Siliguri and Darjeeling Travel Guide: the Toy Train, Tiger Hill, Kalimpong and Flights to Bagdogra
Siliguri and Darjeeling are in West Bengal, and the airport for both is Bagdogra Airport (IXB), which has a Siliguri postal address. Incredible India, the Ministry of Tourism's website, says Siliguri is famous for tea, timber and tourism, and calls it the starting point for journeys to Darjeeling and Sikkim. The city's name means "a stack of pebbles", after the boulders on the banks of the Mahananda River.
The Darjeeling district administration calls Darjeeling the "Queen of the Hills". Incredible India describes a town among tea plantations, with colonial-era architecture and Tibetan monasteries, and its sights include the toy train, the sunrise over Kanchenjunga from Tiger Hill, and the tea estates.
The district administration names Bagdogra, 90 km away by National Highway 110, as the nearest airport to Darjeeling. Kalimpong, a district of its own since 14 February 2017, and Kurseong and Mirik are covered under side trips below.
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) lists the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway as part of the "Mountain Railways of India" World Heritage Site. UNESCO's description gives the line as 88.48 kilometres of 2-foot (0.610 metre) gauge track connecting New Jalpaiguri with Darjeeling, passing through Ghoom at an altitude of 2,258 metres. It names six zigzag reverses and three loops on the climb, with a ruling gradient of 1:31, and says the owner is the Railway Ministry of the Indian Government.
Incredible India dates the railway to 1881 and calls it the "Toy Train". UNESCO says the remaining original engines, including the famous B-class steam engines, have been maintained.
UNESCO's text on the three Mountain Railways says their tracks have been "regularly disturbed by monsoon rain, landslides and rock-falls" during the history of the railways' operation. Check with Indian Railways whether and when the train runs before you plan a day around it.
What to see in Darjeeling
Tiger Hill and Observatory Hill
Tiger Hill is at an elevation of 2,590 metres, 13 km from Darjeeling, and is a place to watch the sunrise over Kanchenjunga, according to Incredible India. Observatory Hill is above Chowrasta Square, with Hindu and Buddhist temples. The same page lists Mall Road and the Hong Kong Market.
Himalayan Mountaineering Institute
The district administration says the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute was founded on 4 November 1954 by the first Prime Minister, to commemorate the first successful ascent of Mount Everest by Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary. The Institute's own website says its museum was established in 1957 and has three sections: Mountaineering History, Mount Everest Expedition, and A Panorama of Himalayan Life.
The zoo and Lloyd Botanical Garden
The district administration says a zoo was established on 14 August 1958 in the Birch Hill neighbourhood of Darjeeling. It names the park the Padmaja Naidu Zoological Park, says it was renamed after Padmaja Naidu in 1975, and says it was transferred to the West Bengal Department of Forests in May 1993. Lloyd Botanical Garden was established in 1878, and Incredible India says it is spread across 40 acres.
Tea estates and Darjeeling tea
Happy Valley Tea Estate is on both the district's list of places to visit and Incredible India's, and Incredible India traces the estate's history back to 1854. India's Tea Board says it administers all tea produced in India's tea-growing areas, Darjeeling included, under the Tea Act, 1953. The Board developed a Darjeeling logo to authenticate tea of Darjeeling origin.
More places on the district's list
The district administration's list of tourist places, last updated in September 2020, also names the Bhutia Busti Monastery, Dhirdham Temple, St. Andrew's Church, the Ava Art Gallery and the Tibetan Refugee Self-Help Centre at Lebong. The list gives Lebong Cart Road as the site of the Tenzing and Gombu rocks. Check that a place is open before you go.
Treks and rafting
Incredible India's Darjeeling page lists treks on the Singalila Ridge, including to Tonglu, Gorkhey and Sandakphu, and white-water rafting on the Teesta River.
What to see in and around Siliguri
Sukna, at the edge of the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, is 12 km from Siliguri, according to Incredible India. Its Siliguri page also names Sepoy Dhura among the tea gardens, the North Bengal Science Centre a few kilometres from the city, and rafting on the Teesta River. It describes Sevoke Kali Mandir as the oldest temple in the city.
Seasons and festivals
Incredible India gives November to February as the ideal time to visit Siliguri, for its winter. Its Darjeeling page lists the Teesta Tea and Tourism Festival in November and December, the Darjeeling Carnival in November and the Darjeeling Orange Festival in December. Check the dates with the organisers before you plan a trip around one.
