By plane

There is good air connectivity to Assam from elsewhere in India. Guwahati’s Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (GAU) is the busiest in Assam. Other major airports in the state include Dibrugarh (DIB), and Silchar (IXS). Air India along with several private airlines operate daily services from all of India’s big cities, including Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Bangalore. Moreover, there are other airports in Tezpur and Jorhat (JRH) with less frequent flights connecting cities such as Kolkata and other cities of the northeast region to Assam. Arriving by plane gives a wonderful welcome aerial view of the green valley surrounded by blue hills in Assam. The major airlines operating in the region are:

For international travelers from East Asia or South East Asia, the easiest route to get to Assam is via Kolkata. There are several direct flights from Kolkata to Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Silchar, and Jorhat. The journey time for a direct flight from Kolkata to Guwahati takes less than 45 minutes, while a flight from Kolkata to Dibrugarh (the easternmost civil airport in Assam) takes around 90 minutes. Similarly, for travelers from Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa, routes in Asia, via Delhi, Mumbai, or even Kolkata are the best ways to enter the state. Out of these three major Indian cities, Delhi and Kolkata have a higher frequency of flights to Guwahati. A Delhi-Guwahati direct flight takes around 2 hours and 30 minutes.

There are a limited number of international flights going into Guwahati. As of February 2020, there are Nok Air flights between Guwahati and Bangkok, while Druk Air flies between Paro and Singapore via Guwahati.

By rail

Three major routes of North East Frontier Railways (NF Railways) cover Assam and provide linkage to elsewhere in India. Guwahati railway station is the largest in Assam and is served by direct trains from most of the major cities in India. The Rajdhani Express (fully air-conditioned) from New Delhi (takes 27 hours) and Saraighat Express from Howrah in Kolkata (takes 17 hours) are the fastest ones. There are many direct trains from Delhi (including the Rajdhani Express) and Kolkata for Dibrugarh in Upper Assam. Usually, Dibrugarh is an additional night’s journey (12 hours) from Guwahati.

By car

There are highways from Indian states in the west, and buses run between Siliguri (to Siliguri, buses are available from Kolkata, Darjeeling, and Gangtok) and Guwahati; However, traveling by bus may not be comfortable in this patch, and travel time is usually longer than that of trains. Road connectivity to the surrounding Seven Sister States is good; however, it may take different durations depending on the location of the state.

Tamu in western Myanmar is connected to a reasonably good highway to Assam via Manipur; Tamu on the Myanmar border is closer to Mandalay. The historic Stilwell Road between Assam-Myanmar and China, from Ledo in Upper Assam to Myitkina in Myanmar and further to Kunming in China, is right now not fully operationalized.

There are also roads connecting Bhutan.

Get around

By bus and car

Buses are the most common medium of travel in Assam. “AC buses” in Assam (ones nice enough to offer air conditioning) are generally well maintained and comfortable, and “non-AC” buses vary, often being quite crowded, but are still reliable. There are regular bus services connecting important places within Assam and neighboring states, as well as many smaller towns. Long-distance buses generally are called Night Super Bus (because they usually travel only at after sunset) are more comfortable with reclining seats. Sleeper buses with beds are also available, though the ride can be too bumpy to actually sleep. Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) is state run bus company with a very exhaustive network. Some private players have large networks as well. It’s not common to book bus tickets in advance online, though you probably won’t be able to do it yourself if you don’t have an Indian credit card or bank account. And some more casual, non-AC buses routes won’t be listed online.

Some routes that don’t have buses, as well as many that do, also have transport service by shared cars, varying from small cars to SUVS (particularly “Sumos”, a jeep-like Indian model) to mini-buses. This seems to particularly be the case for routes from Assam into neighboring states via mountain roads. These are relatively adventurous, often packing more people than you would think possible into the vehicle, and sometimes not leaving until full. But they sometimes leave more frequently and travel more directly than cheap buses, and are much cheaper than hiring a taxi for yourself. The driver may want to tie your luggage to the top – this is usually safe enough, but if you don’t want to do it, just buy an extra ticket for your bags. To make sure you’re getting a shared vehicle rather than paying for the whole thing, make sure to say “share”. If someone says “reserve”, that means you’re paying them the equivalent of a full vehicle’s worth of people for them to take you alone.

That said, reserved taxis can be a good option for travelling inside Assam and to the surrounding region. In majority cities and even small towns private taxi-cabs are available for rent for local travel as well for inter-city travel. The taxi-cabs can be also rented on daily basis. For a traveller, it is easier to hire a taxi from the hotel he or she is staying; usually the hotels can arrange or provide with information on the local car rental agencies. This will be much more expensive than traveling on in shared or public transit vehicles, but 100 times more comfortable, and probably still shockingly cheap by North American, European, or Northeast Asian standards.

Self driving may not be advisable for many reasons – dangerous traffic, animals in the road, and frequent agitations and “bandhs” (political labor strikes) in certain areas to name some.

By train

[edit]

Although having a fairly extensive railway network, trains are less convenient than buses or taxis for travelling short distances within Assam – inter-city or inter-regional trains are not very frequent within Assam. Moreover, the Assam’s rail network is fragmented due to different gauge size. The services on narrow gauge and meter gauge lines are irregular and uncomfortable. Broad gauge service links Guwahati with major cities in upper Assam (Dibrugarh, Jorhat and Tinsukia), which is comfortable but little more time-consuming than the buses; However, from Guwahati, one may try using the Rajdhani Express (fully air-conditioned) for an over-night journey to reach Dibrugarh or Tinsukia. The railway tickets are bookable online or available at the electronic ticketing counters in the stations. It is important to have a reservation for an overnight train journey, to obtain a berth in a comfortable A/C or non A/C sleeper coach. For reservation, booking should be made 2 months before the journey; however, in majority trains ‘Tatkal’ service is available.

We traveled several times on unreserved trains in early 2023, and it was often convenient, if a bit adventurous, depending on the circumstances. Though trains are infrequent and often hours late, their schedules are at least well-documented online, which is more than can be said of many local bus and shared car services. And with a “general” ticket, you’re almost guaranteed to get on even without an advance reservation. Though we did have one absurdly crowded train ride (people filling the aisles and sleeping on the luggage racks), we also had several where we had train cars nearly to ourselves.

By plane

[edit]

Air travel from Guwahati to Upper Assam or Southern Assam districts can be quicker and easier. Guwahati is linked with Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Tezpur and Silchar with several flights. However, it is important to book a ticket early. A flight between Guwahati and Dibrugarh takes roughly 45 minutes.