Travel style
Monasteries and dzongs
Prayer halls, chortens and fortress monasteries
Buddhism reached Sikkim in the 17th century with three lamas who met at Yuksom and crowned the first Chogyal in 1642. Bhutan was unified by the Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal from 1616, who built the dzongs that still serve as both monastery and seat of district government.
Visiting is free at most monasteries, though some charge a small entry or camera fee. Walk clockwise around chortens and prayer wheels, cover shoulders and knees, and ask before photographing monks or the inside of a lhakhang. In Bhutan's dzongs, Bhutanese visitors wear national dress and foreigners should dress formally.
Journeys
Routes in this style
per person, twin₹16,000
per person, twin₹15,000
per person, twin₹21,000
per person, twin₹20,500
per person, twin₹8,500
per person, twin₹6,000
per person, twin₹9,500
per person, twin₹17,500
per person, twin₹16,000
per person, twin₹11,500
per person, twin₹21,000
per person, twin₹14,000
per person, twin₹20,000
per person, twin₹12,500
per person, twin₹7,000
per person, twin₹13,000
per person, twin₹19,500
per person, twin₹28,000
per person, twin₹17,000
per person, twin₹14,000
per person, twin₹13,500
per person, twin₹19,500
per person, twin₹13,000
per person, twin₹7,500
per person, twin₹13,000
per person, twin₹10,000
per person, twin₹12,000
per person, twin₹33,500
per person, twin₹19,500
per person, twin₹17,000
per person, twin₹12,000
per person, twin₹31,000
per person, twin₹33,500
per person, twin₹37,000
per person, twin₹47,000
per person, twin₹39,000
per person, twin₹36,500
per person, twin₹37,500
per person, twin₹26,000
per person, twin₹34,000
per person, twin₹36,500
per person, twin₹26,000 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
Tea, toy trains and Kangchenjunga from the Mall
India's highest railway station, Batasia Loop and an old monastery
A lake, a monastery and orange orchards near the Nepal border
A trade town on a ridge above the Teesta
Pine-forest bazaar at the gate of Neora Valley
A small town on the old mule road to Jelep La
Lampokhari Lake, an 1895 dak bungalow and a gentle Silk Route start
Sikkim's hilltop capital, walkable, clean and good value
Lingdum Monastery and green farm country, under an hour from Gangtok
The Karmapa's seat in exile, on a quiet hill across from Gangtok
Where two rivers become the Teesta, and the flood struck
A sacred lake at 5,430 m, reached at dawn from Lachen
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
One of Sikkim's six great monasteries, 38 km from Gangtok
The wish-fulfilling lake where, legend says, birds clear every leaf
Sky-high Namchi, two giant statues and the Lepcha flood hill
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 first capital and the start of the Goecha La trail
Four high valleys and the oldest temples in Bhutan
Bhutan's highest motorable pass, between Paro and Haa
108 chortens and a Himalayan skyline on the Punakha road
Five days over the ridge from Paro to Thimphu, past high lakes
A quiet valley over Chele La, opened to tourists only in 2002
Tiger's Nest, the airport valley and Bhutan's red rice fields
A wide glacial valley where black-necked cranes spend the winter
Bhutan's front door, one gate away from Jaigaon
The old capital where two rivers meet below a great dzong
A capital without traffic lights, under a giant golden Buddha
The dzong at the centre of Bhutan, where kings first rule
A rebuilt 17th-century dzong on the ridge above two rivers
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
