A black yak grazing on the Yumthang meadow in North Sikkim, small purple flowers in the grass and snow peaks behind

Grand journey · 10 nights

Sikkim, End to End

The whole of Sikkim in eleven days, from Yumthang's yak meadow to three Kanchenjunga dawns at Pelling.

10nights, private
5bases
3,753 mhighest point
₹2,25,000from, per person, twin share

Price this journey for my dates See the 11 days

In short

Is Sikkim, End to End right for you?

Sikkim, End to End is a ten-night private journey across the whole state, from and back to Bagdogra (IXB). You sleep two nights at Pangthang, north of Gangtok, with Tsomgo Lake, two in Lachung for the Yumthang valley at 3,564 m, one more at Pangthang, two near Ravangla for Temi and Tendong, and three at Pelling.

Made foractive couples, families with children over eight, second visits to Sikkim, walkers who want a view at the top and photographers in April, May and October.

Not for you ifyou want five-star rooms every night or cannot manage a morning at 3,564 m, choose Monasteries of the East, which never goes above 2,150 m.

Most visitors meet Sikkim in pieces: Gangtok and a lake one year, Pelling and a sunrise the next. This journey takes the whole state in one run, and the pieces start to explain each other. The Teesta you meet at Sevoke is born at Chungthang, where two northern rivers join. The Lepchas whose brotherhood with the Bhutias is marked in stone at Kabi reappear on Tendong, the hill their flood story says rose to save them. And the kings crowned at Yuksom built the capital whose ruins you walk to at Rabdentse.

We will not dress up the north. Lachung's best rooms are clean and heated, run on a generator when the power drops, and the kitchen we choose is vegetarian. The road from Gangtok takes six hours through a valley still mending from the 2023 flood. Permits go through a registered operator, children must be over five to be issued them, and the Tung checkpost closes at 16:00. For the Yumthang meadow on an April morning, every one of those conditions is worth meeting, and a Taj spa waits for you on the way back down.

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

Length: 10 nights, 11 days
Starts and ends: Bagdogra airport to Bagdogra airport
Best months: April to May, October to November
Avoid: Mid June to September (monsoon), and late December to February, when snow can close the north road
Pace: Active
Longest drive: About 6 hours, 1,016 km in all
Highest point: Tsomgo Lake, 3,753 m
Group: Private, 2 to 6 guests

The route

Why Gangtok comes first

The north comes early, while legs are fresh, but not first. Tsomgo on day 2 shows how you take 3,753 m and gives our operator the working day the North Sikkim permit needs. Two nights in Lachung make Yumthang a calm morning, not a race against the checkpost. Returning through Gangtok restores your cases and a spa. The south is walking country at about 2,000 m, and Pelling closes the journey with three nights, because the mountain needs three dawns to be sure of one.

your bases, in orderby roadborders not drawn

Where the nights go

2Gangtok2Lachung1Gangtok2Ravangla3Pelling

Read the place guidesGangtok & East Sikkim Pelling & West Sikkim

The shape of the journey

From 126 m to 3,753 m, day by day

You sleep between 1,890 m and 2,650 m. The highest you go is 3,753 m, on day 2 at Tsomgo Lake, and you come down again to sleep.

1,000 m2,000 m3,000 m4,000 m 3,753 m3,564 m2,650 m2,600 m2,015 m

Arrive126 m
Day 11,890 m
Day 21,890 m
Day 32,650 m
Day 42,650 m
Day 51,890 m
Day 62,000 m
Day 72,000 m
Day 82,015 m
Day 92,015 m
Day 102,015 m
Day 11126 m

Built around

Gangtok, Lachung, Ravangla and Pelling at their best

Tsomgo Lake at 3,753 m on day 2, a test of the lungs before two nights in the north
The Yumthang meadow at 3,564 m by 07:45, ahead of the checkpost queue, with yaks and spring rhododendron
Kabi Lungchok and Chungthang: a sworn brotherhood in stone, and two rivers becoming the Teesta
Tendong on foot, the hill of the Lepcha flood story, with a tower view of the whole range
Rinchenpong's blue Ati Buddha and its poisoned lake, on a ridge in the far west
Three nights in a cottage with its own fire at the royal retreat of 1942 in Pelling

Day by day

Day by day, Gangtok to Pelling

The longest drive is day 3, Gangtok to Lachung, about 6 hours with stops.

