The great courtyard of Rumtek Monastery near Gangtok, the Karmapa's seat, its red and gold main temple under a wide blue sky

27.33° N 88.61° E · 1,650 m

Gangtok & East Sikkim

A capital of monasteries and momos, and the road to the high lakes.

Tashi delek བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས Sikkimese and Tibetan. Blessings and good fortune. Said on meeting, and above all at Losar.

Plan Gangtok & East Sikkim with us Read the guide

In short

What is Gangtok & East Sikkim, and who is it for?

Gangtok is the old royal capital of Sikkim, a steep ridge town at 1,650 m for travellers who want monasteries, Sikkimese kitchens and a morning at a glacial lake without having to sleep high.

Written in the Darjeeling hills by the Darjeeling Trips designers · Updated September 2026

Altitude: 1,650 m
Getting there: Bagdogra (IXB), about 124 km, 4.5 hours by road, or the helicopter to Burtuk when it runs
Best months: March to May, October to December
Give it: 3 to 4 nights
Best for: Monasteries, high lakes, Sikkimese food, a kingdom's living heritage
Spoken: Nepali, Sikkimese, Lepcha, Hindi, English; Tibetan in the monasteries
Permits: Indian citizens need no permit for Gangtok itself. Tsomgo, Nathu La, Zuluk and North Sikkim need one filed through a registered Sikkim operator with photo ID, issued only for children over five. Nathu La and Zuluk are for Indian citizens only, and Nathu La does not open on Monday or Tuesday. Foreign and OCI guests need Sikkim's Restricted Area Permit, filed online through e-FRRO about 30 days before reaching the state, and a protected-area permit, in a group of two or more, for Tsomgo. Full rules: /plan/permits-and-visas/.

The name

སྒང་ཏོག

Sgang-tog: the hill top

From the Tibetan sgang, a hill or spur, and tog, its top; the precise meaning is debated, but most agree on hill top. The earliest record of the place is a hermit's monastery built here in 1716.

Gangtok, written in Tibetan script, as Sikkimese is written

Sikkim was an independent Buddhist kingdom until 1975, and Gangtok still feels like a capital rather than a hill station: clean, orderly, built around the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology and the great Rumtek monastery across the valley. From here the road climbs east to Tsomgo Lake at 3,780 metres and the old trade pass of Nathu La on the Tibetan border.

The road up

126 m to 1,650 m, 124 km in about 4.5 hours

About 124 km and 4.5 hours on NH10 up the Teesta, whose fragile part is the 52 km from Sevoke to Rangpo. When slides close that stretch, the only way round is NH717A through the Kalimpong hills, costed in hours in the panel below.

1,000 m2,000 m3,000 m Bagdogra airport (IXB)126 mSevoke, Coronation Bridge over the Teesta156 mRangpo, the Sikkim border333 mSingtam, where the Ranikhola meets the Teesta426 mGangtok1,650 mTsomgo Lake, on a later morning3,753 m

Bagdogra airport (IXB)126 m · 0 km
Sevoke, Coronation Bridge over the Teesta156 m · 35 km · 1 h
Rangpo, the Sikkim border333 m · 85 km · 2.8 h
Singtam, where the Ranikhola meets the Teesta426 m · 95 km · 3.2 h
Gangtok1,650 m · 124 km · 4.5 h
Tsomgo Lake, on a later morning3,753 m · 164 km · 6.3 h

Altitudes and distances rounded. Times are for a private car in dry weather, without stops.

