This page is about the second kind. We have 28 stays in or on working tea gardens: 19 in the Darjeeling hills, 2 on the Kalimpong side, 2 at Temi in Sikkim, and 5 in the Dooars where the tea is a different plant growing on flat land. Every one of them is a garden we can put you inside, not a hotel that happens to have a view.
It is also a guide to the thing that decides whether your trip is any good, which is not the property. It is the calendar. A tea garden in late March is a different place from the same garden in January, the factory either running or shut, the slopes either green and busy or brown and empty. Get the month right and a tea garden stay is the best thing in the Darjeeling hills. Get it wrong and you have paid to look at pruned bushes.
The three kinds of tea garden stay, and which one you actually want
Almost everything sold as tea tourism in North Bengal is one of three things.
The planter’s bungalow. Built for the British manager of the estate, usually a hundred years old or more, with fireplaces, deep verandahs, wooden floors, a garden that somebody has been maintaining since before independence, and a cook who has worked there a long time. Rooms are large, the furniture is old, the mornings are silent. It is the most atmospheric way to stay in tea, and the most expensive. Fagu Tea Estate in Lower Fagu, Tea Estate Lava, Sourenee Tea Estate near Mirik, Ging Tea House in the Lebong valley and Dooars Tea Garden Bungalow at Bara Dighi are all this sort of place.
The homestay inside a working garden. A family house standing among the bushes, often built by a family that has worked in the garden for generations. Three or four rooms, all meals cooked in the kitchen you eat next to, and an unfiltered view of how a garden actually runs, because the people you are staying with work in it. Less polished and considerably more interesting. Tukvar Homestay, Mim Tea Homestay, both Peshok homestays, Takdah Tea Estate Homestay and Sittong Tea Garden Homestay are in this group.
The property that looks at tea. A homestay or resort in a village surrounded by gardens, where the tea is the view rather than the address. Tinchuley, Dawaipani, Lamahatta, Chimney, Gidda Pahar and most of Sittong are like this, and there is nothing wrong with them. They are often the better choice for a first trip because the villages have more to do. Just know which one you have booked.
If the tea is the point of the trip, book the first or second kind. If the hills are the point and the tea is a bonus, the third kind is cheaper and easier to reach.
The tea year, month by month, from a visitor’s point of view
This is the section that does not exist anywhere else, and it is the one that matters. Darjeeling’s tea year runs in flushes, which are the periods of new growth between rests, and each one looks and tastes different.
First flush, mid-March to end of April. The bushes have been dormant through winter, the first new leaf comes up, and the whole garden turns a pale bright green that photographs better than anything else in the tea year. Factories run hard. Plucking starts early and the estate is fully staffed. The tea is light, floral, astringent, and the most expensive Darjeeling makes. If you want the full experience, plucking, withering, rolling, the smell of the factory, go now. Rooms in the good bungalows go first for these weeks, so book early.
Second flush, May to June. The famous one. This is where muscatel comes from, the grape-like note that Darjeeling is known for, produced partly because of a small green insect that feeds on the leaf and changes its chemistry. Slopes are darker green, fully grown out, and the gardens look their most lush. Weather is warm in the day, pleasant at night, and the pre-monsoon storms begin. Factories run through. For most people this is the best combination of tea, weather and green.
Monsoon flush, July to mid-September. The garden grows fast and the tea is ordinary; most monsoon leaf goes into blends. Visiting is beautiful in a specific way, cloud in the valleys, everything dripping, nobody around, and difficult in all the usual ways, leeches, landslides, closed roads and views that arrive for ten minutes a day. Cheapest time to stay. Not the time for a first trip and not the time for a trip built around the view.
Autumn flush, October to late November. Our own favourite for a stay. The rain has stopped, the air is washed clean, Kanchenjunga is out most mornings, the bushes are still being plucked, and the tea is darker, rounder and considerably cheaper to buy than first flush. Factories are working. October and November are the two months when the hills give you both tea and mountain, which is why everything is full and why you must book weeks ahead.