01
Day 1 · Bagdogra airport Gangtok

Up NH10 and on into the Pangthang forest
- 138 km, about 5 h
- High point 1,890 m
- Sleep at 1,890 m
- Easy
At the Bagdogra arrivals exit your driver stands with a name board, then walks you across to a Sikkim-registered Innova Crysta loaded with water, a rug and lunch for the road. The first four and a half hours are NH10 up the Teesta, with the state line at Rangpo, where foreign guests show the e-FRRO permit. Near 17:00 you pass through Gangtok, and the car carries on 12 km beyond the town into the forest at Pangthang, to Taj Guras Kutir. Guras is Nepali for rhododendron, the tree Sikkim took as its emblem. Before dinner your guide sits with you for twenty minutes to collect photo IDs and two photographs each: tomorrow's Tsomgo permit and the North Sikkim permit, which needs a full working day, are both filed from them tonight by our registered Sikkim operator. Dinner at Machan, and bed early.

The momentThe car leaving Gangtok's lights for the dark of the Pangthang forest, and the house lit up at the end of the road.

InsiderChildren count as guests for the permits: each needs a passport or birth certificate and two photographs, and every set must be with the operator tonight.

If the weather turnsIf NH10 is blocked, we wait out a short clearance at Rangpo or take the Gorubathan diversion; when the state helicopter is flying, that becomes the third choice.

Tonight
Taj Guras Kutir Resort & Spa, Gangtok, Gangtok

Meals
Lunch, Dinner
02
Day 2 · Gangtok

Tsomgo at 3,753 m: a rehearsal for the north
- 93 km, about 4 h
- High point 3,753 m
- Sleep at 1,890 m
- Moderate
Breakfast boxes at 06:00, and at 06:15 you climb into a Sikkim-registered permit SUV, the only kind the rules allow on the lake road. By 08:45 you are at Tsomgo, 3,753 m. Treat the morning as a test rather than a sight: walk the shore at half your usual pace, notice who tires or feels the cold first, and tell your guide, who uses what he sees to pace the northern days. Drink water, eat something hot at a stall and leave within the hour. The morning shows how your body takes 3,753 m before you sleep at about 2,650 m in Lachung. Late lunch at the Taj at 13:00, then sleep. While you were up high, our operator was at the tourism office in Gangtok with your North Sikkim papers. At 18:00 your guide brings the issued permit, a soft bag for the north and a short list of what goes in it.

The momentA yak standing in the shallows at Tsomgo's edge, its bell the only sound before the day's jeeps crest the last bend.

InsiderTsomgo sits about 1,850 m above your bed at Pangthang. Climbing high and sleeping low tonight is the best rehearsal we know for Yumthang two days later.

If the weather turnsIf snow or the Army shuts the road at 3rd Mile, we turn back for Enchey's morning prayers and the Namgyal Institute museum, then an early night before the north.

Tonight
Taj Guras Kutir Resort & Spa, Gangtok, Gangtok

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
03
Day 3 · Gangtok Lachung

Six hours up the Teesta to Lachung
- 126 km, about 6 h
- High point 2,650 m
- Sleep at 2,650 m
- Moderate
Your large cases stay at the Taj; only the soft bag comes north. At 08:00 you leave in a Crysta from a registered Sikkim operator, as the protected area requires, with a driver who knows this road. At 08:30 stop at Kabi Lungchok, 17 km north of Gangtok, where stone pillars mark the blood brotherhood sworn by the Lepcha chief Thekong Tek and the Bhutia Khye Bumsa. Seven Sisters waterfall comes next, then Mangan, the district town, for tea near 10:45. Naga Falls lies 17 km on, and the Tung checkpost follows around 11:45. At 12:30 you reach Chungthang, where the Lachen and Lachung rivers meet to form the Teesta, and where the Teesta III dam was torn apart by the South Lhonak flood of October 2023. Lunch, then Bhim Nala falls, and Lachung by 14:30. Walk a little, drink water, eat early and skip alcohol tonight.

The momentThe confluence at Chungthang: two grey rivers, the Lachen and the Lachung, becoming the Teesta you met at Sevoke.

InsiderTung checkpost closes to all vehicles at 16:00, in both directions. That rule, not the scenery, sets every departure time in the north, so lunch is never long.

