Try "Sandakphu", "toy train", "Bhutan for Indians", "homestay", "rhino"
Travel style
Tea gardens
Sleep, walk and taste where the leaf grows
Darjeeling's estates on the slopes between 600 and 2,000 m, Temi in South Sikkim and the low-country gardens of the Dooars. We plan factory visits in the plucking season, tastings by flush and nights in estate bungalows or homestays on the garden.
Tea came to these hills as an experiment in the 1840s, when Archibald Campbell, the first superintendent of Darjeeling, planted China seeds at his house. Within thirty years the slopes held dozens of commercial estates, and the name Darjeeling became a geographical indication protected in law in 2004.
The year has a rhythm you can plan around. First flush is picked from about March to April, second flush in May and June, the monsoon flush through the rains and the autumn flush in October and November. Factories are busiest, and most worth seeing, in the plucking months. Most estates close their factory to visitors on Sundays and during winter dormancy: check current status before you travel.
Dates, who is coming and roughly what you want to spend. A planner replies within one working day with a route and a budget, comfort and premium price, so you can see exactly what each extra rupee buys.
No payment to startPay only when you confirm
Three prices, in writingBudget, comfort, premium, line by line