Dormancy and pruning, December to February. The garden rests. Plucking stops, most factories shut for the season, and the bushes are pruned back, which is why photographs from January show brown stubble instead of green slopes. Cold, clear, and often the best mountain views of the year. A fine time to sit by a fireplace at a heritage bungalow. A poor time if you came to see tea being made, and nobody will tell you that when you book.
So: March to April for the factory and the first green, May to June for the classic Darjeeling, October to November for the best all-round trip, December to February for mountains and fireplaces, monsoon only if you love rain.
Visiting a tea factory, and what you will actually see
A factory visit is the single best hour of a tea garden stay, and it is not automatic. It has to be arranged with the estate, usually a day ahead, and it depends on whether they are processing that day. In December and January most factories are closed. During flush they are running, sometimes around the clock, and an hour inside one is genuinely memorable.
What you walk through, in order:
Weighing. Pluckers bring the day’s leaf in, it is weighed, and this is where you understand the economics of the place faster than from any explanation.
Withering. Long troughs of leaf with air blown through for hours to take the moisture out. The room smells green and sweet. Leaf goes in stiff and comes out limp enough to roll.
Rolling. Machines that twist the withered leaf and break the cell walls, which is what starts oxidation. This is where the noise is.
Oxidation. The leaf is spread and left, and it changes colour in front of you, green to coppery brown. The judgement of exactly when to stop is the thing a tea maker is paid for, and it is done by nose.
Firing or drying. Hot air stops the oxidation and fixes the tea. This is the smell that carries down the valley and the one you will remember.
Sorting and grading. Sieves separate the grades. The long lettered names, the ones ending in FOP or SFTGFOP, describe leaf size and appearance rather than quality by itself.
Manners matter here. Ask before photographing anybody. Do not touch leaf in the troughs. If somebody offers you a tasting, take it seriously, it is their craft. And do not ask for a discount on tea at the factory gate; buy in the estate shop or from the manager if they offer.
How to arrange it. Tell us when you enquire that the factory visit matters to you. Bungalow and homestay hosts inside the gardens can usually arrange it because they know the manager, and some of the properties list tea tasting as part of the stay. Sukhia Pokhari Tea Estate and the heritage bungalows are the most reliable on this. What nobody can promise is a factory running on a particular day, so build the trip around the flush months and it will almost always work.
About the pluckers, because this is somebody’s workplace
You are a guest in an industrial workplace and in a community that lives inside it. Worth holding in mind.
Plucking is skilled, hard, badly paid work, mostly done by women, with a daily quota and a rate per kilo above it. Two leaves and a bud is the standard for good Darjeeling and the reason the work is done by hand rather than machine. The baskets are heavier than they look. The slopes are steeper than they look in photographs.
Ask before you photograph anyone, and put the camera down if the answer is no. Do not hand out money or sweets to children in the workers’ lines. If you want to spend money usefully, buy tea from the estate, eat what your hosts cook, and pay for the local guide rather than walking into the garden by yourself. In several of our homestays the family works in the garden, and an evening of asking them about it will teach you more than any museum.
The Darjeeling gardens we can put you inside
Nineteen properties across nine gardens and garden villages in the Darjeeling hills. Distances are road distances from New Jalpaiguri (NJP) or Bagdogra (IXB) where we have them recorded.
Happy Valley and Badamtam: tea within reach of Darjeeling town
Darjeeling Villa at Happy Valley Tea Estate is the easiest tea garden stay in the district. Happy Valley starts a short way below Darjeeling town, which means you can be in a working garden in the morning and at Chowrasta in the afternoon. Child friendly, wifi, pickup available. If you want tea gardens without giving up restaurants and a chemist, this is the answer. Happy Valley itself dates from the 1850s and is the garden most Darjeeling visitors see, so expect company on the path in season.
Badamtam, listed as a honeymoon homestay, sits in the Badamtam garden on the slope below Darjeeling towards the Rangeet, about 85 km from Bagdogra. Quieter than Happy Valley and greener, with a barbecue, and the view opens down the valley rather than at the town.
