Travelescape

A Travelescape guide · 11 stories and guides

North-East India

Assam's parks and rivers, Meghalaya's hills, Tawang and the Hornbill Festival: seven of these eleven guides are by two writers from Assam.

This page gathers Travelescape's writing on India's North-East: Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, with two long guides that take in all the states. Seven of the eleven are by two writers from Assam: Kaveri Bharali, who grew up there, on Kaziranga, Meghalaya and the region as a whole, and Rupam Bharali on his home town of Sivasagar, the river island of Majuli and the wetland of Son Beel.

Start with the three below if you are planning now. Then come the two guides to the whole region: Kaveri's, state by state, and a sixty-day solo ride by scooter, with the roads, the permits and the days each state needs. Then Assam, from Kaziranga's rhinos to the old Ahom capital at Sivasagar; then Meghalaya's hills around Shillong and Cherrapunji; then Arunachal and Nagaland, from Tawang's monastery to the Hornbill Festival at Kisama.

Sikkim and Darjeeling are reached from Bagdogra rather than Guwahati, and have their own page: Bhutan, Sikkim and Darjeeling.

The two Kaziranga guides and Son Beel were checked in October 2026. The others were written between 2019 and 2026, and each says when. Permits, ferries and safari rules change, so read "Before you go" at the end of this page, and check the official sites it names, before you travel.

Start here

Three to begin with

2 stories and guides

The whole region

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Two long guides across all the states: Kaveri Bharali's, state by state, and a sixty-day solo ride by scooter, with the roads, the permits and how many days each state needs.

5 stories and guides

Assam: parks, rivers and the Ahom country

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Guwahati is the gateway. Kaziranga is about 250 km east, five hours by road; Majuli is a ferry ride from near Jorhat; Sivasagar lies beyond Jorhat; Son Beel is far to the south, near Silchar. Three were checked in October 2026.

2 stories and guides

Meghalaya

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Shillong is about 100 km from Guwahati, and Cherrapunji (Sohra) 56 km beyond it: waterfalls, caves and the living root bridges. The falls are fullest in the monsoon; October to May is drier for walking.

2 stories and guides

Arunachal and Nagaland

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Both ask Indian travellers for an Inner Line Permit, applied for online. Tawang is two days by road from Guwahati or Tezpur; Kohima is about 75 km from Dimapur's airport and station.

Plan it

Before you go

Getting there
Guwahati's airport and station are the gateway to most of the region. From Guwahati, Shillong is about 100 km and Kaziranga about 250 km (five hours by NH 715). Jorhat's airport is about 105 km from Kaziranga and the nearest for Majuli; Silchar's is the nearest for Son Beel; Dimapur's serves Kohima.
Permits
Indian travellers need an Inner Line Permit for Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur, applied for online on each state's portal before you go (eilp.arunachal.gov.in, ilp.nagaland.gov.in, ilp.mizoram.gov.in). Assam and Meghalaya need none. Foreigners need a Protected Area Permit for Arunachal, and since December 2024 again for Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland.
When to go
October to April suits most of the region. Kaziranga is open from early October to late May, best from November to April. Meghalaya's waterfalls are fullest in the monsoon, June to September, when the roads are slowest. Son Beel is the other way round: full from about May to November, nearly dry in winter. The Hornbill Festival runs from 1 to 10 December each year at Kisama, near Kohima.
Tawang and the hill roads
Tawang is 14 to 16 hours by road from Guwahati or Tezpur, by Bhalukpong, Bomdila, Dirang and Sela Pass (13,750 ft); the Tawang district advises a night at Bomdila or Dirang to acclimatise before the pass. The Sela tunnel, open since March 2024, keeps the road open in winter. Monsoon rain brings landslides across the hills.
Kaziranga safaris
Book jeeps through your lodge, a registered operator or the range office, never a website you have not checked: police have broken up a racket that sold fake safari permits. The forest department plans online booking and a cap on visitors. The fees and ranges are in our Kaziranga guide.
Sundays
In Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland most shops close on Sundays, and outside Meghalaya a room can be hard to find that day, as our sixty-day ride found: book ahead if you arrive on one.

Questions

What readers ask us

Can I combine Kaziranga with Meghalaya?

Yes: both start from Guwahati, with Shillong about 100 km to the south and Kaziranga about 250 km to the east. Kaveri Bharali's Kaziranga plan takes four days from Guwahati, and her Meghalaya guide suggests six or seven days for the hills.

How many days does a North-East trip need?

More than most hill trips: our sixty-day ride suggests at least ten days for one state, counting the time from Guwahati, a week for the Tawang circuit and nine or ten days for Meghalaya's Khasi and Jaintia hills. Assam's main sites take about a week.

How do I reach Tawang?

By road from Guwahati or Tezpur, 14 to 16 hours by Bomdila, Dirang and Sela Pass, with a night at Bomdila or Dirang on the way, as the Tawang district advises; get your Inner Line Permit online first. Samudrika Pattanaik's Arunachal guide has the monastery, the lakes and Bumla Pass.

When is the Hornbill Festival?

From 1 to 10 December every year, at Kisama Heritage Village, about 12 km from Kohima; Nagaland asks Indian travellers for an Inner Line Permit. Piyush Tripathi's Nagaland guide is his trip to the festival, with Khonoma, Kohima and the food.

What about Sikkim and Darjeeling?

They are reached from Bagdogra and New Jalpaiguri in north Bengal rather than Guwahati, and have their own page: Bhutan, Sikkim and Darjeeling. Priya Sharma's solo trip took her through both.