Way to travel

Off-season and monsoon

Green hills and lower prices

The monsoon is the cheapest time in the hills, with many homestays and hotels cutting rates. It is also the season of the second and monsoon flushes in the tea gardens.

Plan buffer days: landslides can close roads for hours or days. Avoid the high passes and the Dooars parks, which close for the monsoon. Check current status before you travel.

In brief

From June to September prices drop, the tea gardens are greenest and the crowds go home. Expect rain most afternoons, landslides on some roads and closed national parks.

By hill

Off-season and monsoon in Kurseong & Mirik Off-season and monsoon in Singalila Off-season and monsoon in Gangtok Off-season and monsoon in West & South Sikkim

Trips

Off-season and monsoon on a ticket

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

Value Gangtok5 nights · Reserved car Gangtok, Pakyong and Aritar for families Gangtok · Pakyong · Aritar ₹19,000per person
about ₹3,150 a day

Shoestring North Sikkim5 nights · Shared jeeps Teesta valley by shared jeep: Phodong to Dzongu Phodong · Singhik · Dzongu · Mangan ₹12,000per person
about ₹2,000 a day

Shoestring West & South Sikkim5 nights · Shared jeeps Uttarey and Dentam village stay Pelling · Dentam · Uttarey ₹12,500per person
about ₹2,100 a day

Comfort Dooars5 nights · Reserved car Dooars river valleys for birders, by car Murti · Suntalekhola · Jhalong ₹26,000per person
about ₹4,350 a day

Places

Where to go for it

lake1,370 m Namthing Pokhri The seasonal lake where Himalayan salamanders come to breed

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

river town200 m Teesta Bazar The river crossing below Kalimpong, rafting and road junction

forest village2,390 m Gorkhey A river meadow village after the long drop from Phalut

village2,560 m Rammam The village above the river that waters Darjeeling's border

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

village2,500 m Samanden A farming hamlet in a green bowl between two rivers

river town1,900 m Srikhola A riverside lodge stop where the trail meets the road

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

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

monastery town1,465 m Tashiding The heart-shaped hill of the sacred Bumchu vase

village2,000 m Uttarey Border village under the Singalila ridge, past the Singshore Bridge

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

Change anything, any time before you book