When Yuksom was Sikkim’s capital, a royal palace complex known as Tashi Tenka sat on a ridge to the south of town. Essentially nothing remains, but the 360-degree views from here are superb. Access is through a four-house hamlet via a stairway that starts opposite the school football pitch, five minutes' walk south of Dragon Hotel.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
22.47 MILES
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, known affectionately as the toy train, made its first journey along its precipice-topping, 2ft-wide tracks in 1881 and…
Rumtek Gompa
21.57 MILES
Rumtek is Sikkim's most spiritually significant monastery complex. It's essentially a self-contained village with a colourful main prayer hall that was…
Pemayangtse Gompa
4.36 MILES
One of Sikkim’s oldest and most significant Nyingmapa monasteries, Pemayangtse (literally ‘Perfect Sublime Lotus’) is 500m off the Geyzing road – turn…
Tiger Hill
25.62 MILES
To watch the dawn light break over a spectacular 250km stretch of Himalayan horizon, including Everest (8848m), Khangchendzonga (8598m) and two more of…
Nearby Sikkim attractions
1. Mani Hall
0.53 MILES
Right in the village centre, this unique creation is a glass-walled, templelike building enclosing 18 oversized prayer wheels in two close-packed rows.
2. Yangthang Rinpoche Statue
0.53 MILES
Just outside Norbugang's south wall, this giant, seated statue-shrine commemorates Lhatsun Chempo's 20th-century 'reincarnation'. Seen from Tashi Tenka,…
3. Norbugang Park
0.59 MILES
All aflutter with prayer flags, the Norbugang 'coronation park' is a historic woodland garden containing a small temple, a huge prayer wheel, a chorten…
4. Kathok Wodsalling Gompa
0.61 MILES
This relatively new gompa, accessed opposite Hotel Tashi Gang, features an impressively stern statue of Guru Padmasambhava.
5. Dubdi Gompa
0.7 MILES
Said to be Sikkim’s oldest still-functioning monastery, this compact, peaceful gompa is beautifully set in tended gardens on the ridge above Yuksom, with…
6. Phamrong Falls
1.02 MILES
The most dramatic of four waterfalls between Yuksom and Tashiding, the Phamrong's powerful flow fires itself through a high, green notch then crashes down…
7. Helipad
4.28 MILES
Just 10 minutes' stroll from Upper Pelling's Zero Point junction, the helipad is about the best viewpoint around, with almost 360-degree views.
8. Pemayangtse Gompa
4.36 MILES
One of Sikkim’s oldest and most significant Nyingmapa monasteries, Pemayangtse (literally ‘Perfect Sublime Lotus’) is 500m off the Geyzing road – turn…