Sikkim in December: What Is Open, What Closes and What to Plan Instead

Gangtok in December is cold and mostly dry, and that part you can plan around. The high points are different. Tsomgo Lake is usually reachable but can freeze or close in heavy snow, and Nathula, Yumthang and Gurudongmar depend on snow, road repairs and permit offices. We found no source that confirms their status for December 2026, so treat them as a bonus and build the trip around what stays open.

December also fills up. One operator reports that Christmas and New Year rooms in Gangtok, Pelling, Darjeeling and Kalimpong were gone by early October. That is a single commercial source, but it matches how the season behaves, so book your rooms before you fix the rest of the plan.

The short version

What you can count on

Gangtok sits at about 1,650 metres. Guides give December temperatures of about 2°C to 10°C, and snow in town is uncommon. The lowest reading of 2021 was 2.8°C, recorded in late December. Days are dry and the mountains are usually visible, but nights are cold, so ask whether your room has a heater when you book.

MG Marg, the pedestrian street in the centre of Gangtok, and the monasteries around town work in any weather, which makes them the safe part of the plan.

Tsomgo Lake and Nathula

Tsomgo Lake is the usual snow stop from Gangtok. Guides say it is generally reachable in December and starts to freeze, with snow from mid or late December. In heavy snow the road closes. In 2020, after continuous snowfall that began in late December, Sikkim Police stopped issuing permits to Tsomgo and Nathula.

Nathula needs more caution. Several guides say Indian visitors can go from Wednesday to Sunday, with Monday and Tuesday closed, and that the permit is issued the day before. Only Indian nationals can get it. Another guide says the road beyond Tsomgo is often impassable in heavy snow and that Nathula is usually closed from December to March. Both can be true in different weeks. All India Radio reported heavy tourist footfall at Nathula and Zuluk from 22 December 2025, so it was open on at least some days last year.

Ask your hotel or operator on the morning before you go, and keep that day free in case it changes.

Lachung, Yumthang and Gurudongmar

North Sikkim is the least predictable part of the state. Tourism to Gurudongmar resumed in March 2026 after 887 days, following the glacial lake outburst of October 2023 (EastMojo, 9 March 2026). A travel site updated in October 2026 says the Lachen road reopened on 29 August 2026 after repairs and that access is still intermittent. The two reports do not agree on dates, and neither says what December will look like.

Yumthang can be reached from Lachung in December, but not every day. One guide gives December temperatures at Lachung of -6°C to 13°C, and another says -5°C or lower. An older page that calls Yumthang closed from December to March is out of date.

If Gurudongmar or Yumthang is the reason for your trip, choose dates with slack, keep North Sikkim for the end, and avoid non-refundable bookings until your operator confirms the road that week.

Permits

Indian visitors need no permit to enter Sikkim. They do need a protected area permit for Tsomgo Lake, Nathula, Zuluk and Baba Mandir. Guides say you can get it through your Gangtok hotel or homestay, at the Rongli office, or at the check posts, and sources split on which office covers which place, so ask your operator. Carry photo ID and passport-size photos. Foreign visitors follow different rules.

You may read that an integrated online permit system began in August 2026. It has not. Outlook Traveller reported that stakeholders met on 18 August 2026 to discuss one covering Tsomgo, Nathula, Lachung and Lachen, with no launch date. Under that proposal tourists would not apply themselves: registered Sikkim operators would.

Zuluk and the Silk Route

Zuluk lies on the Old Silk Route (NH-717B, from Rhenock through Zuluk to Sherathang). The road runs close to the Chinese border, so there are no shared cabs or buses and you need a Sikkim taxi. From Bagdogra or New Jalpaiguri, one guide gives about five and a half to six hours via Rongli. You need the protected area permit here too. We found no December snow report for Zuluk, so do not plan around snow.

A plan B for the days when the high points are shut

Spend those days on Gangtok, its monasteries and viewpoints, a trip to Tsomgo if it is open, and a slower stretch at Pelling, Ravangla or the Temi tea estate in South Sikkim, the only commercial tea estate in the state. Our guide to offbeat Sikkim has more on Temi.

Who December suits

It suits travellers who are comfortable in cold weather, accept that the plan may change by the day, and have a few days of slack. Think twice if Nathula or Gurudongmar is the whole reason for the trip.

Plan it with us

Our New Year in Sikkim & Darjeeling group trip runs from 27 December 2026 to 2 January 2027. We check road and permit news before each departure and keep a plan B for every high point. The price and what is included are on the trip page. For other dates, message us on WhatsApp at +91 90360 21836.