Meghalaya is the kind of place that stays with you long after you’ve left – turquoise rivers you can see straight through, root bridges grown over centuries, villages so clean they feel fictional, and hills that disappear into mist at every turn. We did 7 days here with a group of five friends and covered Shillong, Mawphanlur, Mawlynnong, Dawki, Cherrapunji, and Kaziranga. Here’s everything you need to plan your own trip.

🗓️ High level plan

One would need at least a week to cover Meghalaya

• Shillong (3 days) – Umiam Lake, Mawphanlur, Elephant falls, Mawlynnong, Living root bridge,
• Dawki (1 day) – Boating, camping on the river bank
• Cherrapunji (2 days) – Nohkalikai falls, Trek to double decker bridge & rainbow falls, Mawsmai caves
• Kaziranga (1 day) – Jeep safari, Tea estate walk

If you have 3-4 more days, you could add Arunachal (Tawang and Sela Pass) too

🚊Transport

Guwahati is the nearest airport. Best to take a flight to Guwahati Airport and then travel on road for different cities. One could either hire a cab with driver or chose to rent a car and drive around. Just a word of caution – the roads in North east are narrow and steep at times. So we just hired a cab with a driver. It costed us around INR 30,000 including petrol for a cab (Innova) with driver for 7 days. We were a group of 5 friends

🏠 Stay

When we visited in Dec 2019, we were not able to find good properties on online portals in places like Cherrapunji & Kaziranga. Hence we made bookings only after reaching these cities. However, they are now on the online portals. Listing down the links to the places we stayed below:

• Shillong – Brio Homestay
• Cherrapunji – Sa-I-Mika Resort
• Dawki – Riverside Camp
• Kaziranga – Dhanshree Resort

📝 Detailed itinerary

Day 1: Land in Guwahati, Head to Shillong

We landed in Guwahati around at noon. Cab driver picked us up from the airport and started heading to Shillong (3-4 hours drive). On the way we stopped by at Umiam lake. We took a boat tour and later sat in the garden area watching the sunset over the lake. Reached Shillong around 7 PM and checked into our Airbnb.

Day 2: Day trip to Mawphanlur & Elephant falls

Headed to Mawphanlur (2 hour drive), which is a picturesque hamlet around 2 hours drive from Shillong. Stopped at Elephant falls on the way. You need to walk a bit to reach the waterfall point. Decent place to stop by. Reached Mawphanlur.

It was so peaceful area. There was literally no one apart from us in the entire area. Surrounded by green carpet of grass, beautiful lakes, hills at a distance and narrow roads leading to the hill top. There was no hawker or any other commercial activity. It is a very peaceful and serene place. There are no specific tourist activities one can indulge in here. One can walk in the green meadows, play in lake water, click few pictures and just relax. If you get bored, you can just drive to the next hill and enjoy a different view.

Day 3: Mawlynnong, Living root bridge, Dawki

Headed to one of Asia’s cleanest villages, Mawlynnong (3 hours drive Shillong). On the way, stopped at Mawjngih Lapynshongdor viewpoint for a scenic view of the Meghalaya mountains. You can also grab breakfast in one of the small restaurants located right next to the viewpoint.

Reached Mawlynnong. Walked around the cleanest roads & pretty houses with well-maintained gardens. First headed to the living root bridge – it is essentially a suspension bridge created naturally from the roots of live plants. To reach the living root bridge area, one has to climb down 150-200 stairs – bridge is located over the bank of the Dawki river.

Next went to the Bamboo tree house from which we got to see a 360-degree view of the hills of India and the plains of Bangladesh. Next made a quick stop at the Balancing rock which is essentially a huge boulder balancing on another rock at an unusual angle.

Had a wholesome meal at one of the small eateries in the village and headed towards Dawki. One can see the Bangladesh border on the way. We had booked a tent on the banks of the Dawki for the night – we checked in and headed straight to boating before since it closes after sunset (cost INR 100 per person). The Dawki River is so clean that you can see the bottom of the river clearly in most places. You can’t get enough of the turquoise clear water all around.

Day 4: Cherrapunji, Nohkalikai waterfalls

Woke up early and went on a walk around Dawki River clicking a few pictures. You get really good shots from the suspension bridge. Had breakfast and headed to Cherrapunji which is 3 hours on the road. Stopped by at Cherrapunji cafe for lunch – which was once a dak bungalow. Since we were there during Christmas, it had been all decorated with a Christmas theme. Apparently there was UFO sighting at this in 1967.

Visited Nohkalikai waterfalls viewpoint where you get an aerial view of the falls along with lush greenery around it. Since we had gone in December, there was not much water. But in the monsoon, one can witness the falls in full glory.

We reached our stay (Sa-I-Mika Resort) around early evening. It is one of the best resorts I have stayed in to date. The cottages are really well maintained – rustic and spacious. One can witness an amazing sunset from the cottage. Cottages are located far from each other. There is also a stream running next to the property which can be accessed on foot. It is a massive resort right in nature with a lot of open areas to walk and play around – a true nature retreat. Would highly recommend staying here.

Day 5: Trek to double decker bridge and rainbow falls

It was a trek day. We planned to trek to Nongrait double-decker bridge and Rainbow Falls and return to Cherrapunji on the same day.

