Guwahati Travel Guide: Kamakhya Temple, Side Trips, When to Go and Flights
Guwahati is the largest city in Assam, according to the Ministry of Tourism's Incredible India site, and Dispur, the state capital, lies within it. The site describes a city ringed by the Nilachal Hills that stretches along both banks of the Brahmaputra, and calls it "the gateway to Northeast India". Incredible India's text on the city's sights begins with the Kamakhya Temple, and Assam Tourism places two parks known for one-horned rhinos at 30 km (Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary) and 217 km by road (Kaziranga National Park) from the city.
Incredible India also calls Guwahati a busy commercial centre for Assam's tea and oil industries, and says the name means "Betel Nut Market".
What to see in Guwahati
Kamakhya Temple
Incredible India calls the Kamakhya Temple "one of India's most important pilgrimage destinations" and places it on Nilachal hill, 8 km northwest of the city. The temple is run by the Maa Kamakhya Devalaya, which says in a notice of 21 July 2023 that it has only two official websites, www.maakamakhya.org and www.maakamakhyadevalaya.org, and warns visitors not to follow any other.
Read the temple's programme and current notices on the Devalaya's official website before you plan the day: it lists its programme, including a separate one headed "special", without saying which days that applies to, and its notices announce closures such as Ambubachi. In a public notice of 29 June 2024, the Devalaya said websites and apps offering online pujas in its name are not legally sanctioned. Its own notice of 10 June 2026 said special darshan tickets would be booked only through its official online portal from 15 June 2026; check the Devalaya's home page before booking, because it also carries notices about the booking portal.
For Ambubachi in 2026, the Devalaya's notice said the temple door would close to devotees from 23 to 25 June and reopen for darshan on the morning of 26 June, after the ritualistic bath and daily puja. Check the Devalaya's notices for the next Ambubachi dates before you plan a visit around them. The Devalaya has also declared the entire Kamakhya Complex or Nilachal Hill a no-tobacco zone, with effect from 1 January 2016.
Umananda Temple on Peacock Island
Incredible India describes Umananda as a 16th-century temple on Peacock Island, in the middle of the Brahmaputra. Its four-day Guwahati itinerary says the island is reached by boat, with public ferries and private boats among the options.
Assam State Museum
The State Museum is just east of the railway station, according to Incredible India. It describes reconstructions of tribal villages, a collection of local handicrafts, and medieval stone and bronze sculptures excavated from Ambari. As of October 2026, the Directorate of Museum, Government of Assam, says on its visiting-hours page that the museum is closed on Mondays, government holidays, and the 2nd and 4th Saturday of a month; check that page before you go.
The zoo and botanical gardens
Incredible India places the zoo and botanical gardens in the eastern part of the city and names clouded leopards, hornbills and one-horned rhinos among the animals.
More places in and near the city
Incredible India also names the Navagraha Temple on Chitranchal hill, and its itinerary includes a cultural complex dedicated to Srimanta Sankardev, a 15th-century saint-scholar, and a river cruise on the Brahmaputra. Basistha Temple, which the site puts 12 km southeast of Guwahati, marks the confluence of three streams, with a waterfall and groves of trees around it; Incredible India adds that it is said to be where the sage Vashishtha had his ashram.
When to visit Guwahati
Incredible India gives October to March as the ideal time to visit Guwahati. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) counts June to September as the south-west monsoon season across India. IMD's Annual Report 2025 records dense to very dense fog for December 2025 alone, mainly over the Indo-Gangetic Plains, naming Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Assam; the report does not single out Guwahati.
Assam Tourism says Bihu is celebrated three times a year. Bohaag Bihu (also called Rongali Bihu) falls in mid-April and marks the Assamese New Year, Magh Bihu (Bhogali Bihu) is the harvest festival in mid-January, and Kati Bihu, in mid-October, is described as a more sombre and subdued occasion.
For the two wildlife parks, Assam Tourism gives mid-October to the end of March as the best time for Pobitora and November to April for Kaziranga.
Flying to Guwahati
Guwahati's airport is Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (GAU), at Borjhar, about 20 km from the city centre. Terminals, taxis, buses, parking and the full list of routes are on the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport page.
