Travel to Darjeeling

some gorgeous mountain landscapes

Darjeeling is the name commonly used to describe the Sikkim region, an extension of northeast India which rises up into the high Himalayas, driving a gap between Nepal and Bhutan, to reach the border to Tibet.

This mountainous region is actually the second smallest Indian State, with an area of just 7096 square kilometres. It is bordered by Tibet to the north, Nepal to the west and Bhutan to the east.

Although small, the state includes 28 mountain peaks, 21 glaciers, 180 lakes and 105 rivers. it is very scenic, with impressive snow-capped summits, mountain flanks covered in dense forest and broad open valleys with a patchwork of scenic farmlands and tea plantations.

These landscapes are home to a great bio-diversity, with 4000 plant species (including at least 450 orchid species alone). Mammal species include snow leopards, clouded leopards, red pandas, Himalayan brown bears, blue yaks and Tibetan antelopes. There’s also an incredible 650 species of butterflies.

The town of Darjeeling owes its existence to the fact that during the British Raj, the colonial rulers down in their capital Calcutta (Kolkata) wanted to take advantage of the mild mountain climate by establishing a hill station in the region.

During the 1840s a roadway was driven into the mountains and the population of Darjeeling increased by two orders of magnitude. During the 1850s there was a massive increase in tea planting in the area and during the 1860s this remote town became the official summer capital of the British Raj, with the great and the good retreating up into the mountains to avoid the heat of the summer months.

The opening of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in 1881 further accelerated growth in the area, as the British continued to build an impressive range of churches, administrative buildings, summer homes, schools and sanitariums.

These days the town of Darjeeling is much larger and has lost a great deal of its charm. It’s very popular with residents of Kolkata, who flock up here in the summer months, in the same way as the British did before them, but in much greater numbers. There is evidence of its more gracious past, but much less so than at Shimla.

However the markets are interesting, filled with woven goods from Tibet, various wares from the mountain kingdom of Bhutan and, of course, lots of vendors offering cups of hot, spicy teas.

One of the most interesting aspects of the modern town is the presence of large numbers of refugees from Tibet, who have poured into the area since the 1950s, when the Chinese annexed their country. There are lots of Buddhist temples, streets adorned with prayer flags and red-robed monks.

In the north of the town is the modest Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, founded by Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and containing various memorabilia from his first summiting of Everest in 1953, in the company of Sir Edmund Hillary from New Zealand.

The famous toy train, which is still operated by steam locomotives, runs up from New Jalpaiguri on the plains below, is an incredibly scenic trip. Very few international visitors do the long overnight train up from Kolkata to connect to this train, but some do fly into Siliguri (Bagdogra) and transfer over to the station at New Jalpaiguri. However, the majority of visitors satisfy themselves with a shorter scenic train ride from Darjeeling to Ghoom and back, which takes under three hours round trip including a stop at the scenic Batasia Loop for photos.

Another popular excursion from town is up to the summit of Tiger Hill, from where there are excellent views of the peaks of the Himalayas, including the nearby Kangchenjunga and the more distant Everest and K2, the world’s three highest mountains. However, these viewpoints can become very crowded, especially around sunset.

There is also a small zoo in the town, which we would not usually recommend, but it does contain a good range of indigenous Himalayan animals (which you are highly unlikely to see in the wild), notably including very cute red pandas.

Popular activities in the area include hiking, trekking, mountain-biking, hot-air ballooning and paragliding.

Around 20 km west of Darjeeling, up against the border with Nepal, lies Singalila National Park, where it is possible to undertake various mountain trekking routes of 3-6 nights duration, some of which cross over into Nepal and back again.

The best time of year to visit the Darjeeling area is generally considered to be during Oct-Nov and Feb-Apr.

Oct-Nov is the transition period between the end of the monsoon rains and the start of the cool dry season. During Oct-Nov the daytime temperatures usually rise to around 20C/68F, whilst the nighttime low temperatures remain up around 11C/52F. However the rainfall usually drops away to around 50mm (2”) per month. Sunshine is around 7 hours per day (around 60% of daylight hours), meaning that skies can be persistently overcast.

Dec-Jan is the main cool season. During Dec-Jan the daytime temperatures usually only reach around 15C/77F, with the nighttime low temperatures plunging down to around 0C/32F. Rainfall should be low throughout, but any precipitation can often fall as snow. Sunshine is around 7 hours per day (around 70% of daylight hours), meaning that skies are more often than not clear.

Feb-Apr is a slightly warmer and wetter season, the build-up to the main monsoon. During Feb-Apr the daytime temperatures climb gently to around 19C/66F, whilst the nighttime low temperatures hold up around 9C/48F. Rainfall usually rises to around 100mm (4”) per month and can fall as snow as late as April. Sunshine is around 8 hours per day (around 60% of daylight hours), meaning that skies can be persistently overcast. This is the most popular time for domestic visitors, who come up here to escape the pre-monsoon heat down in Kolkata, so the place can become a bit hectic.

May-Sep is the main monsoon season and is generally considered to be the least favourable time to visit. During May-Sep the daytime temperatures continue to climb to around 20C/73F, whilst the nighttime low temperatures remain up at 13C/61F. Rainfall climbs to an extremely high 550mm (22”) per month. Sunshine drops to around 4 hours per day (around 30% of daylight hours), meaning that skies are more often than not overcast.

Getting there

The closest airport to Darjeeling is Siliguri (Bagdogra), which has regular connections from both Delhi and Kolkata. From Siliguri it is a tortuous drive of around 2.5hrs up to Darjeeling (from where it is a further 2 hours to Rinchenpong).

One of the most attractive aspects of a visit to Darjeeling is the famous toy train route that leads up from the plains below. Unfortunately it is rarely possible to do this whole journey by train these days. Most visitors arrive into Darjeeling by road and then do shorter train excursions from there.

Where to stay

With Darjeeling having such an esteemed colonial history, one might expect to find some impressive historic hotels here, but that really isn’t the case. The handful of properties which do date back to Victorian times are rather modest, compared with those in Simla. To be honest, there’s no really exciting places to stay in the town.

Given how hectic Darjeeling can be these days, most of our guests prefer to stay at one of the remote colonial-era farms in the area, the best known of which is the Glenburn Tea Estate. Walking and hiking around these rural areas, with the spectacular mountain backdrop, is a real pleasure. The whole experience of learning about how the tea is nurtured, cropped and processed is fascinating. As the locals will tell you, there is no better tea in the world than fresh, single estate Darjeeling.

Even more exciting, there are also some wonderful upmarket homestays in the villages further north, where you can really explore the local Buddhist culture, visiting homes, farms and monasteries.

best to stay at a rural lodge, out of town