Hotels in Darjeeling

Darjeeling: Tea Gardens, Himalayan Views, and Colonial Hill Stations

Darjeeling sits at 2,042 metres in the Darjeeling Himalayan Hill region of West Bengal, roughly 600 km north of Kolkata. The town is inseparable from its tea — estates like Happy Valley and Makaibari have produced first-flush orange pekoe since the 1850s. On clear mornings, Kanchenjunga (8,586 m, the world's third-highest peak) dominates the northern horizon from Tiger Hill, where visitors gather before dawn for the sunrise panorama.

Travellers arrive for the colonial architecture along Mall Road, the narrow-gauge Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (a UNESCO World Heritage route since 1999), and the monasteries scattered through the pine-covered ridges — Ghoom Monastery, dating to 1875, houses a 4.5-metre Maitreya statue. The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, founded in 1954 after Tenzing Norgay's Everest ascent, draws trekking and climbing enthusiasts year-round.

Practical Tips

• Best months: Mid-March to May (first-flush season) and October–November (post-monsoon clarity).
• Getting there: Fly into Bagdogra Airport (IXB), then take a shared taxi — roughly 3 hours to Darjeeling town.
• Altitude: Acclimatise for 24 hours before trekking; temperatures drop sharply after sunset even in April.
• Rail: Book the Toy Train heritage seats weeks ahead — only a handful of carriages serve the 88 km Siliguri–Darjeeling route.