Travel style · Darjeeling & Kalimpong
Treks and walks in Darjeeling & Kalimpong
From an afternoon ridge walk to two weeks on foot
Day walks between villages, teahouse treks in Nepal, camping treks to high lakes and passes. We grade every walk by hours, height gain and the highest point, and pair you with licensed local guides and porters where the rules or the terrain call for them.
Photo: Mayukh Ghose · CC BY-SA 4.0 · CommonsTrekking in the Himalaya is mostly walking on old paths between villages, which means you can choose your comfort: teahouses in Nepal, homestays in Ladakh and Sikkim, tents where nobody lives.
Darjeeling and Kalimpong are the West Bengal hills between Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan, 1,200 to 3,636 m high. Go March to May or October to November for clear views of Kangchenjunga. Plan 5 to 7 nights: Darjeeling for tea and the toy train, Kalimpong for nurseries and monasteries, Sandakphu for the high ridge.
Trips
Treks and walks trips in Darjeeling & Kalimpong
Photo: Arne Hückelheim 2010-09-21 12:41:53 This is a … · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Signature
Windamere, Sandakphu and Taj Chia Kutir
Private SUV with driver; reserved Land Rover on the Singalila Ridge
4 places
Where to go
Photo: Mayukh Ghose · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Kurseong
The toy train's home town, ringed by old tea gardens
Photo: SubrataEmfluence · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Lepchajagat
A forest hamlet on the Ghum–Mirik road
Photo: Pinakpani · CC BY 4.0 · Commons
Rishyap
Sunrise village facing the Kangchenjunga range
Photo: solarshakti · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Sandakphu and Singalila
West Bengal's highest point, with Everest on the skyline
Experiences
Days that fit the style
Photo: Pinakpani · CC BY 4.0 · Commons
Kurseong station, DHR museum and bazaar walk
Walk the heart of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in its headquarters town: the dead-end station with its one-room mus…
Photo: Ravi Dwivedi · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Netaji's house at Giddapahar and Eagle's Crag
Visit the Bose family house at Giddapahar, 4 km from Kurseong, where Subhas Chandra Bose spent seven months under house…
Photo: Pinakpani · CC BY 4.0 · Commons
Dow Hill forest and the old school ridge
An easy half-day walk from Kurseong up through tall cryptomeria and pine forest to Dow Hill, a ridge of colonial-era bo…
Photo: YUVRAJ ANAND · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Dawn forest walk and Kangchenjunga view
Leave your Lepchajagat homestay before dawn and walk through pine and cryptomeria forest to a clearing facing Kangchenj…
Photo: Arne Hückelheim 2010-09-21 12:41:53 This is a … · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Jorepokhri lakes and the Himalayan newt
Visit Jorepokhri, a small twin lake in forest near Lepchajagat that is protected as a breeding site of the endangered H…
Photo: Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Ghum Monastery and its Maitreya Buddha
Visit Yiga Choeling, the Gelug monastery at Ghum founded in 1850, about 10 km from Lepchajagat, to see its 15 ft statue…
Photo: Jejsiguoa · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Tiffindara sunrise over the Kangchenjunga range
Walk about 1 km from Rishyap in the dark to Tiffindara viewpoint and watch the first light reach the Kangchenjunga rang…
Photo: Pinakpani · CC BY 4.0 · Commons
Guided forest walk around Rishyap
A half-day walk with a local guide through the oak, rhododendron and bamboo forest around Rishyap, on paths used by vil…
Where to sleep
Stays in these places
Photo: Mayukh Ghose · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Budget
Roudra Chhaya Tourism Property (WBTDC)
WBTDC's lodge in Kurseong, formerly the Kurseong Tourist Lodge, with standard and larger double rooms, a restauran…
Photo: Rangan Datta Wiki · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Mid
Cochrane Place
A restored colonial house above Kurseong, once the home of a British magistrate, run as a small boutique hotel wit…
Photo: Mayukh Ghose · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Luxury
Taj Chia Kutir Resort & Spa
A Taj resort set within the Makaibari tea estate near Kurseong, with rooms and suites facing the tea slopes, a Jiv…
Treks and walks elsewhere