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The blue toy train of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway on its narrow track beside a road through green forest
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Photo: Paramanu Sarkar · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Darjeeling or Gangtok — tea and the toy train, or monasteries and high lakes

Darjeeling or Gangtok: tea gardens, the toy train and Tiger Hill, or monasteries, Tsomgo Lake and the road to North Sikkim. The distance, permits, both.

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They are neighbours across a state line, one in West Bengal and one in Sikkim, and each is the base for a very different set of days.

Darjeeling: tea and the toy train

Darjeeling is built on a ridge among tea gardens. People come for the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the narrow-gauge toy train. They also come for the sunrise over Kanchenjunga from Tiger Hill, and for the slopes of tea estates such as Happy Valley.

Gangtok: monasteries and the high road

Gangtok is Sikkim's capital, and the base for its monasteries and high country. Tsomgo Lake and Nathu La are day trips that need a permit, and North Sikkim needs a longer trip of its own. In town there are monasteries, the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology and the pedestrian Mahatma Gandhi Marg.

Photos: Indrajit Das (CC BY 3.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.

How to choose

See the Sikkim permit guide, the best time to visit Gangtok, the best time to visit Darjeeling and where to see Kanchenjunga.

Planning a trip?

Places to visit

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The old village of Chini in Kalpa, with a fort tower above the rooftops and prayer flags in front
Narayan Nagini Temple and the old village of Chini, Kalpa
Kalpa
Clipped lawns and flower beds on terraces below fountains and green hills at Chashme Shahi
Chashme Shahi — the royal spring garden above Dal Lake
Srinagar
The wooden Hatu Mata Temple with its tiered slate roof and red banners under a blue sky
Hatu Peak and Hatu Mata Temple
Narkanda
The painted main hall of Ralang Monastery with golden roofs and a tall pillar in front on a red and white paved courtyard under a blue sky
Ralang Monastery, Ravangla — a large Kagyu monastery of thangkas
Ravangla
The golden-domed Jwalamukhi temple with a chequered courtyard and red flags under a blue sky
Jwalamukhi Temple, Jawalamukhi
Jwalamukhi
Likir Monastery on a hill at the head of a valley of tall poplars, with bare mountains around it under a cloudy sky
Likir Monastery, Ladakh — the eleventh-century gompa on its hill above the poplars
Leh
A Bengal tiger walking towards the camera along a sandy forest track beside tall grass
Jim Corbett National Park — India's first national park
Ramnagar
The view from Dainkund Peak near Dalhousie
Dainkund
Dalhousie
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The tall timber-and-stone tower of Gondhla Fort rising against a blue sky
Gondhla — the seven-storey tower fort of the Thakurs of Lahaul
Gondhla Fort, a seven-storey Kathkuni tower at 3,160 m, 29 min from Keylong: the Thakurs of Lahaul, Roerich's paintings, and the monastery beside it.
A narrow paved road winding along a barren valley of brown and grey mountains under a blue sky with scattered clouds
How to reach Kashmir and Ladakh from Delhi — the train to Katra and on to Srinagar, flights, and the two highways to Leh
Delhi to Srinagar and Leh: the Katra train and the Vande Bharat on to Srinagar, flights, road distances in km, and the Manali and Srinagar highways to Leh.
Naga dancers in feathered headdresses leaping into the air beside a log drum on a dusty festival ground under a blue sky
Festivals in Nagaland and Meghalaya by month — the Hornbill Festival, Sekrenyi, Wangala, Behdienkhlam and the 2026 Cherry Blossom Festival
Nagaland and Meghalaya festivals by month from the state tourism sites: Hornbill, Sekrenyi, Tuluni, Wangala, Behdienkhlam and the 2026 Cherry Blossom Festival.
The great rock-cut face at Unakoti, with a third eye set upright on the forehead, a long straight nose and a round ear ornament
Unakoti, Tripura — the hill named one less than a crore
Unakoti in Tripura means one less than a crore. Why Shiva left the gods as stone, the 30-foot head, how old the carvings are, and the Ashokastami fair.
A green pasture with fir trees in the Pangi valley below snow-streaked peaks
Pangi valley and Sach Pass — Chamba's remote valley, and the summer road over the Pir Panjal
Pangi valley in Chamba district: the Chandrabhaga gorge between the Zanskar and Pir Panjal, the summer road over Sach Pass, the winter, and its festivals.
The green Ganges flowing between forested hills at Rishikesh, with buildings on the left bank
Things to do in Rishikesh — 5 stops, and which need a car
Five things to do in Rishikesh, from the Beatles Ashram and the two Jhula bridges to the Parmarth Niketan aarti and Neelkanth Mahadev, with drive times.

Destinations to explore

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The stone tower of the Narasimha temple at Bharmour with a green mountain behind it under a blue sky
Bharmour
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A young one-horned rhinoceros with mud on its grey armoured hide walking through short grass, in Kaziranga
Kaziranga
2 itineraries · 2 places
The tall dark beehive-shaped dome of Kamakhya Temple above smaller red domes and a trident among trees
Guwahati
2 itineraries · 4 places
A wide view over the houses of Shillong spread across forested hills under a sky of towering white clouds
Shillong
5 itineraries · 7 places
Rocky crags of Chauli Ki Jali in the foreground with ridge after ridge of blue hills fading into haze beyond
Mukteshwar
2 itineraries · 3 places
Mussoorie's houses and hotels stacked along a green ridge, with hazy hills behind
Mussoorie
5 itineraries · 5 places

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Questions people ask

Which is better, Darjeeling or Gangtok?

Choose Darjeeling for the tea gardens, the toy train of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and the sunrise view of Kanchenjunga from Tiger Hill. Choose Gangtok for monasteries, a cleaner capital town and the high lakes and passes of Sikkim. Many people do both in five days.

How far is Darjeeling from Gangtok?

About 96 km by road on our routing, and it usually takes most of a morning on the hill roads. That is close enough to combine the two in one trip. Our five-day plan does exactly that, with two or three nights in each town.

Do I need a permit for Gangtok or Darjeeling?

Indian visitors need no permit for Gangtok or Darjeeling themselves, but Sikkim's protected areas, such as Tsomgo Lake and North Sikkim, need a permit arranged through a registered operator. Foreign visitors need a permit to enter Sikkim at all. Read our Sikkim permit guide before you plan.