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Travelmarvel

Darjeeling & The Kingdom of Bhutan

Kolkata Return

Trip Code: RJTCDJ14
14 Days
34 Meals
2 Countries
  • Travel & Accommodation
  • Map & Itinerary
  • Similar Trips

Trip Inclusions

  • 13 nights in premium accommodation
  • The services of a Great Rail Journeys Tour Escort
  • 34 meals - 13 breakfasts, 8 lunches and 13 dinners
  • Ride the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and travel on the steam-hauled Toy Train to Ghum
  • Visit a tea estate in the famed tea-growing region of Darjeeling
  • See the stunning Tiger’s Nest Monastery with an optional climb to a spectacular viewpoint

Map & Itinerary

Trip Notes

  • Itinerary operated by Great Rail Journeys
  • Itinerary and inclusions subject to change
  • When arriving into Kolkata, ensure your flight lands before 4pm
  • Prices include transfers, tipping and porterage
  • Prices are for land and rail only. Flights not included
Asia Map 2021 RJTCDJ14
Kolkata Return

Designed exclusively for our guests

Insider Experience

Enjoy an included special or unique excursion or event

Arrive and transfer to your hotel. Tonight enjoy a Welcome Dinner.

Stay: Two Nights, Kolkata, Oberoi Grand Hotel

Daily :
  • Dinner

INSIDER EXPERIENCE

Visit Kolkata’s lively flower market, where the streets are transformed in an explosion of bright colours. Afterwards, visit Mother Teresa’s House and learn about her extraordinary life and pay respects at her grave.

INSIDER EXPERIENCE

Take the circular railway train to Prinsep Ghat, which provides a colourful insight into local life.

After an Insider Experience, visit Victoria Memorial – its grand interior is filled with mementos of the British rule. This afternoon, enjoy a sightseeing tour. Visit the fascinating Heritage Railway Museum, then continue through the maze of backstreets, to the ‘Potter’s Village’ where locals painstakingly sculpt statues to sacrifice at the nearby temples.

Daily :
  • Breakfast
  • Dinner
Cantivlever bridge of steel spanning the river at sunset as a man sits at the waters edge to enjoy view.

After a morning at leisure, enjoy lunch before boarding your train bound for New Jalpaiguri. Upon arrival, transfer to the town of Siliguri, located in the foothills of the Himalayas and once an important railway and trading hub for the British East India Company.

Stay: Siliguri, Hotel Sinclairs

Daily :
  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Dinner

INSIDER EXPERIENCE

Climb almost 2,150 metres into the Himalayas on an enthralling journey on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (subject to operation).

En route to Kurseong, visit Salagura Monastery. Afterwards, board the narrow-gauge Darjeeling Himalayan Railway train in the heart of the town. For a while the train runs directly through the noisy centre of the street before climbing into the verdant surrounding forest. Upon arrival in Darjeeling, check in to your hotel for a three-night stay.

Stay: Three Nights, Darjeeling, Mayfair Hill Resort

Daily :
  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Dinner

INSIDER EXPERIENCE

Visit Darjeeling’s Mountaineering Institute, the final resting place of Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, who reached the summit of Mt Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953.

INSIDER EXPERIENCE

Visit Tiger Hill viewpoint to watch the sunrise behind Kanchenjunga, India’s highest mountain.

INSIDER EXPERIENCE

Travel on the steam-hauled Toy Train to Ghum (subject to availability) – the highest hill station in the area.

There’s a magical start to today with an Insider Experience. Later, journey to Ghum and visit the town’s Buddhist monastery.

Daily :
  • Breakfast
  • Dinner

INSIDER EXPERIENCE

Visit one of Darjeeling’s authentic tea plantations for a guided tour.

For centuries, Darjeeling has been famed as a tea-growing centre, and today you will visit one of the town’s authentic tea plantations. See where the tea is grown, before enjoying a tasting in a local restaurant. This afternoon is yours at leisure. Perhaps explore the vibrant bazaar.

Daily :
  • Breakfast
  • Dinner
Houses clustered together along the hillside surrounded by the trees on an overcast cloudy day

INSIDER EXPERIENCE

Visit Grassmore Village, where you will have the opportunity to meet with members of two tribal communities.

This morning, depart for Chalsa where you will stop for lunch. Next it’s time to cross the border into Bhutan. Breathe in air that’s free from pollution – more than half the country is protected as a nature reserve and the fresh mountain air is a welcome change.

Stay: Phuntsholing, Lakhi Hotel

Daily :
  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Dinner

INSIDER EXPERIENCE

For dinner this evening, feast on Bhutanese cuisine in a traditional farmhouse.

This morning, continue to the resort town of Paro. On the way, you will visit Kharbandi Gompa Monastery which is surrounded by tropical gardens, fluttering prayer flags and enormous prayer wheels.

Stay: Two Nights, Paro, Tiger’s Nest Resort

Daily :
  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Dinner

INSIDER EXPERIENCE

Take in one of Bhutan’s most iconic landmarks by enjoying a climb to the viewpoint that looks over Tiger’s Nest Monastery.

Enjoy an Insider Experience this morning. Lunch is followed by a visit to the Buddhist temple Kyichu Lhakhang. Tonight, take a stroll around central Paro.

Daily :
  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Dinner

INSIDER EXPERIENCE

Journey over the winding Dochula Pass. At 3,000 metres, the pass offers unrivalled panoramas of the Himalayas, as well as 108 temples scattered across the hillsides.

Visit Rinpung Dzong – a fortress monastery and fantastic example of Bhutanese architecture. You will also explore the National Museum, housed in a former watchtower. From here, drive through the mountain route to Punakha to spend the night.

Stay: Punakha, Green Resort

Daily :
  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Dinner

INSIDER EXPERIENCE

Join an excursion to Chimi Lhakhang, a temple and monastery dedicated to the fertility rites of the tantric tradition.

Enjoy an Insider Experience then visit Punakha Dzong on the way to Thimphu.

Stay: Two Nights, Thimphu, Druk Hotel

Daily :
  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Dinner

Begin your day with a sightseeing tour, which includes Memorial Chorten, Buddha Point and Tarkin Reserve. Lunch is at Simply Bhutan, an interactive museum. This afternoon, visit the National Institute of Zong Chusum, often referred to as ‘the painting school’. On the way back to your hotel, share tea with nuns at Zilukha Nunnery, before a special cultural performance with dinner and a chance to don traditional Bhutanese dress.

Daily :
  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Dinner
Houses nestled on the valley floor with surrounding green hills

Depart Thimphu this morning with a transfer to the airport for an included internal flight from Paro to Kolkata. This afternoon, enjoy a tour of Dalhousie Square, known as the centre of the British East India Company. Following this, continue on to the Jain Temple and South Park Street Cemetery. This evening, say goodbye to new-found friends at a Farewell Dinner.

Stay: Kolkata, Oberoi Grand Hotel

Daily :
  • Breakfast
  • Dinner

You will be transferred to the airport this morning after breakfast, for your onward flight.

Daily :
  • Breakfast

Would not hesitate to recommend Travelmarvel and we are already looking into our next adventure.

Julie -

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