Sikkim and Darjeeling Complete Guide 2026: Gangtok, Tsomgo Lake, Pelling, Kanchenjunga and the UNESCO Toy Train
Browse more guides: India travel | Asia destinations 1. TL;DR I spent three weeks crisscrossing the Eastern Himalayas, splitting time between Sikkim (India's 22nd state, merged on May 16, 1975) and the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. The region holds two UNESCO listings, Khangchendzonga National Park (inscribed 2016) and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (inscribed 1999), alongside Kanchenjunga at 8,586 metres, the world's third-highest peak. Expect Buddhist monasteries, century-old tea estates, narrow-gauge steam, and high-altitude lakes near the China border. 2. Why Visit Sikkim and Darjeeling in 2026 The region packs unusual variety into a small footprint. Khangchendzonga National Park covers 850 square kilometres of glaciers, alpine meadows, and sacred summits, and Sikkim's people regard the mountain as a guardian deity rather than a climbing objective. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, opened in 1881, still climbs 88 kilometres on a two-foot gauge from New Jal...