Ging Tea House is in the Lebong valley, 71 km from NJP and 66 from Bagdogra. Ging is one of the older gardens on the Darjeeling side and the property leans colonial: bonfire in the evening, a doctor on call, and a long view across the valley. Lebong is 20 minutes below the town, which is the right trade for many people.
Tukvar and Pattabong: 7,000 feet and the best Kanchenjunga from a garden
Tukvar is the garden that runs below Darjeeling towards the Rangeet valley, and Pattabong is its neighbour. Both properties sit at about 7,000 feet, roughly 80 km from NJP, and about half an hour from Darjeeling town on the Lebong road.
Tukvar Homestay is a wooden cottage inside the garden with all meals included, a bonfire and a barbecue, and a straight view at Kanchenjunga from the rooms. This is the one we send people who asked for exactly what this page describes: a bed inside Darjeeling tea, thirty minutes from town.
Tukvar Tea Garden Cottage is the wooden hut in the Pattabong garden, 8 km from Darjeeling, with a room heater and room service. Smaller, simpler, the same view.
At this altitude December and January nights are cold and the room heater matters. In late March the whole slope below the cottages turns first flush green, and that is the photograph people come for.
Mim and Sukhia Pokhari: the Lorebunglow side
Mim Tea Homestay sits in the Mim tea garden at Lorebunglow near Sukhia Pokhari, 5,000 feet, 48 km from Bagdogra. Bright wooden rooms, Kanchenjunga from the room, laundry and room service, and the garden all around. Mim is a search people make by name, which tells you it has a following.
Sukhia Pokhari Tea Estate is the more comfortable option on this side at 5,000 feet, 80 km from Bagdogra: wooden interiors, a fireplace, all meals, power backup, and tea tasting as part of the stay. Sukhia Pokhari is on the Darjeeling to Mirik road, so it works well as the first or last night of a circuit.
Ghoom: the highest and the oldest feeling
Ghoom Tea Estate is a British era estate about 150 years old, with a fireplace, room heaters, wifi, laundry, alcohol permitted and a bird population that is the other reason to go. Ghoom sits above Darjeeling on the Batasia side, so mornings are colder and clearer than in the town.
Ghoom Tea Villa is at 7,407 feet, the highest property in this guide, with a barbecue, bonfire, power backup and room heaters. At that height in December you are in and out of cloud all day and the nights are properly cold. In October the view is enormous.
Takdah and Peshok: colonial bungalows and the Teesta view
This is the best tea circuit in the district for people who want gardens, bungalows and a river in one trip.
Takdah Tea Estate Homestay is inside the Takdah garden, 70 km from Bagdogra, about an hour and a half from Darjeeling, surrounded by forest as well as tea. Takdah was a British cantonment and the old bungalows are still standing along the ridge, several of them restored. The combination of tea, forest and colonial architecture in one small place is unusual.
Peshok Tea Garden Homestay, 66 km from NJP and 10 minutes from Tinchuley, includes all meals and is marked child friendly. Peshok is the garden on the slope above the Teesta, and the thing people photograph here is not the tea, it is the lights of Kalimpong across the valley at night.
Peshok Homestay with Kanchenjunga View is the other house in the same garden, with all meals and room heaters. Both are simple homestays in a working garden, which is exactly their appeal.
The Peshok road, which drops from Lamahatta to the Teesta, is one of the two or three best drives in the Darjeeling hills, and it is how you arrive at either property.
Sittong: tea, oranges and the lowest entry price in the hills
Sittong Tea Garden Homestay at 4,000 feet, 37 km from Bagdogra, has both tea garden and Kanchenjunga from the window, includes all meals and is marked couple friendly. Sittong is the orange valley, so November and December bring fruit as well as mountain.
Sittong is also the easiest hill trip from the plains on this entire page, because 37 km from the airport means you can land and be at the homestay before lunch. We have nine other properties in the valley and a full Sittong homestay guide if you want the village rather than the garden.
