Almost every trip to the region starts in the same place. Guwahati has the only airport in Northeast India with a full spread of direct flights from Indian metros, and the eight states fan out from it by road. Working out how to reach Northeast India is really two questions: how you get to Guwahati, and how you get from Guwahati to wherever you are actually going.
The second question is the one people underestimate. There is effectively no rail network in the hills. Once you leave the Brahmaputra valley you are on mountain roads, and mountain roads here move at 30 to 40 km an hour. Axomor holds drive times from the nearest airport, railhead and hub for 250+ places, and the numbers below come from that data.
Flying In: Guwahati and the Regional Airports
Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (GAU) in Guwahati is the region’s gateway. Direct flights run from Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, with Kolkata the shortest hop at around an hour. It is about 20 km from central Guwahati, roughly 45 minutes in traffic.
The regional airports are smaller, with fewer routes and more weather cancellations:
| Airport | City | State | Useful for |
|---|---|---|---|
| GAU | Guwahati | Assam | Everything. The default entry point |
| SHL | Umroi (Shillong) | Meghalaya | Shillong, limited schedule |
| DMU | Dimapur | Nagaland | Kohima, about 3 hrs by road |
| IMF | Imphal | Manipur | Loktak, about 1 hr by road |
| AJL | Lengpui (Aizawl) | Mizoram | Aizawl, about 1 hr by road |
| IXA | Agartala | Tripura | Unakoti, about 4 hrs by road |
| TEZ | Tezpur | Assam | The Tawang road, saves a day |
| JRH | Jorhat | Assam | Majuli, Sivasagar |
| DIB | Dibrugarh | Assam | Upper Assam, eastern Arunachal |
| IXB | Bagdogra | West Bengal | Sikkim, about 4 to 5 hrs to Gangtok |
Two of these deserve a note. Bagdogra is technically not in the Northeast at all, but it is how you reach Sikkim, since Gangtok has no commercial airport with reliable service. And Tezpur is the smart move for anyone heading to Tawang, because it cuts roughly 190 km off the drive compared to starting at Guwahati.
Umroi near Shillong sounds convenient but runs a thin schedule. Most people flying to Meghalaya still land at Guwahati and drive the three hours up.
Coming by Train
Trains reach the Brahmaputra valley and stop there. Guwahati Railway Station is the main hub, with connections from Delhi, Kolkata and most of eastern India.
The Delhi to Guwahati run takes around 30 hours depending on the service. Kolkata to Guwahati is a more reasonable 17 to 19 hours and works well as an overnight. Beyond Guwahati the line continues east through Jorhat and Dibrugarh into upper Assam, and south towards Silchar and Agartala.
What the train cannot do is take you into the hills. There is no rail to Shillong, Kohima, Gangtok, Aizawl or Tawang. Naharlagun near Itanagar is the only railhead that touches Arunachal, and it is 263 km and roughly seven and a half hours from Tawang.
For most travellers the sensible pattern is: fly into Guwahati, use trains only for flat valley hops like Guwahati to Jorhat, and drive everything else.
Real Drive Times from Guwahati
These are the numbers that shape an itinerary. Treat published distances with suspicion and driving hours as the real currency.
| Destination | Distance | Realistic drive |
|---|---|---|
| Shillong | 100 km | 3 hrs |
| Umiam Lake | 82 km from GAU | 2.5 hrs |
| Sohra (Cherrapunji) | 155 km | 4.5 hrs |
| Dawki | 175 km | 5.5 hrs |
| Kaziranga | 195 km | 4.5 to 5 hrs |
| Pobitora | 60 km from GAU | 1.5 to 2 hrs |
| Manas | 124 km from GAU | 3.5 hrs |
| Jorhat | 310 km | 6.5 hrs |
| Dimapur | 275 km | 6 hrs |
| Tezpur | 180 km | 4 hrs |
| Tawang (via Tezpur) | 500 km | 2 days |
The Guwahati to Shillong road is a four lane highway for most of its length and is the easiest drive in the region. Everything beyond Shillong is hill road. The Shillong to Dawki stretch has been under four laning work through 2026, with periodic closures, so check road status before that leg.
Tawang is the outlier. Nobody should attempt it in one day. The standard split is Guwahati or Tezpur to Dirang or Bomdila on day one, then over Sela Pass to Tawang on day two.
Getting Around Once You Are There
Shared Sumo is the backbone of transport in the hills. Toyota Qualis and similar vehicles run fixed routes from set stands, leave when full, and cost a fraction of a private cab. They are cramped and fast and entirely normal. In Shillong the Sumo stands near Police Bazar serve most of Meghalaya.
Private cab is what most visitors end up using, either per day or per route. Expect to negotiate. Rates in Arunachal and North Sikkim run noticeably higher than Assam and Meghalaya because of the terrain and the return empty leg.
Self drive is possible in Assam and Meghalaya and inadvisable elsewhere unless you have driven mountain roads before. The combination of blind corners, trucks, fog and unmarked drops is not the place to learn.
App cabs work in Guwahati and to a limited extent in Shillong and Agartala. Outside those, do not count on them.
Book transport ahead in peak season, October to February. Turning up at Kaziranga in late December expecting to arrange a jeep on the day is optimistic.
Airport Transfers by Hub
- Guwahati (GAU) to city: 20 km, 45 mins, prepaid taxis and app cabs available
- Dimapur (DMU) to Kohima: about 70 km, 3 hrs, shared and private taxis at the airport
- Imphal (IMF) to Loktak Lake: 35 km, 1 hr
- Bagdogra (IXB) to Gangtok: 125 km, 4 to 5 hrs, shared jeeps from Siliguri
- Umroi (SHL) to Shillong: 30 km, under an hour
- Agartala (IXA) to Unakoti: 140 km, 4 hrs
Permits Before You Travel
Reaching the region is one thing, entering some of its states is another. Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur require an Inner Line Permit from Indian citizens, and Sikkim requires a Protected Area Permit for its high passes and north. Foreign nationals face a separate and slower process.
Sort this before booking flights, not after. Our Northeast India permits guide covers every state, with lead times.
Best Time to Travel
October to April is the reliable window for road travel. Monsoon from June to September brings landslides to the hills and flooding to the Assam plains, and small regional airports see more cancellations. If you must travel in monsoon, favour road connections out of Guwahati over regional flights, and keep a buffer day before any international connection. The best time to visit Northeast India guide breaks the seasons down state by state.
Where to Stay on Arrival
Most travellers spend their first night in Guwahati simply because of flight timings. The area around Paltan Bazar and the railway station has the budget options, GS Road has the mid range business hotels, and there are riverside places along the Brahmaputra with better views and worse traffic. If your onward drive is early, staying near the airport side of the city saves you an hour.
Plan Your Route with Axomor
Every place page on Axomor lists distance and drive time from the nearest airport, railhead and road hub, so you can build a route on real numbers rather than estimates. Start with all Assam destinations or browse the hub city pages for Guwahati, Shillong and Dimapur.
Once you know how to reach Northeast India and how long each leg takes, the itinerary writes itself. Our 7, 10 and 14 day route guide does exactly that.
Ready to plan this trip?
Use Axomor's free trip planner to build your custom Northeast India itinerary — with distances, permits, and the best time to visit each spot.