Rishikesh to Delhi: The Road, By Car, Bus and Bike

Most people arriving in Rishikesh for the first time come through Delhi, and most of them ask the same question: what's the best way to actually make that last leg — road, rail, or in the saddle themselves.

The distance

Around 240 km, depending on which route you take. By car or bus on the highway, that's typically six to seven hours including a stop or two. The road runs via Meerut and Muzaffarnagar or via Haridwar, and is good tarmac essentially the whole way — this is plains highway, not mountain road, so the driving itself is easy. Traffic around Meerut and the approach into Haridwar is where most of the time gets lost.

By train

Trains run from Delhi to Haridwar regularly, with Haridwar 25 km short of Rishikesh — a short onward taxi or bike ride finishes the journey. There are far more train services into Haridwar than into Rishikesh station directly, which is why most people arriving by rail actually land at Haridwar first. We deliver bikes to Haridwar station if you'd rather start riding from there — see our Haridwar rental page.

By air

The nearest airport is Jolly Grant, near Dehradun — about 20 km from Rishikesh, roughly 30 minutes. If you're flying rather than coming overland from Delhi, this is the faster option regardless of where you started. See our Dehradun and Jolly Grant page for delivery details.

Riding it yourself

If you're bringing your own motorcycle from Delhi, or picking one up in Delhi and riding up, the road is straightforward — highway riding with no technical difficulty, though Delhi's outer traffic and the stretch through Meerut demand real attention. Fuel and food stops are frequent and reliable the entire way; this isn't a route where you need to plan around scarcity the way you would above Rishikesh.

Once you're in Rishikesh and want to continue into the mountains, that's where the route changes character entirely — see our route guides for what the roads north of here actually involve.

The honest recommendation

Unless you specifically want the riding experience of the Delhi–Rishikesh leg itself, most people are better off taking a train or bus to Haridwar or Rishikesh and renting a bike here — you skip the least interesting riding of the whole trip and start your motorcycle time where the roads actually get good.