Darjeeling Things to Do

A must is the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan zoological park. You can see Red Panda's, an Indian Tiger rescued from the circus, India's only collection of Siberian tigers, Tibetan wolves and many other animals. The information about the animals in in English. Also included in the price of the ticket is the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute.

I thoroughly recommend this place to everyone. We ended up going twice.

Admission 100 Rupees

2 more images

Two kilometers from Darjeeling is the town of Ghoom which is the highest railway station in the world. It is situated at an altitude of 2,225.7 metres (7,407 feet). The place is the home of the Ghum Monastery and the Batasia Loop, a bend of the Darjeeling Himalayan railway.

1 more image

Darjeeling Planters' Club is the club of Darjeeling Planters Association, located in the town of Darjeeling, in the Indian state of West Bengal. This association was formed in 1892, though the first annual general meeting of the Darjeeling Planters was held in 1873 to consult problems of the Darjeeling tea estates. Later in 1892,The Darjeeling Planters Association was formed. The association was affiliated to the Indian Tea Association (I.T.A) in 1910.On 1st December,1951,under the post Independence scenario, DPA in their last extraordinary meting unanimously decided to dissolve the Association called the Darjeeling Branch of the Indian Tea Association (D.B.I.T.A).

According to Darjeeling Planters Association, "Darjeeling Tea is the World’s most expensive and exotically flavoured tea. Connoisseurs will assert that without Darjeeling, Tea would be like Wine without the prestige of Champagne".

1 more image

I still remember the days when we went to watch films like 'beautiful people' ,the jungle book,this hall was burnt down by a fire since then it no longer functions as a cinema hall ,recently the clock was repaired,however I could not find out the date of origin but you can read the history below written by Dr T.Y.Pemba...During the Second World War, Darjeeling besides being a recruiting centre for the British Gorkha Regiments was also a hill resort and convalescence centre for the military. And hence, the town used to be packed with soldiers, mostly British and Americans. The town would present such a carnival look that the Rink and Capital cinemas would bring out clearly printed notices showing the daily films going on, and the houses used to be packed with soldiers and sailors. Dr. T.Y.Pemba in his article, ‘Reminiscences of Darjeeling’ describing the environment then wrote: “I remember very clearly sitting with some British sailors in the cheapest seats in the Capital cinema… and the sailors made loud ribald remarks at every thing and we had a most boisterous time”. Certainly due to the World War, Darjeeling enjoyed great prosperity. Dr. T.Y.Pemba further writes, “There were three famous ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ restaurants serving delicious Chinese food. The present Shangri La was the Park restaurants serving delicious Chinese food and ice-creams. The present Washington restaurant was a famous Chinese restaurant where all soldiers had to queue up and line up outside for food as they waited patiently for a table. Outside were the union jack, American and Kuomintang flags crossed in amity and fluttering in the breeze. The present Deshbandhu District Library was the Chinese ‘Carlton’ restaurant where people ate on their way to have fun at the Gymkhana Club. I do not remember power cuts or much shortage of water. In fact, when prolonged power cuts occurred, it was so rare that people wondered whether it was the work of the Japanese parachutists!"

we have the himalayan mountaineering institute.........
The Tenzing Norgay Himalayan Mountaineering Institute trains mountaineers. It has a small museum as well.

After the successful ascent of Mount Everest on 29th May 1953 , by Late Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary , the mountaineeringin India got impetus.Consequently the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute was established on 4th November 1954 by personal initiative of Late Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru the first Prime Minister of India and Dr.B.C.Roy the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, which was then the hub center of all mountaineering activities in India.
Late Maj N.D. Jayal was the first Principal whereas Late Tenzing Norgay was the Director of Field Training of the institute.
The institute is located at an altitude of 6,800 feet above sea level.

adventure courses are also provided........

Adventure Course (15 Days)
Duration of Course is 15 days. The object of the course is to stimulate a spirit a spirit of adventure or reveal and develop the sturdier qualities of character, both physical and mental, to instil a sense of comradeship, discipline, selflessness, service to the community, self-reliance, physical fitness and the ability to think and live adventurously. The course includes :

a) Rock Climbing
b) Trekking and Camping
c) Survival in jungle
d) Solo Camping
e) Canoeing and Watermanship
f) Obstacle Course
g) Cross Country Running
h) Map Reading

There are separate courses for boys, girls, adults and Visually Handicapped Persons (VHP).
The trainees are taken of treks to a number of places of tourist interests which include Tiger Hill, Sandakphu, Phalut, Mirik, Singla etc.

A great place to be at, for all those who have great interest in knowing about the history.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. Among the attractions are included the estuarine crocodiles. This unique museum also has a good collection of butterflies. The mineral forms of various stones are displayed in a very attractive manner in the museum.

VISITING HOURS : 10.00 A.M TO 4.00 P.M
HOLIDAYS : THURSDAY
YEAR OF ESTABLISHMENT : 1915

About three minutes walk from Chowrasta, Darjeeling, commonly known as the Mall, the main tourist attraction of Darjeeling, will bring the visitors to STEP ASIDE, the house where the famous Indian patriot Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das passed away on 16th June, 1925.

When you talk about darjeeling very few people will inform you about Ava Art Gallery,I have passed that way umpteen times but was fortunate to see the dispaly only once.Ava Devi was an artist who has made some of the finest embroidery on cloth its amazing to see those pieces.You hardly get to see it otherwise.

About 2 km from town on the way to Ghoom. It houses fine art and embroidery work of Mrs. Ava Devi.
Timing 8 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.