Guwahati to Shillong: Distance, Drive Time and Every Way to Get There

Guwahati to Shillong is about 100 km by road and takes three to three and a half hours by car, most of it on a good four-lane highway. The slow parts are at the two ends: getting out of Guwahati, and getting into Shillong.

There's no train, and flying the hop rarely makes sense. Below is every realistic way to do the journey, and the timing mistake that catches most first-time visitors.

Distance and time

The airport row is the one people miss.

Guwahati's airport sits on the far western edge of the city, and the Shillong road leaves from the east. From arrivals you cross most of Guwahati before you reach the highway at Jorabat, which adds about 20 km. The two slow windows are leaving Guwahati between 8 and 10am and getting into Shillong between 4 and 7pm. Miss both and it's a comfortable three hours.

The route

The road runs south-east out of Guwahati to Jorabat, where Assam ends and Meghalaya begins. It crosses the industrial belt around Byrnihat, climbs through Nongpoh, and drops past Umiam Lake into Shillong.

Nongpoh is roughly halfway and the usual stop for tea. Byrnihat, just over the state line, is factories and trucks. Don't judge Meghalaya by it.

Umiam Lake comes up about 15 km short of Shillong. Most people drive straight past it on the first day. If you're arriving in the late afternoon, stop. It's ten minutes off the highway, and the reservoir at sunset, with the pine ridges going dark behind it, is a better first sight of the state than anything in Shillong itself.

By private car

The easiest option, and the one we use. A driver meets you at arrivals, and if you landed in the morning you're in Shillong by mid-afternoon.

If the rest of your trip is in Meghalaya, book one car for the whole circuit rather than a transfer plus a separate local taxi later. It's simpler, one driver learns how you like to travel, and it avoids the vehicle-registration problem explained in getting around Meghalaya.

By shared taxi

Shared Sumos and other shared taxis run Guwahati to Shillong through the day and leave when they fill. It's the cheapest way to do the trip in reasonable comfort, and it works well if you're travelling light.

They leave from the city, not the airport, so you'll need a cab to the stand first. And "when full" can mean a wait, which makes them a poor bet for a tight connection.

By bus

The Meghalaya Transport Corporation (MTC) runs buses on this route, as do Assam's state buses and several private operators. They're the cheapest option and the slowest, with more stops along the way. Fine for backpackers. Not what you want with a family and three suitcases.

By air

Shillong has its own airport at Umroi, around 30 km from the city, but connections are thin. Almost everyone flies into Guwahati instead, and once you add the drive in from Umroi, flying rarely saves time on this route.

The timing mistake

Land in Guwahati before noon.

A 2pm landing means leaving the airport around 3 and reaching Shillong after 6. In winter the sun sets at about 4:30pm in this part of India, much earlier than people expect, so the last stretch of the climb happens in the dark, in Shillong's evening traffic, at the tail end of a travel day. It isn't dangerous on this highway. It's just a grim way to arrive.

If an afternoon flight is your only choice, sleep the first night in Guwahati and drive up in the morning. Kamakhya Temple, on the same side of the city as the airport, makes a sensible half day before you go.

Going back

Reverse the logic, and give it more room than you think. Leave Shillong five to six hours before a domestic flight. The drive is three and a half hours on a good day, the last hour runs through Guwahati traffic, and check-in is its own queue.

Missing a flight out of Guwahati is one of the more expensive ways to end a Meghalaya trip, and almost always it comes down to leaving Shillong after lunch.

What next

Once you're in Shillong, the Shillong guide covers what's worth a day there, and the itinerary guide shows how the rest of the trip fits together.