Gangtok & East Sikkim in six scenes

How a stay here actually unfolds

Soumyojit Sinha

Day 2, 07:30 · Rumtek Monastery, across the valley

The door with five snow lions, and shoes left at the step

Rumtek faces Gangtok from across the Ranipool valley, 22 km and about an hour by road. Cars stop below the monastery, so the last stretch is on foot, past the village that lives under its wall. What meets you at the top is the door: five carved snow lions above it, and sandals in a row on the step. Inside is the Karmapa's seat in exile, rebuilt on an eighteenth-century foundation, and /journeys/monasteries-of-the-east/ gives that story and the morning assembly a whole day. Come in the first hour after the gates open, while the courtyard still belongs to the monks' college rather than the stalls. Keep photo ID in your pocket, because the seat is guarded and the guards ask for it. Half a kilometre below stands the older house the Karmapas found here, which almost nobody walks down to; that path is on /journeys/gangtok-and-the-high-lake/.
Bhaskar Palit

Day 3, 09:30 · Tsomgo Lake, 3,753 m

The lake that monks once read like a book

The lake lies 40 km from Gangtok, and the air at its shore holds roughly a third less oxygen than at sea level. The name is Sikkimese: tso, lake, and mgo, head, the source. The lake is 836 m long and 15 m at its deepest, frozen through winter, sometimes into May. Buddhist monks once foretold events from the changing colour of its water. On Guru Purnima, Sikkim's jhakris, the shaman healers, gather on the shore for its healing water. After mid-May, rhododendrons, primulas and blue poppies flower around it.
Amol Nakve

Day 3, 14:30 · Directorate of Handicrafts and Handloom, Zero Point

Folding tables, bark paper and a thangka brush

Sikkim set up this institute in 1957, when it was still a kingdom, to train artisans and keep its crafts alive, and it still works that way. The building stands at Zero Point, about 1 km from MG Marg. Visitors may walk the first floor quietly and watch the trainees at work: carpets, masks, thangka painting, choktse, the carved folding tables of Sikkimese homes, and paper made from the bark of the argeli shrub. A museum opened in 2007, and a two-storey emporium sells the work. Its hours and its closing days are in the questions below.
Simanta Saha

Day 3, 18:00 · MG Marg, Gangtok

A promenade with no cars, and signs against spitting

When the offices close, Gangtok comes out to walk. MG Marg is about a kilometre of paving where no car may enter, and signs at each end declare it free of litter, spitting and smoke, with fines for anyone who lights up. Benches run down the middle, and the whole town passes twice: Nepali, Bhutia and Lepcha families, students, shopkeepers stepping out for air. The market's two halves rest on different days, so one side is always dark and the other always trading, and the questions below say which is which. Rain turns the stones to a mirror. Just below lies Lal Bazaar, built in 1956 and named for J. Lal, a Dewan of the Chogyal. Our car waits at the end of the street, since it cannot enter.
Regan Dsouza / Pexels

Day 4, 09:00 · Himalayan Zoological Park, Bulbuley

Red pandas before their midday sleep

If children are with you, come here first. The park opens at 09:00 on every day but Thursday, and its paths wind through 205 hectares of real forest at about 1,780 m, so the enclosures are large and the animals keep their own hours. Red pandas, Sikkim's state animal, are easiest to find early, before they curl up high in the trees; snow leopards live here too. The slopes are steep, so allow two hours with rests. After lunch, ride the ropeway from Deorali: 935 m of cable in standing cabins, the town dropping away beneath the glass. End on MG Marg, the kindest walk in town for a grandparent: flat, lined with benches and closed to cars.
Abhisek Hazra / Unsplash

Day 5, 05:30 · Lungthung, above Zuluk, about 3,700 m

The wool road to Tibet, and the state bird at first light

East of Gangtok, the old trade road climbs past Zuluk to Lungthung, about 3,700 m, where the Kanchenjunga range lies along the horizon at dawn. Mule trains once carried wool up this way between Lhasa and Kalimpong. The whole stretch sits inside the Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary, 124 sq km rising to the Bhutan border, and the blood pheasant, Sikkim's state bird, feeds along the verges in the first hour; ask the driver to slow on the upper loops and you will see more of it than any hide would show you. The road is open to Indian citizens only, the homestays are simple, and the mobile signal is patchy: BSNL finds one, and then only sometimes. /journeys/the-old-silk-route/ gives this road two nights.

Beyond the town

What Gangtok is the gate to

Gangtok is where the papers are filed and the permit cars are hired, so everything north and east of it begins in this town. These are the four we are asked for, each with the rule that governs it.

