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Eight nights in early December: five in Kohima for the Hornbill Festival at Kisama, the green village of Khonoma and the War Cemetery, then three at Diphlu River Lodge for rhino safaris in Kaziranga. Arrive via Dimapur and leave from Jorhat, with Nagaland permits arranged.
The Hornbill Festival, held from 1 to 10 December at Kisama near Kohima, brings the Naga tribes together in their morungs for ten days of dances, songs, games, food and crafts. It is the best chance anywhere to see so many Naga traditions in one place. We plan three mornings at Kisama in the first half of the festival, when crowds are lighter, and use the remaining days for Kohima's history and its villages.
Kohima's rooms are limited and simple, and we secure the best available months ahead. After five nights in the hills, we drive down to the Assam plains and Diphlu River Lodge for three nights of Kaziranga, which in December is cool, dry and excellent for rhinos. The contrast between the two parts of the journey is striking, and both are at their best in this month.
Highlights
Day by day
Your guide meets you at Dimapur airport for the drive up into the Naga Hills on NH-29, climbing through forest and terraced slopes to Kohima at about 1,440 m. Check in to your hotel or heritage guesthouse, chosen months in advance for comfort and location. In the evening, walk through Kohima town, where festival lights and the night market make the streets lively in early December.
Arrive at Kisama Heritage Village by 9 am, before the largest crowds. Walk among the morungs, each built by a different tribe in its own style, and watch the day's programme in the arena: war dances, harvest songs, log drum ceremonies and traditional games. Lunch is at one of the morungs, where each tribe serves its own dishes. Return to Kohima in the late afternoon.
A morning at the Kohima War Cemetery on Garrison Hill with a local historian, who tells the story of the 1944 battle from both military and Naga perspectives, including the tennis court where the lines faced each other. After lunch, visit the Mary Help of Christians Cathedral and the Nagaland State Museum, then return to Kisama for the late-afternoon performances if you wish.
Drive about 45 minutes to Khonoma, an Angami village of stone houses, clan gates and terraced rice fields that turned from hunting to conservation in the late 1990s. Walk the village and terraces with a village guide, see the memorial to its resistance against the British, and share lunch in a family home. Return to Kohima for a quiet evening.
Walk Kohima's local market with a food guide, among smoked meats, fermented bamboo shoot, axone and the fierce raja mircha chilli. Then cook and eat lunch with a Naga family, learning to make smoked pork with bamboo shoot. Spend the afternoon at Kisama for the crafts bazaar, where tribal weavers and carvers sell textiles, shawls and woodwork.
A final early visit to Kisama for the morning programme, then the drive down to Dimapur and across the Assam plains via Golaghat to Kaziranga, with lunch on the way. Arrive at Diphlu River Lodge in the late afternoon, settle into your stilted cottage and watch the light over the paddy fields at the edge of the park.
An early jeep drive in the Central range at Kohora, where December mist lifts off the beels and rhinos graze near the tracks. Your naturalist looks for wild buffalo, swamp deer and elephants, and reads tiger signs on the sandy roads. After lunch and a rest, the afternoon drive is in the Western range at Bagori, with its open grassland and high rhino numbers.
A morning drive in the range with the best recent sightings, then a midday break at the lodge or a walk in a nearby tea garden. In the afternoon, explore the Eastern range at Agaratoli, where winter brings pelicans, storks and migratory ducks to the wetlands. The final evening is at the lodge, with a talk on rhino conservation if available.
An optional final early drive, then breakfast and the transfer east to Jorhat airport for your onward flight. If your flight is from Guwahati instead, the drive is about 5 hours, and we plan a lunch stop on the way.
Included
Not included
Where you sleep
The leading safari lodge at Kaziranga, with stilted cottages along the Diphlu river on the park's southern boundary. Stays are full board, with park jeep drives …
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Questions travellers ask
The festival runs from 1 to 10 December every year. The first five days are usually less crowded than the final weekend. This journey is timed to arrive on 1 December or soon after, with three festival mornings and other days for Kohima's history and villages.
Kohima has no luxury hotels. We book the best available hotel, heritage guesthouse or homestay, chosen for comfort, warmth and location, usually by July. Rooms are simple but welcoming. Some guests prefer homestays near Kisama for easy festival access.
Indian citizens need a Nagaland ILP, about ₹200 for 30 days, applied for online. Foreign nationals need a Protected Area Permit, reimposed in December 2024 and relaxed for Hornbill 2025, plus an ILP. We arrange permits. Check current status before you travel.
Both are at their best in December, and they are about 5.5 to 6 hours apart by road. The festival is intense and social; Kaziranga's lodge and safaris are a calm, natural counterpoint. Together they show two very different sides of the North East.
Yes, especially at weekends and in the second half. Arriving at Kisama by 9 am, spending mornings there and using afternoons for other visits makes it much more enjoyable. Our guide knows the site and helps you find the best places to watch.
From about ₹2,90,000 per person, twin sharing, including accommodation, the meals listed, festival transfers, safaris, park fees, a private car and guide, and permits. Hornbill demand drives prices up, so book early. Flights are extra.
Nagaland has prohibited alcohol since 1989, so it is officially a dry state. Rice beer appears in some traditional contexts at the festival. Do not bring alcohol into Nagaland, and follow local laws.
Yes, photography is welcome at Kisama, and performers are used to cameras. Ask before close portraits, especially of elders, and avoid walking into the arena during performances. Mornings give the best light and fewer crowds.
Yes, by swapping one Kohima day for the Dzukou hike, a long and steep day from Viswema. December is cold in the valley, with frost on the grass. We recommend it only for fit walkers who have already seen the festival.
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