Route Briefing: Sydney to Varanasi
Few routes reward the effort quite like Sydney to Varanasi. Yes, you're looking at around 18 and a half hours of travel with a stop along the way, but what waits at the other end is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on Earth — a place so ancient, so layered with ritual and meaning, that the journey itself starts to feel like a pilgrimage before you've even landed.
Air India, IndiGo, and Singapore Airlines all service this route, with connections typically running through Delhi or Mumbai. Both hubs are well-organised for transit, and routing through them tends to give you the most competitive fares. If you can lock in a roundtrip under $900, you're doing well — standard fares push past $1,200, so booking two to four months ahead is genuinely worth the calendar reminder. The route runs year-round, but October through March is the sweet spot: cooler temperatures, clearer skies, and the city at its most alive with festivals and ceremony.
Varanasi's Lal Bahadur Shastri Airport sits outside the city, and pre-paid taxis and auto-rickshaws are available to get you into the centre. The old city's lanes are famously narrow, so expect to walk the final stretch to most guesthouses near the ghats — pack light if you can.
And the ghats themselves are the reason you came. The long stone steps descending to the Ganges are the beating heart of the city, where daily life, death, and devotion play out completely in the open. The pre-dawn boat ride along the river is something that genuinely defies easy description — mist rising off the water, oil lamps floating downstream, the sound of bells and chanting drifting from the temples. The evening Ganga Aarti ceremony at Dashashwamedh Ghat is equally extraordinary, a choreographed fire ritual that draws locals and visitors alike every single night.
Beyond the river, Varanasi's winding lanes are full of silk weavers, chai stalls, and centuries-old temples. The city is famous for its Banarasi silk sarees, and browsing the workshops is both a cultural experience and a chance to bring home something genuinely special.
One tip worth taking seriously: arrive with a few extra days built in. Varanasi has a way of slowing time, and the travellers who rush it almost always wish they hadn't.