Darjeeling Winter Honeymoon: Glenburn and Pelling, 5 Nights

In short

Is Tea and Snow: A Winter Honeymoon right for you?

Tea and Snow is a private five-night winter honeymoon from Bagdogra airport (IXB), run only from December to February. You spend three nights at Glenburn Tea Estate in the Rangeet valley below Darjeeling, then two in a Premium Cottage at The Elgin Mount Pandim in Pelling, West Sikkim, with its own fire and Kanchenjunga across the valley.

Made forhoneymooners and couples marking an anniversary, travellers who want one good thing a day, anyone who wants the mountain without the crowds and guests who enjoy cold, clear nights by a fire.

Not for you ifyou want sightseeing every day or warm evenings outdoors, travel in spring or autumn on A Himalayan Honeymoon instead; anyone who dreads a long final drive should add a night nearer Bagdogra.

Winter is when these hills empty and the air turns dry, and on most mornings Kanchenjunga stands sharp from first light. What you give up is warmth, and old houses feel every degree of the cold, so this journey is built around fires, electric blankets, deep baths and two houses that know how to keep a winter guest comfortable.

Glenburn in winter is a working estate at rest. Its bungalows sit at about 900 m, far below Darjeeling and noticeably milder, the pluckers are gone from the rows, and the pruning gangs are shaping next spring's first flush. In Pelling your cottage has a fireplace lit only in these months and a table for two set beside it. The snow is on the mountain, not on your lawn, and we would rather tell you that now.

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

Length: 5 nights, 6 days
Starts and ends: Bagdogra airport to Bagdogra airport
Best months: December to February
Avoid: March to November: this journey runs December to February only; for spring or autumn, choose A Himalayan Honeymoon
Pace: Gentle
Longest drive: About 5.5 hours, 350 km in all
Highest point: Pelling ridge, 2,150 m
Group: Private, for two

The route

Why Glenburn Tea Estate comes first

Glenburn comes first because it is three hours from Bagdogra, so a midday landing still puts you on the verandah before dark, and its lower, warmer valley eases you into the hills. Pelling comes last because it has the closest view of Kanchenjunga, and the final dawn from your cottage is the one you carry home. The cost is a longer last drive, about five and a half hours to Bagdogra, which is why we ask you to book a flight after 14:00.

your bases, in orderby roadborders not drawn

Where the nights go

3Glenburn Tea Estate2Pelling

Read the place guidesDarjeeling Pelling & West Sikkim

The shape of the journey

From 126 m to 2,150 m, day by day

You sleep between 910 m and 2,015 m. The highest you go is 2,150 m, on day 5 at Pelling ridge, and you come down again to sleep.

500 m1,000 m1,500 m2,000 m 1,370 m1,200 m2,015 m

Arrive126 m
Day 1910 m
Day 2910 m
Day 3910 m
Day 42,015 m
Day 52,015 m
Day 6126 m

Built around

Glenburn Tea Estate and Pelling at their best

Three nights in a planter's bungalow at about 900 m, milder than Darjeeling, facing the range
A silent winter factory explained machine by machine, then a lesson in pruning among the resting bushes
A picnic for two at Ramitay Daara, high in the tea above the bungalows, facing the Kanchenjunga range
A Pelling cottage with its fire lit in winter and a private dining table for two
Thee and supper at a Limbu hearth in Darap village, below Pelling

Day by day

Day by day, Glenburn Tea Estate to Pelling

The longest drive is day 6, Pelling to Bagdogra airport, about 5.5 hours with stops.

01
Day 1 · Bagdogra airport Glenburn Tea Estate

The Teesta road to a planter's bungalow
- 85 km, about 3 h
- High point 1,370 m
- Sleep at 910 m
- Easy
Your driver meets you at the Bagdogra arrivals exit with a blanket folded on the back seat, because the car climbs out of warm plains into a winter evening. It is about 85 km and three hours to the estate, the last stretch on Glenburn's own rough track. Land by midday and you reach the Water Lily Bungalow around 16:00, in time for the one event of a December afternoon here: the sun sets near 16:45, and the snows across the valley go pink, then grey, while tea is poured on the verandah. The electric blanket is on and a hot-water bottle waits in the bed, asked for before you landed. Dinner is by candlelight in the Dining Room of the Burra Bungalow, served between 19:30 and 21:30, with a log fire in the living room next door, and nobody expects you at breakfast before 11:00.