If the weather turnsIf the district suspends north permits after rain, as it did for months in 2025, we keep you at the Taj and give the days to Rumtek, Phodong and a third Ravangla night.

Tonight
Udaan Metho Pelri Resort, Lachung, Lachung

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
04
Day 4 · Lachung

Yumthang's meadow at 3,564 m, then Lachung on foot
- 48 km, about 3 h
- High point 3,564 m
- Sleep at 2,650 m
- Moderate
Tea at 05:45 and on the road at 06:15: the checkpost just beyond Lachung queues badly in season, and we want to be through it early. The road follows the Lachung Chu up through fir and larch, the one conifer here that drops its needles in winter. Around Yakse it runs into the Shingba Rhododendron Sanctuary, some 24 species over 43 sq km, in flower from March to May. By 07:45 you are on the Yumthang meadow at 3,564 m, with yaks grazing and peaks standing over the river. Walk slowly over the footbridge to the sulphur hot spring, where the water is led into a hut and small pools. Back in Lachung for lunch at 12:00, then an easy afternoon on foot with your guide: the village, Lachung Monastery of 1880 among its apple trees, and the weaving centre, open on weekdays until 16:00.

The momentA black yak cropping the grass on Yumthang's meadow, primulas at its feet and snow on every ridge above.

InsiderLachung governs itself through the Dzumsa, a village council under an elected Pipon that settles disputes by consensus. Ask your guide who holds the post this year.

If the weather turnsIf snow stops the Yumthang road short, we go as far as the Army allows, often into Shingba's rhododendron forest, and give the afternoon to the monastery and weavers.

Tonight
Udaan Metho Pelri Resort, Lachung, Lachung

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
05
Day 5 · Lachung Gangtok

Down the north road, and MG Marg before the Taj
- 135 km, about 6 h
- High point 2,650 m
- Sleep at 1,890 m
- Easy
Breakfast at 07:15 and away at 08:00, well ahead of the 16:00 rule at Tung. The road runs back down the Lachung Chu to Chungthang, where you may stop at Neydo, a rock said to carry Guru Rinpoche's handprints and footprints, with a spring still running from it. Lunch at Mangan around 11:45. Beyond Kabi the road climbs back towards Gangtok, and near 14:30 the car sets you down at the top of MG Marg, the car-free promenade at the heart of the town. Walk it end to end for an hour, buy nothing or everything, and meet the driver at the lower end. By 16:30 you are back at Pangthang, where your large case is already in the room and a 60-minute treatment at the J Wellness Circle spa is booked for 17:30. Dinner whenever you are ready.

The momentMG Marg in mid-afternoon after three days of rock and river: benches, shop windows and half of Gangtok strolling.

InsiderKabi Lungchok, which you pass again today, means the stone erected by our blood. Ritual prayers are still held there every year to remember the treaty of Thekong Tek and Khye Bumsa.

If the weather turnsIf a slide holds the road below Chungthang, we wait at Lachung, where the house keeps the room, and cross Tung once it clears; the Ravangla stay shortens, not the flight.

Tonight
Taj Guras Kutir Resort & Spa, Gangtok, Gangtok

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
06
Day 6 · Gangtok Ravangla

Temi's slopes, then the road to Ravangla
- 95 km, about 4 h
- High point 2,040 m
- Sleep at 2,000 m
- Easy
A slow breakfast; the car leaves at 09:00 and drops through Ranipool to the Teesta at Singtam, then climbs to Temi, about 53 km from Gangtok, the tea garden the last Chogyal set up in 1969. Stop for a cup at the garden counter and a walk along the upper rows with your guide; the factory rests through the winter from November. Lunch at 13:00 near the garden. At 14:30 you continue 22 km to Ravangla and down to Barfung, arriving by 15:30. The rest of the day is yours: a fire in the evening, dinner cooked by the family, and ten minutes with tomorrow's walking guide about pace, water, boots and the forecast for Tendong.

The momentA cup of Temi's top grade at the garden counter, poured with the bushes it came from just outside the window.

InsiderTemi's rows climb the lower slopes of Tendong, the hill you walk tomorrow. From the garden your guide can point out the ridge that the path follows to the top.

If the weather turnsIf the factory is closed for the season, we walk the rows and taste at the counter. In heavy rain we drive straight on to Ravangla and keep Temi for a clear hour.

