Travel information in Varanasi

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Air
There are three flights daily to Delhi, three direct flights to Bombay weekly, two direct flights to Calcutta weekly, and three flights weekly to Bhubaneshwar. Indian Airlines has a daily flight to Kathmandu, which is heavily booked in the winter. There is a daily Indian Airlines flight to Delhi via Khajuraho and Agra. The airport is about 22km out of town. There is an Indian Airlines bus into town that goes to the Indian Airlines office in the Cantonment area.

The Indian Airlines office is behind Hotel de Paris, Cantt, and there is an office at the airport. The Air India office is in the Hotel Clarks.

Train
There are two train stations in the Varanasi area. There is Varanasi Cantt and a big train station in the suburbs called Mughal Sarai Station, which is 14 km from the center of the city. The main Delhi-Calcutta line trains stop at Mughal Sarai station. There are several trains daily to both Delhi and Calcutta that take about 15 hours to get to either city. The Amritsar Howrah Mail is the fastest train to Calcutta. There is one train daily to Agra and six trains a day to Gaya.

There are three passenger trains daily to Gorakhpur, which take 8 to 10 hours, with frequent delays. It is usually better to take a bus. There is a daily direct train to Haridwar. There are three trains weekly to Puri and four trains daily to Bombay. The Mahanagri Express is the fastest train to Bombay.

The only decent place to stay near the Mughal Sarai is the railway retiring rooms.

Bus
Most buses arrive near the railway station. there are deluxe buses from Varanasi to Allahabad and normal buses to Khajuraho. Buses depart from the Cantonment Bus Stand to Gaya, Gorakhpur, and Sunauli to get to Nepal.