Meghalaya 5 Days Itinerary: Shillong, Sohra and Dawki

Five days is where Meghalaya stops being a string of day trips from Shillong and starts to feel like a journey. The single change that makes this possible is sleeping in Sohra for two nights and in Mawlynnong for one, instead of driving back to a Shillong hotel every evening. We plan this route for couples, friend groups and fit families, and it saves around 4 hours of hill driving compared with the Shillong-base version.

The plan runs one way: Guwahati, Shillong, Sohra, Mawlynnong, Dawki, and back to Guwahati. It assumes a morning arrival on day 1 and an evening departure on day 5.

Route summary

Day 1: Guwahati to Shillong

Leave Guwahati airport by 10 am and drive about 120 km on the four-lane road through Jorabat and Nongpoh. Stop at Umiam Lake, 15 km before Shillong, for 30 to 45 minutes. In Shillong, check in near Police Bazaar or Laitumkhrah, walk around Ward's Lake, and eat early. Tomorrow starts at 7:30 am.

If you land before 9 am, add Elephant Falls (12 km from the city, about 150 steps to the lowest tier) on the way in.

• Drive: 120 km, 3 to 3.5 hrs
• Sleep: Shillong, 1,525 m

Day 2: Shillong to Sohra, the plateau sights

Check out at 7:30 am. The Sohra road crosses open plateau and pine country; the Mawkdok Dympep valley viewpoint comes about 45 minutes out of Shillong and is worth 20 minutes on a clear morning.

In Sohra, work south to north. Nohkalikai Falls, a 340 m plunge and the tallest in India, is best before 11 am, when the cloud usually lifts off the gorge. Next, Mawsmai Cave, a short lit limestone cave of about 20 minutes, and the Seven Sisters Falls viewpoint beside it. After lunch, choose between Arwah Cave and the Thangkharang Park viewpoint over the Bangladesh plains.

Check in at Sohra by 4 pm. Most stays here are small resorts and guesthouses, and several sit on the plateau edge with valley views. Our guide to where to stay in Cherrapunji compares the options.

• Drive: about 55 km plus 30 km of local driving, 4 hrs in the car
• Sleep: Sohra, about 1,450 m

Day 3: The Nongriat double decker root bridge

This is the day people remember. Drive about 20 minutes from Sohra to Tyrna village, where the steps begin. From Tyrna to the Nongriat double decker root bridge is about 3,500 concrete steps down, with two steel wire suspension bridges over the river and a few single root bridges along the way.

7:30 am: Start walking from Tyrna. Down takes 1.5 to 2 hours.

9:30 am: At the double decker bridge. Swim in the pools below it if the water is calm; guesthouses at Nongriat serve tea and Maggi.

10:30 am: Optional: continue to Rainbow Falls, another 1 to 1.5 hours each way on a rougher path. Only attempt this if you are back at the double decker by 1 pm.

12:00 pm to 1:00 pm: Start the climb back. Up takes 2 to 3 hours for most people, with rest stops.

3:30 pm: Back at Tyrna, drive to your hotel. Legs will be sore the next day.

Carry 2 litres of water each, a rain jacket and shoes with grip; skip flip-flops. Local guides wait at Tyrna and are worth hiring on a first visit. Our double decker root bridge trek guide has the full route, fees and a fitness check.

The non-trekker version of day 3

If the steps are not for you, use day 3 for Wei Sawdong falls, a three-tier fall with a steep and slippery path down, then Arwah Cave if you skipped it, and in the afternoon drive about 45 minutes to Laitlum Canyons for the evening light before returning to Sohra.

• Drive: about 20 km, or 80 km for the non-trekker version
• Sleep: Sohra

Day 4: Sohra to Mawlynnong

A slower day to rest the legs. Leave Sohra around 9 am and drive about 90 km, 3 hours, back towards Upper Shillong and down the Dawki road through Pynursla. The road descends steadily and you'll notice the air warm up.

At Mawlynnong, check in at a village guesthouse, then walk to the living root bridge at Riwai, about 2 km away, and climb the bamboo Sky View platform for a look across to the Bangladesh plains. In the evening the village is quiet once the day visitors leave, which is the main reason to stay.

• Drive: about 90 km, 3 hrs
• Sleep: Mawlynnong guesthouse or homestay

If you prefer a riverside tent, sleep at Shnongpdeng instead, about 10 km past Dawki, where camps run from roughly November to April.

Day 5: Dawki boat ride and back to Guwahati

Leave Mawlynnong at 7 am and drive about 30 km, 1 hour, to Dawki and the Umngot River. The first boats go out early and the light on the water is best before 10 am. A standard ride on the Umngot lasts 30 to 45 minutes; boats are priced per boat, so agree the fare at the ghat. Walk onto the 1932 suspension bridge for the view down onto the boats, but don't linger on the deck, since traffic uses it.