Fagu and Jhandi: tea on the Kalimpong road
Fagu Tea Estate in Lower Fagu, 60 km from NJP, is one of the genuine old tea bungalows still taking guests: fireplace, barbecue, bonfire, child friendly, and the feeling of having stepped back a hundred years. Fagu sits above the Gorubathan side, which means you are close to the Dooars as well as the hills.
Upper Fagu Eco Stay at Jhandi is higher up the same garden, about an hour and a half from Malbazar, with a bonfire, room heaters and alcohol permitted. Jhandi is the ridge where the hills meet the plains and on a clear morning you see both at once, tea slopes above and the Dooars stretched out below.
Mirik and Bunkulung: the western gardens
Sourenee Tea Estate near Mirik is the most comfortable tea bungalow on the western side, with room heaters, power backup, a bonfire and a barbecue. Tea bungalows of this kind are what people picture when they imagine a tea estate stay.
Mirik Tea Garden Homestay is the simpler alternative, a rustic house on the lap of a garden with a Kanchenjunga view, a bonfire and pickup available. Mirik itself has the lake, the pines and a considerably gentler road than Darjeeling.
Bunkulung sits in the Simulbari tea garden with the Dodhiya river running past, orange orchards, a trimmed garden and, at night, the lights of Kurseong above you. Pets are allowed, there are room heaters, and the bungalow is more comfortable than the village around it suggests. Bunkulung is the answer for people who want a river and tea in the same place.
Khushi Farm House in the Sagmaru tea garden is the most rustic property in this guide, a simple farm beside a mountain river. Not a bungalow, not a resort. Come for the river and the family.
Two more on the Kalimpong side
Tea Estate Lava is a heritage tea bungalow with pine forest above it, 105 km from NJP and 13 from Bagdogra by the estate’s own reckoning, with a fireplace, laundry, room heaters, pets allowed and a full staff. Lava is cold, high and famous for birds, and Neora Valley is next door. Of all the properties here, this is the one where a fireplace and a book is the actual plan.
Tea Garden Retreat Maldiram at 4,500 feet, 50 km from Bagdogra, is the budget end of tea tourism in North Bengal: bonfire, pickup, room service, good food and a view, without the bungalow overheads. If the tea garden matters more than the furniture, start here.
Temi, the only tea garden in Sikkim
Sikkim has exactly one tea garden, Temi, laid out in the 1960s on a slope in South Sikkim below Tendong hill, and it is organic. The garden is manicured in a way Darjeeling’s older estates are not, the rows are tidy, the road runs through the middle of it, and in spring the whole hillside is green with rhododendron above it.
Temi Tea Resort sits amidst the garden, with room service, laundry, a doctor on call, games, alcohol permitted and pickup. Sunrise over the snow line from the garden is the thing people come for.
South Sikkim Homestay near Temi at Pabong, 148 km from NJP, is the homestay alternative nearby, with a bonfire, barbecue and pickup.
Two practical notes for Temi. Indian nationals do not need a permit for South Sikkim, though you should always carry photo identity; the permits people talk about are for the protected areas further north. And the drive from NJP is long, five to six hours, so plan Temi as part of a Sikkim trip rather than a weekend by itself.
Tea in the Dooars, which is a completely different plant
People search for Darjeeling tea and end up in the Dooars, so it is worth being clear about the difference. Darjeeling grows the China bush, small leaf, slow growth, high altitude, and the tea is light and aromatic. The Dooars and the Terai grow the Assam variety on flat land in the heat, big leaf, fast growth, and the tea is strong, dark and the base of most of what Indians drink at home. The gardens look different too: Darjeeling is steep slopes and terraces, the Dooars is a flat green sheet running to the horizon with shade trees planted in rows and the Bhutan hills behind it.
A Dooars tea bungalow is also easier in every practical way. No hill roads, no altitude, 50 minutes to an hour from NJP rather than three hours, and it combines with Gorumara, Chapramari, Jaldapara and Buxa.
