The Best Time to Visit Rishikesh, Month by Month

October and November are the peak for good reason — the monsoon has cleared the air, the river has settled to a strong but manageable level, the temperature is pleasant in the day and cool at night, and everything is running. Book ahead; this is also when everybody else comes.

December is colder and quieter and still fully operational. The Christmas and New Year week is the single busiest period of the winter and needs booking well in advance at prices that reflect it.

January and February are the quietest and clearest weeks of the year. Rafting runs, the water is snowmelt-cold, and a wetsuit is worth asking for. Prices are at their softest.

March and April are excellent — warming up, high clean water from the early melt, everything open, and fewer people than the autumn. May and June get genuinely hot in the valley, which pushes activity to early morning, and late June is when the river starts rising towards the closure.

July and August are the monsoon closure for rafting. Land activities continue subject to weather, the waterfalls are at their best, the valley is green, and the town is empty and cheap. It is a real option if the river is not the point.

September is the turn. Early September is usually still closed; by late September the river has dropped and the season restarts, often with very good value before the October rush.