How To Reach Rajgir

Rajgir, located in Bihar is about 60km to the southeast of Patna, the capital. The city is very old and its history can be traced back to the time of the kings of Magadha around the 5th Century BC. Today it is well known for its forts and rock cut caves besides Buddhist ruins and Jain and Hindu temples as well as Muslim tombs. The best way to reach Rajgir is to travel by train from Delhi. The train takes around 21 hours. This is the cheapest method as well. Flight connection is possible only with Patna which is around 100km away. There are buses and taxis connecting the two places.

Rajgir is fairly well connected by road with Bodh Gaya, Patna and Gaya as well as other towns and cities nearby. The distance from Delhi to Rajgir is about 1100 km by road and this distance may take about 21h to cover this distance on the NH19. There are frequent buses that ply from and to Patna as well as the other major cities and towns in Bihar. Rajgir has a good connection with Patna by road and one can travel by the NH 31-82 to reach Patna from Rajgir. There are direct buses to Patna too from Rajgir and back and during the peak season one can catch tourist buses that operate from and to Bodh Gaya two times each day.

Rajgir has its own railway station which is quite well connected with New Delhi, Kolkata and Patna besides Varanasi, Bodhgaya and other major cities. There is a special Buddhist train too which runs between Varanasi and Rajgir via Gaya and Patna. The major trains that start at Rajgir include Rajgir Howrah Ch (23040) and Shramjeevi Express (12391). The Budhpurnima Express (15110) and Rajgriha Express (13234) are trains that arrive at Rajgir at 05:05 and 12:30 respectively. The Shramjeevi Express leaves New Delhi at 13:10 on the first day and it reaches Rajgir at 10:10 on the second day, taking 21 hours to cover the 1103km distance.

Rajgir does not have its own airport. Patna which is 100km from Rajgir is the closest airport. So one can fly to Patna from just about any city in India and thereafter from Patna one can take either a taxi or a bus to Rajgir. The airlines that operate between Delhi and Patna include Air India, Go Air, Spice Jet and Indigo. As per last information available there are around 80 flights operating daily between these two cities. Patna is well connected to other cities too such as Mumbai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. It is therefore relatively simple to fly to Patna and thereafter reach Rajgir. 

For getting around in Rajgir you can either hire a small taxi or a larger one depending upon your requirement. If you are hiring a taxi for the day you will probably need to pay for the total distance you have engaged the taxi at a flat rate which you could bargain in the beginning. If you engage the taxi and take a trip to Nalanda and back you may end up paying about Rs 2000/ per day. Rickshaws are available and so are auto rickshaws.