Travel style · Darjeeling & Kalimpong
Homestays and villages in Darjeeling & Kalimpong
Sleep in the hive itself
Homestays are the Himalaya's best value and its best way in: Ladakhi kitchens, Spiti mud houses, Kumaoni stone homes, Lepcha villages in Dzongu, Apatani homes in Ziro. Simple rooms, home food, money that stays in the valley.
Photo: Pinakpani · CC BY 4.0 · CommonsA homestay is a room in a family home, with meals from the family kitchen. Expect clean, simple rooms, often a shared or outside bathroom in the high valleys, and food made from what the village grows.
Darjeeling and Kalimpong are the West Bengal hills between Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan, 1,200 to 3,636 m high. Go March to May or October to November for clear views of Kangchenjunga. Plan 5 to 7 nights: Darjeeling for tea and the toy train, Kalimpong for nurseries and monasteries, Sandakphu for the high ridge.
Trips
Homestays and villages trips in Darjeeling & Kalimpong
Photo: Auli Raha (অলি রাহা) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Comfort
Sittong, Takdah and Kalimpong villages
Private car with driver
Photo: Arne Hückelheim 2010-09-21 12:41:53 This is a … · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Saver
Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Lava by shared jeep
Shared jeeps, one short reserved car
5 places
Where to go
Photo: Pinakpani · CC BY 4.0 · Commons
Lava
Misty forest village at the gate of Neora Valley
Photo: SubrataEmfluence · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Lepchajagat
A forest hamlet on the Ghum–Mirik road
Photo: Pinakpani · CC BY 4.0 · Commons
Rishyap
Sunrise village facing the Kangchenjunga range
Photo: Auli Raha (অলি রাহা) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Sittong
Orange orchards and homestays in the Riyang valley
Photo: Amitabha Gupta · CC BY 4.0 · Commons
Takdah and Tinchuley
An old British cantonment in mist and cedar forest
Experiences
Days that fit the style
Photo: Sandipanjalpaiguri · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Neora Valley National Park forest day
Enter Neora Valley National Park from Lava with a forest permit and guide for a day in one of eastern India's least dis…
Photo: Joydeep · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Morning prayers at Lava's Kagyu monastery
Walk up from Lava bazaar at dawn to Kagyu Thekchen Ling, the monastery on the hill, for morning chanting, butter lamps …
Photo: Sandipanjalpaiguri · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Changey Falls and Kolakham day trip
A half-day drive from Lava to Changey Falls, a tall forest waterfall reached by steps from the road, and on to Kolakham…
Photo: YUVRAJ ANAND · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Dawn forest walk and Kangchenjunga view
Leave your Lepchajagat homestay before dawn and walk through pine and cryptomeria forest to a clearing facing Kangchenj…
Photo: Arne Hückelheim 2010-09-21 12:41:53 This is a … · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Jorepokhri lakes and the Himalayan newt
Visit Jorepokhri, a small twin lake in forest near Lepchajagat that is protected as a breeding site of the endangered H…
Photo: Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Ghum Monastery and its Maitreya Buddha
Visit Yiga Choeling, the Gelug monastery at Ghum founded in 1850, about 10 km from Lepchajagat, to see its 15 ft statue…
Photo: Jejsiguoa · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Tiffindara sunrise over the Kangchenjunga range
Walk about 1 km from Rishyap in the dark to Tiffindara viewpoint and watch the first light reach the Kangchenjunga rang…
Photo: Pinakpani · CC BY 4.0 · Commons
Guided forest walk around Rishyap
A half-day walk with a local guide through the oak, rhododendron and bamboo forest around Rishyap, on paths used by vil…
Where to sleep
Stays in these places
Homestays and villages elsewhere