Travel style
Budget trips
Good trips that cost less, done properly
The cheapest way up from Siliguri is a shared jeep, usually a Bolero or Sumo with ten or eleven seats, for a few hundred rupees a seat. A reserved car on the same road costs a few thousand. Shared jeeps leave when they fill, from fixed stands near NJP and the Siliguri bus terminus.
The biggest savings are in timing. Hotel rates in the hills can halve between the peak weeks (April–June, the October Puja holidays, Christmas and New Year) and the quieter months. Monasteries, most viewpoints and many walks are free. Our budget packages say exactly what is included and what is not.
Journeys
Routes in this style
per person, twin₹6,500
per person, twin₹13,000
per person, twin₹17,500
per person, twin₹8,500
per person, twin₹6,000
per person, twin₹14,500
per person, twin₹9,500
per person, twin₹11,500
per person, twin₹14,000
per person, twin₹13,500
per person, twin₹10,500
per person, twin₹13,500
per person, twin₹7,000
per person, twin₹7,500
per person, twin₹12,000
per person, twin₹31,000
per person, twin₹6,500
per person, twin₹6,000 Build your own route Tell us your dates, who is coming and what you want to see. We draw the route and price it three ways. Start Working to a budget? Give us a number per person. We will tell you honestly what it buys, and where to save. Start Ask someone who has been A first plan and price within one working day. No payment to start. Start
Places
Where it fits best
An eco-village inside Senchal forest, above Sonada
Tea, toy trains and Kangchenjunga from the Mall
Tea gardens, Netaji's house and the train in the bazaar
A pine-forest hamlet past Ghum, quieter than Darjeeling
A lake, a monastery and orange orchards near the Nepal border
Tagore's hill retreat among the cinchona plantations
West Bengal's highest point, with Everest on the skyline
Orange orchards and hornbill forest below Kurseong
The road junction above Kalimpong, with Damsang Fort in the forest
A trade town on a ridge above the Teesta
Homestay village on the edge of the Neora forest
Pine-forest bazaar at the gate of Neora Valley
Canopy walk, cypress forest and a Jhandi Dara sunrise
A small town on the old mule road to Jelep La
A pine-ridge homestay village above the Teesta, close to Kalimpong
The widest Kanchenjunga panorama in the Kalimpong hills
A ridge-top homestay village above Pedong with big Kanchenjunga views
The river crossing below Kalimpong, for rafting and the Teesta
Lampokhari Lake, an 1895 dak bungalow and a gentle Silk Route start
Oak, rhododendron and red panda country an hour from Gangtok
Sikkim's hilltop capital, walkable, clean and good value
Elephant Lake, the Yak Golf Course and the old road to Jelep La
Lingdum Monastery and green farm country, under an hour from Gangtok
Border bazaar on the old Kalimpong–Jelep La road into Sikkim
Old trade bazaar on the Rangpo River and the Silk Route permit gate
The Karmapa's seat in exile, on a quiet hill across from Gangtok
A sacred glacial lake at 3,753 m, 40 km above Gangtok
Silk Route village above the zigzag road to Thambi
Where two rivers become the Teesta, and the flood struck
The Lepcha reserve across the Teesta from Mangan
Where Lepcha and Bhutia leaders swore blood brotherhood
The night stop before Gurudongmar, reopened in 2026
Base for Yumthang, run by its own village council
District town of cardamom, with Kanchenjunga from Singhik
One of Sikkim's six great monasteries, 38 km from Gangtok
Guras forest on the Singalila Range, a 4 km walk from Hilley
The Rangeet river town where South and West Sikkim change jeeps
The wish-fulfilling lake where, legend says, birds clear every leaf
Sky-high Namchi, two giant statues and the Lepcha flood hill
Sherpa homestays on the road to Barsey's rhododendrons
Kangchenjunga across the valley, a royal ruin and two old monasteries
A 130-foot Buddha, Pang Lhabsol and a ridge-top jeep junction
A 1730 monastery, a windy ridge and Kangchenjunga at breakfast
A hilltop monastery between two rivers, home of the Bumchu vase
Sikkim's own tea estate, planted under the last Chogyal in 1969
A Limbu border village under the Singalila Ridge
Sikkim's first capital and the start of the Goecha La trail
Bhutan's front door, one gate away from Jaigaon
The dzong at the centre of Bhutan, where kings first rule
A rebuilt 17th-century dzong on the ridge above two rivers
The elephant corridor between Jaldapara and Buxa
A wide riverbed at the foot of the Bhutan hills, inside Buxa
The base for Gorumara, with forest on both sides of the road
Forest on Siliguri's doorstep and the 1941 bridge over the Teesta
A clear river on the edge of Gorumara, and two riverside lodges
Where the plains end: tea slopes, river stones and a hanging bridge
Arrive at NJP or Bagdogra, then find the right jeep
Build your own route Tell us your dates, who is coming and what you want to see. We draw the route and price it three ways. Start Working to a budget? Give us a number per person. We will tell you honestly what it buys, and where to save. Start Ask someone who has been A first plan and price within one working day. No payment to start. StartStays
Rooms that suit it