The momentTea on the Water Lily verandah while the snows turn pink, then grey, in the last light of your first day.

InsiderTwo of Glenburn's eight suites have fireplaces of their own. The estate does not say which, so we ask when we book and request one; the living-room fires burn for everyone.

If the weather turnsIf a slide shuts the Teesta road, we come up through the Dooars and Kurseong instead, about an hour longer, and the estate keeps dinner back for you.

Tonight
Glenburn Tea Estate, Glenburn Tea Estate

Meals
Dinner
02
Day 2 · Glenburn Tea Estate

A silent factory, four teas and lunch on your balcony
- 5 km, about 0.5 h
- High point 910 m
- Sleep at 910 m
- Easy
No alarm today. Breakfast runs until 11:00 in the Morning Room, where the winter sun reaches the table early. At 10:30 a senior guide walks you through the factory, which from December to early February stands silent: rollers still, withering troughs empty. With no leaf coming in, he stops at each machine and explains its part, far easier to follow than a factory in full roar. Then out into the sections, where the real winter work is going on. The pruning gangs are cutting the bushes back so they rest now and push out strong shoots in late February, and the estate uses different kinds of pruning from section to section to raise the coming season's yield. Your guide shows you where each cut goes and what it does to the spring flush. The tasting follows, four styles from the same slopes, each wet leaf turned onto its lid for you to smell before you sip. Lunch is on your own balcony, in the sun, facing the range. At 16:00 the massage room in the Water Lily Bungalow is yours for an hour, then a book by the Burra Bungalow fire until dinner.

The momentFour teas cooling in white cups in the tasting room, pale gold to deep amber, while the pruned bushes rest outside.

InsiderLate February can bring the year's first plucking. If your dates can move, we ask the estate how the new shoots look before you book.

If the weather turnsOn a wet day the pruning lesson moves under the factory eaves, lunch comes to the fire in the Burra Bungalow's living room, and the massage moves earlier.

Tonight
Glenburn Tea Estate, Glenburn Tea Estate

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
03
Day 3 · Glenburn Tea Estate

A winter picnic at Ramitay Daara
- 6 km, about 0.5 h
- High point 1,200 m
- Sleep at 910 m
- Moderate
Bed tea at 07:30, breakfast at 08:30, no hurry. At 09:30 an estate guide walks you out past the factory, through the villages of Bora Gaon and Bhalukop, and up into the tea. The track climbs for about an hour and a half but is never steep, and the guide sets a pace you can talk at. If either of you would rather ride part of the way, we ask the estate to send the jeep. Ramitay Daara is a quiet shelf among the tea fields high above the bungalows, and on a clear winter morning the Kanchenjunga range stands across the valleys with nothing in front of it. A rug, cushions and a picnic are laid out for two: soup in a flask, sandwiches, fruit from the estate. The walk back down takes about 45 minutes. The afternoon is a long bath and a nap. After dark we ask the estate for a table for two by a bonfire in the garden, under a dry winter sky.

The momentA rug among the pruned bushes at Ramitay Daara, soup from a flask, and the whole range laid out across the valleys.

InsiderWalk up in layers you can peel off. The climb warms you fast, but the picnic means an hour sitting still in open air, so the down jacket rides up in the hamper.

If the weather turnsIf cloud hides the range, we swap this day with day 2 when the forecast allows, or take the afternoon path to Shikari Dura village instead, with the car back up.

