Travel style
Tea country
Darjeeling, Temi and the Dooars gardens
Darjeeling tea grows on steep slopes between about 600 m and 2,000 m. Sikkim has one estate, Temi, and the Dooars plains grow the strong CTC tea most Indians drink.
We plan garden walks and factory visits in the plucking season, March to November, and tell you which flush you will taste.
Journeys
Routes in this style
Places
Where it fits best
A tall Buddha above the clouds, and Sikkim's only tea estate below
Tea, toy trains and Kangchenjunga at the end of the ridge
The quieter tea town half way up the hill
A quiet lake town among tea gardens and orange orchards
Watchtower safaris on the edge of the Murti and Jaldhaka
Rhino country on the Torsa grasslands
Tea slopes and forest streams where the Dooars meets the hills
Shape your own trip Tell us your dates and budget. We draw the route around you. Begin Not sure where to start? We match the valley to your month, your budget and the people travelling with you. Begin Talk to a planner A first route and an itemised price within one working day. No payment to start. BeginStays
Rooms that suit it
A small resort of wooden cottages in a garden outside Ravangla, one of the older tourist stays in South Sikkim. It is a good base for …
The lanes above Chowrasta and along Dr Zakir Hussain Road hold dozens of small family-run guesthouses with simple rooms, hot water by bucket or geyser and …
A small heritage hotel in an old planter's house just below Kurseong on the Pankhabari road, with tea-garden views and well-kept rooms. Good value for a …
Darjeeling's best-known heritage hotel, on Observatory Hill a few minutes' walk from Chowrasta. Built as Ada Villa in 1841, it became the Windamere Hotel in 1939 …
A working Darjeeling tea estate with a small planter's bungalow guesthouse above the Rungeet river, about 1.5–2 hours' drive from Darjeeling town. It is the splurge …
The West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation lodge at Madarihat, right by the entry to Jaldapara National Park. Plain, spacious and well placed for early safaris.
The West Bengal Forest Development Corporation lodge beside the Murti river near Gorumara, with a main building, cottages and tents in a large garden. Guests can …
A large hilltop resort at Chalsa, about 15 km from Lataguri, with cottage-style rooms, a pool and views over the Dooars plains. The most comfortable base …
Forest corporation cottages and tents beside the Suntalekhola stream above Samsing, reached over a hanging footbridge. Cheap, green and quiet.
Shape your own trip Tell us your dates and budget. We draw the route around you. Begin Not sure where to start? We match the valley to your month, your budget and the people travelling with you. Begin Talk to a planner A first route and an itemised price within one working day. No payment to start. Begin