Experience the best of Bagdogra

Bagdogra lies on the flat Terai plain, a short way north-west of Siliguri in the north of West Bengal, where the Himalayan foothills begin. The town is best known for its airport, the usual arrival point for Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Sikkim, while Siliguri, a busy trading city nearby, links India with Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Beyond the town the land climbs into tea gardens and forest. Darjeeling, known for its tea and its narrow-gauge toy train, stands on a ridge to the north, with views of Kanchenjunga on clear days, and Kalimpong, a hill town of orchids and monasteries, lies to the north-east. In the forests of the Dooars to the east, Jaldapara and Gorumara national parks shelter one-horned rhinoceros and elephants, and the Teesta River runs out of the hills close by.

Momos and thukpa from Tibetan and Nepali kitchens sit beside Bengali fish curry with rice, and Darjeeling tea grown on the slopes above is the drink everywhere. The monsoon from June to September brings very heavy rain to the foothills, and the clearest mountain views come in October and November and again in March and April.