Sikkim
The old kingdom of monasteries and snow
For Sikkim in its four directions: the capital and its high lake, the monasteries and Kanchenjunga of the west, the tea and quiet of the south, and the valleys of the north.
- 16private journeys
In short
What is the best Sikkim itinerary for a first visit?
The First Time suits most first visits: Gangtok and its high lake while you are fresh, Pelling for Kanchenjunga close up, then Darjeeling at the end, near the airport. With three or four nights, take Gangtok and the High Lake; for monasteries rather than altitude, Monasteries of the East; for the north and its valleys, Sikkim, End to End.
Pick a direction before you pick a journey. With three or four nights, stay in one: Gangtok for the capital and the high lake, or Pelling for the mountain. With six to eight, join two, usually east and west, and on several routes a night at Ravangla breaks the long road between them. Only with ten nights or more is the north worth the road.
Season sets the rest. October to December gives the clearest mountain, and April and May bring rhododendrons and warmer nights. In deep winter snow can close the north road and the road above Zuluk, and January and February sit outside the best months for every journey here; the west stays open, but we would rather put you in October or November.
Altitude is the real divide. Tsomgo Lake, at 3,753 m, is a day trip from Gangtok on every route that includes it, never on your first day and under an hour at the water. If anyone in your party should stay low, choose a route without the lake; the second question below names them. Children must be over five for the Tsomgo and North Sikkim permits.
Passports narrow the list further, and the first question below shows exactly where.
East, west and south
Sikkim by direction
East: Rumtek, across the valley from Gangtok. The capital's side of Sikkim holds its monasteries within an hour's drive and the road up to Tsomgo. West: the Pelling ridge, across one valley from Kanchenjunga and about 35 km by road from Yuksom, where the kingdom began.Jyoti Singh / Unsplash South: Temi's tea on the slopes of Tendong, about an hour from Ravangla, the quiet middle of Sikkim.Nithya / Unsplash
Choose by
16 journeys, side by side
| Starts in | Best months | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kanchenjunga at First Light | 7 | Darjeeling | About 4 h | Oct to Dec, Mar to Apr | ₹1,55,000 |
| Gangtok and the High Lake | 3 | Gangtok | About 4.5 h | October to mid December, March to May | ₹70,000 |
| Kanchenjunga, Face to Face | 3 | Pelling | About 5.5 h | October to December, March to April | ₹70,000 |
| Monasteries of the East | 7 | Gangtok | About 5.5 h | October to mid December, March to May | ₹1,40,000 |
| A Himalayan Honeymoon | 7 | Glenburn Tea Estate | About 5 h | October to April, clearest October to December | ₹2,65,000 |
| Two Kingdoms: Sikkim to Bhutan by Road | 11 | Gangtok | About 7 h | October to December, March to May | ₹5,30,000 |
| The First Time: Darjeeling and Sikkim | 8 | Gangtok | About 5 h | October to early December, March to May | ₹1,75,000 |
| Sikkim, End to End | 10 | Gangtok | About 6 h | April to May, October to November | ₹2,25,000 |
| Three Kingdoms | 14 | Kathmandu | About 7 h | October to mid December, March to April | ₹5,70,000 |
| Tea and Snow: A Winter Honeymoon | 5 | Glenburn Tea Estate | About 5.5 h | December to February | ₹1,70,000 |
| Sikkim for Families | 6 | Gangtok | About 5.5 h | March to May, October to early December | ₹95,000 |
| The Tea Trail | 6 | Kurseong | About 5 h | March to May, October to early November | ₹1,55,000 |
| Kitchens of the Hills | 6 | Darjeeling | About 4.5 h | October to December, March to May | ₹1,25,000 |
| Goecha La, Privately | 10 | Pelling | About 6 h | Mid October to late November, and March to mid May | ₹1,90,000 |
| Red Pandas and Rhododendrons | 6 | Darjeeling | About 6 h | Mid-March to early May (bloom peaks mid-March to late April) | ₹95,000 |
| The Old Silk Route | 5 | Kalimpong | About 5 h | October to mid November, April to May | ₹90,000 |
Signature journey
7 nights
Kanchenjunga at First Light
Darjeeling3Pelling2Kalimpong2
Seven dawns on three ridges facing the third-highest mountain on earth, each from a different angle.
Long weekend, Sikkim
3 nights
Gangtok and the High Lake
Gangtok3
Three nights in Sikkim's royal capital, with Tsomgo Lake at 3,753 m kept for the morning you are ready.
Short break
3 nights
Kanchenjunga, Face to Face
Pelling3
Three dawns on the Pelling ridge, across one valley from the third-highest mountain on earth.
Signature journey
7 nights
Monasteries of the East
Gangtok3Ravangla1Pelling3
Sikkim's great monasteries from east to west, one a day, with time to sit through the prayers.
Honeymoon or anniversary
7 nights
A Himalayan Honeymoon
Glenburn Tea Estate3Kalimpong2Gangtok (Pangthang)2
Seven nights for two: a tea bungalow, a fire-lit heritage room, a spa above Gangtok, and slow mornings.
Signature expedition
11 nights
Two Kingdoms: Sikkim to Bhutan by Road
Gangtok3Phuentsholing1Thimphu2Punakha2Paro3
Sikkim's royal past, then Bhutan's royal present: eleven nights by road, ending on the cliff at Taktsang.
