Meghalaya is wet, green and dramatic at low altitude. Arunachal is dry, high and Buddhist. Putting them in one trip gives you more variety than any other combination in the North East, and both are reached from the same airport.
The cost is road time: Shillong to Dirang is a long day even with an early start. We build a night at Guwahati or Nameri into the middle of the trip rather than pretending it can be driven in one go.
| Duration | 9 nights / 10 days |
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| Route | Shillong → Cherrapunji → Guwahati → Dirang → Tawang |
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| From | ₹34,600 per person, twin sharing, land only |
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| Best season | October to April |
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Day-by-day itinerary
- 1
Arrive Guwahati, drive to Shillong
Three hours up into the Khasi Hills, with a stop at Umiam Lake.
Night: Shillong, 4,900 ft
- 2
Shillong to Cherrapunji
Elephant Falls and Shillong Peak, then across the plateau to Cherrapunji. Nohkalikai Falls in the afternoon light.
Night: Cherrapunji
- 3
Living root bridge trek
The descent to the double-decker living root bridge at Nongriat — around 3,000 steps down and the same back up. A serious half day.
Night: Cherrapunji
- 4
Dawki and Mawlynnong
The Umngot river at Dawki, then Mawlynnong village and the single-decker root bridge at Riwai.
Night: Shillong
- 5
Shillong to Nameri
Down off the plateau, past Guwahati and east along the Brahmaputra. A long transfer day.
Night: Nameri, 700 ft
- 6
Nameri to Dirang
Into Arunachal at Bhalukpong, then Tenga, Bomdila and down to Dirang.
Night: Dirang, 5,000 ft
- 7
Dirang to Tawang
Dirang Dzong and hot springs, Sela Pass at 13,700 ft, Jaswant Garh and Nuranang Falls.
Night: Tawang, 10,000 ft
- 8
Tawang Monastery
Monastery, Urgelling, Ani Gompa and the war memorial.
Night: Tawang
- 9
Bum La and Madhuri Lake
Border pass and Sangetsar Lake, weather and clearance permitting.
Night: Tawang
- 10
Tawang to Guwahati
The long descent, with a break at Bomdila. Late evening flights only, or add a night at Bomdila.
Trip ends
What's included
| Included | Not included |
|---|
| Inner Line Permit for all Indian travellers | Flights and trains to the start city |
| Private vehicle, fuel, tolls and driver | Lunches on travel days |
| Hotels or homestays on twin sharing | Monument, camera and safari entry fees |
| Breakfast and dinner daily | Travel insurance and anything personal |
| Local permits where the route needs them | Extra costs from road closures |
Why combine a Meghalaya Arunachal tour
A Meghalaya Arunachal tour makes sense because both start and end at Guwahati and the gap between them is one drive to Nameri. You get two very different mountain landscapes — the wet green plateau of Meghalaya and the high Himalayan passes of Arunachal — for the price of one flight.
The root bridge trek is real
The double-decker bridge at Nongriat is roughly 3,000 steps down and the same back up, in humid air. It takes most people four to six hours round trip. If anyone in your group has knee trouble or is not comfortable with sustained stairs, we substitute the single-decker bridge at Riwai, which is a ten-minute walk and still worth seeing.
On the pace
Day five is a long transfer. There is no way around it — Shillong and Tawang are 700 km apart with Guwahati in between. If you would rather not spend a day in the car, we can fly you nowhere useful, so the alternative is to drop Cherrapunji and take the Assam and Arunachal trip instead.
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