Walking journeys
On foot, where the roads give out
Journeys for people who would rather walk to the view than drive to it, from day walks between proper beds to a week under canvas, honest about height, effort and the bed at the end.
- 6private journeys
In short
What is the best trek near Darjeeling for a first-timer?
The Singalila Ridge, for most walkers. You sleep in simple, family-run lodges rather than tents, an old Land Rover shadows the walk and can collect anyone at any point, and two nights at Sandakphu, 3,636 m, give two dawns over Kanchenjunga and Everest. Choose Goecha La only if high camps are familiar ground, and Walking Western Bhutan if you want a hotel bed every night.
Decide first where you want to sleep: in a tent pitched by your own crew, in a simple lodge or family homestay, or in a hotel after each day's walk. How hard is each walk, below the journeys, sets out the beds, the highest night and the hardest day.
Height matters more than distance. If you have never slept above 3,000 m, begin with a route that sleeps lower and visits the high ground by day, and keep the camps near 4,000 m for a second trip. On every route here that climbs above 3,500 m the height comes in steps, and the guide carries a pulse oximeter and turns round when breathing says so.
The walking months are short. Autumn, from October into November, gives the clearest views and the coldest nights; spring brings rhododendrons, warmer days and more haze. Singalila and Neora Valley national parks close from 16 June to 15 September, snow shuts the high Sikkim camps from December to February, the road above Zuluk into March, and Chele La in January and February.
If your party mixes walkers and watchers, choose a hotel-based week, where anyone can spend a day with the car instead. If nobody wants a full walking day, the monastery week in Sikkim offers the hour up to Dubdi and the forest path to Sangachoeling. Passports narrow the list more than fitness does, so read the first question below before you settle on a route.
Three trails
A ridge, a forest path and a high pass
Where three kinds of walk begin.
The Singalila ridge at first light, where the path follows the border between India and NepalSuman Mandal / Pexels 
A forest path under prayer flags in Sikkim, on the Goecha La walk that begins at YuksomArjis Kundu / Pexels 
Prayer flags on a high ridge above Paro: Chele La, 3,988 m, is the high point of the Bhutan walking weekAkshay Nayak / Pexels
Choose by
Six journeys, side by side
| Starts in | Best months | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walking Western Bhutan | 7 | Paro | About 4.5 h | October and November, and March to May | ₹4,85,000 |
| Kathmandu, Pokhara and the Annapurnas | 7 | Kathmandu | About 2.5 h | October to early December, February to April | ₹2,50,000 |
| The Singalila Ridge | 5 | Darjeeling | About 3.5 h | October and November, and March to May | ₹95,000 |
| Goecha La, Privately | 10 | Pelling | About 6 h | Mid October to late November, and March to mid May | ₹1,90,000 |
| Red Pandas and Rhododendrons | 6 | Darjeeling | About 6 h | Mid-March to early May (bloom peaks mid-March to late April) | ₹95,000 |
| The Old Silk Route | 5 | Kalimpong | About 5 h | October to mid November, April to May | ₹90,000 |
Walking journey
7 nights
Walking Western Bhutan
Paro3Thimphu2Punakha2
Six day walks between real beds: Taktsang, Chele La at 3,988 m, Cheri and Tango, Lungchutse, the Mo Chhu.
Walking journey, Nepal
7 nights
Kathmandu, Pokhara and the Annapurnas
Kathmandu3Pokhara3Kathmandu1
Kathmandu's courtyards, then three nights on a Pokhara ridge where tea arrives at sunrise with Machhapuchhre.
Walking journey
5 nights
The Singalila Ridge
Darjeeling1Tumling1Sandakphu2Darjeeling1
Walk the India and Nepal border to Sandakphu, 3,636 m, where Everest and Kanchenjunga share one horizon.
Private trek
10 nights
Goecha La, Privately
Pelling1Yuksom1Trek camps: Sachen, Tshoka, Dzongri, Lamuney, Kokchurung7Yuksom1
Eight days on foot into Khangchendzonga National Park with your own crew, to Kanchenjunga at first light.
