There are many ways to get to Darjeeling from Siliguri and the bus is one of them. If you are looking for a one-word answer then I would say no. I do not take the bus to reach Siliguri and neither I would suggest it to you.

You might be wondering why I in my blogs focus on cheap and budget ways of travelling and still saying no to a bus ride. Well, there are many reasons to make me say that.

Why shouldn’t you take a bus from Siliguri to Darjeeling?

1. A long waiting line:

The bus stand in Siliguri is big and quite busy. It has different counters dedicated to booking tickets for different locations. Buses for Darjeeling from Siliguri depart every half an hour. One must wait in line for a long to take a ticket.

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2. Bus condition:

The bus running between these locations, especially from the bus stand is not in good condition. Although the roads are quite good there are many ups and downs in between which may create discomfort for some.

3. Bus allergy:

You must have noticed that some member of your family is allergic to vehicles and especially buses. So, anyone having that kind of allergy must avoid taking a bus from Siliguri to Darjeeling.

4. Time taken:

The bus takes comparatively more time than other vehicles and that is also a reason you can avoid taking a bus ride to Darjeeling.

5. Safety:

Small vehicles are considered safer than buses, especially in hilly areas and many people take this as a point not to choose a bus for Darjeeling from Siliguri.

6. Mountain sickness:

people who are travelling first time to the mountains may feel mountain sickness which can go worse in buses as per my experience.

What are the other options to reach Darjeeling from Siliguri:

Apart from buses there are cabs and share taxi running between Siliguri and Darjeeling. Both are ok and one can take them as per one’s requirement. The taxi generally takes more than 2 hours of time to reach Darjeeling and halts in between for snacks and breakfast.

Conclusion:

There are mainly three ways to reach Darjeeling from Siliguri and those are by taking a bus, booking a cab or taking a shared taxi. All are fine but I do not recommend taking a bus because of the above-mentioned reasons. Other options of booking a cab or a shared taxi are just fine and can be taken as per one’s need.