Field notes
What we tell friends before they come up the hill
Field notes on seasons, tea, borders, food and the people of these hills, written by the team who plan the journeys, for the questions worth settling before you book.
All field notes
Lepcha, Bhutia, Limbu, Gorkha and Tibetan: who lives in these hills
Five communities, one common language and four new years. Who was here first, who came over the passes, who came for the tea and who came in 1959, and where each life shows itself on a journey through Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Sikkim.
Red pandas near Darjeeling: where you might see one wild, and where you certainly will
Two national parks near Darjeeling hold the animal the hills call habre, and the forest department counted 75 of them in July 2026. Where they live, when they move, what you are scanning for, and why the zoo still earns a morning.
Mirik, Sittong, Lepchajagat and Tinchuley: the quieter places near Darjeeling, and whether they suit a luxury trip
Search for offbeat places near Darjeeling and you get budget listings. Here is the grading we give on the telephone: which of the four is worth a night, which is a morning, what the beds are really like, and when to go.
Kurseong: the tea town most people drive through, and why we stop
Four of our journeys sleep in Kurseong and another fourteen pass through it. The train in the high street, the muscatel gardens, the Bose house at Giddapahar, Dow Hill's pines, and whether you should stay here instead of Darjeeling.
Darjeeling in the Puja and Diwali weeks: clear skies, a full town, and how we plan around both
The clearest mornings of the year fall in the weeks Bengal takes its Puja holidays and the hills keep Dashain. Here are the 2026 and 2027 dates, the roads and hours that jam, and where we sleep instead.
Can you see Everest from Darjeeling? What Tiger Hill, Sandakphu and the mountain flight really show
The question we are asked most, answered honestly: Everest shows from Tiger Hill and not from the town, it is smaller than you expect at 172 km, and Sandakphu or a flight does it properly.
What we eat at home in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Gangtok, and where you can too
Sel roti and aloo dum for breakfast, thenthuk at eight at night, gundruk dried in November, two kinds of chhurpi and a chilli that stops conversation. What our own kitchens cook, what to eat from a stall, and how to ask for less chilli.
First flush, second flush or autumn: how to buy real Darjeeling tea and bring it home
In 2024 the Tea Board recorded 5.6 million kg of Darjeeling; the trade reckons at least three times that is sold under the name. Which flush, what the grade letters mean, where we shop, and how to get the leaf home tasting of something.
When to see Kanchenjunga from Darjeeling: a month-by-month guide
Here is when the clear mornings fall, what each season costs you in views and gains you in quiet, where to stand without the Tiger Hill queue, which rooms face the range, and the fortnight we would pick.
Tea estate stays in Darjeeling: how to choose the right bungalow
Three Darjeeling gardens take our guests, and they suit three different holidays. Which house for a couple, which for grandparents who cannot manage a jeep track, what the published rate really covers, and the months when the factory is shut.
Bhutan from Darjeeling: the road, the fee and why it is worth adding a week
Phuentsholing is about 4.5 hours by road from Bagdogra, and Paro about 50 minutes by air. How the crossing works, what the nightly fee adds, and the journeys that join Bhutan to Sikkim or the Darjeeling hills.
First visit
Start here
Coming to these hills for the first time? Read these three before anything else. Between them they settle the questions that shape every plan: which month, which house, and whether to add Bhutan.
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When Kanchenjunga shows itself
Read this before you choose a month. It goes season by season: when the range is clearest, when the town is full, and what each month gives up for its quiet.
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Choosing a tea estate bungalow
A night on a working estate changes a Darjeeling trip. This note sets the estates side by side on altitude, view, food and how formal the evenings are.
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Bhutan from Darjeeling
The road to the border, what the nightly fee pays for, and how a week in Bhutan fits after the hills without doubling back.
Our method
How we write these
Every note carries a byline: the person on our team who wrote it, with their role, or the Darjeeling Trips team where the note is the house's own work. Under the title are two dates, when the note was first published and when we last checked it. At the end is the list of sources we checked, from government notices and railway timetables to the estates' and hotels' own pages.
Where two sources disagree, the note says so rather than picking the tidier answer. Permits, fees and roads in these hills can change with a single notice or a single landslide, so read the checked date as the age of the answer, and ask us if it matters to your dates.
Plan my journey
Tell us the month and we will do the rest
Four lines are enough to start: when, who, how to reach you, and the trip you picture.