India · Meghalaya
Shillong
The base for Meghalaya's escarpment country - living root bridges, the wettest rain anywhere, and a Khasi hill capital that plays its own music.
Shillong is the capital of Meghalaya, a hill town sitting around 1,500 m on a pine plateau that the British ran the whole of Assam from and liked to call the Scotland of the East. It is a Khasi city first: a matrilineal society where clan names and ancestral property descend through women, with churches, choirs and a stubborn live-music habit layered on top by Welsh missionaries and a century of Indian guitar bands. Most travellers use it as the base for the country immediately south, where the plateau ends above the Bangladesh plains and Cherrapunji takes the heaviest rainfall on earth.
Suggested stay
3–5 days
Language
Hindi, English
Currency
INR
Timezone
UTC+5:30
Why you'll love Shillong
The escarpment An hour south of town the plateau simply ends, dropping in a wall above the plains and cut by gorges, limestone caves and some of the tallest plunge waterfalls in India.
Root bridges Khasi families guide the aerial roots of rubber figs across streams and let them thicken for decades until they carry people, and the ones deep in the gorges are still the village footpath rather than an exhibit.
Khasi matriliny Children take their mother's clan name, the ancestral house passes to the youngest daughter and a husband traditionally moves into his wife's home - one of the largest matrilineal societies anywhere, and entirely ordinary here.
Music Church choirs, guitar shops and a gig circuit that earned the town its name as India's rock capital, in cafes that put a band in the corner rather than a television on the wall.
Best time to visit
Nov-Mar
15-21° days
25.576° N, 91.883° E
UTC+5:30 · Asia/Kolkata
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Weather & when to go to Shillong
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Nov-Mar
Watch for Jun-Sep monsoon flooding risk
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Shillong
June to September is the monsoon at its most serious anywhere in the country: cloud parked on the town for days, roads slumping into landslides, leeches on the trails and views that never open. It is also the only stretch when the waterfalls run at full volume, which is the entire reason the escarpment is famous, and by the end of the dry months some of them have thinned to threads down a black cliff - so plenty of people take the wet weeks deliberately and plan around the rain rather than hoping to dodge it.
Top things to do in Shillong
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Nongriat double-decker root bridge - two tiers of trained fig root
hiking nature wildlife adventure ⭐ Highly recommendedFrom Tyrna village below Sohra a concrete stairway of roughly three thousand steps drops into the Umshiang gorge, crossing two swaying wire bridges on the way down to the double-decker, where two spans of living root sit stacked one above the other and are still the way villagers cross. There are pools to swim in beyond it. The climb back out is genuinely hard, which is why the guesthouses in the village exist and why staying the night beats turning straight around.
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Don Bosco Centre for Indigenous Cultures - the Northeast under one roof
culture arts history ⭐ Highly recommendedA seven-storey museum at Mawlai holding gallery after gallery on the tribes of the northeastern states: weaving, weapons, fishing traps, house forms and religion, with the spiral of floors ending on a rooftop skywalk that looks out over Shillong's tin roofs and pine ridges. The single best hour anyone can spend before heading out into the villages.
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Ward's Lake - the horseshoe pool in the middle of town
scenic 👍 PopularA colonial ornamental lake in the administrative quarter, wrapped by a walking path and crossed by a wooden arched bridge, with pedal boats, a feeding frenzy of fish under the rails and beds of flowers around the edge. The Himalayan cherries planted through this part of town come out pink in November, which is when the lake looks its best.
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Elephant Falls - three drops in a fern gorge
scenic nature wildlife 👍 PopularA stepped path a short drive south-west of town takes you past three separate falls stacked down a mossy ravine, named by the British for a rock shaped like an elephant that an earthquake later knocked over. Thunderous in the rains and much reduced by the end of the dry season, and busiest late morning when the tour cars arrive together.
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Laitlum Canyons - the grassland rim above the gorges
scenic hiking 👍 PopularAn hour east of town the plateau breaks into a bowl of bare green ridges with a stepped path dropping away to Rasong village far below. Cloud pours in and out of the valley all day, so go early; there is nothing up there but grass, wind and the edge, which is exactly the appeal.
