Rishikesh Tours & Experiences

Things to do in Rishikesh

Most activities here happen on or beside the Ganga; the Rishikesh travel guide covers the temples and ghats.

Raft the Ganga

Our Rishikesh river rafting experience puts in upstream, at points such as Shivpuri, 19 km away, where the usual 11 km run begins. You wear a life jacket and helmet, learn the paddle commands, and the guide steers from the back.

Bungee jump over a gorge

Our bungee jumping experience drives you to a fixed platform above a river gorge, where you register, are weighed and harnessed, and jump alone. Uttarakhand Tourism gives Mohanchatti's jump as up to 83 metres.

Spend a night at a riverside camp

On our riverside camping experience you sleep in a tent on the Ganga's banks upstream of town, with dinner by a bonfire, usually rafting before or after.

Practise yoga, or train to teach

Our Rishikesh yoga retreat fits the ashram, teacher or riverside stay to your level, while our yoga teacher training suits practitioners ready for a multi-week certificate course.

Watch the evening aarti

Triveni Ghat holds an aarti every evening with lamps, drums and chanting, and Parmarth Niketan's begins at sunset on its own ghat, where the North India Classic Tour — 14 days and the 8 Days Mathura Vrindavan Kedarnath Haridwar Rishikesh Tour reserve seats.

Walk to a waterfall, a hill temple or the Beatles Ashram

Uttarakhand Tourism lists the marked waterfall trail and the Kunjapuri trek. The Beatles learnt meditation in 1968 at Chaurasi Kutia, now a ruin in the Swargashram forest, and Spiritual India — Varanasi and Rishikesh, 8 days leaves a free day for a hike to Neelkanth Mahadev.

Choosing between our tours and experiences

Our experiences fill the days you are here; our tours fit Rishikesh into a longer trip: Spiritual India gives it most of a week, with a rafting run and a yoga class; the North India Classic ends here; and the Char Dham Yatra — 11 days and the Kedarnath tour pass through on the way to the Char Dham. Compare them on Rishikesh tour packages, adventure experiences in Rishikesh and yoga and meditation in Rishikesh.

When to go for these

Rafting and the camps follow the state's season, 1 September to 30 June, with the river closed to rafting in July and August; the bungee jump runs all year, weather permitting. Yoga is most comfortable from October to March, and March brings the yoga festivals.

Rules and customs

On the river, only people aged 14 to 65 may raft and 18 to 50 kayak, helmets are compulsory, and alcohol and smoking are banned. In town, meat, fish and eggs are not sold; dress modestly at ashrams and temples. Lakshman Jhula has been closed since 2019.