Darjeeling a famous hill station of West Bengal, which is widely famous in India for Tea Garden and Toy Train. In this blog, will explore the beauty of Darjeeling and if you are planning a trip, then you must read this blog. To explore the town, 2 Nights and 3 Days are enough, so plan your trip accordingly.
Before exploring the places, let me tell you some important information. The places mentioned in this blog close around 4 to 5 pm. Wake up early to explore the city.
If you know driving (Bullet, Bike or Scooty), then hire a rental bike which costs from Rs. 800/- (Scooty and Bike) to Rs. 1500/- (Bullet) per day. You have to fill the petrol tank by yourself, and buy two helmets, for yourself and your partner. The traffic rules of Darjeeling is very strict and adhere the rules, so always wear helmet while ride, never park your vehicle on “No Vehicle Zone”, otherwise you will be charged with heavy penalty.
If you don’t know driving, you can hire Taxi which charge as per the location and distance.
Let’s begin the journey……………
Day 1
Tiger Point
Darjeeling’s Tiger Point is a popular tourist place to experience the Sunrise amidst nature. To explore this place, wake up around 3:30 am or 4:00 am, so that you can reach the destination on time and experience the sunrise. If you love photography, then Sunrise at Tiger Point is the best place.
Breakfast at Glenary’s Cafe
To explore other places, we need energy and will for a breakfast. Glenray’s café served a delicious and heavy breakfast. The food is satisfactory, and the appealing part of this café is Mountain View.
Toy Train
The journey begins with Toy Train Ride, which is only 1.5 kms away from Mall Road. The station is known as Joy Ride Station, which offers various slots for the ride. The morning ride is best to explore. At the one side of the road, you administer the two types of Toy Trains – Diesel Engine and Steam Engine, on the other side, the surreal beauty of Kanchenjunga Mountain.
- Fare of Toy Train
- Diesel Engine – 1000/- per person
- Steam Engine – 1500/- per person
The Toy Train Ride is of 2 hours where the train halts in two places for 15 minutes each. The places are:
- Batasia Loop: The first stoppage of Toy Train is Batasia Loop, where the train halts for 15 minutes. The place was made to honor the sacrifices of Gorkha Regiment Soldiers made in the war. You can visit this beautiful and explore the war site and click lots of photographs.
- Ghum Railway Station: This is the second 15-minute stop of Toy Train where you can explore Gum Museum. The Museum is a learning space where you can learn and get complete information on how the trains were run during old era and various other unique things like artifacts. The briefings on trains were provided by the Britishers.
Mall Road – Darjeeling
At the end of the day, back to your hotel which is in Mall Road. A place where you can explore lots of things, eat local food, go shopping, enjoy the dance performed by locals and can-do horse riding at a cost of Rs. 50/-.
The market is operational till 10 pm in summer and closed at 9 pm in winter.
Day 2
Mahakal Temple
The Mahakal Temple of Lord Shiva is situated in Mall Road, will begin our journey with the blessing of Lord Shiva.
The temple is surrounded by serene beauty, and you will find peace. With this freshness will move to our second point of the day.
Rangeet Valley Ropeway
To explore Rangeet Valley, wake-up early in the morning and try to reach at morning 9:00. The ticket counter opens at 9 am and by that time, you can see lots of people are already in a queue. The charges of Rangeet Valley Ropeway are Rs. 260/- per person for both sides.
The view is breathtaking and from the ropeway you can see the lush green beautiful town, Darjeeling. The Kanchenjunga Mountain is visible from the ropeway, and it feels like a paradise. Click photographs of Haseen Vadiyan and enjoy the ropeway journey.
Happy Valley
Our second stop of Day 1 is Happy Valley, Darjeeling’s famous Tea Garden. The Happy Valley is only 3kms. away from Joy Ride Railway Station. The Tea Garden spread over a wide area; you can’t take your eyes off of this beauty. You can buy tea from Happy Valley, the cost ranges up to lakhs.
At Happy Valley you can click photographs in Traditional Attire which cost Rs. 100/-. This place was mostly covered with couples.
Darjeeling Zoo (Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park)
Darjeeling Zoological Park is spread across 67 acres of land and famously known for preserving Snow Leopard, Red Panda and Eastern Himalayan Species. The park is huge and divided into three sections, carnivore, herbivore and lesser carnivore section.
