Perched at 2,042 meters in the Lesser Himalayas, Darjeeling is a hill station that enchants visitors with its colonial charm, terraced tea gardens, and stunning views of Kanchenjunga, the world's third-highest peak. This former British summer retreat has evolved into one of India's most beloved mountain destinations, where Buddhist monasteries sit alongside Victorian architecture, and the aroma of world-famous tea fills the crisp mountain air.

Forget what you know about tiger reserves. While it bears the name, Buxa (often abbreviated as BTR) is not a place for easy, open-jeep sightings of a big cat. This is a land you experience on foot. It’s a place of dense forests that climb 1,750 metres to the Bhutan border, of mist-shrouded historical ruins, and of a vast, bone-white riverbed that, in itself, is one of North Bengal's most iconic sights.