The Darjeeling hills are a short climb from the plains. New Jalpaiguri station sits at about 100 m; three hours of hairpins later you are at 2,045 m on the Darjeeling ridge, with Kangchenjunga 74 km to the north. In between lie Kurseong, the tea gardens of the Kurseong and Darjeeling slopes, and the orange villages of the Riyang valley. East of the Teesta river, Kalimpong sits on its own ridge at 1,250 m, with Lava and Rishyap higher up in the forests that run into Neora Valley National Park.
This is a small hive with a long memory. The Lepcha people lived here before anyone drew a border. Bhutan held Kalimpong until 1865, Sikkim leased the Darjeeling ridge to the East India Company in 1835, and labourers from Nepal built the tea gardens, the roads and the railway. Today Nepali is the common language, Tibetan monasteries share ridges with Hindu temples and Scottish mission churches, and the tea is protected by India's first geographical indication.
We plan this hive for three kinds of trip. The saver trip uses overnight trains from Kolkata, shared jeeps from New Jalpaiguri, and government lodges or homestays, and it is honestly cheap: a long weekend can cost under ₹10,000 per person on the ground. The comfort trip uses a private car, a tea-country hotel and village homestays. The signature trip stays at Windamere, Glenburn and Taj Chia Kutir, with a private guide.
Timing matters more here than almost anywhere in the Himalaya. The monsoon, June to September, brings most of Darjeeling's 3,100 mm of annual rain and regular landslides on the roads. October and November give the clearest mountain views. March to May brings first flush tea and rhododendrons on the Singalila Ridge, with more haze. Winter is cold, dry and quiet, and the best time for Sittong's oranges.
