sikkim has certain restrictions for indian nationals to visit protected areas and foreigners must obtain restricted area permit to visit any part of sikkim.

protected areas are as under:

east sikkim:

• tsomgo lake and baba mandir
• nathula pass

west sikkim

• dzongri and goechala trek
• singalila trek

north sikkim

• yumthang valley & yumesamdong (zero point)
• thangu / chopta valley
• gurudongmar lake

south sikkim – no protected area

indian nationals

indian nationals require permits to visit protected areas as these places are close to china borders and have special army deployment. permits are issues for each place separately and permit issued for one place cannot be used to visit other place. the documents to get the permits needed are given below:

• 02 copies of passport size photograph
• original photo id proof like voter id card / passport / driving license with photocopy.
• pan card / aadhar card are not acceptable for issuance of the permit.
• child above 05 yrs, school id card with original birth certificate in english.

foreigners

to visit any part of sikkim foreigners must obtain restricted area permit (rap) previously known as innerline permit from sikkim tourism officers on the strength of valid indian visa. rap is issued free of costs and can be obtained from all indian missions, sikkim tourism offices at new delhi, kolkata, district magistrates office of darjeeling, siliguri, and rangpo on the strength of an indian visa. the 30 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 30 days initially.

the state government is authorized to extend the same by a further period of 30 days. 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 tourism and civil aviation 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 a registered travel agency.

also foreigners are not allowed to visit certain areas in sikkim like nathula pass where they can go maximum till tshangu lake, gurudongomar lake where maximum they are allowed is till chopta valley. also to visit the protected areas as mentioned above, foreigners must travel in a group of two or more pax. in other words, solo foreigner traveller are not allowed to travel protected areas.