West Bengal

The region's outstanding trekking area is the Singalila Ridge, which runs about 50km along the India–Nepal border from Mane Bhanjang to Phalut (and continues into Sikkim, though foreigners aren't allowed to cross the state border here). The ridge offers wonderful views of the Himalayan chain stretching from Nepal to Sikkim and Bhutan. Between Sandakphu (the highest point, 3636m) and Phalut, the superb panoramas include four of the world's five highest peaks: Everest, Khangchendzonga, Lhotse and Makalu. There are some charming valleys and villages below the ridge, too. Clear skies and warm daytime temperatures in October and November make them ideal months to trek (but be prepared for freezing night-time temperatures at Sandakphu), as do the long days and incredible rhododendron and magnolia blooms of late April and May. Singalila National Park covers the Indian side of the ridge from Tumling to the Sikkim border; the park and access to the ridge are closed from mid-June to mid-September.

Spread in ribbons over a steep mountain ridge, surrounded by emerald-green tea plantations and towered over by majestic Khangchendzonga, Darjeeling is the definitive Indian hill station and, for many, West Bengal’s premier destination. When you aren’t gazing open-mouthed at Khangchendzonga (Great Five-Peaked Sbow Fortress – at 8598m it's the world’s third-highest mountain), you can admire colonial-era architecture, visit Buddhist monasteries, and take a ride on the 140-year-old steam-billowing Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. The adventurous can arrange a trek to Singalila Ridge or ride a mountain bike around the hills. Meanwhile, the steep and winding bazaars at the foot of the town bustle with an array of Himalayan products and faces from across Sikkim, Bhutan, Nepal and Tibet. And when energies start to flag, a good, steaming Darjeeling brew is never far away.

Shantiniketan ('abode of peace') is one of the outstanding creations of Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941), the great writer, artist, songwriter, educationalist, 1913 Nobel literature laureate and central figure of the Bengali Renaissance. It was here in 1901 that Tagore founded a school, and in 1921 a university, the Visva-Bharati, that became a nerve centre of Bengali culture with a focus on the arts, humanities and contact with nature and a revolutionary philosophy of breaking barriers between cultures, religions, castes, the sexes, teachers and students, city and country, east and west. University and school continue largely to follow Tagore's principles today, with around 10,000 Indian and international students, a healthily coeducational atmosphere, and classes still held in the open air under the campus trees.

Beyond the university, Shantiniketan, located 160km northwest of Kolkata, is a relaxed small town of leafy lanes, with a cultural/artistic ambience and some charming small-scale lodgings.

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, known affectionately as the toy train, is one of the few hill railways still operating in India. The panting train made its first journey along its precipice-topping, 2ft-wide tracks in September 1881. Today it passes within metres of local shopfronts as it weaves alongside and across the main road almost the entire 88km from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling, bringing traffic to a standstill and tooting its whistle incessantly. The railway climbs 2111m en route from New Jalpaiguri to its highest point at Ghum, and has had Unesco World Heritage listing since 1999.

It's a rare day when the trains run on time and monsoon landslides seem to block sections of track almost every year. However, the short 'joy rides' between Darjeeling and Ghum are relatively reliable.

Only one daily (diesel-powered) train in each direction makes the whole seven-hour(!) trip between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling. Train 52541 departs New Jalpaiguri at 8.30am; in the opposite direction, train 52540 departs Darjeeling for New Jalpaiguri at 8am. These trains have 1st-class seating only, costing ₹1295 from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling, ₹1105 from Siliguri Junction (6½ hours) and ₹685 from Kurseong (2½ hours). In addition, train 52587 runs just from Kurseong to Darjeeling, departing at 6.30am (2nd/1st class ₹60/685, 2½ hours), and train 52588 leaves Darjeeling for Kurseong at 4pm.

Unless you're a very serious railway buff, the joy-ride trains should satisfy your toy-train urges. These run just from Darjeeling to Ghum and back, a two-hour round trip with a 10-minute stop at the Batasia Loop (where the railway does a full circle to gain height) and half an hour at Ghum, where you can visit the railway museum inside the station. There are normally six steam-powered joy rides daily (₹1310 to ₹1405), pulled by locomotives at least 90 years old, and three diesel-powered runs (₹805).

Book tickets at least a day or two ahead at Darjeeling train station.

If you just want to look at the trains in action, there's plenty of shunting, whistling and steaming at Darjeeling station on and off all day.

Known for its beautiful terracotta temples, Bishnupur, 140km northwest of Kolkata, was the capital of the Hindu Malla kings who ruled in this part of western Bengal from the 7th to 18th centuries. Its golden age came in the 16th and 17th centuries when the kings made tribute payments to the Mughals and patronised the arts and crafts. The terracotta temples stand among the finest of Bengali architecture, with their bold mix of Bengali, Islamic and Oriya (Odishan) styles. They're built of brick, with (in most cases) facades covered in hundreds of intricately detailed terracotta panels depicting scenes from the Hindu epics, animals and scenes from contemporary life.

The 2585-sq-km Sundarbans Tiger Reserve has 100-plus Royal Bengal tigers lurking in its impenetrable mangrove forests and sometimes swimming its delta channels. Other residents of the forest include Gangetic dolphins, water monitors, 5m-long saltwater crocodiles and luminiscent kingfishers. Entry and guide fees, payable at the reserve's Sajnekhali Ecotourism Centre, depend on which areas you are visiting. If you're on an organised trip from Kolkata, they are normally included in your price.