Beyond Darjeeling town
Search for offbeat places near Darjeeling and the same four names come back. On a private trip the real question is simple: is there a room you would want for three nights, or is it a morning out?
Photo: Arto Suraj / Pexels
What settles it
In all four, the beds are homestays, small guesthouses and one government forest lodge, with no elevator, spa or night porter. None of the houses we use is in these villages, so we treat three of the four as mornings out.
Photo: Mosharraf Hossain / Unsplash
Lepchajagat, 2,123 m
Just 19 km from town, oak, pine and rhododendron hold birds such as the red-billed leiothrix and red-tailed minla. Leave at 06:30, walk while the mist is in the trees, and be back for a late breakfast.
Photo: Ayush Paul / Pexels
Sittong
About 1 hour 45 minutes away, three farming villages rise from about 1,220 m (4,000 ft) to about 1,830 m (6,000 ft). The orange festival comes each December. Worth one homestay night, in winter.
Photo: Arto Suraj / Pexels
Near Latpanchar
Namthing Pokhri is one of the few breeding waters of the Himalayan newt. Keep to the path, let nobody lift an animal for a photo, and drive slowly after dark, when the newts cross the road.
Photo: Prajesh De / Unsplash
Tinchuley and Takdah
From Tinchuley, at about 1,768 m (5,800 ft), a 20-minute walk leads to a view down on the Rangeet. Takdah below was a British cantonment, its bungalows still standing, with an orchid center. It suits a week already based at Glenburn, on the same road.
Photo: Subhajit Das
Mirik, 1,495 m
By mid-morning the lake shore belongs to day coaches. We make the road the point instead: past the Nepal border at Simana and down through the tea to Bagdogra on your last morning.
Photo: rajat sarki / Unsplash
When to go
November to February brings ripe oranges and clear air; March and April bring rhododendron and the birds' busiest weeks. From mid June to mid September village roads slip first and the forest sanctuaries close.
Photo: ARTO SURAJ / Unsplash
Planning it
If it is the oranges, we build the dates around December. If it is the forest, Lepchajagat goes in as a morning. If it is the village night itself, we start from the room and work outward.
Photo: Prasanta Kr Dutta / Pexels