Spring naturalist journey
6 nights
Red Pandas and Rhododendrons
Darjeeling1Okhrey (West Sikkim)2Lava (Kolakham)2Kalimpong1
Barsey in bloom, Neora's bamboo from the first jeep, a naturalist beside you: six spring nights, told plainly
Expedition journey
5 nights
The Old Silk Route
Kalimpong1Zuluk2Gangtok2
Up the old wool road towards Tibet, two nights with a Zuluk family, then over the top to Gangtok
Effort, compared
How hard is each walk
Read the hardest day and the highest bed together: the first tests your legs, the second your sleep.
| Journey | Where you sleep | Highest bed | Hardest day on foot | Before you book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goecha La, Privately | Seven nights in tents pitched by your own crew | About 4,150 m, Lamuney | Tshoka to Dzongri: about 9 km and 1,040 m of climbing | 12 km with 800 m of climbing feels easy, and you have slept above 3,500 m |
| The Singalila Ridge | Trekkers' lodges, simple and family-run; government lodges for foreign passports | 3,636 m, Sandakphu, two nights | The last 6 km to Sandakphu, climbing about 470 m | You walk 10 km of hills comfortably |
| Walking Western Bhutan | Hotels, every night | 2,320 m, Thimphu | Five to six hours with about 500 m up and the same down | Several such days in a row |
| Red Pandas and Rhododendrons | A family homestay and forest cabins, then hotels | About 2,300 m, Okhrey | Hilley to Barsey and back: 8 km, up to about 3,000 m | You manage 8 km on uneven, sometimes muddy ground |
| The Old Silk Route | Two nights in a Zuluk family homestay | About 2,800 m, Zuluk | Walks are short; the test is dawn near 3,700 m at Lungthung | Indian citizens only |
| Kathmandu, Pokhara and the Annapurnas | Hotels and a ridge lodge | 1,340 m, Kathmandu | Nagarkot to Changu Narayan: about 15 km, mostly downhill; the Kaski forts walk is five hours with climbs | Knees matter more than lungs |
Plan B, route by route
How each walk handles a bad day
Weather and breathing decide more walking days than fitness does.
- The Singalila RidgeThe Land Rover is never far: it carries the bags and any tired legs, and in rain on the first day you ride the last 2 km into Tumling.
- Goecha La, PrivatelyAn eleventh night buys a second morning at View Point 1. Anyone seriously unwell goes down at once with a guide, a porter and bottled oxygen.
- Walking Western BhutanSeveral walks end at a waiting car, and a pony can be booked the day before for the Taktsang climb.
- Red Pandas and RhododendronsOn a bad day the walk keeps to the rhododendron lanes above Okhrey, and a late snow that holds the bloom back is checked with the Okhrey family before you book flights.
- The Old Silk RouteIf snow or the army shuts the road over Kupup, the car returns by Rongli and Rangpo, and you hear by 07:00.
- Kathmandu, Pokhara and the AnnapurnasEvery walk has an easier version, such as the level three-hour Bhimirepani loop, and a car waits halfway on the Nagarkot walk.
Questions
Three questions about walks and treks
Which walking journeys are open to foreign passport holders?
All but one. The Old Silk Route is for Indian citizens only, because no permit for foreign or OCI guests covers Zuluk. Goecha La needs the online Sikkim permit about 30 days ahead, a trekking permit and a party of at least two, and Red Pandas and Rhododendrons also needs the Sikkim permit. On the Singalila Ridge an Indian visa is enough, but you sleep in government lodges on the Indian side. Bhutan and Nepal need their own visas.
Which walks can teenagers or children join?
Kathmandu, Pokhara and the Annapurnas takes children over ten, with an easier loop beside every longer walk. Red Pandas and Rhododendrons takes walking children over 12. The Singalila Ridge and Walking Western Bhutan suit active teenagers who walk regularly, and the Old Silk Route teenagers who travel well. Goecha La takes teenagers only with trekking experience, walking with a parent.
Which walk shows Kanchenjunga best without a tent?
The Singalila Ridge. From Sandakphu the range fills the northern horizon, the reclining line people here call the Sleeping Buddha, with Everest, Lhotse and Makalu about 145 km to the north-west, and two nights up there give two dawns. On the Old Silk Route it lines the horizon at first light from Lungthung, 3,700 m and some 80 km from the peaks, after a night with a Zuluk family. Only Goecha La puts you under the mountain, at View Point 1, and that means seven nights in camp.
Plan my journey
Which of these six fits your dates?
Four lines are enough to start: when, who, how to reach you, and the trip you picture.
- Journeys
- 6
- Length
- 5 to 10 nights
- From
- ₹90,000 per person