East Himalaya & Northeast

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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