Christmas in Darjeeling & Kalimpong

In short

Is Christmas in the Hills right for you?

Christmas in the Hills is a four-night private journey for 22 to 26 December, from Bagdogra airport (IXB). You spend two nights in Darjeeling at the Windamere during its Christmas Week, then Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Kalimpong at the MAYFAIR, in a Heritage Room with its own fireplace.

Made forfamilies with young children, three generations together, couples who love an old-fashioned Christmas and a first Christmas away from home.

Not for you ifNot for anyone set on snow underfoot or a loud New Year party; for the zoo, the toy train and tea with children in any season, choose The Hills with Children.

Christmas came up these hills with the British planters of the 1840s and the Scottish missionaries who followed from 1870, and it stayed. Christian families in Darjeeling and Kalimpong sing carols in Nepali, fry sel roti beside the roast, and send tangerines and plum cake to neighbours of every faith. The churches are stone, the late December skies are the driest of the year, and the nights are cold enough for a fire to matter.

It is a Christmas with its own accent. A Swiss priest drew a church in the form of a gompa, and a Buddhist carver gave its apostles the robes of Tibetan monks; a Scottish mission church of 1891 fills with hymns you know, sung in words you may not. The cake is Glenary's, the stockings hang by a fire, and every service time is checked with the church before you fly.

Designed in the Darjeeling hills by the Darjeeling Trips team · Updated September 2026

Length: 4 nights, 5 days
Starts and ends: Bagdogra airport to Bagdogra airport
Best months: 22 to 26 December
Avoid: All other weeks: the route is built around Christmas
Pace: Gentle
Longest drive: About 3 hours, 240 km in all
Highest point: Ghum, 2,258 m
Group: Private, 2 to 6 guests; larger families in two cars

The route

Why Darjeeling comes first

Darjeeling comes first because its best Christmas things happen before the 25th: the Windamere's Christmas Week is in full swing, steam seats can still be had, and the town has not yet filled with the holiday crowd that arrives after Christmas Day. Kalimpong, about 800 m lower, gives warmer nights for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, two churches worth the service, and a fire in the room. Ending there also keeps the last drive to Bagdogra to three hours, clear of the Darjeeling traffic of 26 December.

your bases, in orderby roadborders not drawn

Where the nights go

2Darjeeling2Kalimpong

Read the place guidesDarjeeling Kalimpong

The shape of the journey

From 126 m to 2,258 m, day by day

You sleep between 1,247 m and 2,130 m. The highest you go is 2,258 m, on day 1 at Ghum, and you come down again to sleep.

500 m1,000 m1,500 m2,000 m 2,258 m1,704 m1,247 m

Arrive126 m
Day 12,130 m
Day 22,130 m
Day 31,247 m
Day 41,247 m
Day 5126 m

Built around

Darjeeling and Kalimpong at their best

Two nights at the Windamere during its Christmas Week, with fires and performers in the evenings
A steam joy ride to Ghum and the Batasia Loop, in first-class seats booked the morning they open
Glenary's plum cake, bought over the counter for you and carried to Kalimpong for Christmas Day
St Teresa's, a church built like a gompa, its apostles carved as Tibetan monks
Christmas morning at Macfarlane Memorial Church, opened in 1891, with carols sung in Nepali
Deolo at sunset on Christmas afternoon, the Sikkim snows turning pink to the north-west

Day by day

Day by day, Darjeeling to Kalimpong

The longest drive is day 1, Bagdogra airport to Darjeeling, about 3 hours with stops.

01
Day 1 · Bagdogra airport Darjeeling

Up to Darjeeling for the lights on the Mall
- 70 km, about 3 h
- High point 2,258 m
- Sleep at 2,130 m
- Easy
Your driver waits at the Bagdogra arrivals exit with rugs on the back seat and, if you asked, a child seat already fitted. The 70 km up to Darjeeling take about three hours, and your bags go on to the Windamere ahead of you. At 16:15 you walk the few minutes to Chowrasta, where the Mall is strung with Christmas lights. On 22 December 2025 the district held its first Christmas carol festival here, with choirs from St Columba's, St Andrew's, the Cathedral Church and CNI Darjeeling and candles lit at dusk; if it returns, you arrive in time for the candles. Along the Mall stands St Andrew's, the town's oldest church, founded in 1843, struck by lightning in 1867 and rebuilt in 1873, its clock tower added in 1883 and its restoration finished in December 2025. The sun goes at about 16:50 and the cold comes quickly after it. Back at the hotel, Christmas Week is under way, a fire is burning, and there are hot water bottles in the beds because we asked for them.

The momentChowrasta in the blue hour, strung with Christmas lights, and the cold arriving the moment the sun drops.