Lachung village beside the boulder strewn Lachung Chu in North Sikkim, green cliffs and a far peak behind — North Bengal Tourism / Unsplash

Lachung and Yumthang

About 2,650 m and six hours north by Kabi, Mangan and Chungthang, where the Lachen and Lachung rivers meet to make the Teesta. The Yumthang meadow lies at 3,564 m, and the road to it runs through the Shingba rhododendron sanctuary, in flower from March to May. Lachung governs itself through the Dzumsa, a village council under an elected Pipon. Every vehicle must be through the Tung checkpost by 16:00 in both directions, and that rule, not the scenery, sets the whole day.
Lachen and Gurudongmar

Lachen reopened to visitors on 11 September 2026, after nearly three years shut. Permits go through a registered Sikkim operator, and none is issued for a child under five. Foreign passports are not admitted to Gurudongmar or Zero Point at all, so a mixed party needs two plans for the same day. After heavy rain the district can suspend the northern permits outright: in 2025 the north stayed closed for four months.
Dzongu, the Lepcha reserve

The land held for the Lepchas, beyond Mangan and across the Teesta at Sankalang. Entry is on a permit from the Sub-Divisional Magistrate's office at Mangan, about ₹150 a head, checked at the police post on the bridge, and foreign nationals are generally not admitted. Lepcha families take guests in villages such as Lingthem and Passingdang. Ask months ahead rather than weeks: this is the one corner of Sikkim where the paper is harder to get than the room.
Kupup, Nathang and the Jelep La

Beyond Zuluk the road crests near 4,100 m, then drops to Kupup at about 3,940 m, where Bitang Tso lies below the army's Yak golf course: 3,970 m, measured in 2006 and still the highest on record. The Jelep La, 4,390 m, where the caravans crossed into Tibet, lies under 4 km off and has been shut since 1962. Two rules decide whether this road is open to you: Indian passports only, and a Sikkim-registered car, which is what every operator up here tells us. Nathang, a grassy bowl near 3,800 m with about 150 residents and their yaks, is where breakfast happens on the way over.

A close heap of glossy, round red chillies with green stalks — डल्ले खुर्सानी

The taste of Gangtok & East Sikkim

Dalle khursani, the round chilli of Sikkim

Dalle means round in Nepali, and this cherry-sized chilli runs from 100,000 to 350,000 Scoville units, habanero heat. Since 2020 it has carried a Geographical Indication for Sikkim. A Sikkimese meal follows rice, dal, curry and achar, and the achar is very often dalle: pickled whole in oil, pounded into chutney for momos, or eaten raw, a bite at a time, beside dal bhat. Ask for one chilli first. The rest of the table draws on more than one kitchen. From Tibetan and Bhutia homes come shabhaley, bread stuffed with seasoned meat and cabbage, and thukpa, the noodle soup. Nepali kitchens bring gundruk and sinki, the fermented greens and radish, kinema, the fermented soybean, and sel roti, the sweet ring of rice bread. Lepcha households cook tuk-tok, a porridge of local rice, for Losoong. Tell us which you want to taste, and we choose the kitchen: a morning in Lal Bazaar, then lunch at that cook's own table.

Lal Bazaar in the morning, then a Sikkimese lunch with dalle achar

Words to carry

Three words that open doors

Spoken here: Nepali, Sikkimese, Lepcha, Hindi, English; Tibetan in the monasteries. These three are Tibetan.

ཁ་བཏགས Khada say KAH-dah The white scarf of welcome, laid around your neck on arrival Tibetan
अलिकति पिरो Alikati piro say uh-lee-kuh-tee PEE-roh Only a little spicy (say it before the dalle arrives) Nepali
སྐོར་ར Kora say KOR-rah The clockwise walk around a monastery or stupa: keep it on your right Tibetan

When to go

Gangtok & East Sikkim, month by month

March, October and November rate best here. July: Wettest month, 655 mm, nh10 slips are common.

