The north east is made up of eight states: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura do not need any permits to visit. Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland, however, require an ILP or Inner Line Permit to visit.

While Sikkim does not require an Inner Line Pass to visit, there are certain areas that need an ILP: Menmecho Lake, Tsomgo Lake, Nathu La and Kupup in the east. Chopta, Chungthang, Lachung, Thangu, Yumesamdong, Yumthang Valley, Lachen and Gurudongmar Lake in the north.

A permit can be obtained at any Arunachal Bhawan, Nagaland Bhawan, or Mizoram Bhawan, located outside of northaest. Major airports in northaest, like Guwahati international airport, have the facility of providing permits. The government of Arunachal Pradesh has also provided the facility of online application of Inner Line Permits. For foreign nationals, you will require another type of permit called as Protected Area Permit (PAP).

The best time to visit Tawang is in between September and May
The best time to visit Shillong and Cherrapunji is in between June and January. Actually, you can visit Meghalaya throughout the year, but the waterfalls are best to witness during summer.
The best time to visit Kaziranga (and other national parks of Assam) is in between November and April. The national parks are offcially open only during winter, usually from November through April.

Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim are the two north east states that receive seasonal snowfall during winter.

The sobriquet of Seven Sisters was first coined in 1972 by a journalist named Jyoti Prakash Salgia during the inaugural foundation of these north eastern states of India. Despite the ethnic disparities, all the states in the region share similar geographical and cultural features. Initially, they also shared the isolation from the rest of India which lead to a mutual interdependence of social, political and economic nature. Though Sikkim joined this group in 1975, it is often referred to as a brother rather than the eighth sister. Therefore, these north eastern states are still collectively referred to as the seven sisters.

Guwahati is the best place to start a road trip across the North East. It is one of the biggest cities in the region when you can get the Inner Line Passes for other states quite easily.

Following are the major international airports in the north east:
Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Guwahati
Imphal International Airport, Manipur
Silchar Airport, Assam
Dibrugarh Airport, Assam
Dimapur Airport, Nagaland
Agartala Airport, Tripura

If you want to cover all the states in one trip, you will need around 15 days to cover the entire north east. But, if you’re looking to cover each state one by one, 5-7 days are enough for each state.

The best time to visit Kamakhya temple is in the early morning. There are three entry queues for Kamakhya visit, and you can chose any one from the available options:
Regular entry: This queue starts at in the morning, and even if the gate closes at 1pm the queue still stands.
VIP entry: This requires a paid ticket and the entry is faster than regular entry.

Kaziranga national park (along with all other national parks of Assam) remains officially open from November through April.

Shillong and Kaziranga are the best destinations for your weekend tour in Northeast India. Other popular destinations will take more than a weekend to cover.

To cover sightseeing of all of the beautiful places of Meghalaya, you will need about 10 days.

To cover sightseeing of all of the beautiful places of Meghalaya, you will need about 10 days.