Flying to Siliguri and Darjeeling
Flights land at Bagdogra Airport (IXB), run by the Airports Authority of India, in Darjeeling district with a Siliguri postal address. More on the airport, and the full list of routes, is on the Bagdogra Airport page.
The main direct routes recorded from Bagdogra go to New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Dibrugarh and Imphal. The airlines recorded on these routes are IndiGo, Air India Express, SpiceJet and Akasa Air.
Getting to Darjeeling from Bagdogra and Siliguri
The Darjeeling district administration's travel page, last updated in November 2020, says the main road access to Darjeeling is via Siliguri, 77 km (via National Highway 55), and gives Bagdogra as 90 km from Darjeeling by National Highway 110. It lists a pre-paid taxi stand at Bagdogra airport and at New Jalpaiguri (NJP) railway station. It adds that smaller vehicles can be shared or hired from the airport, the railway station and the motor stands, and that buses leave from the Tenzing Norgay Bus Stand in Siliguri.
From Siliguri, the district names road routes to Darjeeling via Tindharia and Kurseong, via Dudhiya and Mirik, via Rohini, and via Pankhabari. The same page names Siliguri and New Jalpaiguri as the two closest railway stations to Darjeeling.
Side trips from Siliguri and Darjeeling
Kalimpong
Incredible India says Kalimpong is 67 km from Siliguri and 78 km from Bagdogra, with Siliguri as the closest railway station. Private taxis run to Kalimpong from both Darjeeling and Siliguri, and local jeeps ply between the towns, according to the same page.
Kalimpong's attractions include Buddhist monasteries, nurseries, colonial architecture and views of the snow-clad Eastern Himalayas, according to Incredible India. It calls Deolo Hills the highest point in Kalimpong, with a large open park, and describes Thongsa Gompa, founded in 1678, as the oldest monastery in Kalimpong. Most of the nurseries, which grow orchids and cacti, hold flower exhibitions in October, it adds.
Kurseong and Mirik
Kurseong, which Incredible India calls "the place of the white orchid", is 51 km from Siliguri, and Mirik is 55 km from Siliguri.
Gangtok and Sikkim
Incredible India's Siliguri page names Gangtok, Sikkim's capital, among the places a traveller can reach from the city. Sikkim Nationalised Transport, a Government of Sikkim Transport Department service, has depots at Siliguri and NJP, according to its own website.
The Bureau of Immigration lists the whole of Sikkim as partly a Protected Area and partly a Restricted Area, where foreign nationals need a Restricted or Protected Area Permit. It says a foreign national living outside India applies through an Indian mission at least 30 days in advance, and one already in India applies to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office at least 15 days in advance. The Indian e-Visa website's general instructions say the e-Visa is not valid for visiting Protected, Restricted and Cantonment Areas.
Indian citizens need a permit from the Government of Sikkim for some areas of the state, and which one depends on where you are going. Read the Government of Sikkim's tourism information page before you travel.
More travel guides
These cities on the main routes from Bagdogra have their own guides:
The India travel guide covers the country as a whole. Other city guides include Guwahati and Bhubaneswar.
Questions about Siliguri and Darjeeling
Which airport is nearest to Darjeeling?
Bagdogra Airport, which the Darjeeling district administration names as the nearest airport, 90 km from Darjeeling by National Highway 110.
Is the Darjeeling toy train a UNESCO World Heritage Site?
Yes. UNESCO lists the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway as part of the "Mountain Railways of India" World Heritage Site. Check with Indian Railways whether and when the train runs before you plan a day around it.
How do I get to Darjeeling by road?
The district administration says the main road access to Darjeeling is via Siliguri, 77 km (via National Highway 55). Its travel page, last updated in November 2020, names the Tenzing Norgay Bus Stand in Siliguri for buses and lists shared or hired vehicles from the airport and the railway station.
When is the best time to visit Siliguri?
Incredible India gives November to February as the ideal time to visit Siliguri, for its winter.
Do I need a permit to visit Sikkim from Siliguri?
It depends on your nationality and where in Sikkim you are going. The Bureau of Immigration lists the whole of Sikkim as an area where foreign nationals need a Restricted or Protected Area Permit, applied for at least 30 days ahead through an Indian mission from abroad, and the Government of Sikkim issues permits to Indian citizens for some areas.