Jan Average low 6 °C, high 12 °C. Quiet Coldest month, 6 °C nights; Detor chaam at Enchey, Jan or Feb
Feb Average low 7 °C, high 14 °C. Quiet Cold and dry; Rumtek's Gutor chaam, then Losar (7 Feb 2027)
Mar Average low 10 °C, high 18 °C. Best Clear mornings, 18 °C days, spring flowers begin
Apr Average low 13 °C, high 20 °C. Good Rhododendrons bloom, afternoon storms build
May Average low 15 °C, high 21 °C. Good Rain most days, flowers at Tsomgo; Saga Dawa in May or June
Jun Average low 17 °C, high 22 °C. Monsoon Monsoon sets in, about 650 mm, cloud on the ridge
Jul Average low 18 °C, high 22 °C. Monsoon Wettest month, 655 mm, NH10 slips are common
Aug Average low 18 °C, high 22 °C. Monsoon Heavy rain, orchids and moss; Tendong Lho Rum Faat, 8 Aug
Sep Average low 17 °C, high 22 °C. Monsoon Rain easing late; Pang Lhabsol, late Aug or early Sep
Oct Average low 14 °C, high 20 °C. Best Skies clear, the mountain returns; Dashain tika 21 Oct 2026
Nov Average low 10 °C, high 17 °C. Best Under 40 mm of rain in the month; Tihar, 7 to 11 Nov 2026
Dec Average low 7 °C, high 14 °C. Good Driest month; Kagyed dances, then Losoong, 9 to 13 Dec 2026

BestGoodQuietMonsoon Average daily low and high, °C · source

The town's own year

The Gangtok calendar

Gangtok keeps more than one new year, and most of its days move with the lunar calendar. Tell us your window and we confirm that year's dates with the monasteries before you fix a month.

The red doors of Rumtek's main hall in Sikkim, half open under five carved snow lions, sandals left at the step — Soumyojit Sinha / Pexels

Jan
- Detor chaamEnchey Monastery, 3 km above the market
  In January or February, the masked dances that clear the old year, in the courtyard at Enchey above the market. The two days move with the lunar calendar and are not published far ahead, so we ask the monastery before you fix a week.
Feb
- Gutor chaam, then LosarRumtek, then every home
  Two days before the Tibetan new year, Rumtek dances the Gutor chaam, the battle between good and evil. Losar falls on 7 February in 2027.
May
- Saga DawaThe monasteries of the ridge
  Kept through the whole fourth Tibetan month, in May or June, with the full moon as its day: the Buddha's birth, awakening and passing in one.
Aug
- Tendong Lho Rum FaatLepcha homes, and Tendong Hill in the south
  8 August, three days of Lepcha prayer to Mount Tendong, which the old story says stood above the flood that drowned Mayel Lyang.
Sep
- Pang LhabsolTsuklakhang, the royal chapel
  On the 15th day of the seventh Tibetan month, late August or early September: the Pangtoed warrior dance, choreographed by the third Chogyal, honours Kanchenjunga as the guardian of Sikkim.
Oct
- DashainEvery Nepali household
  Tika day falls on 21 October in 2026. Elders give red tika and jamara, offices shut for days, and the shops on MG Marg trade until late.
Nov
- TiharThe Nepali quarters below the Marg
  7 to 11 November 2026. Crows, dogs, cows and oxen are honoured in turn, Deusi singers work the lanes after dark, and Bhai Tika closes it.
Dec
- Kagyed, then LosoongTsuklakhang, Rumtek and Phodong
  The Kagyed dances destroy the year's evil and end with effigies of flour, wood and paper burnt. Losoong, or Namsoong, the Bhutia and Lepcha harvest new year, follows from 9 to 13 December 2026, with the Black Hat dance, archery and family feasts.

Mid June to mid September

What the rains do to this road

July is the wettest month on this ridge, and the figure is in the month strip above. What it means in practice is a decision rather than a number. The ridge spends its afternoons inside a cloud, the Teesta turns the colour of milky tea and rises until the boulders shift, and the road below is held open between slides rather than mended.

