Way to travel

Food trails

Momos, thukpa, sel roti and chhurpi

Hill food is cheap, filling and seasonal. Squash shoots, fiddlehead ferns (ningro), nettle soup (sisnu) and fermented greens (gundruk) appear on homestay tables in their season.

Darjeeling also keeps old institutions from the Raj and the Tibetan exile years: bakeries, tea rooms and small family kitchens that have stayed on the same corner for decades.

In brief

Tibetan, Nepali, Lepcha and Bengali cooking meet in these hills. Eat momos in Darjeeling's lanes, thukpa in Gangtok, sel roti at Tihar, gundruk soup in a village kitchen and hard chhurpi on the trail.

By hill

Food trails in Darjeeling Food trails in Kurseong & Mirik Food trails in Gangtok Food trails in North Sikkim

Trips

Food trails on a ticket

Shoestring Darjeeling6 nights · Shared jeeps A student week in Darjeeling, Bijanbari and Ghoom Darjeeling · Bijanbari · Ghoom ₹13,500per person
about ₹1,950 a day

Shoestring Kurseong & Mirik5 nights · Mixed Kurseong, Sittong and Mirik on a shoestring Kurseong · Sittong · Mirik ₹11,500per person
about ₹1,900 a day Shoestring Kurseong & Mirik3 nights · Shared jeeps Three nights inside Makaibari tea estate Makaibari ₹7,500per person
about ₹1,900 a day Shoestring Kurseong & Mirik3 nights · Mixed Sittong orange village and Ahaldara Sittong ₹8,000per person
about ₹2,000 a day

Value Kurseong & Mirik9 nights · Mixed Nine slow nights in the tea valleys Kurseong · Makaibari · Sittong · Latpanchar ₹31,000per person
about ₹3,100 a day

Comfort Kalimpong3 nights · Reserved car Kalimpong heritage from Morgan House Kalimpong ₹19,500per person
about ₹4,900 a day

Shoestring Gangtok7 nights · Shared jeeps A backpacker week in East Sikkim Gangtok · Rumtek · Aritar ₹16,000per person
about ₹2,000 a day

Shoestring Gangtok3 nights · Shared jeeps Gangtok and Tsomgo Lake on a shoestring Gangtok ₹8,000per person
about ₹2,000 a day

Shoestring Gangtok2 nights · Shared jeeps A Gangtok long weekend on a budget Gangtok ₹5,000per person
about ₹1,650 a day

Value Gangtok4 nights · Mixed Rumtek and the monasteries of Gangtok Gangtok · Rumtek ₹15,000per person
about ₹3,000 a day

Comfort North Sikkim6 nights · Reserved car Dzongu and Lachung, Lepcha valley to the snow Phodong · Dzongu · Lachung · Mangan ₹37,000per person
about ₹5,300 a day

Shoestring North Sikkim3 nights · Shared jeeps Three nights with a Lepcha family in Dzongu Dzongu ₹8,500per person
about ₹2,100 a day

Places

Where to go for it

hill station2,042 m Darjeelingदार्जिलिङ The thunderbolt town of tea, toy trains and Tenzing

market town2,100 m Sukhia Pokhariसुखियापोखरी The market junction where roads split for Mirik and Sandakphu

hill station1,482 m Kurseongकर्सियाङ The orchid town where the toy train runs through the bazaar

tea garden1,200 m Makaibari The cornfield that became one of Darjeeling's oldest tea gardens

village1,200 m Sittong Darjeeling's orange village in the Riyang valley

hill station1,247 m Kalimpongकालिम्पोङ The wool-trade town between Deolo and Durpin hills

market town2,286 m Rimbikरिम्बिक Jeep head, Tuesday market and the end of the trail

town1,650 m Gangtokगान्तोक A royal hilltop capital since 1894, built for walking

town1,400 m Pakyong Sikkim's airport town, where flights come and go irregularly

river town330 m Rangpo The border town where NH10 crosses into Sikkim on the Teesta

forest village1,200 m Dzongu The Lepcha reserve across the Teesta, on its own permit

market town956 m Mangan District town of North Sikkim and its large cardamom

valley1,500 m Dentam Paddy terraces, cardamom kilns and farm kitchens west of Pelling

village1,900 m Hee Bermiok Farm homestays facing Kanchenjunga on the Pelling–Dentam road

forest village100 m Lataguri The highway village at Gorumara's gate

market town122 m Siliguriसिलिगुडी The gateway town on India's chicken's neck

Tell us your dates. We send the real cost

Where you want to go, how many of you, and roughly what you want to spend a day. A planner who lives in these hills replies within one working day with a route and every rupee written down.

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Shared jeep or private car, your choice

Homestays we have slept in

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