Tonight
Glenburn Tea Estate, Glenburn Tea Estate

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
04
Day 4 · Glenburn Tea Estate Pelling

Into Sikkim at Melli, up to a cottage with a fire
- 94 km, about 4 h
- High point 2,085 m
- Sleep at 2,015 m
- Easy
Breakfast in the sun, then the car at 10:00 with your own driver. The four-hour, 94 km run drops to the Teesta, crosses the state line at Melli, where the printed permits of foreign guests are checked, and climbs the Rangeet valley by Jorethang and Legship to the Pelling ridge. The Elgin Mount Pandim receives you near 14:00 for a late lunch, and your Premium Cottage is ready: Burma teak floors, a king-sized bed, a balcony facing the mountains, and a fireplace the house lights only in winter. An electric heater and hot-water bottles back it up, because Pelling's nights fall close to freezing. At dusk the Singalila range turns blue across the valley. Dinner is served at the private dining table in your cottage, with the fire going.

The momentDinner at the table in your own cottage, the fire going and the ridge outside gone dark and silent.

InsiderTravel around 14 January and Jorethang keeps its Maghe Sankranti fair by the river, a custom since 1961. We stop for an hour if you would like.

If the weather turnsIf a slide closes the river road, we route through Darjeeling and down by Singla to Jorethang. It adds time, so the estate packs you a picnic lunch.

Tonight
The Elgin Mount Pandim, Pelling

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
05
Day 5 · Pelling

Butter lamps, glass over the valley, thee at Darap
- 25 km, about 1.5 h
- High point 2,150 m
- Sleep at 2,015 m
- Easy
If you left the curtains open, you wake to it: around 06:00 in winter the summits of Kanchenjunga take the first light while the valleys stay blue. Watch from the bed and ring for tea. Breakfast comes to the cottage at 08:00. At 09:30 you walk the few minutes to Pemayangtse, where we have asked ahead whether the two of you may light butter lamps together in the main hall. At 11:00 a Pelling car, booked through the local syndicate because outside cars may not do sightseeing here, takes you to the Chenrezig statue and its glass skywalk, opened in 2018. Lunch, then the afternoon by your fire or in the Elgin's spa. At 17:30 the car drops about 8 km to Darap, a Limbu village at 1,800 m, where a household we ask ahead welcomes you into its khim, the Limbu house, pours thee, the warm millet brew, into a bamboo tongba, and serves supper by the hearth. Back by 20:30.

The momentThee steaming in its bamboo tongba by a Limbu hearth in Darap, topped up with hot water before you can refuse.

InsiderAround 14 January, Limbu families keep Kok Phekwa Tumyen, their new year. If your dates fall then, we ask the Darap household well ahead whether the evening suits them.

If the weather turnsIf the sky is grey, the skywalk waits for a clear hour or is dropped. The Darap evening happens in any weather, with tea for anyone who does not drink.

Tonight
The Elgin Mount Pandim, Pelling

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
06
Day 6 · Pelling Bagdogra airport

One last dawn, then the long road to Bagdogra
- 135 km, about 5.5 h
- High point 2,015 m
- Easy
The alarm goes at 05:50, the one early morning of the journey, so you can watch Kanchenjunga take the light a last time from the balcony. Breakfast at 06:30. Your own driver, who stayed in Pelling for this, has the car loaded by 07:00. The road loses some 1,800 m in its first half, down to the Rangeet and out of Sikkim at Melli, and reaches Bagdogra at about 12:30, in time for a flight after 14:00. The Elgin's kitchen packs a flask of tea and something warm for the road. Last night your driver checked NH10 and the Rangeet road with the police and the Pelling drivers, and he checks again at 05:30. Whatever you bought in Pelling went into the boot last night, so the back seat is yours. Our team keeps in touch with your driver the whole way down the valleys.

The momentKanchenjunga taking the light one last time from your balcony, a cup of tea going cold in your hands.

InsiderIf you bought a packet of the Glenburn tea you liked best, hand it to the Elgin's kitchen the night before and ask for the road flask to be brewed from it.

If the weather turnsIf NH10 is shut, we come down through Jorethang and Darjeeling instead, leaving at 05:30 after an early breakfast, and tell you the evening before.

Tonight
Homeward

Meals
Breakfast

Where you will stay

Where you sleep, two houses

Glenburn Tea Estate and The Elgin Mount Pandim. Prefer a different house on any night? Say which and we re-price it.