So we do not build the north into a monsoon plan. The district can suspend the northern permits after a bad run of rain, and a permit withdrawn in Mangan is a stay rebuilt from Gangtok outwards. We say that before you book rather than after.

What is left is worth having. Orchids flower on garden walls, moss covers the chorten steps, and the courtyard at Rumtek or Enchey at seven in the morning holds the monks and nobody else. The town is at work rather than on show. If you come now, we put the high days late in the stay, when your body and the road have both settled, keep a spare day before your flight and plan that flight for the afternoon. We would still rather you came in October.

Rain wet paving on MG Marg in Gangtok, walkers with umbrellas between shopfronts and street lamps

Solved before you arrive

What nobody warns you about in Gangtok & East Sikkim, and what we do about it

Permits for the lake, a steep and crowded town, a river road that slips in the rains: the things that trip up a Gangtok stay, and how we plan round each before you land.

The problem

Tsomgo and Nathu La mean permits, checkposts and a line of jeeps up one road

What we do

We file the permit through a registered Sikkim operator the day before, with photo ID for every guest, and leave Gangtok early so you reach the lake ahead of the mid-morning traffic. Nathu La admits Indian citizens only, and not on Monday or Tuesday, so we build the week around its open days, and we confirm the pass is open the evening before: snow and Army orders can close it. The lake day, hour by hour: /journeys/gangtok-and-the-high-lake/.
The problem

Tsomgo is at 3,753 m, and we are travelling with a grandparent and a six-year-old

What we do

The road climbs about 2,100 m in 40 km, so we never send you up on your first morning. Tsomgo permits are issued only for children over five, and a six-year-old qualifies. We carry warm layers, water and an oxygen canister in the car, keep the stop at the lake under an hour, and turn back at Tsomgo, rather than climb to Nathu La at 4,310 m, if anyone has a headache. Guests with heart or lung conditions should ask their doctor first.
The problem

Four and a half hours on NH10, and the Teesta road closes with landslides

What we do

When it is flying, we book the Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation helicopter from Bagdogra to Burtuk heliport in Gangtok: ₹3,100 a seat one way, the fare STDC set from 1 December 2025, with 7 kg of luggage free, so your cases follow by car. By road, our driver checks NH10 each morning. Its slide points have names every hill driver uses: 20th Mile at Bardang, 29th Mile, Kali Jhora, Seti Jhora, Birik Dara, Likhuveer and Melli. When the highway shuts, the diversion is NH717A through Odlabari, Gorubathan, Lava, Pedong and Rhenock, about 160 km and seven hours against three and a half, on a narrow road that slips too. In June 2024 slides closed or restricted it for about a month; in August 2025 it reopened after six days; in July 2026 it shut for three days while 20th Mile was rebuilt. So from mid June to mid September we plan your flight home for the afternoon and keep the last Gangtok evening free.
The problem

Our foreign friends hear the Sikkim permit is no longer issued at the Rangpo border

What we do

Since January 2026, foreign nationals, OCI cardholders included, receive Sikkim's Restricted Area Permit only online, through the e-FRRO portal, and must hold it before reaching the state: Rangpo checks permits but no longer issues them. We prepare the application with you and a registered Sikkim agent about 30 days ahead: passport and visa scans, the itinerary and local sponsor details. The full rules: /plan/permits-and-visas/.
The problem

Gangtok town is steep and crowded, and the view is often of the next building

What we do

We choose the house by what you want from the town: in the middle of it, or out of it in forest, and the houses below say which is which. Wherever you sleep, the car brings you in for planned hours, drops you at one end of MG Marg, where cars cannot go, and waits at the other. Early mornings, when the lanes are empty, are when we walk you through the old town.
The problem

We are vegetarian, one of us eats Jain, and we fear it is all momos and pork

What we do

It is not. A Sikkimese meal is rice, dal, a vegetable curry and achar, and much of it is vegetarian by nature: the fermented greens, radish and soybean set out further down this page are all meatless, as is iskus, the local chayote. We brief each kitchen before you arrive, ask for Jain cooking without onion, garlic or root vegetables, and pack food for the Tsomgo road.

