Darjeeling Local Sightseeing

FIVE SIGHTSEEING POINT IN DARJEELING TOWN

There are many sightseeing destination in and around Darjeeling. Here are five most popular point that can be visited within a day. Remember no guides are required for these visits unless you ask for one to your travel agencies. Local taxi drivers can be hired and fare can be negotiated.

Himalayan Mountaineering Institute & Zoo: 

There are two attraction in the same place. The Institude, HMI was built to honor Tenzing Norgey the first man to reach the peak of Mt. Everest. This institute was established to train mountaineering and rock climbing to students from all over the world. Here you will also find a museum which has Tenzing's belongings and other articles related to mountaineering history. The zoo has many Himalayan animals like Himalayan Black Bear, Tibetan wolf, Snow Leopard, yaks, etc. The zoo is mostly popular for one animal, Red panda. The red panda, also called the lesser panda, the red bear-cat, and the red cat-bear, is a mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China

Happy Valley Tea Estate: An old tea estate that exports all its produce to Harrods in London and few other countries. You can see the delicate tea processing in the factory with the help of a guide and buy tea packets from its outlet. You won't get this tea anywhere else in the country. There is no entry fee, however there is fee for the guide. 

Tiger Hill: Early morning spectacle (views are best in autumn and spring) is a major tourist attraction, and you'll find hundreds of jeeps leaving Darjeeling for Tiger Hill every morning at 4am – traffic snarls en route are quite common. At the summit you can pay to stand in the pavilion grounds or warm up in one of the heated lounges (₹30 to ₹100 with tea). If you prefer your Himalayan views in solitude you might want visit this place.

Batasia Loop and the War Memorial: Batasia Loop is an engineering marvel located in Ghoom area. This is where the toy train makes a double spiral loop to negotiate a drop of 1000 ft as it moves towards Darjeeling town. Amidst the beautiful garden where the railway track is laid in form of a loop, there is also a War Memorial. It was constructed in honor of the Gorkha soldiers who sacrificed their lives in service of the nation. There is a nominal entry fee. Don't miss the Samosas (fried vegetable pastries) that are sold near the entrance of Batasia Loop in the morning. 

Japanese Temple & Peace Pagoda: Close to the Darjeeling town and in a scenic setting there is a temple built in a traditional Japanese style. About 100 yards away and in the same complex, there is large Peace Pagoda that showcases four avatars of Buddha. The view of the mountain range and Darjeeling town from the top of the pagoda is spectacular. No entry fee. Caution: In order to save time, some drivers try to treat these two attractions as separate ones and count 2 instead of one. Don't be deceived or you will miss out on one of the following.