Try "Sandakphu", "toy train", "homestay", "Gangtok in April"
Kurseong, Mirik & the tea valleys · Shoestring trip
A walking trip above Kurseong. Walk up through the Dow Hill forest past the old schools to Chimney, sleep two nights in a forest homestay, walk the ridge to Bagora and come back down on foot. From about ₹7,000 per person, with only jeeps for the plains.
Photo: Mayukh Ghose · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
The ridge above Kurseong carries an old road through tall forest: past the 1879 Victoria Boys' School and Dow Hill School to Chimney, where a lone brick chimney stands from a dak bungalow built around 1839, and on along the crest to Bagora. It is a quiet, cool and beautiful walk, and almost nobody does it on foot.
This trip uses your legs as the main transport. Jeeps take you up from Siliguri and back down; everything else is walking, with homestay dinners at the end of each day. Send heavy bags up by local jeep if you can.
NJP railway station or Bagdogra airport to NJP railway station or Bagdogra airport · On foot
Take a shared jeep from Siliguri to Kurseong and check into a homestay. In the afternoon, warm up with the short climb to Eagle's Crag and a walk through the bazaar. Buy snacks, a torch battery and anything else you need; there are few shops on the ridge.
Spend today: ₹200 jeep + ₹150 lunch + ₹200 supplies
Leave by 8 am and walk up Dow Hill Road into the forest. Pass the gates of Victoria Boys' School and Dow Hill School, look but do not enter, and carry on over the ridge to Chimney. Visit the old chimney in its small park, then check into your homestay. Send your main bag up by local jeep or taxi if possible.
Spend today: ₹100 bag by jeep + ₹100 tea
Walk along the ridge from Chimney to Bagora with a local guide, through forest and open slopes with long views on clear mornings. Have tea in Bagora and walk back. In spring rhododendrons flower on the higher slopes. Spend the evening by the bukhari with your host family.
Spend today: ₹700 guide + ₹100 tea
Watch sunrise from an open bend near the homestay, then walk back down through Dow Hill to Kurseong, about 2.5 hours. Have lunch in the bazaar and take an afternoon jeep down to Siliguri. If your legs are tired, take the morning local jeep from Chimney instead.
Spend today: ₹200 jeep + ₹150 lunch
The route
Questions people ask
Yes. ₹7,000 is per person on twin sharing for Indian nationals, from NJP or Bagdogra and back, as an indicative 2025–26 figure. Solo travellers pay more for rooms and cars; groups of four sharing a car pay less. We round to the nearest ₹500.
Yes. Bagdogra is about 30 minutes from Siliguri and a little further from NJP. Shared autos and taxis link the airport to the Siliguri jeep stands. With a reserved car, the fare from Bagdogra is about the same as from NJP.
Yes. Add a night where you want more time, usually in the village stops, or drop one on a tight schedule. Keep at least two nights in any place where you want a clear dawn view, since weather can spoil one morning.
Reasonably fit. The longest day climbs about 700 m over 8 km on a road, taking 3–3.5 hours. The other walks are gentler. If you are unsure, take a local jeep for the climb and walk the ridge and the descent.
No, it follows a road and is easy to find. We suggest a guide for the Bagora ridge day, mostly for birds, plants and short forest paths off the road. Ask your Chimney homestay to arrange one.
Local folklore says so, with tales of a headless boy and footsteps in the empty schools. They are stories, not history. Walking in daylight, you will mostly meet school staff, villagers and birds.
Often yes. Local jeeps between Kurseong and Bagora pass Chimney, and your homestay may arrange for a driver to carry your bag for a small fee. Keep valuables and a warm layer with you.
October to December for clear, dry days, and March to May for spring flowers and birdsong. Winter is cold at Chimney but often clear. Avoid June to September.
Yes. Add a night at Bagora, or continue by local transport from Bagora down towards Sittong and spend two nights there. Ask homestays about current road and jeep conditions.
Other tickets
Value
Kurseong & Mirik4 nights · Mixed
Kurseong and Mirik tea valleys
Kurseong · Mirik
₹13,000per personComfort
Kurseong & Mirik3 nights · Reserved car
Kurseong heritage stay with tea tastings
Kurseong
₹21,000per personShoestring
Kurseong & Mirik5 nights · Mixed
Kurseong, Sittong and Mirik on a shoestring
Kurseong · Sittong · Mirik
₹11,500per personPlan with a local
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.