InsiderIn December St Andrew's holds its Sunday service at 09:30 and a Nepali service at 11:00, and it keeps an annual carol service; we check this year's date when you book.

If the weather turnsIf the Rohini road is shut, we come up by Pankhabari or NH110 through Tindharia. If the carol festival does not return, the lights and St Andrew's remain.

Tonight
Windamere Hotel, Darjeeling

Meals
Dinner
02
Day 2 · Darjeeling

Steam to Ghum, then plum cake at Glenary's
- 15 km, about 1 h
- High point 2,258 m
- Sleep at 2,130 m
- Easy
Anyone awake at 06:00 can walk round to the north side of the Mall, a few minutes from the hotel, where Kanchenjunga turns pink at about 06:10 in late December. Breakfast is at 08:00. At 09:30 you ride the steam joy ride to Ghum and back in first-class seats, booked the morning the railway opened them, 60 days out. Lunch at 12:30 is upstairs at Glenary's on Nehru Road, which an Italian family opened around 1885 as Vado, a confectioner's. Its Christmas plum cake is steeped in liquor for two months and sold only over the counter in the season, so our team bought yours yesterday, and it comes to the table in its box, not to be opened until Christmas Day. The same counter sells a currant loaf, an almond sponge and marzipan for anyone too young for the liquor. At 14:00, an hour with the red pandas at the zoo and the Everest gear at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute next door. In the evening, the Windamere's Christmas Week performers.

The momentUpstairs at Glenary's, the cake box on the chair beside you, under strict orders to stay shut until Christmas Day.

InsiderBuy the currant loaf for the car and the cake for the day: Glenary's plum cake is soaked in liquor and meant for the grown-ups.

If the weather turnsThe zoo shuts on Thursdays, so when 23 December is one, as in 2027, we go on the 24th before the drive. If the steam engine fails, the diesel joy ride runs.

Tonight
Windamere Hotel, Darjeeling

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
03
Day 3 · Darjeeling Kalimpong

Christmas Eve on the Kalimpong ridge
- 55 km, about 2.5 h
- High point 2,258 m
- Sleep at 1,247 m
- Easy
Breakfast at 08:00, away at 09:30. The road leaves by Ghum and drops through the tea of Lopchu and Peshok, the bushes pruned and resting for winter. On a bend above Peshok the car stops so you can look down to Triveni, where the Rangeet runs into the Teesta. You cross the river at Teesta Bazaar and climb the last 16 km to Kalimpong, two and a half hours for 55 km with the stop. Lunch at 12:30 is at the MAYFAIR, where the fire in your Heritage Room is laid while you eat. At 14:30 you visit St Teresa's at 8th Mile. In 1937 the Catholic mission here passed to the Swiss canons of St Maurice, and their superior, Mgr Aurelius Gianora, drew this church himself; it was blessed on 19 January 1951. He carved the Last Supper and the altar with his own hands, and a Buddhist craftsman carved the apostles as Tibetan monks. On the way back, Lark's on the 10th Mile road sells the milk lollipops for the stockings. At 19:30 the hotel's Christmas Eve dinner begins; afterwards, if you wish, the car takes you to the parish's Christmas Eve Mass and waits outside.

The momentStanding under St Teresa's carved apostles, Christian saints in the robes of Tibetan monks, on the afternoon of Christmas Eve.

InsiderBefore you leave St Teresa's, walk the Stations of the Cross painted along its walls; the church's own history credits them to artists other than its carvers.

If the weather turnsIf the Peshok road is closed, we go down to Sevoke and up NH10, with lunch on the road. The Mass time is confirmed with the parish office in early December.

Tonight
MAYFAIR Himalayan Spa Resort, Kalimpong

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
04
Day 4 · Kalimpong

Christmas Day: carols in Nepali, cake by the fire
- 20 km, about 1 h
- High point 1,704 m
- Sleep at 1,247 m
- Easy
Stockings first. Breakfast at 08:30 has a bowl of the season's tangerines on the table. At 09:30 the car takes you to Macfarlane Memorial Church, whose foundation stone was laid in February 1890 and which opened on 1 November 1891. The service is in Nepali and the carol tunes are ones you already know; we ring the church in the first week of December to fix its hour, and plan your morning around it. Lunch is at 13:00. Weeks ago we asked the kitchen to set sel roti, the ring-shaped rice bread, and a hill roast beside the Christmas dishes, with a paneer version for anyone who prefers it, and your Glenary's cake comes out for pudding. At 15:30 the car climbs to Deolo, 1,704 m, a picnic lawn for the town's own families as much as for visitors, open until 18:00. At about 16:45 the Sikkim snows turn pink to the north-west, and the hot chocolate we packed is still hot. Back by the fire at 17:30.

The momentCarols you have sung all your life, coming back to you in Nepali under the Gothic arches of Macfarlane.