Tonight
The Barfung Retreat, Ravangla

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
07
Day 7 · Ravangla

Up Tendong, the hill that saved the Lepchas
- 45 km, about 2 h
- High point 2,600 m
- Sleep at 2,000 m
- Active
At 07:00 the car takes you 12 km to Damthang, and your guide starts up the path to Tendong, about 6 km through reserve forest. Most walkers take two and a half to three hours at an easy pace. Lepcha tradition holds that when a great flood covered the land, their ancestors climbed this hill and it rose to keep them above the water. At about 2,600 m the top holds a small monastery built in 1955 with the royal family's help, where no monks live, and a tower of about 15 m with a view in every direction. Picnic at the top, then down by 14:00 and a rest. At 16:00 walk into Buddha Park in Ravangla and round the little Cho Djo lake, with the copper Buddha catching the evening light.

The momentThe top of Tendong's tower, ridges on every side, and your guide telling the Lepcha story of the hill that outgrew the flood.

InsiderEvery 8 August, Lepchas climb Tendong for Tendong Lho Rumfaat, a state holiday in a three-day Lepcha festival. On most other days you may have the summit tower almost to yourselves.

If the weather turnsIf rain sets in, we shorten the walk and spend the afternoon at Ralang, the Kagyu monastery of several hundred monks 10 km from Ravangla, and its older neighbour.

Tonight
The Barfung Retreat, Ravangla

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
08
Day 8 · Ravangla Pelling

Legship's river temple, and a cottage at Pelling
- 55 km, about 2.5 h
- High point 2,150 m
- Sleep at 2,015 m
- Easy
Leave Barfung at 09:00 and wind down past Kewzing to Legship on the Rangeet, 611 m, a junction town where roads from Gangtok, Jorethang, Yuksom and Gyalshing meet. Beside the river stands the Kirateshwar Mahadev temple, among the oldest Shiva temples in Sikkim, and a short stop there shows the Hindu side of a state you have so far seen through its monasteries. Climb through Gyalshing to Pelling and check in by 12:00 at The Elgin Mount Pandim, where a Premium Cottage is yours for three nights. Lunch, and a quiet hour. At 15:30 the car takes you the short way to Pemayangtse for half an hour in the halls that head Sikkim's Nyingma houses. From the gate on its road, a forest path of fifteen minutes leads to Rabdentse, the kingdom's capital from 1670 to 1814 and later broken by Gurkha armies: the royal family's wing stood at the north, the south held the stone throne where the king heard his people, and three royal chortens share one platform. Back for tea; the cottage fire is lit at dusk.

The momentThe Premium Cottage fire lit at dusk, and the Kanchenjunga range going from white to rose in the window.

InsiderPelling's taxi syndicate runs local sightseeing, so a Pelling car and driver take over tomorrow. Your own driver rests here, fresh for the long run to Bagdogra.

If the weather turnsIf cloud sits on the ridge all afternoon, we move Rabdentse to tomorrow's first hour and book the Mount Pandim spa instead.

Tonight
The Elgin Mount Pandim, Pelling

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
09
Day 9 · Pelling

Khecheopalri from above, then Yuksom
- 82 km, about 3.5 h
- High point 2,015 m
- Sleep at 2,015 m
- Moderate
A Pelling car collects you at 07:00, pausing at the Kanchenjunga Falls on the way out. By 08:15 you are at Khecheopalri, the lake in a bowl of forest held sacred by Buddhists and Hindus, before the stalls open. Instead of the jetty, take the path uphill for about an hour, some 1.5 km, to the small Khecheopalri monastery. From there the lake shows the outline it is known for, the shape of a left footprint. Down by 10:30 and on 21 km to Yuksom, 1,780 m, where Sikkim's first king was crowned and where the Goecha La trail begins. See the stone throne at Norbugang, then eat at 12:30 in a family kitchen in the village. On the road back, stop by the Rimbi river among orange orchards, and reach the cottage by 16:00 for tea.

The momentKhecheopalri seen from the monastery path above it, the whole lake drawn in the forest as a left footprint.

InsiderKathok Lake, a two-minute walk from Norbugang, gave the water for the first Chogyal's anointing. It is small, easy to miss, and worth the detour.

If the weather turnsIf rain turns the monastery path to mud, we keep to the lake's covered jetty and add the Sewaro Rock Garden by the Rimbi on the way home.