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Iewduh (Bara Bazar) - the Khasi market
culture arts food shoppingOne of the oldest and largest markets in the Northeast, run overwhelmingly by women, spilling down steep lanes in sections: dried fish, bay leaf and black sesame, betel nut, ferns and wild herbs, brooms, pigs butchered in the open, and stalls that will feed you standing up. Muddy, tight and completely unstaged, and the clearest hour you will get on how the hills actually eat.
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Shillong Peak - the view over the whole plateau
scenicThe highest point on the plateau, on the southern edge of town, looking down over Shillong in its bowl and out towards the Assam plains on a clear morning. The viewpoint sits inside an Air Force area and access is controlled, with stretches when it has been closed to visitors altogether, so check locally before committing to the drive up.
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Cathedral of Mary Help of Christians - the blue church at Laitumkhrah
culture arts historyA pale blue Catholic cathedral on a rise east of the centre, with an older Anglican cathedral down near the lake. The buildings are pleasant enough; the reason to come is Sunday, when Catholic and Presbyterian congregations both sing in Khasi in full four-part harmony, which is where the town's choral reputation comes from.
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Shillong Golf Course - the old course in a pine bowl
scenic historyLaid out around the turn of the twentieth century in a valley of pine and rhododendron below the town, one of the oldest courses in Asia and long nicknamed the Gleneagles of the East. Even without clubs, the road that loops the fairways is one of the better walks in town on a bright morning.
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Jadoh and doh khlieh - eating Khasi
foodKhasi food is pork, rice and chilli with very little disguise: jadoh is rice cooked with pork and blood, doh khlieh a salad of boiled pork with raw onion and chilli, tungrymbai a pungent fermented soybean paste, pumaloi a crumbly steamed rice powder, all washed down with red tea or rice beer. The jadoh stalls near the markets are plain rooms with a counter and a pot, cheap, and best at lunchtime before the good cuts run out.
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The gig circuit - the town that calls itself India's rock capital
nightlife music culture artsGuitar culture runs unusually deep here, from the church choirs and the city's chamber choir through blues bars, cafe stages and a stack of small local bands. A Bob Dylan birthday concert has been staged by the same local guitarist every year since the early 1970s, and the record shops and instrument shops around the centre are not a nostalgia act.
Best areas to stay in Shillong
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Police Bazar
First-time visitors $Congested commercial hub, everything within reach
Explore hotels in Police Bazar →
Laitumkhrah
Cafes and quiet $$Leafy college quarter, best eating in town
Explore hotels in Laitumkhrah →
Ward's Lake and Lachumiere
Heritage stays $$$Colonial quarter, gardens and old bungalows
Explore hotels in Ward's Lake and Lachumiere →
Upper Shillong
Hill retreats $$Pine ridges above town, cool and misty
Explore hotels in Upper Shillong →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Shillong
Getting to & around Shillong
Getting there
Fly into Guwahati and drive about three hours up onto the plateau; no railway reaches Meghalaya.
Flight
Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (GAU)
The airport is west of Guwahati, down on the Assam plains roughly 130 km away, and the run up to Shillong takes about three to three and a half hours on the four-lane highway through Nongpoh and along the shore of Umiam Lake. Prepaid taxis, hotel cars and shared vehicles all cover it, and shared sumos leave the Guwahati end through the day. There is a small airport at Umroi about half an hour from town that takes limited flights, and a helicopter link from Guwahati that runs when weather and demand allow, but the road is how nearly everyone arrives. Allow longer in the rains, when landslides and roadworks can hold the highway up.
Drive
Police Bazar
The highway up from Guwahati is the standard approach: about three hours through Nongpoh, with the long drop to Umiam Lake and a final climb into town. Slow going behind trucks on the single-lane stretches, and slower again in the monsoon.
Coach
Police Bazar bus stands
State and private buses run from Guwahati through the day and overnight, with slower services from Silchar, Jowai and Tura. Shared sumos on the same routes are faster and leave when they fill rather than to a timetable.
Train
Guwahati railway station
No rail line reaches Meghalaya, so trains from the rest of India terminate at Guwahati and the last leg is by road. Guwahati is effectively the railhead for the entire state.
