Northeast Tour Package from Mumbai: Routes and Costs

The flight from Mumbai to Guwahati takes about as long as a film. What it costs, though, is the real planning question, and it is why Mumbai travellers who get the most out of the Northeast almost always stay a week or longer.

We plan many trips for Mumbai and Pune couples and families. This guide covers how to get there, how to make the airfare count, and which routes fit seven, ten and fourteen nights.

Mumbai to the Northeast: your options

Flight schedules and train days change, so check current status before you travel.

Flights

Several airlines fly Mumbai to Guwahati non-stop. The flight crosses most of India, and the fastest scheduled non-stops take just under 3 hours; most take a little over. A morning departure from Mumbai lands in Guwahati around midday, which still leaves time to reach Shillong before dark in most months, or to rest in Guwahati and start fresh.

Booked four to six weeks ahead, we typically see one-way economy fares of about ₹7,000 to ₹11,000 per person. Diwali, Christmas and New Year push fares much higher. These are indicative figures. If non-stop fares are high, a one-stop via Kolkata is sometimes several thousand rupees cheaper per person.

Trains

The Karmabhoomi Express links Lokmanya Tilak Terminus with Kamakhya in around 50 hours, and the LTT to Dibrugarh Express also stops at Guwahati. The journey crosses Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal. It is a genuine experience for rail lovers, but it adds about four days to a round trip.

Why Mumbai trips should be longer

This is the most useful thing we tell Mumbai travellers. Your return flight is a fixed cost whether you stay four nights or ten. Hotels and cabs in the Northeast are the variable part, and they are moderate at the standard level.

Stretching a four-night Meghalaya trip to seven nights with Kaziranga typically adds much less than 75 percent to the total, because the flight cost does not change. The per-day cost of the holiday falls sharply.

There is also a practical reason. The first and last days of any trip are part travel days. On a four-night trip, that is half the holiday. On a nine-night trip, it is barely a fifth.

Leave days and what fits

Assuming a morning flight out and an afternoon flight home, with a weekend included:

Routes that suit Mumbai travellers

Seven nights: the complete first trip

Our seven-night Assam and Meghalaya highlights trip, from ₹30,000 per person, is the route we suggest most often from Mumbai. It opens with an afternoon in Guwahati at Kamakhya Temple and the riverfront, which suits a midday arrival. Then three nights in Shillong split around a night in Sohra, with one long day trip to Dawki, the Shnongpdeng road and Mawlynnong, and two nights in Kaziranga with safaris across its ranges. You fly home from Guwahati on day eight.

If you want Meghalaya only, the six-night complete Meghalaya tour, from ₹23,500 per person, adds the Laitlum canyons, the Nongriat root bridge trek and Krang Suri falls. It suits travellers who would rather see one state properly than two in a hurry.

Eight nights: couples

For honeymooners, the eight-night Northeast honeymoon mixes Shillong, Sohra and Dawki with Kaziranga and Tawang. It suits couples who want both waterfalls and snow in one trip. Read our Northeast honeymoon guide for season and hotel advice.

Ten nights: culture or mountains

Ten nights opens two directions. Head east to Majuli, the Brahmaputra river island known for its Vaishnav satras and mask-making, on the Meghalaya, Kaziranga and Majuli trip. Or head north to Tawang with the Kaziranga and Tawang itinerary, which reaches Tawang through the Sela Tunnel, with the old Sela Pass road at about 4,200 m as a fair-weather stop. The Tawang route needs an Arunachal Inner Line Permit; see our Arunachal ILP guide.

Two weeks: the grand loop

If you can take two weeks, the fourteen-night Grand Northeast links Meghalaya, Kaziranga, Majuli, Ziro and Tawang. It is the trip for people who want to see the region once, properly.

Tawang or Majuli for the extra nights

Once a Mumbai trip reaches nine or ten nights, the question is which direction to add. Both are excellent; they are just very different.

Tawang is about mountains. The drive from the Assam plains climbs through Bhalukpong, Bomdila and Dirang, passes Sela, where a tunnel opened in March 2024 now keeps the road open in winter, and ends in a monastery town at about 2,700 m. Expect cold, big views and long road days, and possibly snow from December to March. It suits couples and fit families who are fine with altitude. Everyone needs an Inner Line Permit.

Majuli is about slowness and culture. The island sits in the Brahmaputra and is reached by a ferry of about an hour from Nimati Ghat near Jorhat. You cycle between satras, watch mask-makers at Samaguri and eat Mising food in stilt houses. There is no altitude, no permit and the days are gentle. It suits seniors, photographers and anyone who has had enough of mountain roads. Our Majuli guide covers ferries and stays.

