7 Days Sikkim & Darjeeling — Mountains, Tea & Monasteries

Land at Bagdogra or arrive at NJP and drive the spectacular 4-hour route into Sikkim — rising from the tea gardens of the plains into the snow-visible Himalayan foothills. Arrive Gangtok and check in. Evening stroll on MG Marg — Sikkim's pedestrian promenade, lined with Tibetan restaurants and prayer wheel stalls.

Gangtok's spiritual circuit: Rumtek Monastery — one of Buddhism's most significant monasteries, with magnificent thangka paintings and golden stupas. Namgyal Institute of Tibetology's library of ancient manuscripts. Enchey Monastery in the deodar forest. Afternoon on Gangtok's cable car (ropeway) for panoramic views of the city and the mountains beyond.

Drive to Tsomgo (Changu) Lake at 12,400 feet — a glacial lake sacred to the local Sikkimese. Yak rides around the frozen shores. Continue to Baba Harbhajan Singh Mandir — a shrine to a fallen Indian soldier, tended by the army, visited by thousands who believe in his miraculous presence on the border. Return to Gangtok.

Drive west to Pelling — the best place in Sikkim for Kanchenjunga views. En route, visit the 17th-century Pemayangtse Monastery — Sikkim's second-oldest and most revered. Arrive Pelling and if the sky is clear, your first close view of Kanchenjunga (8,586m) from your hotel balcony. Dinner with the mountain as backdrop.

The Pelling Skywalk — a glass-bottomed bridge extending over the valley with Kanchenjunga filling your horizon — is genuinely thrilling. Sacred Khecheopalri Lake where dead leaves are said to never settle (kingfishers keep it clean, say locals). Kanchenjunga Falls' roaring cascade. Rabdentse ruins — Sikkim's ancient capital.

Drive to Darjeeling — the Queen of Hill Stations. Check in to your heritage hotel. Afternoon walk through a working tea garden — pluck leaves, learn the process from bush to cup, taste first-flush Darjeeling. Evening on the Mall Road promenade with a warming cup of the world's most famous tea in hand.

4am wake-up for the pilgrimage to Tiger Hill — Kanchenjunga and Everest lit by the first sliver of dawn is something no photograph fully captures. Return to Darjeeling for the Heritage Toy Train ride through the tea gardens (a UNESCO World Heritage railway). Then your tour manager transfers you to NJP or Bagdogra for your onward journey.