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Darjeeling is a small hill-station in West Bengal, India. The city of Darjeeling is widely popular in the name of “Queen of the Hills”. Before the British administrators took control over India, the clusters of the hilly villages of Darjeeling were under the Nepal and Sikkim administrations. In the mid-nineteenth century, during the British rule in India, Darjeeling grew in importance because of its wonderful climatic conditions and the beautiful nature. The British rulers established a hill station in Darjeeling by taking it in lease from the Chogyal (i.e., king) of Sikkim.

Years later, they discovered that the entire Darjeeling region was ideal for tea plantations. Hence they turned this place a tea-gardening hub and the famous Darjeeling tea processing industry was set up. In 1849, the British annexed this place and Darjeeling became a part of British India. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was opened in 1881. This railway has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The British’s turned Darjeeling as the de-facto summer capital of India while governing the country from Calcutta---the British capital of India. This is the brief history of this world famous Himalayan vacation destination in India—A world famous vacation leisure spot, the peaceful travelers put on their top preference.

Darjeeling is better recognized as the “Queen of the Hills”. This place is popular among Honeymoon Travelers, family vacation trips, and adventure travel etc. The lush green tea estates, spread across the valleys of this Himalayan town, produces the world famous Darjeeling Tea. It’s an ideal hill-station since the British regime in India. Reaching here, travelers takes part in wide verities of vacation activities like sightseeing to adventure sports like river rafting, fishing, trekking, and mountaineering. Once you manage to spend a few days’ vacation in this Himalayan hill-station, you will definitely realize the nuances of Darjeeling---It’s the Queen of the Hills.

Besides the green lush natural bliss and the mountain valleys, the Darjeeling town itself has many visitors’ attraction. Along with enjoying the great vacation moments, you must visit the following tourists’ attraction of Darjeeling:

Tiger-Hill: Tiger-Hill is nearly 12km from Darjeeling and it is the mecca for travelers visiting the mountains. You will have to do a little struggle by getting up 4 am to take a glimpse of the Tiger-Hill sunrise over the Mt. Kanchanjangha range. The place of Darjeeling is mystic by nature,during your journey to Tiger-Hill you may take taste of the world famous Darjeeling tea and enjoy the early morning hours. You must be hiring a shared taxi around 4 a.m. to reach the venue. But, remember, these shared taxi-drivers may keep waiting to get more passengers to the same destination which may cause you to miss the Tiger-Hill Sunrise. If you are a lone traveller or as a couple make sure to book your conveyance earlier. It will help in avoiding the on-road waiting, and a sure view of the Tiger-Hill sunrise.

Observatory-Hill: It is one of the oldest travel sites in the town of Darjeeling. The Observatory hill is locally popular in the name of “Makal-Babu-Ko-Thaan”. It is in report that there used to be a Red Hat Buddhist Monastery at this location which was destroyed by the Nepalese people in the nineteenth century. Still the place has great interest to the travellers in Darjeeling.
Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling

Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI):This is one of the highly visited tourist place in Darjeeling. Tenzing Norgay, the great Indian Sherpa established this mountaineering institute. He climbed the top of the Mount Everest on 29th of May 1953 with Sir Edmund Hillary. The mountaineering equipment used in that historical climb is the great visitor’s attraction in theHimalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling.

Himalayan Zoo (Padmaja Naidu Zoological Park): The special attraction of the Darjeeting zoo to the visitors is, it has a large collection of varieties of animals, especially from the Himalayan regions. This zoo shares the HMI premises. For every visitor, there are enough reasons to visit the Darjeeling Zoo because some rare species of endangered animals are preserved in this place. The list of these rare animals includes Siberian Tigers, Red Pandas, Yaks, Himalayan Bears, Snow Leopards etc. The Darjeeling zoo, is a lovely place for entertainment and closely watch the animals from the Himalayan regions.

Japanese Peace Pagoda: This spectacular building is one of the best examples of 30 pagodas located around the world. This Japanese Peace pagoda was built by the Japanese Buddhist Nipponzan-Myohoji Order on the outskirts of Darjeeling in 1992.

Buddhist Monasteries: There are a couple of Buddhist monasteries are located in the Darjeeling town. The famous monastery of Guru Shakya Monastery is situated at Ghoom. It was established in 1915. The main prayer hall of this monastery can accommodate more than 60 monks. The other famous monastery,Druk Thubten Sangag Choling Monasteryis the only Buddhist religious place in the eastern side educates the disciples and Buddhist monks from the Himalayan regions. Currently there are 210 monks stay at this monastery. There are two prayer sessions every day. Besidesthese,Bhutia Busty Monastery (1.5 km from Chowrasta),Yiga-Choling Buddhist Monastery (at Ghoom) are the other holly Buddhist places in Darjeeling.
The Darjeeling Toy Trains

Another greatest tourist attraction in Darjeeling is the 'Darjeeling Himalayan Railway'. The diesel propelled small-capacity trains runs through this route are popularly called "Toy Train". The Darjeeling toy train route is610 mm rail route (i.e., narrow gauge rail route). It begins from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling. The Indian Railway runs and maintains the Toy Trains in the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.

Lets take a look at the history of this world famous joyride route and the Toy Trains through the Darjeeling-New Jalpaiguri rail route. This 86 km long railway route was constructed between 1879--1881 AD. The elevation level of this railway route is about 2,200 metres in Darjeeling and 100 meters in New Jalpaiguri. Only four modern diesel engines are engaged in handle the everyday transportation jobs. But, the daily tourist trains between Darjeeling to Ghum are managed by vintage British-built B Class steam locomotives. In the year of 1999, UNESCO has recognized this train as one of the world heritage site. The Ghum railway station is India's highest railway station.