Hornbill Festival and Kaziranga in One Trip: How to Plan It in 2026

It's one of the most common plans for a December trip to the Northeast. You want the Hornbill Festival, you've seen the photos of red feathered headgear and spears at Kisama, and since you're coming all this way you'd like to see a rhino too. Can you fit both into one trip without spending half of it in a car?

You can, in six days. Kaziranga and the road to Nagaland sit on the same highway, so the safari isn't a detour. The trick is the order: rhinos first, festival second, and a clear plan for the last day, because the trip ends in Dimapur and Dimapur is not an easy place to fly home from.

The short version

Why the two go together

Kaziranga is on NH-37, the same road you'd take towards Nagaland anyway. From the park it's about 135 km to Dimapur, roughly three and a half to four hours, and Dimapur is where the climb to Kohima and Kisama begins. So one flight into Guwahati covers both, and you only plan one set of road days.

How we'd plan the six days

Arrive in Guwahati the evening before. That way a late train or flight costs you an evening, not the first morning of the trip.

Day 1 is just the drive to Kaziranga, about four hours through Assam's tea country, arriving mid-afternoon. Day 2 is the only early start: up at 5:45 for the 7:30 jeep safari, breakfast after, then about four hours to Dimapur. Day 3 you climb for about three hours to Kigwema, a village right beside Kisama, and settle into a homestay.

Day 4 is the festival's opening day. Day 5 we'd spend the morning at Khonoma, a village of terraced fields and old houses about an hour away, stop at the Kohima War Cemetery, and go back to Kisama for the evening performances. Day 6 is the drive down to Dimapur and home.

Road times are our estimates and change with fog, road works and festival traffic, so leave some slack in every day.

Booking the Kaziranga safari

Book on the official site, kazirangasafari.in, which is run for the Assam government. You sign in with your mobile number, pick the range, date and time slot, and pay online. Agency sites will sell you the same jeep for more. The park has four ranges (Kohora in the centre, Bagori to the west, Agaratoli to the east, and Burapahar) and decides each season which are open, so check what's bookable for your dates before you fix the rest of the trip.

In the Central Range the jeeps run from 7:30 to 10:00 in the morning and from 1:30 to 3:00 in the afternoon. We'd always take the morning slot: winter afternoons are short, and if your drive runs late you lose the afternoon one. Wear khaki or olive, stay in the jeep, and keep it quiet. And be ready for the honest answer to the question everyone asks: nobody can guarantee you'll see a rhino.

The Nagaland permit

If you're an Indian visitor from outside Nagaland you need an Inner Line Permit, applied for online at ilp.nagaland.gov.in. The state sets the fee and how long it's valid, and those change, so go by the government site rather than a figure on a blog (including this one). Apply early, use the same photo ID you'll carry, and keep the permit on your phone, because it can be checked on the road. Foreign visitors follow different rules: check with Nagaland Tourism.

Being at the festival

Kisama Heritage Village is laid out around the morungs, the traditional houses of each Naga tribe, and through the day there are dances and songs, indigenous games, crafts and food stalls, with music in the evening. The organisers set the programme, the entry fee and the camera passes and can change them, so pay at the gate and check the day's schedule there.

A few things people underestimate: December nights in the hills are properly cold, the grounds are big and outdoors, and phone networks and UPI drop out often. Bring warm layers, shoes you can walk in all day, and cash.

Where to stay

Kohima and the villages around Kisama fill up early in festival week. We use a family-run homestay in Kigwema, the village next to Kisama, a short drive from the grounds. It's simple and clean, and some washrooms are shared. If you're planning on your own, book your room before anything else and build the trip around it.

Getting home from Dimapur

This is the part that's easiest to get wrong. Getting in is simple: Guwahati has direct flights from Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and from Kolkata the overnight Vande Bharat Sleeper takes about 14 hours. Getting out of Dimapur is harder. There are daily flights to Guwahati (about 1 hour 10 minutes) and to Kolkata, day trains to Guwahati around 1:05 pm and 4:10 pm that take five to six hours, and night trains that arrive in the early morning.

Our advice: from Kolkata, fly straight home from Dimapur or go through Guwahati. From Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai or Delhi, take the flight or train to Guwahati on the last day, sleep a night near Paltan Bazaar and fly home the next morning. Don't try a same-day connection. (Times were checked on 1 November 2026 on aggregator sites; confirm them on IRCTC and the airline apps for your date.)

What to budget for on the way

Whoever you travel with, keep money aside for festival tickets and camera passes, the permit fee, safari camera fees, lunches, shopping, tips and travel insurance. We suggest carrying ₹4,000 to ₹5,000 a person in cash, taken out in Dimapur before you head up into the hills.

Who this trip is for

It suits first-timers to Nagaland who'd rather have one fixed plan, and couples, friends and families who don't mind one dark early morning and a few four-hour drives. Skip it if you want hotel comforts every night, all ten days of the festival, or a rhino guaranteed.

Travel it with us

This is the route of our first group trip, Hornbill Festival & Kaziranga, 28 November to 3 December 2026: up to 10 travellers, a local trip captain from Guwahati to Dimapur, and the permit help and safari booking done for you. The price will be announced soon. The day-by-day plan is on the trip page, and you can join the waiting list on WhatsApp at +91 90360 21836.