InsiderHill Christian families send tangerines, fried snacks and plum cake to neighbours of other faiths at Christmas; we pack a basket for your driver's family.

If the weather turnsIf cloud hides the snows, Deolo still has lawns for the children to run on. If rain sets in, it is cake, cards and the board games we bring up from Darjeeling.

Tonight
MAYFAIR Himalayan Spa Resort, Kalimpong

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
05
Day 5 · Kalimpong Bagdogra airport

The day after Christmas, down the Teesta to Bagdogra
- 80 km, about 3 h
- High point 1,247 m
- Easy
Breakfast at 07:30, bags in the car by 08:15, away at 08:30. The days after Christmas are busy on the roads down to Siliguri, and the approach to the airport can slow by mid-morning, so we leave in good time; at dawn your driver checked the Sevoke stretch with drivers already on it. The road drops to Teesta Bazaar and runs south beside the river on NH10, past Rambi, and out of the gorge at Sevoke, where the plains begin at once. The driver takes the bends slowly and stops whenever someone asks. You reach Bagdogra at about 11:30, in time for flights from 13:00. The lollipops that did not fit in the stockings travel in your hand luggage, and whatever is left of the plum cake is wrapped in its Glenary's paper for the flight home.

The momentThe last bend of the gorge at Sevoke, where the Teesta widens and the hills end as if someone had drawn a line.

InsiderKalimpong's milk lollipops go back to the Swiss mission's dairy of the 1950s, which also gave the town its cheese; the dairy closed in the 1990s, and its former workers still make them.

If the weather turnsIf NH10 is blocked near Sevoke, we take the longer Lava and Gorubathan road and leave at 06:30. For flights before 13:00, we leave at 07:00 anyway.

Tonight
Homeward

Meals
Breakfast

Where you will stay

Where you sleep, two houses

Windamere Hotel and MAYFAIR Himalayan Spa Resort. Prefer a different house on any night? Say which and we re-price it.

Windamere from its garden on Observatory Hill.P.K.Niyogi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

2 nights

Windamere Hotel

Darjeeling

Its Christmas Week runs from 18 December to 1 January, with fires and performers, and Chowrasta is a few minutes' walk away.

Ask for A Superior (Deluxe) room on the side away from the 2026 restoration works; it takes a child's extra bed, which the smaller Preferred rooms cannot.
The snows at first light from Kalimpong, the range the house looks to.Devashish Marwah, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

2 nights
MAYFAIR Himalayan Spa Resort

Kalimpong

The old Himalayan Hotel: fireplaces in the seven Heritage Rooms of the original house, lawns, a children's play area and a spa, with the Christmas Eve dinner under its own roof.

Ask for A Heritage Room in the original building, with a fireplace, for two adults and one child.
- WarmthHeritage Rooms and the Heritage Suite each have a fireplace.

Price and what it covers

from₹90,000

per person, twin share; children sharing their parents' room priced on request. How our prices are built

About £700 or US$940 at the rates of 19 September 2026.

Price my dates

Less time?The Toy Train Weekend3 nights More time?Rhinos and Tea5 nights

Included

Two nights at the Windamere Hotel, Darjeeling, on 22 and 23 December, in a Superior room with breakfast and dinner, during its Christmas Week
Christmas Eve and Christmas night at the MAYFAIR, Kalimpong, in a Heritage Room with its own fireplace, breakfast and dinner included
The MAYFAIR's Christmas Eve gala dinner supplement
Lunch on 23, 24 and 25 December, including upstairs at Glenary's
First-class seats on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway steam joy ride to Ghum and back
Entry to the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park and the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, and to Deolo on Christmas afternoon
A Glenary's plum cake, a currant loaf for the children and Kalimpong milk lollipops for the stockings
A private Innova Crysta or similar with a driver from the hills for all five days, including the church runs on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning
A local guide in Darjeeling on 23 December and in Kalimpong on 24 and 25 December
Hot chocolate, blankets, board games, and child seats on request
Our team in the hills on call 24x7 while you travel, Christmas Day included

Not included

Flights to and from Bagdogra
Travel insurance
Drinks from the bar and laundry
Tips for drivers, guides and hotel staff
Church collections and offerings
Extra beds and meals for children, priced by each hotel on request
Hotel festive surcharges if you add nights around New Year
Add-ons such as Tiger Hill or a private steam charter

Make it more Arranged on request, priced in your quote

Tiger Hill for the grown-upsAway at 04:45 on 23 December with a vehicle token collected the day before, the peaks pink at 2,590 m, back for breakfast.
A private steam charterYour own train to Ghum for the family, if the railway approves it and an engine is free in Christmas week; we apply as soon as you book.
Stay on for New YearAdd nights in Kalimpong or on a tea estate below Darjeeling; we show each hotel's New Year's Eve supplement before you book.
A hamper to carry homeKalimpong cheese when a fresh piece is in, lollipops, Darjeeling tea and a Glenary's fruit cake, packed for the flight.

