Sikkim only · six districts · from Gangtok
Sikkim, priced honestly
Shared-jeep weekends from under ₹10,000 to premium tours, with every cost shown, permits handled through registered partners and the Lepcha, Bhutia and Nepali stories behind each valley.
Six districts
Where in Sikkim
Sikkim reorganised into six districts in 2021. Each has its own season, its own permits and its own colours.
East Sikkim
Sikkim's capital, monasteries and the Nathu La road
North Sikkim
Yak pastures, Lepcha villages and lakes above 5,000 m
West Sikkim
Where Sikkim's kingdom began
South Sikkim
Big statues, tea, hot springs and village homestays
Pakyong and the Silk Route
River valleys, caravan villages and the Zuluk loops
Soreng
Farm villages, rhododendron ridges and Kangchenjunga views
Affordable Sikkim
Start from your budget
Indicative prices per person, twin sharing, from Bagdogra or NJP. Every package shows what the money pays for.
Rinchenpong weekend from NJP, budget
Rinchenpong
Aritar weekend: lake, Mankhim and villages
Aritar
Namchi weekend from NJP, 2 nights
Namchi
Dzongu Lepcha village escape
Dzongu
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From river valleys to the Tibetan plateau
Sikkim rises faster than almost anywhere on earth. Plan the height as carefully as the road.
Melli
Melli is a small town on the Teesta at about 280 m, split between Kalimpong district of West Bengal and Namchi district of Sikkim and joined by a road bridge. It is the main entry from Siliguri and NJP into …
South Sikkim · best Nov – Feb
Namchi
Namchi is the headquarters of Namchi district (South Sikkim), about 78 km and 3–3.5 hours from Gangtok at roughly 1,500 m. It is known for two hilltop pilgrimages, the Guru Rinpoche statue at Samdruptse and the Char Dham complex at …
South Sikkim · best Mar – May · Oct – Dec
Gangtok
Gangtok is Sikkim's capital, a ridge town at 1,650 m and the base for almost every trip in the state. Plan 2–3 nights: one day for the town's monasteries, institute and MG Marg, one for Tsomgo Lake and Baba Mandir, …
East Sikkim · best Mar – May · Oct – Dec
Pelling
Pelling is a ridge town at about 2,150 m in Gyalshing district, 115 km from Gangtok, and the main base for West Sikkim. On clear mornings it faces Kangchenjunga, Kabru and Pandim. Pemayangtse, Rabdentse, Sanga Choeling and the Skywalk are …
West Sikkim · best Mar – May · Oct – Dec
Lachung
Lachung is a Bhutia village at about 2,700 m in the Lachung Chu valley, 120 km and 5–6 hours from Gangtok. It is the overnight base for Yumthang Valley and Zero Point, has an 1880 Nyingma monastery, and is governed …
North Sikkim · best Apr – May · Oct – Nov
Tsomgo Lake
Tsomgo, also called Changu, is a glacial lake at 3,753 m about 40 km east of Gangtok on the road to Nathu La. It is Sikkim's most visited high-altitude sight, done as a day trip with Baba Mandir. A permit …
East Sikkim · best Apr – May · Oct – Nov
Nathang Valley
Nathang (Gnathang) Valley is a wide high valley at about 3,750 m on the Silk Route in Pakyong district, with a small village, a gumpa, yak pastures and army camps. In May 1888 Tibetan forces attacked the British camp here. …
Pakyong and the Silk Route · best Apr – May · Oct – Nov
Gurudongmar Lake
Gurudongmar Lake is a glacier-fed lake near the Tibet border, about 67 km and 3–3.5 hours from Lachen. The Sikkim government gives its altitude as 5,430 m; satellite data suggest nearer 5,150 m. Sacred to Buddhists, linked with Guru Padmasambhava, …
North Sikkim · best May · Oct – NovMonth by month
When each district is at its best
A planning guide, not a promise. Roads, passes and permits change every year: check current status before you travel. The outlined column is this month.
Right now
At their best this month
Gangtok
Sikkim's capital on a ridge at 1,650 m
Lachung
A Dzumsa-run village at 2,700 m on the road to Yumthang
Zuluk
The old caravan halt below the zigzag road
Ravangla
A cool ridge town between Buddha Park, Ralang and Maenam
Aritar
Lake village on the old Kalimpong trade road
Nathang Valley
A high yak valley where the 1888 campaign was decided
Namchi
Two giant statues, one tidy hill town, mild weather all year
town
Pelling2,150M
Pelling
West Sikkim's base, facing Kangchenjunga across the Rangeet
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Budget, value, comfort or premium
The same valleys at four levels of comfort. Move up or down a tier on any package.
Shared jeep and homestays
Clean budget hotels and family homestays, shared or small cars, breakfast and often dinner. The way most people in Sikkim travel.
Your own car, good 3-star rooms
A private small car and driver, reliable mid-range hotels and the better homestays. The best price-to-comfort ratio.
Private SUV, the best mid-range stays
An Innova or Xylo-class SUV, resorts with views and heating, slower days and a few set pieces.
Top hotels, private everything
Sikkim's finest hotels, private guides, the best rooms with Kangchenjunga views and the most comfortable vehicles.
Little known
Things most visitors never hear
Each one is sourced. Tap through to the place it belongs to.
The present Baba Mandir was built on 11 November 1982 at the junction of the road to Kupup and the trail towards Menmecho Lake; the original shrine is his bunker further along the Silk Route side.