Tonight
The Elgin Mount Pandim, Pelling

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
10
Day 10 · Pelling

Rinchenpong: a poisoned lake and a blue Buddha
- 64 km, about 3 h
- High point 2,015 m
- Sleep at 2,015 m
- Moderate
If the sky was clear at bedtime, set the alarm for 05:20: the cottage balcony faces the range, and from October to December first light is its clearest hour. Breakfast at 08:00, and at 09:00 a Pelling car drives you about 31 km south to Rinchenpong, 1,700 m, in Sikkim's far west. From the bazaar a trail forks left to Bis Pokhari, the poisoned lake: local tradition says the Lepchas poisoned it to halt a British force, and people here say it has been unsafe ever since. Beyond it, through maize fields and up stone steps, stands Rinchenpong Monastery, founded in 1730, which keeps a rare blue image of the Ati Buddha; photographs inside are no longer allowed. Lunch at Kaluk with the Kanchenjunga range across the valley. Back at the cottage by 15:30 for the last afternoon: a massage, a walk, or nothing. Farewell dinner at your own table by the fire.

The momentThe blue Ati Buddha of Rinchenpong in the dim hall at the top of the stone steps, after the walk through the maize.

InsiderRinchenpong's Ati Buddha shows the primordial Buddha naked and blue, embracing his consort: a teaching on union, not a scandal. Your guide explains before you go in.

If the weather turnsIf cloud covers the western ridges, we keep the monastery and the lake, which need no view, and trade the Kaluk viewpoint for a longer lunch at the cottage.

Tonight
The Elgin Mount Pandim, Pelling

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
11
Day 11 · Pelling Bagdogra airport

Down the Rangeet road to the plains
- 135 km, about 5.5 h
- High point 2,015 m
- Easy
Your bags were collected last night, and tea arrives at 05:30 with a packed breakfast for the car. At 06:00 your own driver, rested for this, takes you down through Gyalshing to Legship and along the Rangeet to Jorethang, then on to Melli, near where the Rangeet gives itself to the Teesta and Sikkim ends. Foreign guests keep the e-FRRO permit to hand for the exit post. NH10 then follows the Teesta through its gorge to Sevoke and out onto the plains, and Siliguri's traffic is the last obstacle before Bagdogra, which you reach between 11:30 and 12:00. Flights from 14:00 are safe from here; the midday ones are not. In eleven days you have driven about 1,000 km and climbed from 126 m to 3,753 m and back.

The momentCounting the journey's rivers on the way down: the Rangeet, the Teesta, and last of all the Mahananda at Siliguri.

InsiderBagdogra is an Air Force station with a civil terminal: ID and ticket are checked at the door, so keep both in hand from the car rather than in a bag.

If the weather turnsWhen the Teesta road is blocked, the fallback climbs from Jorethang over the Darjeeling ridge and down through Kurseong; it needs a 05:15 start, decided by 04:45.

Tonight
Homeward

Meals
Breakfast

Where you will stay

Where you sleep, four houses

Taj Guras Kutir Resort & Spa, Gangtok, Udaan Metho Pelri Resort, Lachung, The Barfung Retreat and The Elgin Mount Pandim. Prefer a different house on any night? Say which and we re-price it.

The Bakthang falls on the road north out of Gangtok.Gaurav Purohit / Pexels

3 nights

Taj Guras Kutir Resort & Spa, Gangtok

Gangtok

Sixty-nine rooms in the Pangthang forest north of town, with a spa: calm before the north, and your cases kept safe while you are away.

Ask for A Deluxe Room Himalayan View, 45 sq m, twin or king; we confirm at booking that its window faces the range
The Yumthang valley above Lachung, the morning drive from the resort.Ayush Paul / Pexels

2 nights

Udaan Metho Pelri Resort, Lachung

Lachung

New, riverside and heated, with a generator and a pure vegetarian kitchen that cooks Jain on request. Simple by city standards.

Ask for A mountain-view room with a balcony; heaters and extra quilts confirmed the day before
The snows above the Ravangla hills, the range this side of Sikkim looks to.Subhrajyoti Paul / Pexels

2 nights

The Barfung Retreat

Ravangla

A family-run house of cottages below Ravangla, with home cooking and an evening fire: the right quiet between the north and the west.

