The Himalayan range framed between two gilded pillars at Pemayangtse Monastery, West Sikkim.

Sikkim · 7 Days

Sikkim — Monasteries & Mountain Views

A monastery-and-mountains week — Rumtek, the Ravangla Buddha, Pemayangtse and the old capital ruins, ending with sunrise on Kanchenjunga.

Day by Day

7 Days, In Full

Sikkim for travellers drawn to its Buddhist life and its views more than its high passes. Two nights in Gangtok for Rumtek, the largest monastery in the state, and the Tibetology institute. A full day at Ravangla for the forty-metre Buddha, the Ralang monastery and the Temi tea garden. Three nights in Pelling for Pemayangtse, the Rabdentse ruins, Khecheopalri Lake, the skywalk, and two chances at the Kanchenjunga sunrise. It is paced slowly, with time to sit in the courtyards.

Gangtok

Arrive in Gangtok

The drive up from Bagdogra airport or the New Jalpaiguri railhead takes about four to five hours, climbing out of the Bengal tea plains and up the Teesta gorge into Sikkim. Foreign visitors have their Sikkim permit checked at Rangpo on the way in. You reach Gangtok in the afternoon. The evening is for MG Marg, the traffic-free central avenue, where the town comes out to walk and the cafes fill up.

Gangtok

Gangtok — the Monasteries, the Ropeway and MG Marg

A full day around the capital. Rumtek first, the largest monastery in Sikkim and the Karmapa's seat, on a hill facing the town. Then the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, with one of the best collections of Tibetan texts and art outside Tibet, and the nearby Do-drul chorten. The afternoon takes in the Enchey monastery above the town, the ropeway across the ridge, and time on MG Marg and in the Lal Bazar market.

The gold and crimson Guru Padmasambhava statue on Samdruptse Hill near Namchi, South Sikkim.

Gangtok → Ravangla

Gangtok to Ravangla, via the Namchi Statues

A drive south and west of about four hours, crossing the Teesta and climbing into South Sikkim. The stop on the way is Namchi: the forty-five-metre statue of Guru Padmasambhava on Samdruptse hill, and the Char Dham complex at Solophok, where the four corner temples of India are rebuilt at full size around a statue of Shiva. Both sit on hilltops with wide views. You reach Ravangla, on its ridge facing Kanchenjunga, by evening.

Visitors walk up a lush green tea-covered hillside at Temi Tea Garden in South Sikkim.

Ravangla

Ravangla — Buddha Park, Ralang and the Temi Tea Garden

A relaxed South Sikkim day. Buddha Park, above the town, is built around a forty-metre seated Buddha unveiled by the Dalai Lama in 2013, with gardens and a lawn facing the mountains. The old Ralang monastery is a short drive on. The afternoon is the Temi tea garden, the only one in Sikkim, on a hillside below Tendong: a walk through the rows and the small factory, then a tasting in the estate bungalow.

A hillside village scattered through dense forest on a ridge near Pelling, West Sikkim.

Ravangla → Pelling

Ravangla to Pelling

A drive of about three hours west along the ridges, through forest and small villages, with Kanchenjunga ahead most of the way on a clear day. There is time to stop at a viewpoint or a roadside monastery. You reach Pelling, in the far west of the state, by early afternoon, and check in with the mountains filling the windows. If the sky is clear, the sunset light on the snow from the hotel lawn is worth waiting for.

Pelling

Pelling — Pemayangtse, Rabdentse, Khecheopalri and the Skywalk

A full day in west Sikkim. Pemayangtse first, one of the oldest monasteries in the state, with a seven-tiered wooden model of a celestial palace on its top floor. A short walk downhill reaches the forest ruins of Rabdentse, the old royal capital. The afternoon is the sacred Khecheopalri Lake, still and leaf-free in its ring of trees, and the glass skywalk on the ridge, which runs out over the valley to a large statue of Chenrezig.

Pelling

Kanchenjunga at Sunrise from Pelling

Pelling exists for this view, and the best of it is at first light. From the hotel lawn, or from the Sangacholing ridge a little higher, the Kanchenjunga massif stands clear before the valley cloud builds, and the snow turns from grey to pink to white as the sun comes up. Kanchenjunga is the third-highest mountain in the world and sacred to the Sikkimese, who call it the five treasures of the great snow. The rest of the morning is loose: a monastery, a village walk, or simply the lawn and a pot of tea.

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luxury · 6 Nights