About us
We work at the bottom of the road everyone else flies in for
Himalayan Getaway Tours is based at Indrapally, Champasari in Siliguri — half an hour from Bagdogra airport, twenty minutes from New Jalpaiguri station, and at the start of every road that goes up.
Why Siliguri matters
Everything in this region starts here
Siliguri is not a destination and it does not pretend to be. It is the junction. The only airport serving Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Sikkim, the Dooars and the Bhutan border is here. The railhead is here. The road to Nepal leaves from thirty-five kilometres away, and the road to Bhutan from four hours east.
That geography is the entire reason this business works. When a road shuts above Chungthang or a permit office changes its hours in Rongli, we hear about it the same morning from drivers we know, not a week later from a supplier in another state. When your flight lands late, the vehicle waiting for you belongs to someone whose office is an hour away.
We sell 16 published itineraries across 12 destinations, and we rewrite most of them. A packaged trip is a convenient way to start a conversation; it is a poor way to finish one.
How we work
Four promises, and what they cost us to keep
We would rather be judged on these than on adjectives. Each one is something you can check while the trip is happening.
A written itinerary before you pay
You get the day-by-day plan, the named hotels, the vehicle and the full price in writing first. Nothing is confirmed on a phone call alone.
Based where the roads begin
Our office is in Siliguri, half an hour from Bagdogra airport and twenty minutes from NJP station. The hills are our home circuit, not a map we bought.
Our own drivers on our own routes
Hill driving is a skill. The drivers who take you to Gurudongmar or over Sela Pass do these roads all season, and they carry your permits with them.
One number, all trip
A single coordinator handles your trip from enquiry to airport drop. If a road closes at 6 am, you call one person, not a call centre.
Where we will not oversell
Three things we say out loud
Weather is not a product
Nobody can sell you a clear morning at Tiger Hill, a frozen Gurudongmar or an open Nathu La. We will tell you the odds for your month honestly — including when they are poor — and we will not quietly take the booking anyway.
A safari buys the drive, not the animal
Gorumara, Jaldapara and Kaziranga all have healthy populations and sightings are common. Common is not guaranteed, and any operator promising you a rhino is promising something they do not control.
Some of these trips are not comfortable
The Silk Route is homestays with bucket hot water at three thousand metres. Sandakphu is a trekkers hut and a shared room. Tawang is two full days in a vehicle each way. These are wonderful trips for the right traveller and miserable ones for the wrong traveller, and we would rather work that out with you before you book than after.
From the road
What we tell every traveller before they go
Darjeeling & Gangtok
Want Kanchenjunga sharp from Tiger Hill? Come between mid-October and December, the clearest skies of the year. Those are also our busiest weeks, so book your hotels early.
Tsomgo Lake & Nathu La
Everyone needs a protected-area permit, applied for a day ahead in Gangtok. Bring original photo ID, copies and passport photographs, and we handle the rest.
North Sikkim & Gurudongmar
Gurudongmar sits at 5,430 m. Our itineraries build in acclimatisation nights on purpose: they cost a day, and they are not padding. Headache or breathlessness at rest means descend.
Bhutan
Indian travellers enter on a permit with a passport or Voter ID, issued at Phuentsholing or Paro on working days only. Plan the border crossing for a working day.
Monsoon, June to September
Green and good value in the Dooars, but hill roads are landslide-prone and views are unreliable. We will still take your booking, and tell you exactly what you are trading away.
Packing for the hills
Layers, not one thick coat. Carry cash, because ATMs are unreliable above Gangtok and Darjeeling, and four passport photographs each for the permits.
Tell us roughly what you want. We will send back a real itinerary.
Dates, how many of you, and anywhere you have your heart set on — that is enough for us to start. You will get a day-by-day plan with named hotels and one all-in price, in writing, before you pay anything.