Baba Harbhajan Singh MandirSource: darjeeling-tourism.com; Wikipedia: Baba Harbhajan SinghSince 2015, Nathu La has been one of the two official routes for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra organised by India's Ministry of External Affairs; the route is motorable most of the way.
Nathu LaSource: Wikipedia: Nathu La; Kailash Mansarovar YatraUnder the Chogyal-era reservation, not even a Lepcha from outside Dzongu may buy land inside it; the protection belongs to the Lepcha of Dzongu themselves.
DzonguSource: Live History India; Sikkim Escapes Dzongu guideWikipedia's Kabi Lungchok article says there are a number of waterfalls in the Kabi area, and that one of them is known as the Seven Sister waterfalls.
Seven Sisters WaterfallSource: Wikipedia, Kabi LungchokDubdi is the only one of the four monasteries built in that early period of the kingdom that still survives, according to Wikipedia.
Dubdi MonasterySource: Wikipedia: Dubdi MonasteryPemayangtse accepts only ta-tshang, 'monks of pure lineage', who must be celibate and without physical abnormality, a rule Wikipedia says still applies.
Pemayangtse MonasterySource: Wikipedia: Pemayangtse MonasteryThe complex spreads over about 29 hectares on Solophok hill, which is why the four dham replicas can stand at full temple scale rather than as small models.
Char Dham, SolophokSource: Inditales; Sikkim TourismThe Tibetan settlement near Ravangla market covers seven camps on about 328.5 acres, with roughly 1,300 residents, a primary school, two monasteries and a clinic.
RavanglaSource: Wikipedia: RavanglaThe 2011 census recorded Gnathang village as just 13 households and 60 people on 16 hectares, making it one of the smallest permanent settlements on the Silk Route.
Nathang ValleySource: Wikipedia: Nathang ValleyWikipedia records that traders used Zuluk as an overnight base on the Kalimpong–Tibet route, which ran through Pedong, Aritar, Zuluk and Jelep La to the Chumbi valley until the 1959 crackdown in Tibet.
ZulukSource: Wikipedia: DzulukRooted stories
The people and histories behind the views
Sepoy Harbhajan Singh, 1946–1968
Harbhajan Singh was born into a Sikh family on 30 August 1946 in Sardarpura, in a district that is now in Pakistan. He matriculated from DAV High School in Patti, Punjab, in March 1965, …
A lake that monks once read like a weather map
Tsomgo has long been sacred to the Bhutia and other Buddhist communities of Sikkim. Its name, from 'tso' (lake) and 'mgo' (head), marks it as a source of the streams that run down, eventually, …
The herders of the high pastures
The grasslands around Thangu and the valleys beyond, Lashar, Lhonak and Muguthang among them, have been summer pastures for generations. Lachenpa families and the Dokpa (or Drokpa), herders of Tibetan origin who live in …
Zangdok Palri, a heaven carved by one lama
Zangdok Palri, the 'Copper-Coloured Mountain', is the pure land where Guru Padmasambhava, the 8th-century teacher who brought Buddhism to the Himalaya, is believed to live in a palace on a mountain rising from an …
The sea floor above Namchi
Stand at Mamley, a few minutes above the Rock Garden, and look closely at the pale grey rock: fine wavy layers, small domes and columns, like a cabbage sliced in half. These are stromatolites, …
The gateway and the two rivers
Wikipedia's article on Rangpo says the town lies on the belt of two rivers: the Teesta, coming from the Dikchu, Singtam and Majitar side, and the Rangpo, coming from Rongli, Rorathang and Kumrek. They …
Read before you go
Costs, permits and festivals
Losoong and the Kagyed dance
Losoong is the Sikkimese Bhutia new year and harvest festival, held in December. In Gangtok it is preceded by the Kagyed dance …
Namsoong at Namprikdang
Namsoong is the Lepcha new year and harvest festival. Since 1979 its best-known public celebration has been held at Namprikdang, a riverside …
Phodong Monastery Chaam
Phodong Monastery, a Karma Kagyu seat 38 km north of Gangtok, holds its annual masked dance on the 28th and 29th days …
Tholung Kamsel
Every three years the sealed boxes of relics at Tholung Monastery in Upper Dzongu are opened, aired in the sun and shown …
The Chogyals and the story of Sikkim
Sikkim was a kingdom ruled by twelve Chogyals of the Namgyal dynasty from 1642, when Phuntsog Namgyal was consecrated at Yuksom, to 1975, when …
Gangtok on a budget: real costs for 2026
A careful traveller can do Gangtok for about ₹1,800–2,500 a person a day in 2026: a shared jeep up from Siliguri for ₹350–550, a …
Sikkim tour costs explained: cabs, jeeps and SNT
A Sikkim trip costs mostly transport and rooms. Shared jeeps cost ₹150–800 a seat, a reserved small car ₹3,000–4,000 a day and an SUV …
Dzongu and the Lepcha: a reserve with a story
Dzongu is a reserved homeland for the Lepcha in Mangan district, protected since a 1958 notification of the Chogyal's government. In 2007 its young …
Price your own route
Tell us dates, people and budget. We send a day-by-day plan with every cost shown. StartNot sure where to start?
We match districts to your month, your budget and the people travelling with you. StartAsk the Gangtok desk
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Tell us your dates and your budget
Who is travelling, when, and roughly what you want to spend. The Gangtok desk replies within one working day with a day-by-day plan and an itemised price.
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