The Burra Bungalow at Glenburn, with the lawn laid for tea.A. J. T. Johnsingh, WWF-India and NCF, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

3 nights
Glenburn Tea Estate

Glenburn Tea Estate

A working estate with eight suites in two planters' bungalows at about 900 m, milder than Darjeeling, every meal included.

Ask for A Water Lily Bungalow suite for the direct mountain view; two of the suites have fireplaces, so ask
- WarmthTwo of the four suites in the Burra Bungalow have fireplaces.
- BathroomThree of the four Burra Bungalow bathrooms have free standing bathtubs and all four have a walk in rain shower; the Water Lily Bungalow bathrooms have antique free standing bathtubs.
The lawn at Mount Pandim, looking into the cloud on the Pelling ridge.flowcomm, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

2 nights

The Elgin Mount Pandim

Pelling

A royal retreat of 1942 beside Pemayangtse, heated in winter, with cottages that keep their own fire and dining table.

Ask for A Premium Cottage: balcony facing the mountains, fireplace lit in winter, private dining table

Price and what it covers

from₹1,70,000

per person, twin share; Glenburn's Christmas and New Year supplements are extra. How our prices are built

About £1,330 or US$1,770 at the rates of 19 September 2026.

Price my dates

Less time?Stillness at Dhulikhel4 nights More time?A Himalayan Honeymoon7 nights

Included

Three nights at Glenburn Tea Estate with all meals, snacks, soft drinks, laundry, the tea experience, tastings and guided walks
Two nights in a Premium Cottage at The Elgin Mount Pandim with breakfast, lunch and dinner
Your driver from the hills and an Innova Crysta or similar for the three road days: to Glenburn, on to Pelling, and down to Bagdogra
A Sikkim-registered car for the Pelling day, as the state's rules require
The walk to Ramitay Daara with an estate guide, and the picnic laid for two
One massage each in the Water Lily Bungalow
A guide in Pelling, with Pemayangtse and skywalk entry
The Darap evening: thee, supper and the household's hosting
For foreign and OCI guests, the online Sikkim permit for the Pelling nights, filed and printed
A driver at the Bagdogra arrivals exit, and a designer from the hills on call 24x7 while you travel

Not included

Flights to and from Bagdogra
Travel and medical insurance
Alcohol at Glenburn and at the Elgin
Glenburn's Christmas and New Year supplements, and any festive charges at the Elgin
Spa treatments at the Elgin, fishing and toy train tickets
Tips for estate staff, drivers and guides
Personal shopping and anything not listed as included

Make it more Arranged on request, priced in your quote

A day in Darjeeling townSeventy-five minutes up the hill: Glenary's for lunch, Das Studio's old photographs, the Mall, a tin of tea to take home.
Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve at GlenburnA four-course Christmas Eve dinner with wine, or cocktails round the bonfire and fireworks at midnight. Supplements apply.
A night at the river lodgeGlenburn's two-room lodge above the river: lanterns, dinner by the water, tea in bed. Cold taps, hot water by the bucket.
Pemayangtse's masked dancesAt the end of the Tibetan year, usually February, the monks dance cham in the courtyard. We plan your Pelling nights around it.

Before you go

Before you go on this route

Choose another journey ifIf you want sightseeing every day or warm evenings outdoors, travel in spring or autumn on A Himalayan Honeymoon instead; anyone who dreads a long final drive should add a night nearer Bagdogra.