Ask for A Deluxe or Super-Deluxe room with heaters booked ahead; the Suite for more space
The lawn at Mount Pandim, looking into the cloud on the Pelling ridge.flowcomm, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

3 nights

The Elgin Mount Pandim

Pelling

Three nights in one room to end eleven days: a cottage with a fireplace and its own dining table at the royal retreat of 1942.

Ask for A Premium Cottage: balcony to the range, fire lit at dusk, heated through the winter

Price and what it covers

from₹2,25,000

per person, twin share. How our prices are built

About £1,750 or US$2,340 at the rates of 19 September 2026.

Price my dates

Less time?The First Time: Darjeeling and Sikkim8 nights More time?Two Kingdoms: Sikkim to Bhutan by Road11 nights

Included

Your own Sikkim-plated Innova Crysta, or a car like it, and a hill driver for the road days linking Bagdogra, Gangtok, Ravangla and Pelling, with fuel, tolls, parking and allowances covered
A Sikkim-registered permit SUV for Tsomgo, and a Crysta from a registered Sikkim operator for the three North Sikkim days, as protected-area rules require
Pelling taxi-syndicate cars for the local days 9 and 10
Ten nights with the meals named: Taj Guras Kutir (3, breakfast and dinner), Udaan Metho Pelri (2, all meals), The Barfung Retreat (2, breakfast and dinner), The Elgin Mount Pandim (3, breakfast and dinner)
Lunch every day from day 1 to day 10
The Tsomgo protected-area permit and the North Sikkim Protected Area Permit for Lachung and Yumthang, filed by our registered operator, fees paid
Licensed guides for Tsomgo, the three northern days, the Tendong walk and the three Pelling days
Sikkim's ₹50 tourist fee, the Temi garden visit, Buddha Park, Pemayangtse and Rabdentse
One 60-minute treatment each at the Taj's J Wellness Circle spa on day 5
An oxygen canister, blankets and water in the car on the Tsomgo and northern days, and a soft bag for Lachung while your cases stay at the Taj
The e-FRRO filing of Sikkim's permit for foreign and OCI guests, a name board at the Bagdogra arrivals exit, and our 24x7 line for all eleven days

Not included

Flights to and from Bagdogra
Travel insurance, which must cover altitudes up to 3,800 m, or about 4,500 m if you add Nathu La
Zero Point and Nathu La, both optional supplements
Tips for drivers and guides
Drinks, laundry and further spa treatments
Coat, boot and yak hire at the Tsomgo and Yumthang stalls
The helicopter from Bagdogra, optional

Make it more Arranged on request, priced in your quote

Zero Point, for fit Indian adultsYumesamdong, about 4,660 m, 23 km past Yumthang. Extra vehicle cost, and we turn back at the first headache.
Nathu La on the Tsomgo dayIndian passports only, never on Monday or Tuesday: the 4,310 m pass added to day 2, permit filed the evening before.
Maenam Hill instead of TendongA full-day climb from Ravangla of about 9 km to around 3,050 m, four hours up, on a Home Department permit.
A night in Dzongu, Indian passports onlyThe Lepcha reserve across the Teesta from Mangan: a homestay night with a Lepcha family in a village such as Lingthem or Passingdong, on a permit from the Sub-Divisional Magistrate's office in Mangan, checked at Sankalang.

Before you go

Before you go on this route

Choose another journey ifIf you want five-star rooms every night or cannot manage a morning at 3,564 m, choose Monasteries of the East, which never goes above 2,150 m.

Indian guests: the North Sikkim and Tsomgo permits take a passport, voter ID or driving licence, never Aadhaar, and two photographs each. Bring the originals of the scans you sent us.
Foreign and OCI guests: apply for the Sikkim permit on e-FRRO about 30 days before you arrive in the state; /plan/permits-and-visas/ has the full rule. The north's protected areas take foreign guests only in twos or more, Nathu La is closed to you, and sources disagree on Zero Point.
Children: permits for Tsomgo and the north go only to children over five, and we suggest this journey for children over eight.
Altitude: two mornings go above 3,500 m, Tsomgo on day 2 and Yumthang on day 4, and you sleep two nights at about 2,650 m. Skip alcohol on the first Lachung night; our general rules are at /plan/before-you-travel/#altitude-rules.
Clothing: Lachung is cold at night in every month we run it. Bring a down jacket, thermals, a warm hat, gloves and shoes with grip, with lighter layers for Ravangla and Pelling.
Luggage: pack one soft bag for Lachung. Your main cases stay at the Taj from the morning of day 3 to the evening of day 5.
Money and signal: do not count on a working ATM north of Mangan, so carry cash for stalls and small tips. Mobile signal is weak north of Mangan and comes and goes in West Sikkim.
Tipping: most guests thank the northern crew in Lachung and the rest at the end; suggested ranges are at /plan/before-you-travel/#tipping.

