12 Indian Towns That Feel Like Foreign Countries

4. Darjeeling — Alpine Tea Town with Himalayan Views

Darjeeling’s rolling tea estates, mist-softened slopes, and colonial clubs create a setting that many visitors liken to Alpine or Himalayan towns elsewhere. Tea gardens step down the hills in neat terraces, and narrow tracks lead between small market lanes and observation points with wide views of Kanchenjunga. The toy train is another colonial-era feature that lends timelessness to the town, while the presence of Nepali and Tibetan cultures gives Darjeeling a Himalayan cultural blend distinct from India’s plains. Cafés serving locally produced Darjeeling tea encourage slow mornings, and the tea estates themselves welcome short tours that explain leaf processing and plantation life. For clear mountain panoramas, aim for October–December; early mornings deliver the best views of the snow peaks. Travel features and tea heritage notes often point to Darjeeling’s international-sounding vistas and plantation landscapes as key reasons visitors feel transported.