Signature journey
8 nights
The First Time: Darjeeling and Sikkim
Gangtok3Pelling2Darjeeling3
Gangtok, Pelling, then Darjeeling: the high lake while you are fresh, the mountain close, the airport near.
Grand journey
10 nights
Sikkim, End to End
Gangtok2Lachung2Gangtok1Ravangla2Pelling3
The whole of Sikkim in eleven days, from Yumthang's yak meadow to three Kanchenjunga dawns at Pelling.
Grand journey
14 nights
Three Kingdoms
Kathmandu3Darjeeling3Gangtok2Phuentsholing1Thimphu2Paro3
Kathmandu to the Tiger's Nest by way of Darjeeling and Gangtok: three old kingdoms, three borders, one team.
Winter honeymoon
5 nights
Tea and Snow: A Winter Honeymoon
Glenburn Tea Estate3Pelling2
Three nights in a planter's bungalow, two by a cottage fire at Pelling, and the clearest skies of the year.
Family journey
6 nights
Sikkim for Families
Gangtok3Ravangla1Pelling2
Red pandas, a ropeway over a high lake, a tea garden and a copper Buddha, in days built around children.
Tea journey
6 nights
The Tea Trail
Kurseong1Glenburn Tea Estate3Ravangla2
From Kurseong's first flush to Glenburn's factory floor and the Chogyal's organic garden at Temi: six nights.
Food journey
6 nights
Kitchens of the Hills
Darjeeling2Kalimpong2Gangtok2
Raj bakeries and a tea merchant in Darjeeling, cheese and glass noodles in Kalimpong, a Sikkimese stove.
Private trek
10 nights
Goecha La, Privately
Pelling1Yuksom1Trek camps: Sachen, Tshoka, Dzongri, Lamuney, Kokchurung7Yuksom1
Eight days on foot into Khangchendzonga National Park with your own crew, to Kanchenjunga at first light.
Spring naturalist journey
6 nights
Red Pandas and Rhododendrons
Darjeeling1Okhrey (West Sikkim)2Lava (Kolakham)2Kalimpong1
Barsey in bloom, Neora's bamboo from the first jeep, a naturalist beside you: six spring nights, told plainly
Expedition journey
5 nights
The Old Silk Route
Kalimpong1Zuluk2Gangtok2
Up the old wool road towards Tibet, two nights with a Zuluk family, then over the top to Gangtok
Choosing a direction
Four directions, four kinds of trip
Sikkim is small on the map and slow on the road, so the direction you choose shapes the trip more than the number of nights.
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East: Gangtok and the high lake
The capital at 1,650 m, with MG Marg closed to cars and monasteries within an hour. Tsomgo, at 3,753 m, is the day that needs a night or two of acclimatising first. Beyond it, the Old Silk Route through Zuluk is open to Indian citizens only. Three nights here make a whole trip on their own.
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West: Pelling and Yuksom
Kanchenjunga at its closest from the Pelling ridge, 2,150 m, with Sikkim's oldest monasteries and the start of the Goecha La trail at Yuksom. Book two mornings, not one: a clouded dawn here cannot be retaken from anywhere else. Bagdogra is five to six hours away by road, so it rewards a longer stay.
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South: Ravangla and Temi
The quiet middle, at about 2,040 m: a tea garden, a great copper Buddha and Tendong hill above them. Four routes stop here for a night or two to break the long road between east and west, and the rooms are simpler than in Gangtok or Pelling.
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North: Lachung and Yumthang
Higher, colder and simpler, two days' road from Bagdogra: the valleys of Lachung and Yumthang, with rhododendrons, primulas and poppies in spring and snow that can close the road in deep winter. Only one journey here goes north, and it is the one to choose if you have ten nights and like a long drive.
Questions
Three questions about sikkim journeys
We hold foreign passports. Which Sikkim journeys can we take?
All but one. The Old Silk Route crosses Zuluk, open to Indian citizens only. Nathu La is closed to you too: on The First Time, Two Kingdoms, Three Kingdoms, Gangtok and the High Lake and Sikkim, End to End it is an Indian-citizen extra, and your high day stops at Tsomgo, 3,753 m. North Sikkim and the Goecha La trek take foreign and OCI guests only in twos or more. Every route starts with Sikkim's online Restricted Area Permit, about 30 days ahead; Permits and visas has the rule.
Which Sikkim journeys stay away from the high lake?
Monasteries of the East never goes above about 2,150 m, and Kanchenjunga, Face to Face stays on the Pelling ridge. Kanchenjunga at First Light, The Tea Trail, Kitchens of the Hills, Tea and Snow and A Himalayan Honeymoon also leave Tsomgo out, though on some the lake is an add-on you can decline. The Old Silk Route, Goecha La and Red Pandas and Rhododendrons go high by other roads. Where the lake is in the plan, a guest who should stay low can keep the morning in Gangtok.
North to Lachung, or west to Pelling?
West, for most people who came for the mountain: Kanchenjunga face on, Sikkim's oldest monasteries and good houses each night. The north belongs to Sikkim, End to End, and asks more of you: simple lodges with set meals at Lachung, 2,650 m, and a morning on the Yumthang meadow at 3,564 m. Go in April or May for the flowers, or in October for clear skies. It suits children from eight, and we steer it away from late December to February, when snow can close the north road.
Plan my journey
Which of these 16 fits your dates?
Four lines are enough to start: when, who, how to reach you, and the trip you picture.
- Journeys
- 16
- Length
- 3 to 14 nights
- From
- ₹70,000 per person