By road
~100-124 km from Guwahati
Northeast India · Meghalaya
Shillong, Meghalaya
Pine hills, waterfalls and living rock music · ~100-124 km from Guwahati
Getting there
By rail
Guwahati, ~100 km — Meghalaya has no railway of its own
By air
Umroi (Shillong) Airport, ~30-35 km, with limited flights; Guwahati (~100-124 km) has far more connections
Best time to visit
September to May; October-November for waterfalls at full flow
Don't miss
Elephant Falls
Ward's Lake
Don Bosco Museum
Laitlum Canyons
Police Bazar
Things to do
Café and music-scene evenings
Umiam lake kayaking
Waterfall circuits
Where to eat
Sources: open-meteo, wikimedia, Photo: RMehra · CC BY-SA 3.0
What to pack
Rain shell any month, walking shoes, warm evening layer
A quieter corner
Laitlum canyon's grass ridge above a sea of cloud
About Shillong
- Hills
Where it is
Shillong is the capital of Meghalaya, a hill city at about 1,500 m on the Shillong Plateau in the East Khasi Hills, about 100 km by road south of Guwahati and the Brahmaputra valley.
History
Shillong grew from a British civil station set up in 1864 and became the seat of the new province of Assam in 1874. Much of the town was destroyed by the great earthquake of 1897 and rebuilt, and it remained the capital of undivided Assam until Meghalaya was created in 1972, with Shillong as its capital.
People
Most of Shillong's people are Khasi, who speak Khasi, an Austroasiatic language, and follow a matrilineal tradition in which clan names pass through the mother and the youngest daughter inherits the family home. Christmas and Shad Suk Mynsiem, the Khasi spring dance festival, are high points of the year.
Known for
- Ward's Lake and Shillong Peak
- Elephant Falls and the Laitlum Canyons
- A lively live-music and rock scene
- Police Bazaar and Bara Bazaar
- Umiam Lake on the road from Guwahati
Did you know?
Shillong takes its name from Lei Shyllong, a powerful deity believed to live on Shillong Peak, the hill that overlooks the city.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.