When you travel to a new place, I believe the best takeaway you can have are interactions with people who are passionate about the history, & future, of the place. That is exactly what you get with the folks at Darjeeling Walks. We had the pleasure of interacting with Anirban and meeting with Sunny. It was a fantastic experience! We spent a great morning travelling around with Sunny - his caring attitude & passion for the region only matched by his photography skills :) Also, gratitude to them to be able to make changes to the itinerary to suit us, since we were travelling with an infant.

This was a magnificent historical tour conducted by Darjeeling walks . Thoroughly enjoyed . Sunny and Sailen were marvellous. If you want to explore colonial heritage this is the tour you need to avail .

I felt very strongly about having my own private tours, going at my own pace, and indulging my own interests and curiosities, Darjeeling Walks totally delivered that on all points!

Anirban is a treasure trove of information on Darjeeling. We walked and chatted about the socio-cultural evolution, history, etymology, heritage and a lot more about Darjeeling, it couldn’t have been better!

Ranindra had sound knowledge of Darjeeling’s history. He was very good in handling a family with both old parents and young kids. He would patiently answer any questions and was happily accommodating requests from traveling parents. We definitely enjoyed the momos at the tiny local restaurant with him. Overall I would highly recommend anyone traveling to Darjeeling to do this on first day to get to know Darjeeling better.

It was a great experience. We signed up as a study tour (67 members) for the walk cultural shock. Informative and interesting. The tea tasting and the lunch organised added to the understanding of interweaving native cultural habits.

We took two tours with Sunny, the Summer Capital tour and the Culture Shock tour. The Summer Capital tour included wonderful access to Darjeeling Gymkhana, St. Andrew’s Church, and much more. The Culture Shock tour brought us to the Tibetan Refugee Self Help Center and to a tea estate located home stay with breathtaking views of where Nepali pluckers have gathered the “champagne of teas” over years, and much more. Sunny answered dozens of questions, bought us such interesting people to learn from, and, since it was off season, came up with choices so we could decide what to go see. He was engaging and had a great sense of humor. He thoughtfully walked at our pace. Highly recommended. Bhakta was an exceptional driver, prompt, kind, careful and skilled. We ended up hiring him to drive us back to Siliguri and were glad we did.

Anirban was a great guide. He was informative and a great storyteller. He answered all our questions. A very enjoyable experience and a 'must do' if you come to Darjeeling.

We loved this walking tour. We had a chance to discover parts of Darjeeling we never would have known of. Our guide was knowledgeable and delightful to spend time with.

We did several tours with Anirban as our guide. These included town walks in each of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Gangtok. Also an excellent cultural music and food and plantation walk. And a visit to a high altitude lake near Gangtok. Anirban was an excellent guide, combining in depth knowledge of the history and area with a friendly and professional manner. His local knowledge and recommendations were first rate.

We spent three delightful days in Darjeeling in October 2023. (We are in our 70s and experienced travelers, including in India.) The trip was organized for us by Darjeeling Walks. Anirban, the founder, was extremely helpful with the planning and made all the reservations (hotel, airport transfers, tickets, and so on). Our guide during the three days, Sunny, was a pleasure. He is knowledgeable and very pleasant, and took us to two excellent tea plantations, the museum at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, the Tibet Museum, and on a walking tour of the town – all of which were terrific! He also introduced us to momos and thukpa, two special culinary delights from the hills. The driver, Namgel, was also excellent, and managed to get us to the train station for the “toy train” ride despite the Darjeeling traffic. The Darjeeling Walks team made it a truly memorable trip.

Sunny Singh was our guide for the tour. We started in the Darjeeling Mall area. An open area of stores and place for entertainment. He took us to visit the home where a freedom fighter Chittaranjan Das, passed away. We visited the Darjeeling gymkhana, a place where members meet to stay fit. From there we visited the Mayukh tea shop. This was the best experience of all. Being a tea lover, it helped to have an expert attendant take us through the steps of making the right tea that suited us. From there we walked through narrow streets of Darjeeling to local stores. Even had food from two of the food stalls there. We ended our walk at the Darjeeling Train station. Where we purchased tickets for a later trip on the Steam Toy Train joyride.