Where we would put you

The right house matters more than the town

Room types and rates are confirmed for your dates in your quote.

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

01

Taj Guras Kutir Resort & Spa, Gangtok

Taj resort at Pangthang, north of Gangtok · J Wellness Circle spa

Guras is the Nepali word for rhododendron, Sikkim's state tree. Out of the traffic, with a Taj spa: the calm base for couples and honeymoons.

Ask for a room category that faces the mountains that season, and spa time booked with the room, not on arrival.
The MAYFAIR below Gangtok after dark, from its fountain court.Yakrita, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

02

MAYFAIR Spa Resort & Casino, Gangtok

Resort on 48 forested acres at Ranipool · private-pool villas · spa

A resort in its own forest below Gangtok, with a spa and villas that have private pools: the easy answer for families and guests who want space.

Ask for a Crown or Oriental Villa with a private pool; for families, the Family Room, 74 sq m with connecting bedrooms.
Gangtok from above, the town the Nor-Khill sits in the middle of.Ahad Hasan / Pexels

03

The Elgin Nor-Khill, Gangtok

Built in 1932 for the Chogyal's guests · a hotel since 1934 · 25 rooms and suites · spa

Nor-Khill means house of jewels. Sikkimese architecture in the heart of town, and a welcome with a khada scarf and a glass of cherry liquor.

Ask for a suite rather than a deluxe room, and tea in the Kanchen garden, where the Chogyal used to set up his easel.
Sunset over the ranges at Zuluk, from the old Silk Route.Mehul / Pexels

04

Dil Maya Homestay, Zuluk

Family homestay at about 2,800 m on the old Silk Route · since 2005 · Indian citizens only

The first homestay on the Silk Route, run by one family near Zuluk's Shiva Mandir: attached baths, geysers, heavy quilts and home cooking. Warm and honest, not a luxury house.

Ask for a room in the newer building with a balcony, and the heater booked ahead at ₹500 a night; it runs only while the power does.
The Yumthang valley above Lachung, the morning drive from the resort.Ayush Paul / Pexels

05

Udaan Metho Pelri Resort, Lachung

Riverside resort at Sarchok, Lachung, about 2,650 m · 35 rooms · generator · pure vegetarian kitchen

Gangtok is the gate to the north, and this is the house we use for the two nights at Lachung: heated rooms, a generator for the power cuts, and a kitchen that cooks Jain on request. Simple by city standards, and warm.

Ask for a mountain-view room with a balcony, and heaters and extra quilts confirmed the day before.

In the prayer halls

How to stand in a Sikkimese monastery

Your guide says all of this at the gate. It is here so you can read it first, because guests who know the manners are welcomed rather than tolerated.

No monastery here prints its prayer timesRumtek, Enchey and Tsuklakhang set the morning assembly by their own calendar, and none of them publishes it. We ring each house the evening before and build the car around the answer, rather than arriving at a hall that emptied an hour ago.
Sit at the back, and mind your feetCome into an assembly quietly and take the place at the back or along the side wall. Stand when the assembly stands. Keep the soles of your feet from pointing at the altar or at a lama, which is easier cross-legged than with your legs stretched out in front of you.
Ask before the camera comes outCourtyards, doors and rooflines, yes. During prayers, almost never anywhere in Sikkim, and no flash near an altar at any hour. A monk is a person before he is a photograph, so ask first and take no for an answer.
Hats off, and point with an open handTake off hats and sunglasses at the door of a hall. Indoors, show someone a mural or an image with a flat open hand rather than one finger, and keep your hands off the paintings, the texts and the drums.
What you give, and what you leaveA note for the altar or the box goes with both hands, never tossed. Do not step over a text or a cushion, or sit on either. Nothing is carried away from a shrine, not a flower and not a stone, and what you brought up the hill comes back down it with you.

