Sikkim General Information

LOCATION
Sikkim is situated at the north eastern region of India and share a border with a state of West Bengal. 27.2°N 88.4°E                            

VISA, INNER LINE PERMIT or RESTRICTED AREA PERMIT (RAP)
In addition to an Indian visa, foreigners must obtain Sikkim Inner line Permit (ILP) or Restricted Area Permit (RAP) to visit Sikkim. The permits can be obtained from all Indian missions, Tourism Office, New Delhi, Sikkim Tourism office, Calcutta and Sikkim Tourism Office, Siliguri on the strength of an Indian Visa and Passport.

Foreigners are first issued a permit for initial period of 30 days duration on the spot without any delay provided photocopies of Passport and Visa details along with two passport photos of applicants are made available. It can be extended for further 30 days period. The extension of permits can be obtained from FRO at Gangtok, Superintendent of Police of North, South and West Districts.

PROTECTED AREA PERMIT (PAP)
If you are visiting the interior or protected regions of sikkim, you also require a Protected Area Permit (PAP) which is obtainable in Gangtok from the Police Check Post and Department of Tourism with the support of local Sikkim travel Agent. It is most if you are planning or thinking of going for a high altitude trekking and expedition in sikkim.
NOTE: Protected and Restricted area permit in Sikkim is only issued to LOCAL REGISTERED TRAVEL AGENTS.

Mountain Tours, Treks & Travels will handle all the official formalities for you Trekking and Tour in Sikkim.

Almost All the modes of transportations are available to visit Sikkim. This little Paradise on Earth is well connected by Airways, Railways and Roadways. In spite of being a hilly state, transportation of Sikkim is comfortable and more frequent to enjoy the ride on the world’s most beautiful valley.

AIRWAYS
The nearest Airport to Sikkim is Pakyong Airport which is a greenfield RCS Airport situated in Sikkim and is around 30 Kms from Gangtok. The other nearest Airport is Bagdogra Airport of West Bengal which is 124 Kms away from Gangtok. There is only few flights operational to Pakyong Airport as of now. Due to high altitude and high table runway and uncertain weather condition of Sikkim there always remains a posibilities of reschedule and cancellation of flights. India’s national carrier, Indian Airlines including almost all other domestic airlines such as Jet Airlines, Air Deccan, Spice Jet, Indigo and Go Airlines run regular flights from many important cities of India such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi etc to Bagdogra. Bagdogra is also connected with Gangtok by daily helicopter service operated by Sikkim Tourism development Corporation and it takes only 20 minutes to reach Gangtok from Bagdogra. This helicopter service is subjected to the weather conditions.

RAILWAYS
New Jalpaiguri Railway station in Siliguri is the nearest Railway station to Sikkim located in West Bengal. NJP is 125 Kms from Gangtok and is well connected to all the major cities of India. Nearly 45 km long Sevok - Rongpo railway project, considered to be an engineering marvel, aims to connect Sevok railway station in Darjeeling district of West Bengal to Rongpo in east Sikkim with a single broad guage line in near future. 

ROADWAYS
The lifeline of Sikkim, National Highway 31A connects Gangtok and other parts of sikkim with Siliguri and this picturesque highway runs through the lush green forests along the bank of river Teesta on one side and sky touching mountain ranges of Eastern Himalaya on other side. This unique ride of almost three hours to gangtok will gives you the opportunity to enjoy the valley carpeted with numerous wild flowers and dense forest. Regular bus service operated by S.N.T. and adequate number of luxury vehicles, regular jeeps and taxies are available from morning to evening at reasonable rate and you can have a very comfortable journey. From Siliguri you can catch jeeps and taxies to reach almost all the important tourist destinations located in all parts of Sikkim. You can also hire luxury tourist vehicles such as Innova and Xylo, regular taxies like Bolero, Sumo and max mahindra and jeeps to travel to your destination of choice at reasonable rate. Most of the popular and reputed tourist destinations of siikim are interlinked by motor able all seasons roads.

SIKKIM HELICOPTER SERVICE
For the more discerning travelers, Sikkim is proud to present the Sikkim Helicopter Service from Gangtok to Bagdogra Airport and back. The five-seater Helicopter offers an exclusive mode of transport not merely enabling connecting flights, but also to see Sikkim from an entirely new view.

Sikkim Helicopter Service also conducts, besides the regular runs to Bagdogra Airport and back, special mountain flights. To see the majesty of the Himalayan peaks from close up like never before, feast your eyes on the grandeur and the sheer size of the great Mount Khanchendzonga, the third highest peak in the world, or check out the symmetrical beauty of Mount Siniolchu, considered by many as the most beautiful peak in the entire Himalayan range, or fly over Gangtok and get a comprehensive view of the layout of the town with its winding roads and many alleys.

Special flights are also conducted over West Sikkim and North Sikkim for a bird's eye-view of the beautiful snow capped Mountains, Peaks, Hills, remote Villages, Monasteries, terrains and the exotic Vallies. Chartered flight can aso be booked. 

All passengers on these sight-seeing flights are awarded official Certificates of Participation by the Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation (STDC) as Souvenirs.

BEST SEASON TO VISIT FOR TREKKING, TOURS & HOLIDAYS IN SIKKIM
March, April, May till mid June
September,October, November till mid December

ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES IN SIKKIM
Trekking, Mountaineering Expedition, Hiking, Rafting, Mountain Biking, Motor Biking, Paragliding, Camping, Cultural Tours, Monastery Tours, Educational Tours, Meditation Camp and Home Stay.

ACCOMMODATION IN SIKKIM
There are modern hotels and restaurants in all parts of sikkim. Comfortable and luxury resort lodges are also available in almost all places of tourist interest. Beautiful Home Stays are also available in most of the Villlages and Towns. In some of the remote areas you need to have a cash for all sorts of paying and buying. Only in town areas one has access to credit card, Debit card & other source of modern payment facilities.

TRANSPORTATION
All sorts of Vehicles are available in and around sikkim, however the cheapest mode of transportation is by Bus. Luxury as well as normal taxis are available round the clock on both private and sharing basis in almost all parts of sikkim. 

LANGUAGES
Sikkim is a multiethnic and multilingual indian state. Nepali, English, Hindi, Tibetan and Sikkimese languages are widely spoken. Many other tribal languages are also spoken in Sikkim.