Dooars Tea Garden Bungalow at Bara Dighi, 80 km from Bagdogra, is the old English bungalow in the middle of a garden surrounded by jungle, air conditioned, child friendly, with pickup.
Tea Garden Villa near Gajoldoba, 52 km from Bagdogra and about 50 minutes from NJP, is the shortest tea garden trip in this entire guide. Bonfire, barbecue, child friendly. Gajoldoba, the barrage on the Teesta, is the other reason to be there, and it is one of the best winter birding spots in the state.
Appu Tea Estate at Lataguri puts you beside Gorumara National Park with air conditioning, a bonfire and wifi. This is the pairing that works for families: safari in the morning, tea garden in the afternoon.
Tea Resort in Junglee Mohal, an hour from NJP, has cycling, games and wifi, and works as a soft first trip with children.
Jayanti, in the Jayanti tea garden 30 km from Alipurduar, is the far eastern end of the Dooars against the Bhutan border, with the river bed, Buxa above it and the old Jayanti bungalows. Quieter and wilder than Lataguri.
Which one should you book
By what you actually want, since 28 properties is too many to choose from cold.
First tea garden trip, short on time. Sittong Tea Garden Homestay at 37 km from Bagdogra or Tea Garden Villa near Gajoldoba at 50 minutes from NJP. Both let you land and arrive the same morning.
The classic Darjeeling picture, tea and Kanchenjunga together. Tukvar Homestay or Mim Tea Homestay.
A heritage bungalow with fireplaces. Fagu Tea Estate, Tea Estate Lava, Sourenee Tea Estate or Ghoom Tea Estate.
Honeymoon. Badamtam or Sukhia Pokhari Tea Estate.
With children. Fagu Tea Estate, Peshok Tea Garden Homestay, Appu Tea Estate or Junglee Mohal, all marked child friendly, and the flat Dooars options save you the winding road.
Birds. Ghoom Tea Estate, Tea Estate Lava for Neora Valley, and the Dooars gardens in winter. Latpanchar, above Sittong, is the other serious birding address in these hills.
Warm in winter, low altitude. The Dooars gardens, or Bijanbari at 2,500 feet, which is not a tea garden stay but is the warmest hill option we have.
A river with the tea. Bunkulung on the Dodhiya, or Khushi Farm House in Sagmaru.
The factory, properly. Any of the heritage bungalows during flush months, with the visit requested at the time of booking.
Getting there, and how long it really takes
By air. Bagdogra (IXB) is the airport. It is 12 km from Siliguri and everything in this guide is measured from there or from NJP.
By train. New Jalpaiguri (NJP) is the railhead, with the Darjeeling Mail and the Vande Bharat from Howrah among many others. NJP and Bagdogra are half an hour apart.
Then a car. Realistic driving times from NJP or Bagdogra, in good weather: Sittong two hours, Gajoldoba under an hour, Lataguri an hour and a half, Kurseong two hours, Mirik two and a half, Takdah and Peshok three, Darjeeling and the Tukvar or Ghoom gardens three to three and a half, Lava three, Temi five to six. Add an hour in the monsoon, and add an hour for any afternoon arrival in season because the hill roads carry a lot of traffic between two and five in the afternoon.
Shared jeeps versus a reserved car. Shared jeeps run from Siliguri to Darjeeling, Mirik, Kurseong and Kalimpong all day and cost a fraction of a reserved car, but they drop you in the town, not in a garden. Tea garden properties are almost always a few kilometres off the main road on an estate track, which means a reserved vehicle or a pickup arranged by the property. Most of the properties here list pickup, and for a first visit that is what we would arrange.
The roads, which are worth knowing by name. There are three ways up from the plains to Darjeeling: the Rohini road, which is the newest and easiest; the Pankhabari road, which is short, steep and spectacular; and the old Hill Cart Road through Tindharia and Kurseong, which is the one the toy train follows and the one most likely to be affected by landslides in the monsoon. Peshok and Takdah are reached on the Teesta bazar road and then up, which is the drive people remember.
