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The best season to visit Darjeeling is between April and June. The weather during this period is generally clear and the chilling biting cold gets subsided. But one can also go to Darjeeling between September and November. During these months the mountains are clearly visible and one can enjoy the golden sunrise over the Himalayan peaks. Being a mountain city Darjeeling experiences rains throughout the year. Often heavy down pours wash away the roads and the place is totally cut off from rest of the country. The temperature range is not very large here with the maximum in summers being 15 degrees and 1.5 degrees in winters. This place requires warm cloths any time of the year and do not forget to carry a umbrella to this place.

ATTRACTIONS IN & AROUND

TIGER HILL

Tiger hills is the highest point in the area which provides the most exotic view of the Kanchenjunga peaks.

DHOOM GOMPA

About 8 kms from Darjeeling is the Dhoom Gompa. Here a very beautiful statue of the Maitrayie Buddha ( prospective Buddha) is established.

BATASIA LOOP

This railway loop is an interesting example of engineering. At this loop the toy train takes a very unique turn. This loop is just five kilometer from the main town of Darjeeling.

HAPPY VALLEY ESTATE

Here the tea from the gardens is processed. One can spent a few hours here. Entry is only allowed to persons who have permission from any officer of the estate.

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

The museum has a collection of over 4300 specimen . Established in 1903, this natural history museum packs in its folds a rich collection of fauna found in the Himalayas and in Bengal.

SENCHAL LAKE

A scenic place near the tiger hills. This place has popularly come up as a picnic spot among the tourists. The lake supplies drinking water to the town of Darjeeling.

KANCHENJUNGA VIEW

From Darjeeling one can have the best, uninterrupted view of the worlds third highest peak.

ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS

The zoo is situated two kms form the main town. This zoological garden houses some of the rare species of animals and birds. This is only zoo in India having the Siberian Tigers. Apart from these the rare Red Panda is also there.

OBSERVATORY HILLS

This point provides one of the breathtaking views of Kanchenjunga peaks. This place is also very sacred for the Hindus and the Buddhists as there are temples and the monasteries at this place.

BHUTIA BUSTY GOMPA

With the back drop of the Kanchenjunga range stands a monastery called the Bhutia Busty Gompa. This monastery was shifted from the observatory hills to the present place.

SNOW LEOPARD BREEDING PROGRAMME

Nowadays the zoologists and the environmental scientists are trying to protect the endangered species by breeding them in captivity.

BOTANICAL GARDENS

This place is worth a visit for its exotic and exclusive collection of a variety of Himalayan plants, flowers and orchids. This place is near the taxi stand. The gardens also has a green house.

TIBETAN REFUGEE SELF-HELP CENTER

In 1959 was established a center for the refuges who had fled Tibet with the Dalai Lama after the Chinese invasion. This self help center has been developed as workshop for the manufacture of handicrafts.

HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINEERING INSTITUTE & MUSEUMS

The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute is on the West Jawahar road. The institute runs courses for training mountaineers as well as has the very good collection of mountaineering equipments which have been used in various mountaineering expeditions and other wise.

PASSENGER ROPEWAY

Another tourist attraction in Darjeeling has been the ropeway. This was the first ropeway in India. It connects the North point (7000 ft) to the Singla Bazaar (800 ft). The rope covers a distance of 8 kms in 45 minutes.

CHOWRASTA

This one of the important shopping places in Darjeeling . Here the Nehru Road and the Mall Road Intersect each other.

HOW TO GET HERE

BY AIR : Bagdogra Airport (96 kms from Darjeeling) has direct air connections to Calcutta, Delhi, Patna, Guwahati and other places of North-East India.

BY RAIL : New Jalpaiguri (NJP) station at the base of Darjeeling Hill area has the direct railway connections to Calcutta, Delhi, Guwahati, Madras, Bombay, Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Tirupati, Trivandrum, Cochin etc. And from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling by toy train it takes 7 hours on a narrow gauge line.

BY ROAD : Darjeeling is connected by road with Calcutta 651 kms, Gangtok 100 kms, Kalimpong 51 kms. Calcutta-Shiliguri have direct NSBTC Buses, daily.