Hello,
@Isafab! Welcome to the forum!
You have many transportation options from New Delhi to Rishikesh:
1. Airplane - This is the fastest and most convenient option. Here are some flights from New Delhi to Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun:
- IndiGo - This airline has three flights daily departing from Delhi to Dehradun. Timings are: 11:20, 13:00 and 16:25.
- Air India - This has one flight during Tuesday or Sunday. It departs from Delhi at 17:05.
- Jet Airways - This airline has five flights from Delhi to Dehradun daily. Timings are: 6:05, 9:10, 12:05, 13:55 and 16:55.
- Spice Jet - This has two flights departing from Delhi to Dehradun daily. Timings are: 11:25 and 15:15.
Fare varies between, Rs. 1,413 to Rs. 3,000 per passenger. The Jolly Grant Airport is about 20 kms away from Rishikesh. From the airport, you can ride a taxi going to Rishikesh. There's a prepaid taxi counter right at the airport. Then, outside the airport, there are normal taxis which you can also ride.
There are also buses outside the airport to take you to nearby cities like Rishikesh. These buses are mostly operated by Uttarakhand Transport Corporation. Some of their timings are:
If you're arriving by night time, you can opt for radio taxis or prepaid taxis, although the charge would be higher.
2. Train - There's a Rishikesh Railway Station. However, there's only a few trains and it runs very slowly. Here is one timing:
- Delhi Rishikesh Passenger Train No. 54471 - Departs daily at 17:35 and arrives at 4:20.
Since it's a passenger train, you cannot book tickets in advance and the travel time is so long at 11 hours or more. So your next option would be trains going to Haridwar Junction from Delhi. There are plenty of trains and many of them have a shorter travel time that the one I posted above. Here they are:
- Yoga Express Train No. 19031 - Departs daily at 4:21 and arrives at 12:10.
- Dehradun Shatabdi Train No. 12017 - Departs daily at 6:45 and arrives at 11:22.
- Dehradun Jan Shatabdi Train No. 12055 - Departs daily at 15:20 and arrives at 19:32.
With these trains, you can reserve a ticket in advance and you can choose what kind of seats you'd like. Travel time varies but with the trains I posted, it's between 4 to 8 hours. From Haridwar Junction, you can ride a taxi going to Rishikesh.
There's also a bus station in front of the railway station. From there, UTC Buses depart and arrive at Rishikesh. Here are some of their timings:
- 8:00, 9:15, 9:30, 10:00, 11:45, 12:00, 12:20, 14:20, 15:00, 16:40 and 16:45.
3. Bus - You can also ride a direct bus from Delhi to Rishikesh. The journey can take anywhere between 5 to 7 hours. Here are some of the timings:
- Volvo Buses - 11:00, 21:00 and 22:00.
- AC Buses - 9:00 and 22:00.
- Ordinary Buses - 00:15, 00:45, 5:00, 7:15, 9:30, 11:10, 13:15, 14:00, 15:00, 15:30, 16:00, 17:00, 18:00, 18:30, 19:00, 19:30, 20:00, 20:30, 21:00, 21:30 and 23:30.
Fare varies, between Rs. 130 to Rs. 700. I'd suggest riding a Volvo Bus or an AC Bus for a more comfortable journey.
4. Hired Car - Alternatively, you can also hire a car from Delhi to Rishikesh. But this can be expensive, even more so than riding an airplane. Expect to pay anything between Rs. 4,000 to Rs. 8,000, depending on the car type.
Anyway, these are your options. If you have the money and you want the most convenient option, then consider an airplane ride. The next most convenient one would be, at least for me, a bus ride as it's direct anyway. Then comes the train and the lastly, the hired car.
I hope this helps.