Journeys through Gangtok & East Sikkim

What each journey does in Gangtok & East Sikkim

All Sikkim journeys

The Zuluk switchbacks stacked down a brown hillside in East Sikkim, cloud rising off the blue ridges behind

Expedition journey 5 nights

The Old Silk Route

Kalimpong1Zuluk2Gangtok2

4 nights here at Dil Maya Homestay, Zuluk, day 2: down to the Reshi, up through the clouds to Zuluk

October to mid November, April to May from₹90,000

Lingdum Monastery in Sikkim, its gold roofs and white walls rising in tiers above a painted stair and forest

Signature journey 7 nights

Monasteries of the East

Gangtok3Ravangla1Pelling3

3 nights here at The Elgin Nor-Khill, day 2: the Karmapa's seat, and a chorten of 108 wheels

October to mid December, March to May from₹1,40,000

The Paro valley in Bhutan at harvest, rice fields and farmhouses on the floor below Rinpung Dzong and the Ta Dzong on the slope

Signature expedition 11 nights

Two Kingdoms: Sikkim to Bhutan by Road

Gangtok3Phuentsholing1Thimphu2Punakha2Paro3

3 nights here at The Elgin Nor-Khill, Gangtok, day 2: rumtek at morning, and the institute of old books

October to December, March to May from₹5,30,000

A row of golden prayer wheels on monastery steps above the wooded hills at Gangtok in Sikkim

Signature journey 8 nights

The First Time: Darjeeling and Sikkim

Gangtok3Pelling2Darjeeling3

3 nights here at The Elgin Nor-Khill, day 2: rumtek at prayer, then Gangtok on foot

October to early December, March to May from₹1,75,000

Snow dusted ridges above Tsomgo Lake in East Sikkim mirrored whole in its still water under a grey sky

Long weekend, Sikkim 3 nights

Gangtok and the High Lake

Gangtok3

3 nights here at The Elgin Nor-Khill, day 2: rumtek at the morning session, lunch in a Sikkimese kitchen

October to mid December, March to May from₹70,000

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

Gangtok2Lachung2Gangtok1Ravangla2Pelling3

3 nights here at Taj Guras Kutir Resort & Spa, Gangtok, day 2: tsomgo at 3,753 m: a rehearsal for the north

April to May, October to November from₹2,25,000

The giant Chenrezig statue on its hilltop above Pelling, the long stair and walkway climbing to it through forest and cloud

Family journey 6 nights

Sikkim for Families

Gangtok3Ravangla1Pelling2

3 nights here at MAYFAIR Spa Resort & Casino, Gangtok, day 2: red pandas, folded momos and a cable car

March to May, October to early December from₹95,000

Kanchenjunga turning soft pink at sunrise above a pale blue haze, the view from the hills of the Eastern Himalaya

Honeymoon or anniversary 7 nights

A Himalayan Honeymoon

Glenburn Tea Estate3Kalimpong2Gangtok (Pangthang)2

2 nights here at Taj Guras Kutir Resort & Spa, Gangtok, day 6: across Rangpo into Sikkim, and two hours of Nidra

October to April, clearest October to December from₹2,65,000

Boudhanath stupa at dusk in Kathmandu, its white dome, gilded tower and prayer flags seen from a rooftop under a pink sky

Grand journey 14 nights

Three Kingdoms

Kathmandu3Darjeeling3Gangtok2Phuentsholing1Thimphu2Paro3

2 nights here at The Elgin Nor-Khill, Gangtok, day 7: down to the Teesta, up to the Chogyals' capital

October to mid December, March to April from₹5,70,000

Questions

Six questions about Gangtok & East Sikkim

Ask on WhatsApp

Can you see Kanchenjunga from Gangtok itself?

Yes, on clear mornings, most often from October to December, with the snows to the north-west of town. For sunrise, go up to Tashi View Point. On the Tsomgo road, Hanuman Tok, about 11 km out and some 2,200 m up, has a wider view, and it is where we turn if snow shuts the lake road. Cloud tends to build by late morning, so look early. The Tashi View Point dawn is an add-on on /journeys/gangtok-and-the-high-lake/.