Questions

Five questions about Sikkim, End to End

Ask on WhatsApp

What if the north road closes before or during our trip?

The district can suspend North Sikkim permits at a day's notice when rain brings slides, as it did for about four months in 2025; Lachung and Yumthang were open in September 2026. We check road and permit status the evening before you drive north. If the north shuts first, your cases stay at the Taj and the days go to Rumtek, Phodong and a third Ravangla night. If it shuts while you are in Lachung, you wait there for Tung to reopen, and the Ravangla stay shortens, not the flight.

How hard are the two days above 3,500 m?

Harder on the lungs than on the legs. Neither morning asks for a climb on foot: at the lake and on the Yumthang meadow you walk slowly on the level for about an hour, at 3,753 m and 3,564 m, then sleep lower, at about 1,890 m and 2,650 m. The tiring part is the road, about six hours in the car on days 3 and 5. Guests with heart or lung trouble, or who are pregnant, should talk to their doctor before booking.

Are the Lachung rooms good enough for two nights?

For two nights, yes, if you know what to expect. Even the best-reviewed lodges rely on room heaters, switch to generators when the power fails and serve set meals. We book Udaan Metho Pelri, a new riverside resort with balconies and a pure vegetarian kitchen that cooks Jain on request; guests who want meat can stay at Yarlam Resort instead. The Taj before and the Pelling cottage after are there to balance them.

Is this journey better in April or in October?

April and May are for flowers: the Shingba sanctuary around Yakse blooms from about March to May, with primulas, iris and poppies on the Yumthang meadow until the monsoon. October and November trade flowers for clearer skies, autumn colour and the best odds of a clear Kanchenjunga dawn in Pelling. Avoid late December to February, when snow can close the north road, and the monsoon months.

Is ten nights too much for children of eight to twelve?

Not for most active children, but weigh three things. Days 3 and 5 each bring about six hours in the car, the Tendong walk is 6 km uphill for two and a half to three hours, and the Lachung kitchen is vegetarian. Tsomgo and North Sikkim permits are issued only to children over five, and we suggest this journey from eight. For younger children, Sikkim for Families keeps the drives shorter and the beds lower.

Sources we checked for this itinerary (45)

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

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Sikkim, End to End, shaped around you

At its best April to May, October to November. Tell us your month and who is travelling, and we reply within 24 hours with this journey priced for your dates.

Length: 10 nights
From: ₹2,25,000 per person
At its best: April to May, October to November
Bases: Gangtok, Lachung, Ravangla, Pelling

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AboutSikkim, End to End, 10 nights

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Places you have in mindDarjeeling, Kalimpong, Gangtok, Pelling, Bhutan, Nepal

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Sikkim, End to End

Is Sikkim, End to End right for you?

Why Gangtok comes first

From 126 m to 3,753 m, day by day

Gangtok, Lachung, Ravangla and Pelling at their best

Day by day, Gangtok to Pelling

Up NH10 and on into the Pangthang forest

Tsomgo at 3,753 m: a rehearsal for the north

Six hours up the Teesta to Lachung

Yumthang's meadow at 3,564 m, then Lachung on foot

Down the north road, and MG Marg before the Taj

Temi's slopes, then the road to Ravangla

Up Tendong, the hill that saved the Lepchas

Legship's river temple, and a cottage at Pelling

Khecheopalri from above, then Yuksom

Rinchenpong: a poisoned lake and a blue Buddha

Down the Rangeet road to the plains

Where you sleep, four houses

Taj Guras Kutir Resort & Spa, Gangtok

Udaan Metho Pelri Resort, Lachung

The Barfung Retreat

The Elgin Mount Pandim

Included

Not included

Make it more Arranged on request, priced in your quote

Before you go on this route

Five questions about Sikkim, End to End

Also through Gangtok and Lachung

Monasteries of the East

Goecha La, Privately

The Old Silk Route

Sikkim, End to End, shaped around you