Tour Spots of Darjeeling

The dense alpine trees, beautiful orchids, panoramic lakes etc. provide the perfect setting for long hikes in Darjeeling. The panoramic glimpse of Mt. Everest and breathtaking view of the sunrise over Kanchenjunga are exhilarating. Darjeeling is a fascinating tourism place rich in natural beauty and surrounded by the Buddhist monasteries. Its beauty surpasses any other hill station of India. The tourist flow to Darjeeling city has been increasing day by day.

Darjeeling has some of the lovely tea plantations (estates) in the country. One can travel these plantations and watch tea being processed. Darjeeling is a place where one feels as if being in the lap of mother nature. Due to the vast and abundance of natural splendor Darjeeling is called queens of hill stations. Darjeeling is also a trekkers paradise and the Gorkha hill council has provided ample trekking facilities for the adventure loving people.
The Darjeeling toy train coming from Siliguri is some thing which is liked by the elders and the children equally. The real fun in coming to Darjeeling is by the toy train. The toy train takes six to seven hours to cover a distance of 82 kms and the slow speed gives you enough time to watch and appreciate the beauty which nature has provided it. This toy train passes through the Forests, waterfalls, over deep valleys and through the mountains and tunnels.

The Victorian Charm

Darjeeling is the Queen of India's hill stations. Its setting is one of incomparable beauty. A Victorian town of old world charm 'discovered' by the British, it is almost completely surrounded by fragrant tea gardens which seem to flow over the layered slopes like emerald swells on a rough sea. These are in turn interspersed by untamed jungle of Fern and Bamboo, groves of sweet smelling Coniferous trees and hamlets lost and which may be the finest this earth has to offer, It hits one like Darjeeling's true name, “Dorje Ling”, or 'Place of the Thunderbolt'.

Part Victorian holiday resort, part major tea-growing centre, Darjeeling straddles a ridge 2,200m up in the Himalayas and almost 600-km north of Kolkata. Its been more than 50 years since the British departed, still the town remains as popular as ever with holiday-makers from the plains, and promenades such as the Mall and the Chowrasta still burst with life.

Toy Train & Tea Gardens

Although one can reach Darjeeling after-hour drive up a steep and winding road from Siliguri, the most exciting and nostalgic form of transportation is the Toy Train. This ' marvel of engineering' was inaugurated in 1881 and is the world's highest track railway. The miniature steam train huffs, puffs and toots as it wrestles its way up a vertical track of blind curves and loops in nine hours.

Tea gardens blanket the lower slopes. To the world's tea fanciers, Darjeeling is a name synonymous with prized perfection. Introduction in the 1840s, there are now 84 gardens of which Happy Valley and Lopchu are instantly recognisable to the connoisseur for their special fragrance. As the train nears Kurseong, the mid-point of the journey, it parallels the road, which is lined with tiny shop-houses, and tea stalls. Most, leach-infested forests of Oak, Ilex and Magnolia trees, dripping moss and brilliantly hued Orchids, encroach at every turn.

The Trans-Himalayan Backdrop

Ghoom, as the town's name seems to suggest, is gloomy and dank with perpetual fog. At this Tibetan village, which is at an altitude of 2,276 m (7,470 ft), one can hear the foghorn-like sounds of Buddhist monks blowing their giant Gyeling pipes from the rooftops of the nearby Yiga-Choling ' Yellow Hat' Buddhist Temple.

Ghoom is the jumping off point for an excursion to Tiger Hill, which should not be missed if the weather co-operates. For a truly magnificent view of the Himalayas, one must arrive before the sun rises and the clouds roll in. Inky darkness gives way to a gauzy mauve dawn and the peaks are unveiled in all their glory. Mount Everest, Lhotse, Makaly, Kabru, Kanchenjunga, Siniolchu and Chomolhari can all be seen with the forbidden peaks of the Tibetan Trans-Himalayan as a backdrop.