Chatakpur is a small hilltop village situated in Sonada, Darjeeling. This hill is behind the Tiger Hill and one can have a almost 120 degree panoramic view of the Mt Kanchengungha, Mt. Pandim, Mt. Kumbhakarna and the adjacent ranges. The sunrise view of these snowy magnificent peaks is breathtaking. The experience is comparable to the experience of sunrise from Tiger Hills but in a more personal, less crowded environment. There is a sunrise viewpoint where you may trek to get a better and wider view but even from the basic village homestays the sight is no lesser. On one side of the hills there are huge pine trees which curve down to the steps of a pine forest region. This place is ideal for all age groups. A short vacation in a quaint quiet place for relaxing and lazing or for short treks to points permitted by the Forest Dept.
Chatakpur Eco Village Hut is managed and maintained by the Forest Dept. This place has four two bedded cottages with attached bathrooms with geysers for hot water. The booking is on basis of lodging with meals per person/day. The rooms were clean and had sufficient blankets for the nights and there was running water in the bathroom taps throughout the day. The food served was yummy. But as this is a small place and far away from closest markets and grocery places, you cannot have food preparations on demand at last minute. We happily ate what we were served but I guess for a larger group of people if any specific food request is made ahead of time they will prepare it.
Tiger hill, Ghoom, Darjeeling are nearby locations for a day trip from here. But I wonder why would any one visit those once you are here :)
Caution - there are no shops for buying souvenirs or restaurants for munching. Though the snowy peaks of the mountain ranges can be viewed from almost every corner of the Chatakpur village but unfortunately the range is not directly visible from the Vhatakput Eco Huts as this is at a slight lower step of the village area and the northern side ilies tall pine trees but if you walk around 80/90 feet you will be able to view the ranges. Also, you cannot see the Mt Everest from this place.
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Date of stay: November 2021
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Chatakpur is a beautiful village in north bengal.Chatakpur eco village is located at an altitude of 7887 feet in the hill town of Darjeeling district. Located 7 km from sonada amidst senchal reserve forest, Chatakpur has become very popular among tourists as it offers panaromic view of snow clad mountains, himalayan range and luch green forest of alpine trees.On a clear day tourists can enjoy a divine view of Sunrise and Mt.Kanchenjunga from Chatakpur view point. We were lucky enough to witness both. As we visited in the month of January we also experienced snowfall which was a add-on surprise for us. Best time to visit Chatakpur is from October to February.Homestays and one forest department hotel is avaialble for stay. A video is available on my YT Channel TravellersLens covering the transport,stay,food,cost and sightseeing. Do checkout the video to get all the details of my experience in Chatakpur.
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Date of stay: January 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
It was a wonderful place serene beauty unleashed wildness rustic Woodland. The entire area has a natural beauty and also is a view point to see the sunrise sunset and above all kanchenjunga peak. It refreshes the mind and soul. Jungle terrain was adventurous. Inhabitants are so cordial and helpful.This place is selected for tourism development from West Bengal forest Department. They have built few cottages for tourist stay.This is a good effort. But they should look after the maintenance of the tourist stay at the cottage. The entire room is shabby looking curtain was not washed for long, carpet was not changed, and the geyser was not working fully . Room heater had no blower as a result the heat is concentrated in one area.Tourists came here to spend leisure time without challenges. Besides the road was awful.
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Date of stay: February 2024
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Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
At the outset the place is pure nature. However, we could not enjoy the place as because the Eco hut village is not at all maintained well. Rooms were quite dirty with dust piled up in corners and below the bed and there is no attention by the Manager for the basic maintenance of the property, making it the worst stay experience for tourists. The bedsheets etc did not appear to be washed at all and there were no towels or any basic toiletries. The caretaker boys did a good job in cooking and they were being helpful. We had to wind up the stay one day in advance (inspite of the full payment) due to the said reason. Try out homestays in this area, they are well managed, the place is beautiful
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Date of stay: May 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
It is a very nice and quiet place to relax with a picture perfect cottage and surroundings. A real off beat place even higher than Darjeeling. The cottage is well maintained by the forest department. The rooms are clean with attached bath. The staff are very homely and helpful. Food is ok as it is a very remote place amidst the forest. It is a very. It is a perfect place to stay and relax for one or two days.
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Date of stay: June 2021
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Beautiful quite place.. full greenery .. top of the cloud.. only homestay available. No shop no other restaurant ... disadvantage : no proper road to reach. Almost 2 hour rolla costa ride ! U need to register name before entering chatakpur as it is inside reserve forest ..