What is Tsuklakhang, and can we go inside?

It is the royal chapel of the Chogyals, where Sikkim's kings were crowned, and it is still a working chapel, not a museum. Its courtyard opens for festivals, above all Pang Lhabsol in late August or early September and the Kagyed masked dances in early December. On other days we walk you to its gate and tell its story there. The year's dates are in the Gangtok calendar on this page.

Which days do Gangtok's sights close?

Plan the week round these rules. MG Marg's two halves rest on different days, the New Market on Tuesday and the Old Market on Sunday, so one is always trading. Lal Bazaar and the zoo both close on Thursday. The Handicrafts Directorate opens Monday to Saturday, 10:00 to 16:20; the Namgyal Institute adds the second Saturday of the month to Sundays and government holidays. Nathu La, for Indian citizens, does not open on Monday or Tuesday. We set your days around all of it before you land.

Is Gangtok itself a good base for older parents?

Yes, with the right house. The town sits at about 1,650 m, which most people manage well, but its lanes are steep and its traffic slow, so we keep walking to the places that are level. MG Marg is the best of them: flat, closed to cars and lined with benches, and the car drops you at one end and waits at the other. Whether a parent should go up to Tsomgo is answered on /plan/questions/.

Can we see a red panda in the wild near Gangtok?

Rarely, and we never promise it. Red pandas feed around dawn and dusk and rest high in the canopy. The sure sighting is at the Himalayan Zoological Park at Bulbuley, early in the morning. For the wild, the better odds are in the Neora Valley forest near Lava, walked with a naturalist on /journeys/red-pandas-and-rhododendrons/, and even there most guests see birds and the red panda's habitat rather than the animal.

What is the ₹50 fee the hotel adds in Sikkim?

Since March 2025 Sikkim has charged every tourist aged five and over ₹50 towards sustainable tourism. The hotel collects it at check-in rather than the border post, and it is valid for up to 30 days, so you pay it once however many houses you stay in. The journeys on this site include it in their price.

Sources we checked for this guide (62)

Facts checked against official and published sources, September 2026. Roads, permits and fees change: we confirm every detail again for your dates.

First sunlight turning the summits of the Kanchenjunga range gold above the dark ridges of West Sikkim, seen from Pelling at dawn

Continue the journey Pelling & West Sikkim Sikkim, from the Limbu su khyim: the new house

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Gangtok & East Sikkim, your way

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At its best: March to May, October to December
Stay: 3 to 4 nights
Fly into: Bagdogra (IXB), about 124 km, 4.5 hours by road, or the helicopter to Burtuk when it runs

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Gangtok & East Sikkim

What is Gangtok & East Sikkim, and who is it for?

Sgang-tog: the hill top

126 m to 1,650 m, 124 km in about 4.5 hours

How a stay here actually unfolds

The door with five snow lions, and shoes left at the step

The lake that monks once read like a book

Folding tables, bark paper and a thangka brush

A promenade with no cars, and signs against spitting

Red pandas before their midday sleep

The wool road to Tibet, and the state bird at first light

Lachung and Yumthang

Lachen and Gurudongmar

Dzongu, the Lepcha reserve

Kupup, Nathang and the Jelep La

Dalle khursani, the round chilli of Sikkim

Three words that open doors

Gangtok & East Sikkim, month by month

What nobody warns you about in Gangtok & East Sikkim, and what we do about it

Tsomgo and Nathu La mean permits, checkposts and a line of jeeps up one road

Tsomgo is at 3,753 m, and we are travelling with a grandparent and a six-year-old

Four and a half hours on NH10, and the Teesta road closes with landslides

Our foreign friends hear the Sikkim permit is no longer issued at the Rangpo border

Gangtok town is steep and crowded, and the view is often of the next building

We are vegetarian, one of us eats Jain, and we fear it is all momos and pork