East in January

Tea estates, the UNESCO toy train and sunrise over Kanchenjunga from Tiger Hill.

A quieter hill town of flower nurseries, monasteries and old colonial buildings.

Forest villages at the edge of Neora Valley National Park, with a canopy walk and birding trails.

A lake town ringed by tea gardens and orange orchards, near the Nepal border.

A hamlet of homestays on a ridge with a wide Kanchenjunga panorama.

A ridge trek along the India–Nepal border with Everest, Lhotse, Makalu and Kanchenjunga in one view.

Sikkim's tidy hill capital — MG Marg, Rumtek monastery and Kanchenjunga on clear mornings.

A wooden village under sheer cliffs and a valley of rhododendrons and hot springs, with Zero Point beyond.

A ridge town facing Kanchenjunga, with Pemayangtse monastery, Rabdentse ruins and a glass skywalk.

A ridge town with the giant Buddha Park, tea gardens below and Kanchenjunga views.

A glacial lake at 3,750 m and the old Silk Route pass on the China border, a day trip from Gangtok.

Sikkim's first capital — a quiet village of prayer flags, Dubdi monastery and the Khecheopalri lake nearby.

The zigzag Old Silk Route road through Zuluk, Thambi viewpoint and Kupup lake.

The foothill gateway to Arunachal on the Kameng river — angling, rafting and orchids.

A hill town with a large monastery, apple orchards and views over the Kameng valleys.

A river valley of Monpa villages, a stone dzong, hot springs and kiwi orchards on the Tawang road.

A remote valley near the China border with an old Buddhist monastery and the Siyom river.

India's largest monastery in a high valley near Bhutan and Tibet, reached over the snowy Sela Pass.

A wide valley of Apatani villages, pine hills and paddy fields, home to the Ziro Music Festival.

The Kamakhya Shakti Peeth on Nilachal hill, Brahmaputra cruises and Umananda island.

Assam's only hill station — a lake town in rolling hills, on a spectacular hill railway.

UNESCO-listed grassland home to most of the world's one-horned rhinos, plus tigers, elephants and wild buffalo.

A UNESCO tiger reserve on the Bhutan border, with golden langurs, elephants and the Manas river.

The glass-clear Umngot river on the Bangladesh border — boating, riverside camping and kayaking.

A turquoise-pool waterfall in the Jaintia hills where you can swim (with life jackets).

A grassy rim above huge green gorges, with steps down to the hidden village of Rasong.

A spotless Khasi village with a living root bridge and a bamboo sky-view tower over Bangladesh.

Often called the wettest place on earth, with a limestone cave and a natural Shiva-linga stalagmite.

A steep stair-trek into a jungle valley to living bridges grown from rubber-tree roots, and the Rainbow Falls.

A hill capital of pine ridges, cafes, live music and colonial-era lanes.

Plunging waterfalls like Nohkalikai, limestone caves and gorge views over Bangladesh.