If you cannot decide, ask who in your group will be happiest. Mountain lovers pick Tawang; people who travel for people pick Majuli.

Day one, hour by hour

The first day sets the tone, and Mumbai arrivals have their own rhythm because the flight lands around midday. Here is how we typically run it.

• About 7 am: depart Mumbai on a morning non-stop.
• About 10 am: land at Guwahati. Your driver meets you at arrivals with a name board.
• 11 am to 1 pm: lunch in the city, then Kamakhya Temple's outer complex and the view from Nilachal hill.
• 2 to 4 pm: check in, rest, or walk to the Brahmaputra riverfront.
• Around 4.30 pm in winter: sunset over the river. It gets dark quickly after.
• Evening: an early dinner of Assamese thali, with fish tenga or a vegetarian spread.

Staying the first night in Guwahati rather than pushing up to Shillong in the dark makes day two far more pleasant. You leave for Shillong after breakfast, stop at Umiam lake and arrive with the afternoon free.

Timing your trip around Mumbai's calendar

Mumbai and Meghalaya share a monsoon, roughly June to September. Most Mumbai travellers, having just lived through theirs, prefer to arrive once the Northeast has dried out.

Kaziranga opens in phases from October and usually runs to about April or May, with dates set by the park each year. Check current status before you travel.

Travelling with children from Mumbai

School holidays drive many Mumbai family trips, and the Northeast works well for children if the days are not overloaded.

Children usually love the Mawsmai cave near Sohra, which is short, lit and easy to walk through; the boat ride on the Umngot river at Dawki; the rhinos and elephants seen from an open jeep at Kaziranga; and the living root bridge at Riwai near Mawlynnong, which needs only a short walk. What they tend not to enjoy is back-to-back drives of six hours or more, so we break long transfers with a lunch stop and a leg-stretch every 90 minutes or so.

A few practical points. Carry motion-sickness remedies for the winding Sohra and Dawki roads. Pack a warm jacket, cap and socks even for an October or March trip, since Shillong evenings are cool. Kaziranga's jeep safaris start early, often around 7 to 7.30 am, so an early dinner the night before helps. Our Northeast with kids guide has more on age-appropriate activities.

Budget for two from Mumbai

Indicative ranges for two adults on a seven-night Meghalaya and Kaziranga trip. They are for planning only and vary with dates and hotel choice.

The flight share is higher than it would be from Kolkata or Delhi, which is exactly why extra nights are good value. For a line-by-line view, see our Northeast trip cost guide.

Practical notes for Mumbai travellers

• Pack for cold. Shillong nights drop to about 3 to 5°C in December and January; Tawang goes below freezing. Many Mumbai travellers underpack warm layers.
• Rain gear in every season. Sohra gets showers even in the dry months.
• The sun sets early. In winter it is dark by about 5 pm. Our itineraries start early to use the light.
• Food. Vegetarian food is easy in Guwahati and Shillong. In villages, menus are simpler, so carry snacks for long drives.
• Cash. Keep small notes for village entry fees, boats at Dawki and parking.
• Mobile signal. Expect gaps on hill roads and in the Kaziranga ranges.
• Luggage. Soft bags fit cab boots on hill roads more easily than large hard cases, and some Kaziranga cottages and Majuli homestays involve a short walk from the parking area.
• Photo ID. Keep physical copies of ID for every traveller. Hotels, permit counters and some park gates ask for them, and signal for digital copies can be patchy.

How we'd plan it

For a Mumbai couple with a week of leave in November, we would book the morning non-stop to Guwahati on a Saturday and keep the first afternoon easy: Kamakhya Temple's outer complex and a Brahmaputra sunset. Next morning, drive to Shillong and settle in. Then Sohra for its falls and caves, a full Dawki and Mawlynnong day, and finally two nights in Kaziranga with a morning jeep safari in the Central range and an afternoon in the Western range. Fly home the following Saturday afternoon.

That is seven nights on the ground and five leave days, and the per-day cost is far better than a four-night trip. If the couple has two more days, we would add Majuli rather than rush Tawang.

For families with young children, we would keep the same route but cut the Dawki day to a shorter loop and choose Kaziranga resorts with lawns and pools for downtime.

Start with the seven-night Assam and Meghalaya highlights trip and we will time it around your Mumbai flights.