Getting around
Shared taxi
The town runs on small black-and-yellow taxis working fixed routes and picking up as many passengers as will fit. Flag one down, say where you are going, and get in if the driver is heading that way.
TBC
Reserved taxi
The same cars hired whole, for anything off the routes or a full day out to Sohra and the border villages. Settle the route and the waiting time before you set off.
TBC
Shared sumo
Rugged shared jeeps and vans leave the market stands for Sohra, Jowai, Dawki and the Garo hills, departing when full rather than on a schedule. The normal way to move around the state without hiring a car.
TBC
Walking
The centre is compact but steep, and pavements come and go. The pine lanes of the residential quarters are a pleasure; the main roads much less so.
Free
Local bus
City and district buses cover the main corridors, slower than the taxis and rarely the obvious choice for a visitor, though services on the Guwahati road are frequent.
TBC
Day trips from Shillong
Sohra (Cherrapunji)
Full dayWaterfall escarpment
The old British hill station on the escarpment edge and the cluster that made the region famous: Nohkalikai dropping in one long plume across the valley, the seven channels of Nohsngithiang on the cliff face, the limestone caves at Mawsmai and Arwah, and viewpoints staring straight out over Bangladesh. The falls are colossal in the rains and can be reduced to trickles late in the dry season, and the same cloud that feeds them will sometimes hide everything for a day at a time.
Getting there
car | bus | tour
About 2 hours south by road, 55 km of ridge driving
Nongriat
1-2 daysRoot-bridge trek
The classic Meghalaya walk: down the stairway from Tyrna, over two wire suspension bridges and into the gorge for the double-decker root bridge, with the Rainbow Falls pool a further hour on. Most people underestimate the climb back. Village guesthouses make it an overnight and give you the bridge to yourself early. Steps run slick and leeches are out through the wet months.
Getting there
car | walk
About 2.5 hours by road to Tyrna, then a long stepped descent on foot
Mawlynnong and Dawki
Full dayBorder villages and river
Mawlynnong trades on its billing as the cleanest village in Asia, with bamboo bins along swept lanes and a bamboo tower looking over the plains, and a single-span root bridge sits at Riwai next door. Further on at Dawki and Shnongpdeng the Umngot runs over pale stones, clear enough in the cold months that boats look as though they are hanging in air, and brown and fast once the rains arrive.
Getting there
car | tour
About 3 hours south-east by road each way
Mawphlang and the David Scott Trail
Full daySacred grove and old trail
A dense sacred forest protected by Khasi religious law, where nothing at all may be carried out, not so much as a leaf, and where monoliths and sacrificial stones stand under the canopy with village guides to explain them. The David Scott Trail starts here too: an easy day's walk of about 16 km along a colonial horse-cart route down to Ladmawphlang, through open grassland, pine and a couple of river crossings.
Getting there
car | walk
About 1 hour by road, 25 km south-west
Umiam Lake (Barapani)
Half dayReservoir and viewpoints
The big reservoir you pass coming up from Assam, dammed in the sixties and ringed by pine ridges, with kayaks and speedboats off the water-sports complex and the viewpoint that gives most visitors their first look at Meghalaya. An easy lazy afternoon, and simple to fold into the drive to or from the airport.
Getting there
car | bus
About 40 minutes north by road on the Guwahati highway
Mawsynram
Half dayWettest village on earth
Mawsynram and Sohra swap the title of wettest inhabited place on earth between them, and the village argues the case without saying anything: houses under thick grass thatch, and knup, the boat-shaped cane shields farmers wear over their backs like a shell. Mawjymbuin cave holds a stalagmite that Khasis and Hindus alike treat as a Shiva lingam. Come expecting to see the rain rather than a view.
Getting there
car
About 1.5 hours south-west by road
Jowai, Krang Suri and Nartiang
Full dayJaintia hills circuit
The eastern half of the state, far less visited than the Khasi hills: the blue plunge pool under Krang Suri falls, the monolith avenue at Nartiang raised by Jaintia chiefs and taller than anything of its kind elsewhere, and the caves and sinkholes of the limestone country around Jowai. The Umngot river that everyone photographs at the border starts up here.
