Gateway city on the Brahmaputra
Guwahati is where most journeys in Assam begin. The city wraps around the Brahmaputra and the Nilachal hills, mixing ancient temples, river cruises, museums and a lively food scene.
9 sights and experiences.
One of India’s most revered Shakti shrines, crowning Nilachal Hill. Its beehive-shaped dome is a city landmark, and the Ambubachi Mela draws huge crowds every June.
A Shiva temple on a rocky islet in mid-Brahmaputra, often called the smallest inhabited river island in the world. Short ferries cross from the Kachari / Umananda ghats.
Evening cruises and the riverside promenade near Uzan Bazar and Lachit Ghat are where Guwahati goes to watch the sun sink into a river so wide it looks like a sea.
A large cultural complex at Panjabari celebrating Assamese art and heritage, with a museum, library, open-air theatre and traditional architecture.
Spread over about 175 hectares of the Hengrabari forest, the biggest zoo in the North East — a good place to see the one-horned rhino up close.
A Ramsar-listed freshwater lake in an old channel of the Brahmaputra on the city’s south-west edge. In winter it fills with migratory birds.
Founded in 1940 beside the Dighalipukhuri tank, with sculptures, manuscripts, coins and tribal crafts that tell Assam’s long story.
A Shiva temple beside three mountain streams at the city’s south-east edge, linked by legend to the sage Vasistha. Cool and green on a hot day.
Forested hills on the eastern fringe of Guwahati that shelter elephants, primates and many forest birds.
October to March is cool and dry. Ambubachi Mela at Kamakhya is in June; Rongali Bihu is in mid-April.
By airLokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (GAU), Borjhar — about 20 km from the city centre, with flights across India.
By trainGuwahati (GHY) and Kamakhya Junction (KYQ) — direct trains from most big Indian cities.
By roadThe hub of the state: NH 27 runs east–west and NH 6 climbs to Shillong. State (ASTC) and private buses leave from ISBT Guwahati.