Before you go

Before you go on this route

Choose another journey ifNot for anyone set on snow underfoot or a loud New Year party; for the zoo, the toy train and tea with children in any season, choose The Hills with Children.

Write as early as you can: the MAYFAIR has only seven Heritage Rooms with fireplaces, and steam seats for 23 December open about 24 October, 60 days ahead.
Papers: nobody needs a permit for Darjeeling or Kalimpong. Indian guests bring photo ID, and foreign guests an Indian visa, with e-Visa arrivals accepted at Bagdogra; the Permits and visas guide has the detail.
Cold: in late December Darjeeling nights are about 3 to 4 °C and days about 14 °C, with frost possible at dawn; Kalimpong runs about 9 to 18 °C. Pack thermals, a down jacket, gloves and woollen hats, and warm layers for stone churches.
Church services are mostly in Nepali. Dress warmly and modestly, arrive ten minutes early, and ask before taking photographs during a service.
Children: tell us ages and weights for child seats and extra beds. The Windamere does not charge for children up to five sharing a room, and its Preferred rooms cannot take an extra bed.
Carry small notes for church collections, stocking fillers and stalls. Glenary's, both hotels and the bigger shops take cards, and both towns have ATMs.
Phones: the main Indian networks cover both towns, but the Teesta roads have dead patches, so download films and maps for the children before you leave Darjeeling.
Tips at Christmas are yours to decide; the Before you travel guide gives the usual range for drivers and guides, and hotel staff are thanked as you see fit.

Questions

Six questions about Christmas in the Hills

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What is Christmas like in Darjeeling?

Quietly festive and very cold. The Mall and Chowrasta are lit, church choirs sing carols in English and Nepali, and Glenary's sells its plum cake over the counter only in the season. Christian families fry sel roti beside the roast and send tangerines and cake to neighbours of other faiths. Nights are about 3 to 4 °C and skies are usually clear, so Kanchenjunga is often out at dawn. The town fills after Christmas Day.

Does it snow in Darjeeling in December?

Rarely. December is Darjeeling's driest month, with under 3 mm of rain on average, and snow in the town itself is uncommon. What you get instead is frost, sharp blue mornings and the snows of Kanchenjunga close on the horizon. Kalimpong, at 1,247 m, is milder, with nights around 9 °C. If falling snow matters most, the high lakes of East Sikkim are a better bet than these two towns.

Can tourists attend Christmas services in Darjeeling and Kalimpong?

Yes. Visitors are welcome at Christmas services, which are mostly in Nepali, with carols whose tunes you will know. In Kalimpong, St Teresa's is the Catholic parish church and Macfarlane Memorial Church the old Scottish mission church. Service times change each year, so we confirm them with each church in early December, drive you there and wait. Sit towards the back if you arrive late, and dress warmly: old stone churches hold the cold.

Are there any early starts or long drives over Christmas?

No drive runs past three hours, and nobody has to be up before breakfast: the 06:00 walk to see Kanchenjunga from the Mall and the Tiger Hill add-on are both for volunteers. The highest point, Ghum at 2,258 m, is a railway station you reach sitting down. Darjeeling's Mall rises from every car stop, so tell us who finds slopes hard and we plan the walks, rooms and car stops around them.

What will the children do on Christmas Day?

Stockings first, hung the night before by the fire in your Heritage Room. Breakfast has a bowl of tangerines on the table, then the carols at Macfarlane, sung in Nepali to tunes the children will know. After lunch the Glenary's cake comes out, and at 15:30 the car goes up to Deolo, where the lawns are for running on and the hot chocolate is packed. In rain, it is board games by the fire.

Can we stay on for New Year?

Yes. Stay on in Kalimpong, or add nights on a tea estate below Darjeeling, where the valley is lower and quieter than the town after Christmas. Hotels may add a supplement for New Year's Eve, and the Windamere adds one on 31 December as well as on 24 to 26 December; we show each house's supplement before you book, and the extra nights are priced with your dates.

Sources we checked for this itinerary (30)

Checked September 2026. We confirm permits, fees and flights again for your dates.

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Christmas in the Hills

Is Christmas in the Hills right for you?

Why Darjeeling comes first

From 126 m to 2,258 m, day by day

Darjeeling and Kalimpong at their best

Day by day, Darjeeling to Kalimpong

Up to Darjeeling for the lights on the Mall

Steam to Ghum, then plum cake at Glenary's

Christmas Eve on the Kalimpong ridge

Christmas Day: carols in Nepali, cake by the fire

The day after Christmas, down the Teesta to Bagdogra