- Timings of Darjeeling Zoo:
- Summer Season: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
- Winter Season: 8:30 am to 4:00 pm
- Charges for visiting Zoo: Rs. 110/-. Children under 6 years need not pay any charges to visit zoos.
Day 3
Peace Pagoda – Buddhist Temple
The next destination is Peace Pagoda which is only 4kms away from Happy Valley. As the name says, this place is so peaceful, people roaming in the pagods were not making noise. We can say this is the most peaceful location of Darjeeling.
The huge Buddhist Temple is situated at Peace Pagods where they do meditation, and chant prayers. The temple is situated at a height, spread across in a wide area and the view from this temple is surreal and charming.
Lamahatta Eco Park
This place is another paradise of Darjeeling which is 25 km away from Rangeet Valley Ropeway. Yes, you heard me right, but believe me this place is worth it. The location is far, but the Road Trip is fascinating. The surreal beauty is hard to capture, but we try to do so.
The Eco Park is spread in a vast area and surrounded by mountains & rivers. If you talk to local people, they will tell you the name of each peak, for us, it’s hard to remember the name of each peak, but you can experience the beauty from the top of Tree House. If you want to see these peaks and rivers closely, you can pay around Rs. 30 to Rs. 50 and watch it through telescope.
Rock Garden (Barbotey Rock Garden)
Darjeeling’s Rock Garden is famously known as Barbotey Rock Garden, a famous tourist attraction. The road trip to Rock Garden is mesmerizing, the lush green beauty, rocky hills, flower beds and mountains.
When you reach the garden after embarking journey, you will see the Natural Fall, known as ‘Chunnu Summer Fall”, tea garden and charming flower gardens. You can click photographs and sit for a while, as the sitting arrangements is pretty nice.
Mahakal Mandir, Monastery & Observatory Hill
Before sharing about this place, I would advise you to visit this place, if you have sufficient time. Lord Shiva Temple is located at Observatory Hill and from this place, the snow-clad peak of Mount Kanchenjunga is visible. At the hill the Temple of Lord Shiva and Buddhist Monastery is situated. You will be amazed to hear this, the priest of Temple and Monastery sits beside and performs prayers. The hill is surrounded by colourful Buddhist Prayer Flag, and there are many other small shrines situated around the temple.
If you booked your hotel at Mall Road, then the journey is 4 hrs. approx. On Day 3, visit this place first and then move ahead to another destination. To reach the temple, you have to walk a long way, treat it as your morning walk.
Hotel in Darjeeling
The best place to book Hotel in Darjeeling is Mall Road, heart of Darjeeling. At night you can take a walk, go shopping, or eat local food. Hotel Shikhar, Darjeeling offers a Mountain View, and the room is spacious with all amenities. The Rent of the hotel is Rs. 2500/- per day.
The other Hotel which you can book is Summit Oakden Resort & Spa, Darjeeling which is in Mall Road. The best part of this hotel is all the major tourist attractions like Darjeeling Zoo, Happy Valley, Rangeet Valley Ropeway, Glenary’s Cafe, and Chowrasta are nearby. If you love doing walking, then you can walk along with your partner.
You can discuss with the Hotel Manager, for making the arrangements of vehicle in return for airport or railway station.
How to Reach Darjeeling
- By Train: The Nearest Railway Station is New Jalpaiguri Railway Station. To reach Darjeeling, you can hire a Sharing Taxi at a cost of Rs. 200/-. The journey from Jalpaiguri Railway Station to Darjeeling is 70km, which took 3hrs. to reach. The drop point of the taxi is Darjeeling Mall Road.
- By Flight: The Nearest Airport is Bagdogra Airport and the distance to Darejeeling is 70kms, same as from Jalpaiguri Railway Station. For Private Taxi’s prepaid there is a prepaid counter at the airport, and prices are between Rs. 2500 to Rs. 3000 for 4 people.
Final Thought
In this blog post, I have explained the 3-day trip to Darjeeling which doesn’t include the travel time from your respective place to Darjeeling. The blog covered all the places with is worthy and beauty like paradise. We posted the day-wise places as per our feasibility, you may change the destination according to your likelihood.
At the end of the journey, you feel like staying for a few more days, but tell your heart, we have to explore many other places
Pack your bag and explore the unexplored places with Hema…
Very Nice
Thanks Jitu