How to Travel to Shillong by Air, Train or Road – Complete Details with Video

Shillong is a popular hill station located in the northeastern state of Meghalaya in India. It is known for its scenic beauty, waterfalls, and natural beauty and if you are planning to visit Shillong then here are some tips on how to reach Shillong by air, road, or train.

The nearest airport to Shillong is the Umroi Airport located around 30 kilometers away from the city. You can take a taxi or cab from the airport to reach Shillong. If you are traveling from other parts of India, you can take a flight to Guwahati, which is the nearest major airport to Shillong. From Guwahati, you can take a taxi or cab to reach Shillong.

If you prefer to travel by road, you can take a bus or hire a car from Guwahati to Shillong. The distance between the two cities is around 100 kilometers and it takes around 3 hours to reach Shillong by road.

Another option to travel from Guwahati to Shillong is by train. The nearest railway station to Shillong is the Guwahati Railway Station, from where you can take a taxi or cab to reach Shillong. The distance between the two cities is around 100 kilometers and it takes around 4 hours to reach Shillong by train.

Once you reach Shillong, you can explore the city and its surroundings on foot or by hiring a car. There are many places to visit in Shillong such as Elephant Falls, Shillong Peak, Lady Hydari Park, and Ward’s Lake. You can also visit the local markets to shop for souvenirs and local handicrafts.

By Air

The fastest way to travel to Shillong is by Air. There is an Airport called Umroi Airport near Borapani. Which is 30 kilometers away from Shillong Town. 

This is a domestic airport that links the hill station with Kolkata via Air India regional flights. This airport has very limited connectivity with other cities. 

The best airport nearest Shillong is Guwahati Borjhaar Airport which is bigger and has better connectivity with other cities in India. which is 125 kilometers away from Shillong Town. 

If it is possible then directly fly to Umroi Airport, Borapani, Shillong or can take a flight to Guwahati and take a taxi from Paltan Bazaar, Guwahati to Shillong.

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By Road

There are several ways to travel to Shillong from Guwahati or from any other location via road. But the best way to travel to Shillong is to arrive in Guwahati first as several options are available from there.

Options to travel to Shillong

• Buses
• Shared Cabs/Car 
• Private rented car
• Bike

Bus

If you want to travel to Shillong from Guwahati via bus then there are several options for this like Volvo buses, sleeper buses, deluxe buses, regular buses, and some government buses are also available.

Sleeper buses or AC buses will cost you over 400 rupees for one person and government buses will cost you 200 to 250 per person. 

If you want to travel by Volvo bus or AC bus, then this bus departs from Ulubari which is near Paltan Bazar regular bus/government buses are available from ASTC station which is situated in Paltan Bazaar near Guwahati Railway Station.

The buses will travel from Guwahati to Shillong from the national highway NH 40 which is about 135 km or more and it will take around 3 to 4 hours.

 but the journey is pretty comfortable because the condition of the road is very good.

 but I will recommend you to choose a shared cab or taxi to travel from Guwahati to Shillong as it will take you less time than the bus and taxis are more in quantity than buses which means you don’t have to wait for the next bus to arrive. 

Shared Cabe/Car/Sumo 

The most preferred way to travel to Shillong from Guwahati is to use the shared taxis/cabs/car. they run between Guwahati and Shillong on a regular basis.

A shared cab will cost you 500 rupees for one person and government sumos will cost you 200 to 250 per person. 

 This car departs from  Paltan Bazar near Guwahati Railway Station and government sumos are available from ASTC station which is situated in Paltan Bazaar near Guwahati Railway Station

The cars will drive via national highway NH 40 which is about 135 km or more and it will take them to the beautiful hill station of Shillong within 2 to 2.5 hours only. It takes very less time than any other option. One can also drive easily from Tripura and Mizoram via NH44 to reach Shillong.

But we want to remind you one thing you have to be careful while choosing a cab/car because the condition of the car/cab may not be good so please first check the condition of the cab/car then book it.

Private rented car 

There is another option for you while traveling from Guwahati to Shillong is by booking a private car/cab for you.

You can book these cars online or you can ask your hotel where you are staying to book a car for you. They can help you with this. Private cars will receive you from wherever you want.

The cars will take very less time, 2 to 2.5 hours. While you are traveling in your private car you can stop your car at any location. This will be a very luxurious experience for you. It will cost you 3000 to 4000 rupees depending on which kind of car you are choosing. 

If you are traveling with family or you are a couple then this option is very favorable for you.

Bike

You can  Rent a Bike or Scooty in Guwahati at a very affordable price which you can use to travel to Shillong, Dawki, or anywhere in Meghalaya. The rent of bikes/scooters in Guwahati starts from Rs.700 to 1500 per day. But the best way to rent a bike/scooter is to rent it from Shillong as you can travel the entire Meghalaya and you can save a few days of rent as you don’t need to travel back and forth to Guwahati.

There are a few things to note while traveling in Meghalaya on a two-wheeler is that you need better driving skills as you are going to travel on hilly roads and secondly the traffic rules totally differ specially in Shillong as each and every person follows the traffic rules.

Most importantly while traveling to Shillong on a motor vehicle is to use Google Maps with the car option.

You are traveling on a bike and you are using Google Maps. The maps will automatically suggest several shortcuts to save you time but these shortcuts are very very dangerous.

 So I always advise my fellow followers to use Google Maps with the option selected as a car so that Google Maps will only suggest you the roads that are capable for cars and it will not suggest you any shortcuts which may be very dangerous

 ‘Real-life scenario case study

 So this is my own Story and it’s very scary since I was traveling with my wife Baishali and we were on a motorcycle and we are using Google Maps to travel to the Golf field in Shillong and we were at the Shillong viewpoint which is also the  Shillong peak’

 So we both decided to travel to Gold Field from Shillong peak and while I was driving the bike I opened my Google map and chose the settings as a motorcycle in Google maps and set the location to Golf Field.

So soon after we reached the Shillong Police bazaar the map showed several ways to reach the Golf field in a very short amount of time and we started to follow the shortcuts that the map shot so after just 15 to 20 minutes we came up on a  dad and Road. So we rotated the map again and chose a new road to a regional location and this time the map shows the road which is actually a staircase.

 So now whether you have to travel walking or you have to leave your scooter behind since you can’t take your bike and write it on the stairs.

 This incident was followed by several incidents to cause nearly two hours to get out of that area and we got out of that area by asking the locals how to reach the main road.

 I discovered that if I choose the settings in Google Maps to 1 hour then the map only shows me the road which is big enough for everyone to travel and it is safe.

 So I highly suggest that if you are going to use Google Maps that your setting should be used as the car option so that you don’t end up on a road that leads to nowhere.

By Train

 Shillong is a  popular hill station located in the northeastern state of Meghalaya it is a beautiful landscape with natural beauty and since it is situated in the hills it doesn’t have the luxury of Railways

 The nearest railway station to C long is the Guwahati Railway Station which is around a hundred kilometers away from the city.

 So if you are traveling to Shillong from anywhere in India via train then you have to reach Guwahati and from there you can take any kind of accommodation to reach Shillong.

From Guwahati, you can travel to Shillong by air or by road.

Once you reach the Guwahati Railway station you can take a taxi or cab to reach Shillong the journey from the railway station to Shillong is is is scenic as you pass through the beautiful hills and forest 

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