Papers: Indian guests carry one original photo ID each, checked again at Melli. Foreign and OCI guests need an Indian visa and, for the two Pelling nights, the Sikkim permit, which we file online about 30 days before you cross; the detail is on /plan/permits-and-visas/.
Clothing for two climates: Glenburn's nights stay above 7 °C by the estate's own account, while Pelling's drop to between 1 and 3 °C, with bright days of 11 to 13 °C. Pack a down jacket, thermals, a warm hat, gloves, woollen socks, soft shoes for cold floors, and walking shoes with grip for the tea tracks.
Altitude: you sleep at about 900 m on the estate and about 2,015 m at Pelling, below the 2,150 m ridge. No acclimatisation is needed; the cold, not the height, is what you will notice.
Celebrations and food: tell us what you are marking and how you eat. We pass it to both houses quietly, and Glenburn plans its menus around each guest's preferences.
Money: both houses take cards. Keep some cash for butter lamps and offerings at Pemayangtse, and for a small gift to the Darap household if you would like to leave one.
Phones: Glenburn says mobile reception is good on the estate, with Wi-Fi in some rooms only, and the river valleys on the way to Pelling have gaps. Visitors from abroad do best with an Indian eSIM set up before they fly.
Your last day: book a flight that leaves Bagdogra after 14:00, because the drive from Pelling takes 5 to 6 hours.
Tipping is yours to decide; if you would like a figure for the estate staff, the Elgin team and your driver, the ranges are on /plan/before-you-travel/#tipping.

Questions

Six questions about Tea and Snow: A Winter Honeymoon

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Why does Tea and Snow run only from December to February?

Because this is when the pieces fit. December is the driest month on these ridges and the mountain is usually out at first light; October's crowds have gone home; Glenburn's nights stay above 7 °C while the estate is at its most private; and the Elgin lights its cottage fires only in winter. The price of all that is cold nights at Pelling and bare tea bushes. In spring or autumn, A Himalayan Honeymoon suits better.

Where is the nearest snow underfoot?

Not on this journey. You will see snow on Kanchenjunga on most clear mornings, but it is uncommon in Darjeeling town, does not reach Glenburn, and we would not promise it at Pelling. The nearest reliable snow is on the high road east of Gangtok, where Tsomgo Lake, 3,753 m, freezes in January. Gangtok and the High Lake goes there, though snow can close the road beyond the lake.

How warm will our rooms be at night?

Warm, with some help. Glenburn's suites have electric blankets and hot-water bottles, log fires burn in the Burra Bungalow's living room, and two suites have fireplaces of their own, which we ask for. At the Elgin, the Premium Cottage has a fireplace lit in winter, an electric heater and hot-water bags. What stays cold is the air outside: verandahs cool fast after sunset, and Pelling nights fall to between 1 and 3 °C.

Can we see tea being plucked in winter?

No. Plucking stops in December and restarts with the first flush in late February. What you see instead is the work that shapes the spring: the pruning gangs in the sections, a factory explained machine by machine while it stands still, and a full tasting. If watching the pluckers matters to you, travel in the last week of February, when the first shoots may be ready; we ask the estate before you book.

Tea and Snow or A Himalayan Honeymoon?

A Himalayan Honeymoon is the longer and milder choice: seven nights between October and April, moving from Glenburn to the MAYFAIR in Kalimpong, where your room has its own fire, and on to Taj Guras Kutir above Gangtok. Tea and Snow is shorter, runs only in winter, and ends facing Kanchenjunga at Pelling. Choose it for five quiet nights and the clearest skies; choose the honeymoon for more places and warmer evenings.

Are there any early starts or long walks?

One of each, and both are gentle. The single alarm is at 05:50 on the last morning, so you can watch Kanchenjunga take the light before the drive. The walk to Ramitay Daara on day 3 climbs for about an hour and a half on a track that is never steep, with the estate's jeep on call for part of the way, and takes 45 minutes down. Everything else starts after breakfast, which Glenburn serves until 11:00.

Sources we checked for this itinerary (34)

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

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Tea and Snow: A Winter Honeymoon

Is Tea and Snow: A Winter Honeymoon right for you?

Why Glenburn Tea Estate comes first

From 126 m to 2,150 m, day by day

Glenburn Tea Estate and Pelling at their best

Day by day, Glenburn Tea Estate to Pelling

The Teesta road to a planter's bungalow

A silent factory, four teas and lunch on your balcony

A winter picnic at Ramitay Daara

Into Sikkim at Melli, up to a cottage with a fire

Butter lamps, glass over the valley, thee at Darap

One last dawn, then the long road to Bagdogra