Sikkim and Darjeeling Complete Guide 2026: Gangtok, Kanchenjunga, Yumthang Valley and Toy Train
Browse more guides: India travel | Asia destinations Sikkim and Darjeeling Complete Guide 2026: Gangtok, Kanchenjunga, Yumthang Valley and Toy Train TL;DR I planned my first Sikkim and Darjeeling trip thinking it was one circuit, then realised it is really two stories pressed together against the same mountain. Sikkim is the small Indian state of about 7,096 square kilometres and roughly 700,000 people that joined the union on 26 April 1975 after a referendum ended the Namgyal kingdom. Darjeeling sits just south in West Bengal, joined to it by the same skyline and the same view of Mount Kanchenjunga, the world's third-highest peak at 8,586 metres. The hub for most travellers is Gangtok at 1,650 metres, with MG Marg as the pedestrian spine, Enchey Monastery from 1909 above town, and Rumtek Monastery, the main seat of the Karma Kagyu lineage outside Tibet, a short drive away. From there I push west to Pelling for Pemayangtse Monastery (1705), Khangchendzonga Falls and the glass...