Main routes from Guwahati
The main direct routes recorded from Guwahati go to Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. Others go to Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Jaipur. The airlines recorded on these routes are IndiGo, Air India, Air India Express and Akasa Air.
Entry permits for some onward destinations
Some destinations that flights from Guwahati serve are in states with entry permits. The Bureau of Immigration (BoI) lists the whole of Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland among the areas where foreign nationals need a Restricted or Protected Area Permit, and the Indian e-Visa site says the e-Visa is not valid for visiting Protected, Restricted and Cantonment Areas. Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland also each run an Inner Line Permit for Indian citizens, so check the state's own rules on who needs one before you book Imphal, Aizawl or Dimapur.
Railway stations and the train from Howrah
According to the Maa Kamakhya Devalaya, Guwahati Station is the city's major railway station, and Kamakhya Station, the second largest, is the nearest to the temple. On 17 January 2026 the Prime Minister flagged off India's first Vande Bharat Sleeper train, between Howrah and Guwahati (Kamakhya), according to the Government of India's Press Information Bureau (PIB). Check Indian Railways for whether and when the train runs.
Side trips from Guwahati
Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary
Assam Tourism places Pobitora 30 km from Guwahati, close to Mayong village in Morigaon district. It was declared a reserved forest in 1971 and a wildlife sanctuary in 1987, and Assam Tourism says it has the highest density of one-horned rhinoceros in the world and the second concentration of rhinos in India after Kaziranga.
Assam Tourism says visitors can take an elephant ride and a jeep safari, and that a visit can be a long day or even a half-day trip, and that Pobitora can be visited at any time of year, with mid-October to the end of March as the best time. Check the Assam Forest Department for the season, and the park's own notices for which safaris are running, before you go.
Sualkuchi, Hajo and Madan Kamdev
Sualkuchi, 32 km west of Guwahati, is a major weaving centre for Assam's muga and paat silk, according to Incredible India, which says women at their looms in several houses welcome visitors. The site's Guwahati itinerary calls it the "Manchester of Assam".
Incredible India places Hajo 32 km northwest of Guwahati and the temple ruins at Madan Kamdev 50 km northwest, where carvings of deities and celestial nymphs lie strewn on a small hillock; it dates them to the 10th to 12th centuries, when the Pala dynasty ruled the area.
Kaziranga National Park
Assam Tourism's Kaziranga page puts the park 217 km by road from Guwahati and 95 km from Jorhat, which it names as the nearest airport, and says it usually takes two to three days to cover the four main ranges. That makes it better suited to a stay of a few days than to a day trip. The page adds that the Assam State Transport Corporation and private operators run luxury buses from Guwahati, and that the Assam Tourism Department has lodges at Kohora.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) inscribed Kaziranga on its World Heritage List in 1985, and says the park is inhabited by the world's largest population of one-horned rhinoceroses. Assam Tourism gives November to April as the best time to travel, with the best sightseeing from late February to early April. Check the Assam Forest Department for the season before you book.
More travel guides
These cities on the main routes from Guwahati have their own guides:
The India travel guide covers the country as a whole. Other city guides include Siliguri and Darjeeling and Bhubaneswar.
Questions about Guwahati
Which airport do flights to Guwahati use?
Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, at Borjhar, about 20 km from the city centre.
Where can I check the Kamakhya Temple's door times?
Check the programme and notices on the Maa Kamakhya Devalaya's official website, www.maakamakhya.org, before you go. The Devalaya names it and www.maakamakhyadevalaya.org as its only official websites.
Can I visit Kaziranga as a day trip from Guwahati?
Plan for more than a day: Assam Tourism puts Kaziranga 217 km by road from Guwahati and says it usually takes two to three days to cover the park's four main ranges. It names Jorhat, 95 km from the park, as the nearest airport.
When is the best time to visit Guwahati?
Incredible India gives October to March as the ideal time. Bihu falls in mid-January, mid-April and mid-October, according to Assam Tourism.
How far is Pobitora from Guwahati?
Assam Tourism places Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary 30 km from Guwahati and says a visit can be a long day or even a half-day trip.