Northeast on a Budget

• Shillong
• 1,525 m
• 120 km · 3.5 hrs
• No meals included

Your driver meets you at Guwahati Airport for the 3 to 3.5 hour drive up NH-6 to Shillong, with a short stop at Umiam Lake. Solo travellers on the shared option can take a shared taxi from the airport or Guwahati's Paltan Bazaar instead. Check in to your guesthouse, which will register you on the Meghalaya tourism app, as every stay in the state now must. In the evening, eat like a local: jadoh (rice cooked with pork) and dohneiiong (pork in black sesame) at a Khasi eatery, followed by live music at a Laitumkhrah cafe on weekends.

• Shillong
• 1,525 m
• 60 km · local
• Breakfast

Leave at 5 am for Laitlum Canyons, about 25 km away, where the ridge drops into deep gorges and villages cling to the slopes far below; entry is a small village fee. Back in town for breakfast. Drive to Shillong Peak, 1,965 m, inside an Air Force area; carry photo ID and check current status, because access has been restricted at times. Then Elephant Falls, three tiers down a short flight of steps. Spend the afternoon on foot: Ward's Lake, the old Police Bazaar lanes and Bara Bazar, one of the largest markets in the Northeast.

• Sohra
• 1,484 m
• 60 km · 2 hrs
• Breakfast

Drive about 55 km south to Sohra (Cherrapunji), stopping at the Mawkdok Dympep valley viewpoint. After lunch at a local dhaba, visit Nohkalikai Falls, a 340 m plunge into a green pool, fullest after the monsoon. Walk through Mawsmai Cave, a short, lit limestone cave, and end at the Seven Sisters falls viewpoint for sunset. Entry at each site is a small village fee, typically under ₹100. Stay at a guesthouse in Sohra town. Sleep early: tomorrow's walk down to Nongriat is best started by 8 am, before the day warms up.

• Nongriat
• 700 m
• 12 km · 30 min to Tyrna
• Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Drive 12 km to Tyrna village, where the trail starts and your registered guide meets you; East Khasi Hills has required registered guides for treks since June 2025. The path drops about 3,500 concrete steps to Nongriat, crossing two steel suspension bridges over clear pools and a single root bridge on the way; allow 1.5 to 2 hours. Check in to a village guesthouse by lunch. The double-decker root bridge, two spans of Ficus elastica roots trained by Khasi villagers, is a few minutes away. In the afternoon, fit walkers can continue about 1.5 hours to Rainbow Falls. The trail is reported closed on Sundays.

• Shillong
• 1,525 m
• 70 km · 2.5 hrs from Tyrna
• Breakfast

Go down to the double-decker bridge at 6.30 am, before the day visitors arrive, and have the pools almost to yourself. After breakfast, start the climb back to Tyrna, about 2 to 2.5 hours up the 3,500 steps; take it slowly, drink water and rest on the landings. Porters are available in the village if you want your bag carried. Your car meets you at Tyrna for the drive back to Shillong via Sohra. Spend the evening resting your legs in a Shillong cafe; most people feel their calves for a day or two.

• Kaziranga
• 70 m
• 250 km · 6.5 hrs
• Breakfast

Leave Shillong at 7.30 am and drive down to Jorabat, then east on NH-27 through Nagaon to Kohora at the edge of Kaziranga's Central range. Lunch at a highway dhaba. On the shared option, you can take a shared taxi to Guwahati and a state bus to Kohora; buses on the Jorhat and Tezpur routes stop at Kohora. Check in to a budget lodge or homestay near Kohora by mid-afternoon. Go to the jeep booking counter at the Central range gate in the evening to confirm tomorrow's jeep; solo travellers can share one with up to five others.

• Guwahati
• 55 m
• 195 km · 4.5 hrs
• Breakfast

Take the morning jeep safari in the Central range, from about 7.30 am, for about 2 hours on the tracks through tall grass and wetlands. One-horned rhinos, wild buffalo, swamp deer, elephants and water birds are common. Park entry is ₹100 per Indian adult and ₹650 per foreign adult; the jeep costs from about ₹3,500 and is split among its passengers. After breakfast, drive back to Guwahati, about 4.5 hours. Stay near Paltan Bazaar, and in the evening walk the Brahmaputra riverfront at Uzan Bazar or Fancy Bazar for cheap street food.

• Departure
• 55 m
• 25 km · 1 hr
• Breakfast

After breakfast, head to Guwahati Airport, about 25 km from Paltan Bazaar; allow an hour. If your flight is later in the day, visit Kamakhya temple on Nilachal hill, where the general queue is free and can be booked online, or the Assam State Museum near Dighalipukhuri, which is inexpensive and worth an hour. City buses and app cabs run to the airport if you want to go on your own. Our desk stays on WhatsApp until you board, and can suggest cheap ways to add Majuli or Dawki next time.