The toy train. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the joy ride between Darjeeling and Ghoom is the section most visitors take. The full NJP to Darjeeling run takes most of the day and is more of a commitment than a novelty. Kurseong to Darjeeling is a good middle option. Book on IRCTC well ahead in season.
Altitude, cold and what to pack
Altitudes in this guide run from the flat Dooars up to 7,407 feet at Ghoom Tea Villa. At 5,000 feet and above, December and January nights are cold enough that the room heater in the amenity list is not decoration. Most hill properties do not have central heating; you get a heater in the room, quilts and a bonfire outside.
Pack layers rather than one heavy coat, because a Darjeeling day swings a long way between a sunny morning and a clouded afternoon. Something windproof. Shoes with grip, which matter more than anything else if you plan to walk in the gardens, because estate paths are steep and often wet. A torch, because power cuts are ordinary. A power bank. Basic medicines, because the nearest chemist can be an hour away. In the monsoon, salt for leeches, quick drying clothes and the acceptance that you will not see the mountain every day.
One more thing worth saying plainly: tea garden properties are usually a walk from wherever the car stops, and estate paths are uneven. If anyone in your group needs a level approach or a short walk from vehicle to room, tell us and we will check with the property rather than guess, because this is the sort of thing listings describe carelessly.
Circuits that work
Three nights, the Darjeeling tea circuit. Two nights at Tukvar or Mim inside the garden, one night in Darjeeling town for Chowrasta, Happy Valley and the toy train joy ride. Simple and it covers the essentials.
Four nights, gardens and river. Sukhia Pokhari, then Mirik or Sourenee, then Bunkulung on the Dodhiya. All on the western side, all reachable on easier roads than the Darjeeling climb, and the least driving of any circuit here.
Five nights, the east. Sittong, then Takdah, then Peshok or Tinchuley, then Lamahatta. Tea, colonial bungalows, orange orchards, the Teesta from above and Kanchenjunga from four different angles. Our Dawaipani guide and the Sittong guide both cover pieces of this in more detail.
Three nights, the Dooars. Gajoldoba or Lataguri for the garden, Gorumara for the safari, Jayanti for the wild end. Flat roads, good for elderly parents and small children.
Six nights, tea from two countries of weather. Darjeeling gardens for three nights, then down to the Dooars for three. The contrast between China bush on a terraced slope and Assam bush on a plain is the whole lesson of Indian tea in one trip.
Buying tea without being fleeced
Half the point of the trip, and the part where visitors lose money.
Buy at the garden if you can. An estate shop, or the manager’s own stock, is the most reliable tea you will buy on the trip and usually the best value. Ask your host to arrange it.
Know which flush you are buying. First flush is pale, floral and expensive. Second flush is the muscatel, darker and rounder. Autumn flush is very good value and what we drink at home. If a shop cannot tell you the flush and the garden, walk out.
Darjeeling has a GI tag. Only tea grown in the district’s gardens may be sold as Darjeeling, and genuine Darjeeling carries the Tea Board’s logo and certification. There is far more tea sold as Darjeeling in the world than Darjeeling produces, which tells you what you need to know about the cheap stuff.
Grades are about leaf, not quality. The long strings of letters describe the size and appearance of the leaf, not how good the cup is. A cheaper grade from a good garden and a good flush beats a fancy grade from a bad one.
Green, white and oolong are also made here. Darjeeling white, made from the youngest buds, is expensive and worth tasting once at the garden before buying.
What not to do. Do not buy tea in bulk at Chowrasta from the first shop you enter, do not believe anyone selling first flush in November, and do not buy silver needle white tea at a bargain price. Nothing about it will be what the label says.
What a tea garden stay is not
Setting expectations honestly, because this is where complaints come from.
It is not a luxury resort. Even the heritage bungalows are old houses with old plumbing and a small staff. Hot water is often a geyser with a limit, power cuts happen, and nothing is instant.