Anirban is a repository of information. The walk started in Mall Road and took us through many important landmarks - talking us through the history and significance of the city, the politics, the religions, and the colonial influence on it all. He also stopped at hidden gems along the way for some delicious food. A must do if you are in Darjeeling!

We read the excellent reviews that Darjeeling Walks had in viator and booked a whole day tea garden trip. We had the good fortune of being picked up by Anirban early in the morning and taken for a trip to Ging tea garden. We vibed immediately over our shared dislike for zoos. The entire day passed in exchange of information over tea, nature, food and everything under the sun. Personally I really appreciated the tea drinking and finally the lunch at the burra saheb bungalow. This has got stuck so much in our minds that we are forever fantasising about a future stay at ging tea house. That aside, the tea factory visit was a highlight and accompanied with the tasting of first and second flushes (very strong) was a much appreciated insight into our favourite intoxication. We loved the first trip so much that we had to book another one: nature trail. As part of this Anirban took us to a village and its adjoining tea garden and the forest. The forest experience was absolutely out of our regular world, notwithstanding the leeches. Once again we had an excellent lunch with some exotic local fare at a village home: neelam homestay amidst some fun conversation with Anirban. We also went for an elaborate tea testing and buying experience in the market and it was absolutely wonderful. Each tour has value, they are carefully crafted to offer an unique experience and is accompanied with an excellent partner from Darjeeling Walks. For us this was Anirban and we found an excellent, knowledgeable and easygoing friend who made some really courageous choices in life that we wished we could have made. If you wish to see a different darjeeling at a different level of quality beyond the crowd and sweater markets, look no further than Darjeeling Walks

I had booked this walking tour since my wife and I were staying in Darjeeling for a few days and we were keen to see some places which were off the beaten track. The meeting point was in front of Oxford Book Store at Chowrasta. It was a weekday and we were the only two participants! Our guide was Anirban Dutta, the founder of DarjeelingWalks, who hails from Kolkata but has been based in Darjeeling for the past few years. After a brief introduction, Anirban led us into a lane where we observed a roadside shrine attracting many devotees. Next we visited “Step Aside,” the former home of the distinguished lawyer Sir N.N.Sircar, where freedom fighter Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das had breathed his last in 1925. This building, now known as Deshbandhu Museum, has some antique furniture and an extensive photo gallery. Unfortunately, the wooden flooring is damaged at several locations and the photos on display are getting damaged due to the prevailing dampness. The next point was the Darjeeling Gymkhana Club, known for its Tudor style exterior and colonial interiors. The club has very good facilities for sports, including new tennis courts and indoor badminton courts on the first floor. We learnt that the membership is dwindling, but they offer temporary memberships (starting with one day’s duration) to tourists. After a leisurely stroll, we reached the Darjeeling Club, also known as Planters’ Club. Anirban told us about the history of the club and its adjoining hospital, which was originally a sanatorium. The building was under renovation and construction was in full swing. The incumbency board of the Club’s President had been updated as recently as 2022, but the last entry on the Secretary’s board was in 1998 – we were told that the last incumbent is still serving after a quarter of a century! After brief visits to the Municipal Office (Clock Tower) and the century-old building of State Bank of India, Anirban took us to the local market for refreshments. After sampling delicacies like the Tibetan Laaping and the Nepali Sel-roti washed down with Darjeeling tea, we wandered amongst the stalls selling fresh vegetables and fruits. No trip to Darjeeling can be complete without paying homage to the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. We had visited the station on the previous day and noted that the track did not terminate at the upper end of the station. Anirban showed us the disused portion of the track, which runs through the Bazaar and terminates short of an old goods shed. The remains of a ropeway - which used to carry tea from various gardens in the vicinity - can be seen nearby. The walk ended after brief visits to the Tibetan Institute and Nepali temple. Overall, it was enjoyable experience and we can confidently say that Anirban has deep knowledge as well as passion for his work.