Reached Tyrna around 8 AM – it is the trek starting point and is just 20km away from Cherrapunji. The trek primarily involved climbing down and up the stairs through the forest. There were around 3500 stairs between Tyrna and Nongrait (roughly 4 km). The trail was very clearly marked out. There were a lot of small shops and eateries operated by local villagers on the way. It took us roughly 2 hours to reach Nongrait, which houses the beautiful double-decker bridge over a riverbank. We clicked a few pictures, admired the bridge and rested for 30 min at its base.

Then headed to Rainbow Falls, which is at a distance of 3 km from the bridge. This trail has stairs in the beginning, followed by a few suspension bridges and living root bridges. At the end, there is no clear terrain as it is just a narrow path through the jungle. It took us 1.5 – 2 hours to reach the falls from the living root bridge. The water in the Rainbow Falls is bright turquoise blue. I had never seen such a colour of water in India. And we could spot a rainbow at the base of the falls and hence the name. We admired the waterfall from multiple points. Would advise not to get into the water since it is quite deep and there is no clear approach to the water. We rested for a while, ate some snacks and headed back to Tyrna. It took us roughly 4 hours to trek all the way back.

Day 6: Mawsmai caves, Head to Kaziranga

Explored the Mawsmai caves in the morning – one of the few natural limestone caves in India. There were two caves – one of which was easily explorable by everyone; the other one had some narrow paths and steep climbs hence might not be easy for everyone. Jumping, bending, crawling and squeezing through some sections inside the cave was a mini-adventure. Ease of access draws in a lot of tourists hence would recommend you visit early in the morning.

And then started our journey to Kaziranga National Park in Assam. Travelled for 7 hours and reached our resort, which had great ambience and was pretty close to Kaziranga safari central gate.

We took the help of reception folks and made jeep safari bookings for the next day. It cost us around INR 3,000 for a jeep (can accommodate up to 6 people). You can find the latest rates and book online in advance here. We had visited the Kohora (central) range which has the highest probability of Rhino spotting.

Day 7: Kaziranga safari

Jeep was ready at the resort gate at 7 AM. We entered through the central zone gate of Kaziranga. Since it was early morning, there was a lot of mist on the way. The reserve forest area was so serene! We saw many birds and animals living in their natural habitat with almost nil human activity. There were many natural ponds and lakes along the route – it felt surreal. After driving around 1 hour into the forest, we got our first sighting of the one-horned rhino – what a magnificent beast! We saw 3-4 more of them later and also spotted 5-6 elephants.

We were back at the property by 10 AM. Had breakfast and headed to a tea estate located nearby. We walked around the tea gardens and purchased some organic tea for home. We headed back to Guwahati post lunch to catch our flight back home.

🧳AK’s Travel Tidbits 🧳

Try to get the earliest slot for safari since chances of spotting animals and birds are much higher early in the morning.

One could also prefer doing an elephant safari – you will be able to get much closer to Rhino compared to jeep safari. However, Jeep takes you across a larger area of the forest compared to Elephant, and hence you get to see a lot more animals and birds.

⍰ FAQs

How many days do you need for a Meghalaya trip?

A minimum of 7 days is needed to cover the key highlights – 3 days in and around Shillong, 1 day in Dawki, 2 days in Cherrapunji, and 1 day at Kaziranga. If you want to add Arunachal Pradesh (Tawang and Sela Pass), plan for 10–11 days total.

What is the best base to fly into for Meghalaya?

Guwahati is the nearest airport. From there, hire a cab with a driver to travel between cities – roads in the Northeast are narrow and hilly, so self-driving is not recommended unless you’re experienced with mountain roads. A 7-day cab (Innova) with driver cost around INR 30,000 for a group of 5, including petrol.

What is the best time to visit Meghalaya?

December to February for clear skies and cooler weather – ideal for treks and sightseeing. However, waterfalls like Nohkalikai are much more dramatic during or just after monsoon (July–September). Avoid peak monsoon if you’re planning the double decker bridge trek, as trails get slippery.

Is the double decker living root bridge trek difficult?

It’s moderately challenging. The trek from Tyrna to Nongrait involves around 3,500 stairs over roughly 4 km (about 2 hours down). Adding Rainbow Falls from the bridge is another 3 km of mixed terrain – stairs, suspension bridges, and a narrow jungle path. Factor in 4 hours for the full return. Good shoes and an early start (by 8 am) are essential.

What is Dawki known for and is it worth visiting?

Dawki is famous for the Umngot River – one of the clearest rivers in India, where you can see straight to the riverbed. Boating on the river (INR 100 per person) is the main activity. Camping on the riverbank overnight is highly recommended for the early morning light on the water. The Bangladesh border is visible on the drive in.

Where should you stay in Cherrapunji?

Sa-I-Mika Resort is a standout – spacious rustic cottages set in a large nature property with a stream running alongside. The cottages are well-spaced, sunsets from the property are excellent, and it’s a genuine nature retreat. Book in advance as it fills up during December and long weekends.

What is the Kaziranga safari experience like?

Book the central (Kohora) zone jeep safari for the best chance of spotting one-horned rhinos – the zone with the highest probability of sightings. Jeep safaris cost around INR 3,000 per jeep (up to 6 people). Start at 7 am for the best animal and bird activity. Elephant safaris get you closer to rhinos but cover less ground. Book in advance online during peak season.

Can Mawlynnong and the living root bridge be done in one day?

Yes – it’s a popular day trip from Shillong (3-hour drive). Mawlynnong village, the living root bridge, the bamboo tree house with views of Bangladesh, and the balancing rock can all be covered in half a day. Combine it with an onward drive to Dawki in the evening for an efficient itinerary.