Hornbill Festival – Guwahati to Kohima driving directions / route

So you are all geared up for the Hornbill Festival 2014. Planning for a bike trip or driving down to the famous Kisama Heritage Village in Kohima for the upcoming Hornbill Festival? We have listed the best driving directions and route from Guwahati city to Kohima via Dimapur.

First thing to remember is that you should have made arrangements for your lodging by now. There is a huge tourist rush and almost all hotels get booked much ahead of time, so don’t plan to find accommodation when you reach there, you may never find one. It is advisable to book a hotel in advance, so search for the best hotel at the best price and reserve the rooms, though most of the hotels jack up the prices for the festive season. If you are planning to stay in tents, do ensure you invest in a good tent, sleeping bag along with warm blankets, it gets pretty cold and chilly in the night.

Guwahati – Kohima Route – 350 Kms / 7 hrs

If you are planning to drive down in a car, or ride from Guwahati to Kohima in bikes, below is the best route. Kohima is about 350kms from Guwahati via this route, approx 7 hrs driving time by car, 8-9 hrs if travelling by bike depending on road and weather conditions.

• From Guwahati, take NH37 to Nagaon Bypass
• When you reach Nagaon Bypass, from the roundabout take NH36 which goes directly to Dimapur via Doboka and Manja.

Google Map

The road from Nagaon bypass to Dimapur is one of the best that you’ll find here and riding is a absolutely pleasure. There is virtually no traffic and you can open the throttle, cruise on the open highway for miles.

However, if you travelling by bike, it is advisable to ride along with a partner since there is virtually no mechanic for miles on the highway. You may find yourself stranded if there is a puncture.

Once you reach Dimapur, the route is pretty straightfoward and you just need to follow the highway. The roads in Dimapur and some patches on the highway to Kohima are pretty bad (last time we visited in 2013), so expect a rough ride.

The Hornbill Festival is held at Kisama Heritage Village, which is located about 10 kms from Kohima, about 30 mins drive from Kohima in moderate traffic. The Hornbill Rock Music Festival is held in another location in Kohima, so you can pretty much plan your accommodation in Kohima so that you visit both the locations. The traffic situation turns ugly in the evening due to narrow roads and huge tourist inflow/outflow. So if you are driving, expect to be caught in traffic jams for miles. But thankfully the traffic is managed well, everyone drives sanely with proper queques and you will not find any rash driving.