Top choice in Gangtok
An oasis of birdsong some 2km from central Gangtok, this collection of high-quality, lovingly maintained cottage rooms and houselets is interspersed with countless blooming shrubs and orchids. Gorgeous valley views look towards Rumtek, there's a well-stocked library, a flower nursery and a kitchen garden providing top-quality organic veg for delicious home-cooked set meals (breakfast/dinner ₹210/315, prebook).
Taxis cost around ₹150 from the city centre.
29.59 MILES
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, known affectionately as the toy train, made its first journey along its precipice-topping, 2ft-wide tracks in 1881 and…
15.03 MILES
With a breathtaking backdrop of Himalayan peaks, the gigantic, 41m-tall Buddha statue is one of Sikkim's most iconic sights. Finished in 2013, it's…
21.96 MILES
This wobbly old temple is a peaceful, half-forgotten delight with appealingly naive paintings and an incredible 360-degree mountain panorama. There's no…
24.04 MILES
All aflutter with prayer flags, the Norbugang 'coronation park' is a historic woodland garden containing a small temple, a huge prayer wheel, a chorten…
17.71 MILES
Visible for miles, this 45m-high statue of Padmasambhava (Guru Rimpoche) is painted in shimmering copper and gilt and sits on a lotus plinth high above…
Namgyal Institute of Tibetology
1.58 MILES
The NIT's 1958 core building feels like a Tibetan fantasy palace, with corner towers, colourful mural frontage and a forest-glade setting. The main hall…
20.68 MILES
This unmissable feast of colour is a remarkable Hindu religious theme park crowning Solophuk hilltop, 5km southwest of Namchi. It brings together replicas…
1.02 MILES
Gangtok's 'royal' monastery has a very impressive centrepiece temple whose superb interior incorporates a pair of carved dragon columns flanking the main…
0.79 MILES
Flower-wise it's less exciting than many a British garden-centre shop, but a visit to this small, covered collection of potted plants is perversely…
0.83 MILES
On the city's northern outskirts, approached through rustling conifers, Enchey is a small but appealing Nyingma-Buddhist monastery that is, in a sense,…
0.95 MILES
If you're visiting the zoo, whose ticket booth is 50m away, it's well worth stopping at this viewpoint tower to survey a vast sweep of cityscape: notice…
0.96 MILES
Among India's best-maintained zoos, this lushly forested park occupies an entire hillside. The star attractions are Sikkim's animal emblems, the red…
1.02 MILES
Gangtok's 'royal' monastery has a very impressive centrepiece temple whose superb interior incorporates a pair of carved dragon columns flanking the main…
1.2 MILES
Layered amid peaceful forests, Lingdum Gompa is arguably the most photogenic monastery in the Gangtok area. Its centrepiece is a large, attractive…
8. Namgyal Institute of Tibetology
1.58 MILES
The NIT's 1958 core building feels like a Tibetan fantasy palace, with corner towers, colourful mural frontage and a forest-glade setting. The main hall…