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Date of stay: September 2021Trip type: Travelled with friends
Room Tip:Â No proper road to reach there.. Almost 2 hour rolla costa ride ! U need to register name before...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Nine of us had booked this place on 1st and 2nd June, 2013. North Bengal hills are in general very crowded during this period and hence we were thrilled with the possibility of being in such a place (the available review on net was very good). One Mr. Vinod Rai was supposed to be the person-in-charge But he could never be contacted on phone. Althugh, this is a general phenomenon in this region we were little worried since the road was not much known to us. Fortunately, the day before, our Kolkata travel agent informed us that they could contact him and he knew that we would be going. This was confirmed by their Siliguri conterpart m/s Windows. We started from Siliguri on 1st June and Mr Pritam from Windows informed us that they are not being able to contact Mt. Rai hence I should contact Mr. Tamang - ranger of the local forest. He gave us the phone no. I immediately contacted Mr. Tamang who sounded a nice person. He told us that there was a land slide near Sonada hence we should take the Dilaram route. He instructed our car-driver accordingly. The road upto Dilaram was fair but after that it was not that maintained one - but we were ready for that. The naure around was really wonderful and in between we had contacted Mr. Tamang 3 more times for road -instructions. Last one was at ~2-00 p.m.when I also requested him to see to it that our lunch remained ready since we all were very hungry (the booking charges include all food starting from the arrival day's lunch). Mr. Tamang very confidently infomed us - since we already have our booking, lunch will surely be ready. We were all happy. By 2-15 p.m. we reached the place to find all the rooms under lock and key, only three masons were busy for some construction work, No Vinod Rai or, any other responsible person, the kitchen was open to store the construction material but there was no food, even water. Binod was not to be seen anywhere - again Mr. Tamang - again assurance - he is looking for him - again phone to Mr . Pritam etc. etc. etc. It was 3-40 p.m. and soon evening will set in. By that time our driver gathered the information (later confirmed by another local person) that there is no water and since there was a landslide near Sonada, the reservations were all cancelled!!!!!!! We were almost near Kurseong at ~4-15 p.m. when suddenly a person rang up saying he was Binod Rai and he repeatedly requested that we should please be back. But we had enough of our lesson and did not dare to trust him any more. Just imagine - nine tourists, at the pick tourist-season without any other reservation simply roaming around looking for a shelter. HOWEVER BEAUTIFUL THE PLACE MAY BE, I SHALL NEVER RECOMMEND THIS IRRESPONSIBLE PLACE FOR ANYBODY UNLESS YOU ARE READY TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.
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Date of stay: June 2013
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Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I've spent the quietest couple of days of my life here at Chatakpur! Located 7.5kms from Sonada, this small hill village is located in Senchel Wildlife Sanctuary. The eco tourism huts are maintained by the forest department. The manager, Vinod Rai, is very helpful but it's best not to expect prompt service as the locals take time out of their daily chores to manage the eco huts. One can hear the chirps of birds and the odd sounds of the cattle animals, and absolutely nothing else. Not much activity available other than walking and lazying around the nearby dense forest. There's a sunrise point around 1km up the hill, but unfortunately, I missed it due to cloud cover.
If you love serenity, nature and cold weather, Chatakpur is for you! It gets very chilly after sunset so be prepared with extra layers of warm clothing.
Try to avoid the monsoon and winter and pre-book the eco huts well in advance as they are only 4 in number.
The rooms are big enough and has 24 hours hot water and sufficient blankets to keep you warm and cozy.
N.B.: Since this is an eco tourism hut, people must take extra care not to waste water and electricity and also refrain from littering. It was very sad to see plastic bottles and packets littered around the campus, in spite of there being abundant litter bins. It's horrible to see a wildlife sanctuary being littered with plastic (can't get any worse!!)
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Date of stay: April 2017Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Now let's set the expectations clear...no there isn't any fancy hotel or any room service at the drop of your hat. There are no gift shops or restaurants around either. To be exact, this place is in the middle of Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary which remains closed b/w June 15th to Sept 15th due to breeding season of leopards (yup u read that right). However if you are still interested here's what you need to know - 1. Some photographers do debate that the watch tower offers even better view of Kanchenjunga than Tiger Hills. 2. If you want to visit this place, book a Sumo or Scorpio rather than Omni or any small car. The last 4kms are really bumpy thanks to the rocky roads. 3. The journey to Chatakpur is itself a memorable one, there's just a desolate road through the middle of a dense forest. At one point on the top of the hill, you will reach a place where the road divides into two...take the one having a small signboard written Upper Chatakpur. 4.The booking can be done by Wind Oz (Rana Ghosh -9800177852). There are just 4 Govt accommodations which looks pretty nice. Mr.Binod Rai (7583971517) will help you with the food and other services in this homestay. However don't be disappointed if you don't get any rooms. There are few local homestays @Rs 1200 per person per day including food. They are pretty decent as well. You can contact Binod for the same. 5. There are two specific activities you can do - take a walk for half an hour through the pine forest to Pokri Lake. Do NOT forget to take a GUIDE. If you are really lucky you might see some bears or panda. 6. Second - It takes around 15 mins to reach to the top of the hill through the middle of the village. If you are having knee problems or arthritis please avoid. Wear your trekking shoes to climb up and see the most beautiful view of Kanchenjunga from the watch tower. 7. There might be scarcity of water at times, you will be provided a bucket of water on request. The bedsheet is really not clean. The good part is they provide plenty of blankets to keep yourself warm. Do carry a towel, a torch & powerbank. They will come in handy. 8. Idea Cellular & Reliance mobile connectivity are the only operational networks. But if you go up the hill a bit you will get signals of other carriers too.
In the end all I wud say....if you love to be on the nature's lap, this is the place for you.
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Date of stay: June 2016Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
chattakpur is wonderful hill hamlet ... please do not change its original name "Chattakpur" not chatakpur, village is 150years old, it consists of 18 house and 85populatio. please it a request dont change its original beautiful name as it is.
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Date of stay: December 2012
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Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
"No proper road to reach there.. Almost 2 hour rolla costa ride ! U need to register name before entering chatakpur as it is inside reserve forest .. no shop no outside food "
There are more places to choose from in the Darjeeling area.
LOCATION
IndiaWest BengalDarjeeling DistrictDarjeeling
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