darjeeling - the beauty of bengal

Darjeeling is a mesmerising hill station located in West Bengal and is a divine amalgamation of lush green hills, beautiful serene monasteries, tea plantations and the amazing toy train. The city is also known as the Queen of Hill Stations and it's name comes from the Tibetan word 'Dorje' which means a precious stone or the thunderbolt and 'ling' meaning place, thus Darjeeling means the land of thunderbolt. At one point of time, Darjeeling was the most preferred location of the Britishers because of its cool climatic conditions and lush mountains. It is also very famous in the world for it's Darjeeling tea. Being in Darjeeling and sipping the hot cuppa tea is priceless. The town has a total population of over 132,016 people and is ethnically diverse with the common languages spoken being Nepali, Tibetan, Hindi, Bengali and English. Months from March- May and September-November are considered the best time to visit this heavenly place. In the month of July, Darjeeling gets heavy rainfall and due to the rampant deforestation and the poor planning, landslides occur.Thus, the rainy season should be avoided while planning a trip to Darjeeling.

 One of the major attractions of Darjeeling is its toy train which was built in the late 19th century and runs from Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Its tracks rise from sea level to an altitude of over 7,500 ft in just about 70 km. In order to overcome these gradients, the train does Zigzag, reverses and loops, the most famous being the Batasia Loop, where the train does a complete figure of eight. The train covers about 83 km in six or seven hours, so you have plenty of time to breathe in the fresh mountain air.

 The mighty Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world 8586 m is one of the eye catching beauty of Darjeeling. The path to ascend the mount is full of hardships, but the feeling that you get when you are at the summit and are seeing the world from the top, is incomparable. However, you shouldn't be disheartened if are not able to see the view from above, not everybody can summit Kanchenjunga. You can view the beauty of Kanchenjunga from Tiger Hills, the sunrise tour is the most famous one amongst the tourist. One can also watch the panoramic view of Ranjit River and the green tea plantation of the city through the Passenger Ropeway. This is the first passenger ropeway in India and covers a distance of 5 km from North point to Singla Bazaar. Visiting Darjeeling and not paying a visit to the tea gardens is a big mistake. The tea garden which are located at the rolling slopes of the hills are going to charm you without a doubt. You can visit the Badamtan Tea Estate, which was once, one of the tea company owned and managed by the British. It is located across the Ranjit River. You can purchase first flush tea, which fills the estate with sweet flavor and fine aroma.

Fast Facts

Temperature

Summer 14.9 - 8.6 C
Winter 6.11 - 1.50 C

Best Season

March to Middle June and October to December

Getting to Darjeeling

AIR

Bagdogra is the nearest airport connected by flights to major cities like Kolkata, Delhi and Guwahati.

RAIL

Nearest railway stations New Jalpaiguri NJP that is directly connected by rail to all the major places in India.

ROAD

Darjeeling is connected by good motorable roads to all places in India.
Darjeeling is
686 km from Kolkata
80 km from Siliguri
32 km from Kurseong
51 km from kalimpong
114 km from Gangtok
86 km from New Jalpaiguri

Air Distance from places (in Kms)

• Delhi to Darjeeling 178 Kms
• Mumbai to Darjeeling 891 Kms
• Bengaluru to Darjeeling 1564 Kms
• Chennai to Darjeeling 1554 Kms
• Kolkata to Darjeeling 496 Kms
• Siliguri to Darjeeling 36 Kms
• Hyderabad to Darjeeling 1073 Kms
• Patna to Darjeeling 158 Kms
• Ahmedabad to Darjeeling 444 Kms
• Bhubaneswar to Darjeeling 752 Kms