tok and the Banjhakri Falls around Gangtok instead.

   

7. Day 7: Rumtek and Gangtok's monasteries

   Gangtok to Rumtek, then Enchey Monastery and the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Gangtok
   Day 7 details

   We drive about an hour across the valley to Rumtek, the seat of the Karma Kagyu school in exile, built in the 1960s by the 16th Karmapa after he left Tibet. We aim to arrive in the morning, when the monks gather for prayers and the main hall is busiest with chanting and horns; passports are checked at the gate, and your guide explains the school and the Golden Stupa holding the 16th Karmapa's relics. Back in Gangtok we have lunch, then visit the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, founded in 1958, whose museum holds thangkas, masks and old Buddhist texts, and Enchey Monastery on the ridge above town, a small 19th-century Nyingma monastery surrounded by prayer flags and pines. The afternoon is then free: a walk back down to MG Marg, the handicrafts centre, or a rest before the long road west tomorrow.

   Included

   • Rumtek Monastery and the Golden Stupa
   • Lunch in Gangtok
   • Namgyal Institute of Tibetology
   • Enchey Monastery

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Gangtok, with dinner on your own

   Activity: Easy walking; monasteries ask for covered shoulders and knees, and shoes off in the halls. The Namgyal Institute's museum closing days are checked when we confirm dates.

   

8. Day 8: Across Sikkim to Pelling

   Gangtok to Ravangla, then Pelling

   • Drive about 5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Pelling
   Day 8 details

   This is the longest road of the trip, about 120 km and four and a half to five hours, over our usual four-hour cap because no shorter road links east and west Sikkim; we break it in the middle. We leave Gangtok at about 8:30 am, drop to the Teesta at Singtam and climb to Ravangla, about two and a half hours in. Lunch is a sit-down meal here, and we walk through the Buddha Park of Ravangla, with its tall statue of the Buddha set against the mountains and a quiet museum of his life in the base. Then the road winds down across the Rangit and up to Pelling, at about 2,150 m, which faces Khangchendzonga across a single valley. We arrive in the late afternoon, in time to see the light go off the snow from the hotel, and have dinner together.

   Included

   • Sit-down lunch in Ravangla
   • Buddha Park of Ravangla (Tathagata Tsal)
   • Dinner in Pelling

   Free time: Early evening free in Pelling

   Activity: About 4.5 to 5 hours of winding mountain road with a long lunch stop. If you get car sick, sit at the front and tell your guide; we stop whenever needed.

9. Day 9: Khangchendzonga, Pemayangtse and Rabdentse

   Pelling to Pemayangtse Monastery and the Rabdentse ruins, then back to Pelling

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Pelling
   Day 9 details

   Wake early, if you like, for the first light on Khangchendzonga, at 8,586 m the world's third-highest mountain, straight across the valley from Upper Pelling; on a clear autumn morning it fills the horizon. After breakfast we walk to Pemayangtse, one of Sikkim's oldest and most important Nyingma monasteries, founded around the turn of the 18th century, where the top floor holds a seven-tiered painted wooden model of the Buddhist heavens. From there it is a short drive and a 15-minute forest walk to the ruins of Rabdentse, Sikkim's second royal capital from 1670 until 1814, with chortens and the view the kings had of the same mountains. Lunch is back in Pelling. The afternoon is free, or walk up to Sanga Choeling, then the group meets for a farewell dinner.

   Included

   • Pemayangtse Monastery
   • Rabdentse ruins and forest walk
   • Lunch in Pelling
   • Farewell dinner

   Optional experiences

   • Khecheopalri Lake, a sacred lake in the forest about an hour away (we arrange it for a share of the vehicle cost)

   Easier option: See Rabdentse from the first viewpoint, about 10 minutes from the road, then wait in the shade.

   More active option: Walk up to Sanga Choeling Monastery on the ridge above Pelling, about an hour up through the forest.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Pelling

   Activity: Walking of 15 to 60 minutes at a time on forest paths and monastery steps, at about 2,100 m.

   

10. Day 10: Back to Bagdogra

    Pelling to Bagdogra Airport (IXB)

    • Drive about 6 h
    • Breakfast and lunch
    Day 10 details

    A last look at the mountains at breakfast, then the long road out. West Sikkim is a long way from any airport: Bagdogra is about 145 km and five and a half to six hours away, the second day over our four-hour cap, because there is no shorter route. We leave Pelling at about 7:30 am, drop through Legship and Jorethang to the Teesta, and stop for a sit-down lunch on the way down before the road flattens into the tea gardens of the plains. We reach Bagdogra Airport by about 2 pm. Book a flight leaving after about 4 pm, or ask us to add a night in Siliguri near the airport and fly the next morning. If you want to stay in the hills, we can quote extra nights in Pelling or Darjeeling, or a connection to Bhutan or Nepal.

    Included

    • Lunch on the road
    • Drop-off at Bagdogra Airport (IXB)

    Activity: Book a flight out of Bagdogra after about 4 pm; landslides or traffic can slow the road, so leave a margin.

Wildlife and weather: October and November bring the clearest skies and the best chance of seeing Khangchendzonga from Tiger Hill and Pelling, with cool days and cold nights. December stays clear but is cold, and snow can close the Tsomgo Lake road. March to May is warmer, with rhododendrons and magnolias in flower and the first-flush tea harvest, but more haze over the peaks. June to September is the monsoon, with landslides on the Teesta valley roads, so we do not run departures then.

• Darjeeling2 nights
• Tea estate, Darjeeling hills1 night
• Kalimpong1 night
• Gangtok3 nights
• Pelling2 nights