APT (APT Travel Group)
Indian Odyssey by Luxury Rail
13-day Delhi-to-Mumbai luxury rail journey aboard the Deccan Odyssey
13 daysprice on request
58% rail
Transindus · Tailor Made Tour
Sikkim and the Darjeeling Railway
A foray deep into the Himalayan foothills of northeast India, from Kolkata to Sikkim and the hill stations of Gangtok and Darjeeling.
Day by day
- Day 1
UK, Kolkata
Fly from the UK to Kolkata via the Middle East.
- Day 2overnight: Hotel in Kolkata (not named on page)
Kolkata
On arrival in the morning, you'll be met by your TransIndus driver and guide and escorted to your hotel for a two-night stay. Spend the remainder of the day recovering from the journey, perhaps venturing out to the College Street Coffee House as an acclimatiser.
- Day 3overnight: Hotel in Kolkata (not named on page)
Kolkata
A full day's sightseeing, starting at the Victoria Memorial, the city's most iconic building, and continuing to the Indian Museum, New Market and Park Street Cemetery.
- Day 4overnight: Hotel in Kalimpong (not named on page)
Kalimpong
Fly to Bagdogra and drive to Kalimpong for an overnight stay. A typical Indian hill town, its attractions include market gardens where orchids, amaryllis, palms, ferns and cacti are cultivated for export, and a spellbinding view of the distant Himalayas from the monastery of Zong Dog Palri Phodrang.
- Day 5overnight: Hotel in Gangtok (not named on page)
Gangtok (Sikkim)
Drive to Sikkim for a two-night stay in the capital, Gangtok. Sikkim only became part of India in 1975, and much of it retains the feel of a remote Himalayan kingdom, with ancient Buddhist monasteries clinging to ridgetops and the glaciers and ice peaks of the Kangchenjunga massif on the horizon.
- Day 6overnight: Hotel in Gangtok (not named on page)
Gangtok (Sikkim)
A full day's sightseeing including Enchey Monastery, the Do-Drul Chorten, the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, and the Flower Exhibition Centre and Zoological Gardens to see red pandas and snow leopards. In the evening, soak up the atmosphere of MG Road.
- Day 7overnight: Hotel in Pelling (not named on page)
Pelling
Drive to Pelling for a two-night stay, visiting Rumtek Monastery, seat of the Karma Kagya ('Black Hat') monastic order, en route. Pelling boasts one of the best views in Sikkim of Kanchenjunga and its outlying peaks.
- Day 8overnight: Hotel in Pelling (not named on page)
Pelling
Visit nearby Pemayangtse Monastery on a day trip from Pelling, and enjoy a walk around the village. Built in the 17th century, the monastery marks the start of a popular trekking route north to the base camp of Kanchenjunga.
- Day 9overnight: Hotel in Darjeeling (not named on page)
Darjeeling
A half-day's drive south from Pelling to the hill station and tea-growing centre of Darjeeling, founded by the British as the site of an army sanatorium in the early 19th century, at an altitude of 2,200m amid lush tea gardens.
- Day 10overnight: Hotel in Darjeeling (not named on page)
Darjeeling
An early start to reach the top of Tiger Hill (2,585m) shortly after dawn for a panoramic view of Kanchenjunga and the northeast Himalaya. Afterwards, visit Ghoom Monastery, home to a beautiful bronze-faced Maitreya, and a tea plantation.
- Day 11railovernight: Hotel in Darjeeling (not named on page)
Darjeeling
Visit the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, once directed by Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, and take a ride on the world-famous Darjeeling Railway - a narrow-gauge line built by the British in the late 19th century and the only one in India still using steam locomotives - to Kurseong.
- Day 12overnight: Hotel in Kolkata (not named on page)
Kolkata
Fly back to Kolkata for a two-night stay. Visit the Kali Ghat temple, the most important Hindu shrine in the city, in the early evening.
- Day 13overnight: Hotel in Kolkata (not named on page)
Kolkata
A free day to explore the city in greater depth, with or without a guide, and shop for souvenirs.
- Day 14
Kolkata, UK
Head for the airport to catch your return flight to the UK.
Included
- International flights from UK
- 12 nights accommodation
- All internal transportation and transfers using private, chauffeur-driven vehicles
- Private English-speaking guides
- Breakfast daily
- Entrance fees to sites and monuments listed in tour itinerary
