Foreigners must obtain Inner Line Permit (ILP) to visit Sikkim. These can be obtained from all Indian Missions, Sikkim Tourism Offices at New Delhi, Kolkatta, District Magistrates Office of Darjeeling, Siliguri, and Rangpo on the strength of an Indian Visa. The 15 days duration Permit is issued on the spot without any delay provided photocopies of the passport and visa along with two pass port photos of the applicants are made available. The permissible duration of the stay for foreign tourists is 15 days initially.

The State Government is authorized to extend the same twice by a further period of 30 days (15 days each). The extension of the permit can be obtained from FRO at Gangtok and office of Superintendent of Police of the North, West and South Districts.

For those interested in going for trekking in the interior region of the state, the Department of Tourism issues Protected Area Permit (PAP) at Gangtok which is available for certain specified area for groups consisting of two or more foreigners subject to condition that the trekking programme is arranged through aregistered travel agency.

How to get there:

Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim is connected by all weather road to Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Siliguri and also to all the District headquarters within Sikkim. Two nearest railway station are at Siliguri (114 km) and New Jalpaiguri (125 km) stabilizing link to Calcutta, Delhi, Guwahati, Lucknow and other important cities in India. Nearest airport is Bagdogra in North Bengal( 124 km).

By Flight :The closest Indian Airport is at Bagdogra,124 km from Gangtok, where scheduled flights operates to and fro from Kolkata, Delhi, Guwahati.

Travel time from the airport to Gangtok is 4 hours by road. Bagdogra Airport is 11 km west of Siliguri.

Indian Airlines, , Siliguri (Phone : 431-509; Fax: 431-495; Airport: 450-666) and Jet Airways, Siliguri (Phone :435-876; Airport : 450-589)

A taxi from airport to Siliguri is Rs.140. From the airport you can get a taxi to Bagdogra Bazaar (Rs. 40, 3 km) and from there, you can get a local bus to Siliguri too.

From Katmandu, fly to Bhadrapur in the east Nepal(1 hour), then drive to Kakarbhitta (Nepal-India border,35 km), to Siliguri(37 km) and to Gangtok (110 km, 4 hrs). Or fly to Biratnagar also in east Nepal.

A taxi from airport to Siliguri is Rs.140. From the airport you can get a taxi to Bagdogra Bazaar (Rs. 40, 3 km) and from there, you can get a local bus to Siliguri too.

From Katmandu, fly to Bhadrapur in the east Nepal(1 hour), then drive to Kakarbhitta (Nepal-India border,35 km), to Siliguri(37 km) and to Gangtok (110 km, 4 hrs). Or fly to Biratnagar also in east Nepal.

Helicopter Service: The Bagdogra airport is connected to Gangtok by a helicopter service which takes approx. 30 minutes to reach Gangtok.

Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation(+91-3592-222634) operates this service daily at 11:00 AM from Gangtok to Bagdogra and at 2:00 PM from Bagdogra to Gangtok at a price of Rs.1500/- per person. It is a five seater chopper and mountain flights and other such tours to North Sikkim are conducted

By Rail : The closest Railhead is at New Jalpaiguri which is around 148 km away from Gangtok. It is connected to Kolkata(Calcutta), New Delhi, Guwahati and other major Indian cities.

By Road : Gangtok is at a distance of 110 km from Siliguri and will take 4 hours from Siliguri to reach Gangtok . Gangtok is connected by road with Darjeeling (4 hrs), and with Bhutan, Phuntsholing (6 hrs).

Foreigners Entry Formalities:

Visa & Permits : In addition to an Indian visa, foreigners must obtain Inner Line Permit (ILP) to visit Sikkim. The permits can be obtained from all Indian missions, Tourism Office, New Delhi, Sikkim Tourism Office, Calcutta and Sikkim Tourism Office, Siliguri on the strength of an Indian Visa.

Foreigners are issued a permit for initial period of 15 days duration on the spot without any delay provided photocopies of Passport and Visa details along with two passport photos of applicants are made available then and there. It can be extended for further 30 days of 15 days each. The extension of permits can be obtained from Foreigners Registration Office(FRO), Gangtok and Superintendent of Police of North, South and West Districts.

The FRO is located at Kazi Road, Gangtok. Phone no 223041

For those interested in going for trekking in the interior regions of the state, you also require a Restricted Area Permit (RAP) OR Protected Area Permit(PAP) which is obtainable in Gangtok from the Police Check Post and Department of Tourism which is available for certain specified area for groups consisting of 4 or more foreigners subject to the condition that the trekking