Ten nights, Bagdogra to Bagdogra
Most visitors meet Sikkim in pieces: Gangtok and a lake one year, Pelling and a sunrise the next. Taken in one run, the pieces start to explain each other, from Yumthang's yak meadow to three Kanchenjunga dawns at Pelling.
Photo: Rupesh Jaiswal / Unsplash
Days 1 and 2, Gangtok
Two nights at Pangthang, north of Gangtok, with Tsomgo at 3,753 m (12,310 ft) on day 2. Treat it as a test: walk slowly, notice who tires first, sleep low. Meanwhile our operator files the North Sikkim permit, which needs a full working day.
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Days 3 to 5, the north
The north comes early but not first. Two nights in Lachung, at about 2,650 m (8,690 ft), make the Yumthang meadow a calm morning instead of a race against the 16:00 checkpost. Your large cases wait at the Taj; only a soft bag comes north.
Photo: Ayush Paul / Pexels
Day 5
Coming down from the north, you get an hour on MG Marg, then the Taj at Pangthang, where your large case is already in the room and a spa treatment is booked. After three days of rock and river, the order makes sense.
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Days 6 and 7, Ravangla
The south is gentler: Temi, the tea garden the last Chogyal set up in 1969, then two nights near Ravangla and a walk of about 6 km up Tendong, the hill Lepcha tradition says rose to keep their ancestors above a great flood.
Photo: Nithya / Unsplash
Days 8 to 10, Pelling
Pelling closes the journey with three nights in a cottage at the royal retreat of 1942, because the mountain needs three dawns to be sure of one. Between them come Pemayangtse, Rabdentse's ruins, Khecheopalri, Yuksom and Rinchenpong.
Photo: Soumik Ghosh / Unsplash
Day 11
The last morning runs down the Rangeet and the Teesta to Bagdogra by about noon, so book a flight from 14:00. Come in April and May for rhododendrons, or October and November for clear skies, and we check the north road for your dates.
Photo: Rutva Andharia / Unsplash