It is not scenic every day. Between June and September you may not see the mountain at all, and cloud can sit on a garden for three days.
It is not a garden all year. Pruned bushes in January are brown, not green.
It is not private. A working garden has workers in it from dawn, tractors, and factory noise during flush.
It is not a restaurant. Most properties serve what the kitchen cooks, at set times, and the food is home food. Tell us about dietary needs in advance and we will tell you honestly whether the property can manage.
Read all that, and if it still sounds like the trip you want, it will be one of the better weeks you spend in India.
All 28, side by side
| Property | Garden or village | Area | Altitude | From NJP or Bagdogra | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darjeeling Villa | Happy Valley | Darjeeling | Town level | Darjeeling town | In garden |
| Badamtam Honeymoon Homestay | Badamtam | Darjeeling | Below town | 85 km IXB | In garden |
| Ging Tea House | Ging, Lebong valley | Darjeeling | Lebong | 71 km NJP | Bungalow |
| Tukvar Homestay | Tukvar | Darjeeling | 7,000 ft | 80 km NJP | In garden |
| Tukvar Tea Garden Cottage | Pattabong | Darjeeling | 7,000 ft | 80 km NJP | In garden |
| Mim Tea Homestay | Mim, Lorebunglow | Sukhia Pokhari | 5,000 ft | 48 km IXB | In garden |
| Sukhia Pokhari Tea Estate | Sukhia Pokhari | Darjeeling west | 5,000 ft | 80 km IXB | Comfort stay |
| Ghoom Tea Estate | Ghoom | Above Darjeeling | Ghoom ridge | Via Darjeeling | Heritage bungalow |
| Ghoom Tea Villa | Ghoom | Above Darjeeling | 7,407 ft | Via Darjeeling | Comfort stay |
| Takdah Tea Estate Homestay | Takdah | Takdah | Ridge | 70 km IXB | In garden |
| Peshok Tea Garden Homestay | Peshok | Peshok | Above Teesta | 66 km NJP | In garden |
| Peshok Homestay Kanchenjunga View | Peshok | Peshok | Above Teesta | Via Teesta bazar | In garden |
| Sittong Tea Garden Homestay | Sittong | Sittong | 4,000 ft | 37 km IXB | In garden |
| Fagu Tea Estate | Lower Fagu | Gorubathan side | Mid hills | 60 km NJP | Heritage bungalow |
| Upper Fagu Eco Stay | Upper Fagu, Jhandi | Jhandi ridge | Higher | 1.5 hr Malbazar | In garden |
| Sourenee Tea Estate | Sourenee | Mirik | Mid hills | Via Mirik | Heritage bungalow |
| Mirik Tea Garden Homestay | Mirik gardens | Mirik | Mid hills | Via Mirik | In garden |
| Bunkulung | Simulbari | Mirik side | Valley | About 48 km | Bungalow, river |
| Khushi Farm House | Sagmaru | Darjeeling foothills | Riverside | About 35 km | Rustic farm |
| Tea Estate Lava | Lava | Kalimpong | High | 105 km NJP | Heritage bungalow |
| Tea Garden Retreat Maldiram | Maldiram | Kalimpong side | 4,500 ft | 50 km IXB | Budget |
| Temi Tea Resort | Temi | South Sikkim | Temi slope | 5 to 6 hr | Resort in garden |
| South Sikkim Homestay | Near Temi, Pabong | South Sikkim | Hill | 148 km NJP | Homestay |
| Dooars Tea Garden Bungalow | Bara Dighi | Dooars | Plain | 80 km IXB | Heritage bungalow |
| Tea Garden Villa Gajoldoba | Gajoldoba | Dooars | Plain | 52 km IXB | In garden |
| Appu Tea Estate | Lataguri | Dooars | Plain | Beside Gorumara | In garden |
| Tea Resort Junglee Mohal | Junglee Mohal | Dooars | Plain | 1 hr NJP | Resort in garden |
| Jayanti | Jayanti | Buxa, Dooars | Plain | 30 km Alipurduar | In garden |
Questions people ask
Can you actually stay inside a Darjeeling tea garden? Yes. Nineteen of our properties are in or on working gardens in the Darjeeling hills, from homestays inside the bushes at Tukvar and Mim to old planter’s bungalows at Fagu and Ging.
