Assam Tours & Experiences

Things to do in Assam

Go on a rhino safari in Kaziranga

UNESCO credits Kaziranga, a World Heritage Site, with more greater one-horned rhinoceroses than anywhere else. Jeeps run in all four of its ranges with no advance reservation needed, says Assam Tourism, while elephant rides leave in the mornings from Kohora and Bagori only and their few seats are worth reserving. Our private Kaziranga rhino safari comes with its own naturalist, a car with driver and your jeep permit; all we run there is on our Kaziranga tours and experiences page.

See rhinos near Guwahati at Pobitora

Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in Morigaon district, about 30 km from Guwahati, also protects one-horned rhinos on a far smaller reserve, with jeep safaris and elephant rides. It makes an easy half-day or full-day outing from the city, best from mid-October to March.

Watch silk woven at Sualkuchi

In Sualkuchi, 35 km north of Guwahati, almost every house has a hand loom, and their clatter carries into the lanes. The weavers turn golden muga, white paat and eri silk into mekhela chadors and gamosas, and the Vastra Udyaan museum near the entrance explains the craft. A day is enough, in any month.

Cruise the Brahmaputra

Cruise boats sail only from October to April, since Assam Tourism does not allow them on the high water of summer and the monsoon. Trips last from a few hours to more than a week: Guwahati to Kaziranga is the favourite stretch, and the longest voyages run downstream from Dibrugarh to Dhubri.

Spend two days among Majuli's satras

On Majuli, the river island at the heart of Assam's neo-Vaishnavite faith, you can join the prayers held each day at Auniati and other satras and watch Sattriya dance and bhaona theatre. Samaguri satra makes the masks bhaona uses, Salmora is a potters' village, and the Mising people build their houses on stilts. Raas, Krishna's life in dance and drama, fills the October or November full moon.

Stay on an Upper Assam tea estate

More than half of India's tea is grown in Assam, and the state's tourism board recommends a night in a tea garden to see estate life; Dibrugarh's own attractions include heritage tea bungalows. In Jorhat, the Tocklai Tea Research Institute's museum and model factory follow tea from leaf to cup, and a few estates even have nine-hole golf courses.

Raft and ride in Manas and Nameri

Manas, in the foothills on the Bhutan border, offers rafting as well as jeep and elephant safaris, and the Bodo villages around it weave their own cloth. Nameri, near Tezpur, has rafting on the Jia Bhoroli, and birdwatchers head to Dibru-Saikhowa, near Tinsukia, for the winter migrants.

Join in at Bihu

Assam keeps three Bihus a year. Rongali Bihu welcomes the Assamese New Year in mid-April with Bihu dancing and the beat of the dhol, Bhogali Bihu in mid-January is a harvest festival of community feasts and bonfires called meji, and Kati Bihu in mid-October is the quietest. Eat pitha rice cakes at the festival, and khar, cooked with banana-plant ash, or the tangy fish curry masor tenga at any time.

Choosing between our tours and experiences

In Assam we run one experience, the private Kaziranga rhino safari, with two drives, morning and afternoon, in one range at a time. It suits travellers fitting Kaziranga into a longer Northeast journey, and anyone wanting a different animal from central India's tiger reserves. A tour package travels through several places with nights in each; any that stay in Assam appear here under their own heading. To link the rest at your own pace, add a private car and driver; the safaris alone are under wildlife safaris in Assam.

When to go for these

The parks follow the Assam Forest Department's season, November to April, and Kaziranga closes once the monsoon floods reach its grassland. River cruises start a month earlier, in October; Sualkuchi's looms work all year. IMD's averages for Guwahati give January afternoons of about 24°C and nights of 11°C, often with fog at dawn, and June to September brings roughly two-thirds of the year's rain.

Planning tips

The sights are far apart, so settle in a few bases rather than moving every night: Guwahati, the Kohora side of Kaziranga, Majuli, and an estate near Jorhat or Dibrugarh. The Nimati Ghat ferries to Majuli run in daylight and stop in mid-afternoon; the island's district recommends buying the crossing online from Assam Inland Water Transport. On safari, dress in muted colours and pack a warm layer for open vehicles on winter mornings. Routes and distances are in our Assam travel guide.