Getting to Darjeeling
By Land
Darjeeling is accessible from many routes. For visitors visiting Darjeeling you can enter by the border towns of Phuentsholing (Bhutan), Kakarivitta (Nepal), and Changrabanda / Burimari (Bangladesh). The main junction for all these borders for ease of acces is Siliguri. For locals and Indian nationals one more entry point is Pashupatinagar from where Darjeeling is only an hour and half drive. If you are traveling from Sikkim you can take either of the three open borders of Rangpo, Melli and Ramam.
By Air
The nearest airport is Bagdogra (IXB) which is about 90 Km. There are many domestic flights namely, Jet Airways, Spice Jet, Paramount Airlines, Indigo Air, Indian Airlines, Jetlite and Kingfishier. One International flight from Bhutan, Druk Air, also has a connecting stop.
Staying in Darjeeling
Darjeeling has plenty of accomodations to suit every budget. Both backpackers and high end tourist can have an equally good choice of accomodations. Although, there are no 5***** Star category hotels & resorts, some heritage hotels from the British era properties, complemented by equally hospitable services, will surely delight travelers.
Traveling around
For packaged tour guests will be provided with various category of vehicles ranging from Tata Sumo to Toyota Innova. While individual travelers will have plenty of options for hiring taxis.
Eating out
There are many good restaurants and cafeterias in Darjeeling. Some big franchises like Cafe Coffee Day have opened their joints in good locations around. Momo is a very popular dish here and can be found practically in every eating joints.
Expenses
Darjeeling is a mini Shopper's paradise. You can indulge in local shops offering designer rip-offs or visit showrooms by adidas, converse, pantaloons. Movie watching can be fun as is shopping in Big Bazaar. In all you will have a good shopping spree.
Money Value
It is imperative to change foreign currencies into local notes for shopping in Darjeeling as only a handful of shops take US Dollars, Euros and Credit Card. For the rest of the shop-hopping only Indian Rupees will do.