What is the best time to visit a tea garden in Darjeeling? October and November for the best combination of tea, weather and mountain views. Mid-March to April for first flush and a busy factory. May and June for the muscatel second flush and the greenest slopes. December to February for clear mountains and fireplaces, but the bushes are pruned and most factories are shut.
Will I see tea being plucked and processed? During the flush months, yes. Between December and February, no, because the garden is dormant. Say when you book that the factory matters and your host will arrange the visit with the estate, subject to the factory running that day.
Where is Mim tea estate and can we stay there? Mim tea garden is at Lorebunglow near Sukhia Pokhari, about 5,000 feet, 48 km from Bagdogra. Mim Tea Homestay is inside it, with Kanchenjunga from the rooms.
What about Tukvar? Tukvar is the garden below Darjeeling towards the Rangeet, at about 7,000 feet and roughly half an hour from the town. We have two properties there, Tukvar Homestay with all meals, and Tukvar Tea Garden Cottage in the neighbouring Pattabong garden.
Is Fagu tea estate worth it? If you want the old tea bungalow experience rather than a homestay, it is the best value version of it we list. Fagu Tea Estate is 60 km from NJP in Lower Fagu, with fireplaces and a bungalow that feels a century old.
Can we stay at Temi tea garden in Sikkim? Yes. Temi Tea Resort is in the garden itself and South Sikkim Homestay at Pabong is nearby. Temi is Sikkim’s only tea garden and it is organic. Allow five to six hours from NJP.
How far is Takdah from NJP? About three hours by road, roughly 70 km from Bagdogra, and an hour and a half from Darjeeling. The drive is by Teesta bazar and then up.
Which tea garden stay has the best Kanchenjunga view? From inside a garden, Tukvar and Mim. Sittong Tea Garden Homestay gives you tea and Kanchenjunga from the same window at a much lower altitude. If the mountain matters more than the tea, the Dawaipani and Tinchuley villages are better placed, and our Dawaipani guide covers those.
Is a tea garden stay good with children? The Dooars gardens are, because the roads are flat and the safaris are nearby. In the hills, Fagu and Peshok Tea Garden Homestay are marked child friendly. The winding climb is the thing to plan around with a small child, not the property.
Are pets allowed? At some. Bunkulung, Tea Estate Lava and Peshok Farm Stay take pets among the tea properties. We confirm with the owner before you travel, every time.
What is the difference between Darjeeling tea and Dooars tea? Different plant, different land. Darjeeling grows the small leaf China variety on steep slopes at altitude, giving light aromatic tea. The Dooars grows the Assam variety on flat land in heat, giving strong dark tea. The stays feel just as different, hill homestay against plains bungalow.
How many tea gardens does Darjeeling have? About 87 estates, which is why almost every village in the district is next to one. Only a small number take guests, which is what this page is for.
What does it cost? It depends on the garden, the room, the season and the size of your group, and the difference between a heritage bungalow and a village homestay is large. Message us with your dates and we will send today’s rate for the ones that suit you.
What we do when you enquire
Tell us the dates, how many of you there are, and one line about what you want, whether that is the factory, the mountain, a fireplace or the shortest possible drive. We come back with two or three properties rather than a list of 28, with the current rate, what the road is like at that time of year, and whether the garden will be plucking when you arrive.
That last part is the bit that decides your trip, and it is the reason to ask somebody who knows the gardens rather than booking on a photograph.
Not sure which one fits?
Tell us roughly when you are going and how many of you. We will send two or three specific options with real prices, and say what is wrong with each.
Ask on WhatsAppOr call +91 91634 28385, 10am to 10pm