St Andrew's Church, Darjeeling — the town's oldest church
St Andrew's Church in Darjeeling, the town's oldest church, established in 1843 for Scottish soldiers and tea planters, with a clock tower added in 1883.
West Bengal⛰ 2,045 m3 itineraries
Darjeeling
Darjeeling, West Bengal: the toy train, Tiger Hill sunrise, the Batasia Loop, monasteries and Chowrasta, with measured road times and when to go.
Itineraries you can copy
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One day in Darjeeling — Tiger Hill sunrise and the ridge road
Day plan · First visit · Classic
A one-day Darjeeling plan: Tiger Hill at sunrise, the Batasia Loop, the Yiga Choeling Monastery, the Peace Pagoda, Mahakal temple and Chowrasta.
Best Mar–May · Oct–Nov
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A Darjeeling half-day — the zoo, the mountaineering institute and the botanical garden
Day plan · Family · leisure
A Darjeeling half-day for families: the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute and Lloyd's Botanical Garden.
Best Mar–May · Oct–Nov
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Two days in Darjeeling — the old town, the tea estate and the toy train
1 night · 2 days · First visit · Temples & heritage
A two-day Darjeeling plan: Chowrasta, the Mahakal temple, St Andrew's Church, the botanical garden and tea, then the toy train to Ghum, the loop and pagoda.
Best Mar–May · Oct–Nov
See the plan →Going together
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Darjeeling, in the north of West Bengal, stands on a ridge at about 2,045 m in the eastern Himalaya, and Kangchenjunga, the third tallest mountain on Earth, shows to the north on clear days. Wikipedia says the British chose the ridge as a summer retreat in the early 19th century, tea grew on the slopes below, and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway brought the summer visitors up by the 1880s.
The town's centre is Chowrasta, the old square, with the Mahakal temple above it and St Andrew's Church nearby. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the UNESCO-listed toy train, runs through it, and the Batasia Loop is its best-known spiral. For sunrise, go up to Tiger Hill. On the ridge road are the Yiga Choeling Monastery at Ghum and the Peace Pagoda, and the zoo and Lloyd's Botanical Garden are in the town.
The nearest working airport is Bagdogra, about 70 km and 127 minutes by road on our routing, though Wikipedia says 90 km; the nearest main station is New Jalpaiguri, about 69 km and 134 minutes away. From Delhi it is about 1,399 km by road, with 17 hours of free-flow driving, so most visitors fly or take a train to the Siliguri area first. Wikipedia says that road and rail connections are often disrupted by landslides in the monsoon. Read how to reach Darjeeling and when to visit. Copy the one-day plan with Tiger Hill, the two days with the toy train or the zoo and garden half-day, and read things to do in Darjeeling.
Photos: EJH (Public domain) · Paramanu Sarkar (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Amitabha Gupta (CC BY 4.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
Places worth the drive
Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Darjeeling — the high-altitude zoo
The Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park in Darjeeling, India's largest high-altitude zoo: its 1958 founding, red panda breeding and how to visit.
Lloyd's Botanical Garden, Darjeeling — the Himalayan plants below the town
Lloyd's Botanical Garden in Darjeeling, founded in 1878: about 16 hectares of native Himalayan trees and orchids, a cactus conservatory and its four gates.
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway — the toy train and its loops
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the UNESCO-listed toy train of 1881: how a 610 mm line climbs from the plains, the Batasia Loop and the ride to Ghum.
Chowrasta, Darjeeling — the town square on the Mall
Chowrasta, Darjeeling's old public square at 2,134 m: the Mall around Observatory Hill, the Bhanubhakta statue, the shops and the Kangchenjunga view.
Batasia Loop, Darjeeling — the spiral of the toy train and the Gorkha memorial
The Batasia Loop on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway: a spiral of 1919 where the track circles over itself, with a garden and a Gorkha memorial near Ghum.
Yiga Choeling Monastery, Ghum — the Old Ghoom Monastery and its Maitreya statue
The Yiga Choeling Monastery at Ghum, the Old Ghoom Monastery of 1850: a Gelug monastery near Darjeeling known for a 4.6 m statue of Maitreya Buddha.
Peace Pagoda, Darjeeling — the white Japanese stupa on Jalapahar
The Darjeeling Peace Pagoda on Jalapahar: a white stupa of 28.5 m raised by a Japanese Buddhist order and inaugurated in 1992, with its four Buddha images.
Mahakal Temple, Darjeeling — the Shiva shrine on Observatory Hill
The Mahakal Temple on Observatory Hill in Darjeeling: a Shiva shrine shared by Hindus and Buddhists, its 1782 origins and the monastery that stood there.
Tiger Hill, Darjeeling — the sunrise viewpoint for Kangchenjunga and Everest
Tiger Hill, 2,590 m, the sunrise viewpoint near Darjeeling: what you can see of Kangchenjunga, Everest, Makalu and Lhotse, how far it is and how to go.
On the map
Open the Darjeeling map →The places a Darjeeling day reaches, with the road time from town. Each opens on the map with its plans and pages beside it.
Before you go
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Things to do in Darjeeling — sunrise, the toy train, monasteries and tea
Things to do in Darjeeling: Tiger Hill at sunrise, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the Batasia Loop, monasteries, Chowrasta, the zoo and a tea estate.
How to reach Darjeeling — Bagdogra, New Jalpaiguri and the toy train
How to reach Darjeeling: Bagdogra airport, New Jalpaiguri station, the road from Siliguri, the toy train from the plains and the monsoon landslide risk.
Best time to visit Darjeeling — month by month, from the rain figures
The best time to visit Darjeeling, month by month from the IMD normals: clear autumn, a mild spring, a very wet monsoon, and a cold dry winter with frost.
Nearby destinations
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Questions people ask
How do you reach Darjeeling?
The nearest working airport is Bagdogra, about 70 km and 127 minutes by road on our routing, though Wikipedia gives 90 km, and the nearest main railway station is New Jalpaiguri, about 134 minutes away. The road climbs from Siliguri. Wikipedia says landslides often disrupt road and rail links in the monsoon, so allow extra time.
What are the best things to do in Darjeeling?
Watch the sunrise from Tiger Hill, ride or watch the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, see the Batasia Loop, the Yiga Choeling Monastery and the Peace Pagoda on the ridge road, and walk Chowrasta and the Mall with the Mahakal temple above it. The zoo and Lloyd's Botanical Garden fill a half day.
When is the best time to visit Darjeeling?
Autumn and spring. Wikipedia names September to November and April to May as the two peak tourist seasons, and says the view is clearest in October and November. The monsoon, June to September, brings most of the rain and often landslides, and winter is cold and dry. See our best-time guide.
Photographs by Wikimedia Commons contributors (CC0, CC BY, CC BY-SA), resized; each picture is credited on its own page.