Getting there
car | tour
About 2 hours east by road to Jowai, longer to the outlying sites
A little history of Shillong
Shillong is a young town on very old ground. The Khasi hills were never one kingdom but a scatter of small states, each with an elected syiem answerable to a durbar of clan elders, and the plateau ran its own affairs long after the plains below had changed hands repeatedly. The British arrived looking for a road from the Brahmaputra valley down to Sylhet once they took Assam in the 1820s, which pulled them into a four-year war with U Tirot Sing, the syiem of Nongkhlaw, who remains the state's defining national figure.
Their hill station started at Sohra out on the escarpment until the rain drove it up here in 1864, and ten years later Shillong was made capital of the whole province of Assam, a role it kept for close to a century. The 1897 earthquake flattened nearly every masonry building in it, and the rebuild in light timber and reed panel is why the older town looks the way it does. Welsh Presbyterian missionaries, working out of Sohra from the 1840s, had by then put Khasi into Roman script and laid down the schools and the choral habit. Meghalaya was finally carved out of Assam as a state of its own in 1972, with Shillong as its capital.
U Tirot Sing attacks the British road party at Nongkhlaw, opening four years of Anglo-Khasi war.
Tirot Sing is captured and deported to Dhaka; the Khasi states pass under British control.
Welsh Presbyterian missionaries settle at Sohra and begin writing Khasi in Roman script.
The British move their hill station up from rain-soaked Sohra to Shillong.
Shillong becomes the capital of the newly created province of Assam.
A massive earthquake levels the masonry town, which rebuilds in timber and reed.
Meghalaya becomes a full state, with Shillong as its capital.
Know before you go
Payment
Cards & cash mixed
English
Widely spoken
Wifi
Workable
Power
Type D / M
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+91
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The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
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FAQs about Shillong
▸ When is the best time to visit Shillong?
November to March is the settled stretch: cool bright days, cold nights, and the Himalayan cherries flowering pink through November. October is the drying-out month once the rains ease, with the hills at their greenest and water still in the falls, while April and May bring warmth and the first pre-monsoon storms. From June the monsoon takes the whole plateau.
▸ Is it worth coming during the rains?
It depends entirely on what you came for. June to September is about the wettest weather in the country and it will cost you days: cloud sitting on the town, landslides closing the roads out, leeches on the trails, views that never open. It is also the only time the escarpment does the thing it is famous for, with the big falls at full force and water coming off the cliffs in every direction. If the rain and the waterfalls are the point, that is when they are there; go with a short itinerary, no fixed plan and the expectation of being wet.
▸ How do you actually reach the living root bridges?
Two ways, and they are very different. The single-span bridge at Riwai, next to Mawlynnong, is a few minutes' walk from the road and suits anyone. The double-decker at Nongriat means a stairway of roughly three thousand steps down from Tyrna and the same back up, three to five hours of walking depending on your knees. The bridges themselves are aerial roots of the rubber fig, trained across the water and left to thicken for decades, so they get stronger with age rather than rotting like a felled log would in this climate.
▸ Should I base myself in Shillong or Sohra?
Shillong has the food, the range of places to stay and every shared vehicle in the state. Sohra puts you an hour closer to the falls, the caves and the root-bridge trailheads, and goes quiet in the evening once the day-trippers have driven back. The usual answer is a couple of nights in Shillong and one or two on the escarpment, with a night down at Nongriat if you are walking to the double-decker.
▸ What does matrilineal actually mean here?
Khasi, Jaintia and Garo society passes clan identity and ancestral property through women. Children take their mother's clan name, the ancestral house and land go to the youngest daughter, who is expected to look after the parents and the family rites, and a husband traditionally moves into his wife's family home. It is not a matriarchy: authority in the traditional durbars and syiemships is still male, and the inheritance rules are a live local argument, with men's groups campaigning to change them.
▸ Do you need a permit to visit Meghalaya?
No. Meghalaya sits outside the Inner Line Permit system that covers several neighbouring states, so Indians and foreigners alike can travel freely. Rules across the Northeast are revised from time to time and some stays ask visitors to register on arrival, so it is worth a check close to your trip.
▸ How long do you need?
Three days covers Shillong, Sohra and one other direction. Five lets you add the border villages, the Jaintia hills or an overnight in the gorge without spending the trip in a car. Distances look small on a map and take far longer on these roads.
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