Darjeeling, West Bengal
At 2,045 m (6,710 ft), Darjeeling runs along a single ridge, its houses stacked in terraces down both flanks. Here is how it sits, what it faces and how long to give it.
Photo: Ganesh Kumar / Unsplash
To the north
On a clear morning Kanchenjunga, 8,586 m (28,170 ft) and the third-highest mountain on earth, fills the northern sky about 75 km away. On most monsoon mornings you would not know it was there.
Photo: Ganesh Kumar / Unsplash
The name
The name joins the Tibetan dorje, the thunderbolt scepter, and ling, a place. By local tradition it first belonged to a monastery built on Observatory Hill in 1765, where the Mahakal temple stands today.
Photo: Abhinav Das / Unsplash
1835 to 1881
Sikkim's ruler gave the ridge to the East India Company in 1835. Archibald Campbell planted the first tea in 1841, and the railway arrived in July 1881. Both are still at work on the hills below town.
Photo: Akash Dey / Unsplash
The people
Most families are Nepali-speaking Gorkhas, many descended from those who came to work the tea gardens. The Lepchas were here first; Bhutia and Sherpa families followed, and Tibetans came after 1959.
Photo: Sanat Anghan / Pexels
Getting there
Bagdogra airport (IXB) lies at 126 m (410 ft), with direct flights from Indian cities such as Delhi and Kolkata. From there it is about 70 km and 3 hours by road. Darjeeling needs no permit, only a valid Indian visa.
Photo: Prasanta Kr Dutta / Unsplash
When to come
Autumn and early winter bring the clearest views; spring brings first flush tea. January nights fall to about 2 °C (36 °F), and from June to September the monsoon keeps the ridge in cloud.
Photo: Mosharraf Hossain / Unsplash
How long
That is enough for a dawn or two on the mountain, a morning on the railway and the town at its own pace. Tell us your month, and we will suggest a base on the ridge or on a tea estate below it.
Photo: Hrishikesh More / Unsplash