By 10 am, start the long drive back: about 185 km and 5.5 to 6 hours via Pynursla, Shillong and Jorabat to Guwahati airport. Book a flight after 4 pm, or stay a night in Guwahati.

• Drive: about 215 km in total, 6.5 to 7 hrs
• Home, or sleep in Guwahati

Timings and distances in one place

All drive times are for dry-season traffic. In the monsoon or on weekends, add 30 to 60 minutes per leg.

Why this order works

People often ask why we don't do Dawki first and Sohra last. Three reasons.

First, the trek. Day 3 is the hardest physical day, and it works best early in the trip while legs are fresh and before the car days pile up. Put it on day 4 and most people start the climb back to Tyrna already tired.

Second, the light. Sohra's viewpoints are most reliable in the morning, and waking up in Sohra on days 3 and 4 gives you two chances at a clear Nohkalikai if day 2 is clouded. Dawki is the reverse: the river looks best in early sun, which you only get by sleeping nearby.

Third, the airport run. Dawki to Guwahati is long, but it is one straight drive back through Shillong. Finishing in Sohra would mean the same distance plus a detour.

Food and cash on this route

Shillong has the widest choice by far, from Khasi jadoh to north Indian thalis and cafes. In Sohra, most guests eat at their resort; outside it, expect rice, dal, a pork or chicken curry and a vegetarian sabzi. At Nongriat, guesthouses serve simple rice meals and noodles, and prices rise with every step down, since everything is carried in. Mawlynnong guesthouses cook dinner to order, so tell them by 5 pm.

Cash matters more than you'd think. Most villages collect entry or parking fees of a few tens of rupees, boat operators at Dawki prefer cash, and UPI can fail when the network drops in the gorges. Carry ₹2,000 to ₹3,000 per person in small notes for the five days.

What to pack for five days

• A fleece or light down jacket for Sohra evenings, even in April
• A proper rain jacket; an umbrella alone won't do on the plateau
• Shoes with grip for the Nongriat steps and wet cave floors
• A small daypack with 2 litres of water for trek day
• Swimwear if you want the pools at Nongriat or the river at Shnongpdeng
• Motion sickness tablets for the Pynursla and Sohra roads

Variations

Monsoon version

From June to September we flip days 4 and 5 around the Umngot. When the river is high and muddy, boating is often suspended, so we skip Dawki and spend the last morning at Mawlynnong and the Riwai root bridge. The Nongriat steps are wet and slippery; we still run the trek, but start at 7 am and turn back from the double decker, not Rainbow Falls. Read our Meghalaya in the monsoon guide for what changes month by month.

Family version

With children under 8 or anyone over 65, we base all 4 nights in Shillong and Sohra, drop the Nongriat trek, and do Mawlynnong and Dawki as one long day from Shillong with a late start the following morning. That is close to our Meghalaya family holiday package, which uses the same 5 nights with Elephant Falls and Mawsmai Cave.

Trekker version

If the root bridges are the reason you are coming, add a night at Nongriat itself and walk to Rainbow Falls without watching the clock. Our Living Root Bridges trek package builds this in, with Wei Sawdong and Mawlynnong around it.

Foreigners version

The route needs no permit, but keep your passport handy near Dawki, which is a border town with an Integrated Check Post into Bangladesh. Village guesthouses in Mawlynnong and Nongriat are basic: shared bathrooms in some, and cash only. Carry enough small notes for entry fees.

Stretching or shrinking the plan

With 4 days: cut day 3. You keep the Sohra sights on day 2, but the root bridge trek goes, and you sleep one night in Sohra rather than two.

With 6 days: add a second Shillong night at the start for Laitlum at sunrise, Shillong Peak and the Don Bosco Museum, or add a night at Nongriat itself so the trek is split over two days.

With a late arrival on day 1: sleep in Guwahati, drive straight to Sohra on day 2 via Shillong (about 175 km, 5 hours), and skip the Shillong sights until the end of a longer trip.

How we'd plan it

For a couple with average fitness, we would book exactly the plan above: 1 night Shillong, 2 nights Sohra, 1 night Mawlynnong, with the trek on day 3 and a flight after 4 pm on day 5. For a honeymoon, we would swap the Mawlynnong guesthouse for a second Shillong night at an Umiam lakeside resort, closer to our Meghalaya honeymoon package. On a tight budget, the Meghalaya on a Budget route trims one night and uses simpler stays. Only have four nights and want everything by car? Our 4-night Shillong, Cherrapunji, Dawki and Mawlynnong trip is the one.

With two more days, see our Meghalaya itinerary for 7 days, which adds Krang Suri Falls and the Jaintia Hills.

Tell us your dates, group and how many steps you're happy to climb on our contact page, and we'll confirm the stays.