Best time to visit Shillong

India · South Asia

All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.

The year in Shillong

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Sweet spot
Good
OK
Avoid
Busy

Go in Feb — 18C max, 3 rainy days. Mar is the next best.

Plan this trip

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Flights

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Where to stay

Things to do

Car hire

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Things to do in Shillong

Umiam Lake A beautiful lake north of Shillong, which resembles the 'Lochs', or lakes of Scotland, and is a must-see for all tourists.
Wards Lake This horseshoe-shaped artificial lake is below the Raj Bhavan (Governor’s Residence).
Cathedral of Mary Help of Christians Cathedral of Mary Help of Christians is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Shillong which covers the Khasi and Jaintia hills of Meghalaya.
Elephant Falls It is in the Upper Shillong area which also houses the Eastern Air Command of Indian Airforce.
Madina Mosque India's only glass mosque, and one of the largest in the Northeast.
Sweet Falls Located in Happy Valley, it is a very steep fall.
Bishop and Beadon Falls Located in Suna valley, these two are very beautiful falls.

Tours and tickets in Shillong

Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too. Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank

Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage (Shillong), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.

Month by month

No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.

Month	Max °C	Rain days	Humidity	Sun h/day	Verdict	Why
Jan	16°	2d	72%	9.5h	good	16C max, 2 rainy days
Feb	18°	3d	69%	9.7h	sweet spot	18C max, 3 rainy days
Mar	21°	7d	68%	10.4h	good	21C max, 7 rainy days
Apr	23°	12d	73%	10.2h	okbusy	busier than usual
May	23°	18d	82%	9.6h	avoid	monsoon: 18 rainy days, 230mm
Jun	24°	19d	87%	7.9h	avoid	monsoon: 19 rainy days, 357mm
Jul	24°	21d	89%	6.8h	avoid	monsoon: 21 rainy days, 336mm
Aug	24°	21d	89%	7.3h	avoid	monsoon: 21 rainy days, 253mm
Sep	24°	16d	88%	8.4h	avoid	monsoon: 16 rainy days, 199mm
Oct	22°	11d	84%	9.1h	ok	22C max, 11 rainy days
Nov	20°	2d	73%	10.2h	goodbusy	busier than usual
Dec	17°	2d	71%	9.5h	good	17C max, 2 rainy days

Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.

Weather read at Police Bazaar, 18 km from the airport (SHL): ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.

A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.

How busy it gets

Busiest in November; quietest in January.

Then and now

Shillong's September days now average 23.8°C, 1.0°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 3 of 12 months are clearly warmer.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1981–90	15.7°	17.4°	20.3°	22.0°	22.9°	23.9°	23.4°	23.6°	22.8°	21.7°	19.3°	16.7°
2017–26	16.0°	17.8°	20.8°	22.7°	23.1°	24.0°	24.1°	24.1°	23.8°	21.9°	19.7°	17.1°
Change	+0.3°	+0.5°	+0.5°	+0.8°	+0.2°	+0.1°	+0.7°	+0.5°	+1.0°	+0.2°	+0.4°	+0.4°

The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.

Getting there

Fly into Guwahati (GAU), then drive. The flights under Where to book are to Guwahati.

Guwahati (GAU)	the drive is not measured yet
Shillong (SHL)	the drive is not measured yet

The drive from each airport is the road's, from openrouteservice.org by HeiGIT: typical, not a schedule.

How far Shillong is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.

Before you go

Type C and D plugs at 230 V. Drives on the left. The currency is the Indian rupee. UK Foreign Office: avoid all travel to parts. Everything for India: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.

Being there

On arrival

Paying — Cards are taken at larger hotels, chain stores and many restaurants; small shops and family-run businesses rarely take them, so carry some cash.
Tipping — Not traditional; up to 10% is usual only in smarter restaurants. Taxi and auto-rickshaw drivers do not expect a tip.

Getting around Shillong

Apps — Rides: Ola, Rapido, Uber. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: WhatsApp. The apps also book auto-rickshaws, and bike taxis where these are allowed.

Best way to go about in Shillong is on foot. The city itself is small and can be easily covered walking and exploring hills and people. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Shillong, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Help

Emergency — 112 (any emergency).
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.

Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 3 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.

Sources (29)

Shillong in pictures

Scenic View from Shillong peak — i

SUJAY KUMAR PAUL, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Shillong valley — i

Rahulyadav96, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Shillong (Barapani) — i

Rahul kr Tiwari, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Vegetables from Shillong 01 — i

Ganesh Mohan T, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Shillong, the Scotland of the east — i

Bikash Jyoti Bora, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What Shillong is like

Shillong (shih-LAWNG), the capital of Meghalaya, is often called the Scotland of the East because of its rolling hills. More on Wikivoyage

Worth seeing: Butterfly Museum. There is a huge collection of different types of butterflies. Students of zoology will find them interesting. More on Wikivoyage
Worth doing: Take a walk through Iewduh (Bara Bazar)-Iewduh means Big Market - It is one of the biggest market in North-East India. There are separate areas dedicated to vegetables, fruits, iron works, fish, beef, betel and so on. More on Wikivoyage
Getting in: The best way to reach Shillong, is from Guwahati, via helicopter. The government of Meghalaya operates a service to/from Guwahati Airport, and also to/from Tura. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Shillong, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.

Around Shillong

Also in India

Nearby

Kind of place

Shillong is in India, South Asia. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.

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