Har Ki Pauri and the Ganga aarti
- Entry
- Free
- Hours
- Open all day; aarti at sunset – Aarti runs about an hour
- Needs
- 1.5–2 hours including the aarti
Turn for the guide’s part →
Licensed tour guides · Haridwar, Uttarakhand
Hire a tour guide in Haridwar
A licensed guide in Haridwar is ₹1,500 for a full day of eight hours and ₹900 for a half day of four, in English — 10 languages are available, from ₹1,200 to ₹3,000 a day. This page carries all 4 of the city's main monuments with their entry fees and opening hours, a half-day and a full-day itinerary, and the licence basis you can check before you pay.
Full day · 8 hours
₹1,500
Half day · 4 hours
₹900
Languages
10 available
Monuments covered
4
Guiding in Haridwar
What a guide is actually for in Haridwar
Haridwar is a working pilgrimage town rather than a monument city, and a guide here does almost none of the things a guide does in Agra. There are no ticket tiers to navigate and nothing to queue for. What there is: a riverfront organised around one ghat and one ceremony, three hill temples reached by cable car, and a set of customs — where to bathe, what to do with the leaf-boat of flowers, which of the men offering to perform a ritual for you is actually a priest — that a visitor cannot read unaided.
Orientation. Har Ki Pauri is the centre of everything, in the old town on the Ganges canal. Mansa Devi sits on Bilwa Parvat directly above it and Chandi Devi on Neel Parvat across the river, both reached by cable car. Daksha Mahadev is four kilometres south at Kankhal. Rishikesh is twenty-five kilometres upstream.
What it costs
Guide rates in Haridwar
The fee below is for an English-speaking guide. The guide fee is set by language rather than by city, so the ten-language table underneath applies in Haridwar exactly as it does in Delhi. The vehicle half of a bundled day is the site's published 4 hr / 40 km and 8 hr / 80 km rental package — every total here is two published rates added together.
Half day
4 hours, 40 km included
₹900guide only
With a vehicle and driver
- Sedan (Swift Dzire / Honda Amaze) — 4 seats
- ₹2,400
- SUV (Ertiga / Innova) — 6–7 seats
- ₹3,100
- Innova Crysta — 7 seats
- ₹3,700
Guide ₹900 plus the published 4 hr / 40 km rental package. Monument entry tickets are paid at the gate and are not included.
Full day
8 hours, 80 km included
₹1,500guide only
With a vehicle and driver
- Sedan (Swift Dzire / Honda Amaze) — 4 seats
- ₹4,000
- SUV (Ertiga / Innova) — 6–7 seats
- ₹5,000
- Innova Crysta — 7 seats
- ₹6,000
Guide ₹1,500 plus the published 8 hr / 80 km rental package. Monument entry tickets are paid at the gate and are not included.
The half-day guide fee is 60% of the day rate, rounded up to the nearest ₹50. Monument entry is extra and listed by monument below.
All ten languages, in Haridwar
| Language | Half day | Full day | Who it serves | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hindi हिन्दी | ₹750 | ₹1,200 | Domestic travellers from across India, and NRI families returning with relatives | Hindi in Haridwar |
| English English | ₹900 | ₹1,500 | United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Singapore, South Africa | English in Haridwar |
| Russian Русский | ₹1,500 | ₹2,500 | Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Armenia | Russian in Haridwar |
| French Français | ₹1,700 | ₹2,800 | France, Belgium, Switzerland, Québec, Morocco, Tunisia | French in Haridwar |
| German Deutsch | ₹1,700 | ₹2,800 | Germany, Austria, German-speaking Switzerland, South Tyrol | German in Haridwar |
| Italian Italiano | ₹1,700 | ₹2,800 | Italy, Italian-speaking Switzerland, San Marino | Italian in Haridwar |
| Portuguese Português | ₹1,700 | ₹2,800 | Brazil, Portugal, Angola, Mozambique | Portuguese in Haridwar |
| Spanish Español | ₹1,700 | ₹2,800 | Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru, United States (Hispanic travellers) | Spanish in Haridwar |
| Japanese 日本語 | ₹1,800 | ₹3,000 | Japan — independent travellers and organised group tours | Japanese in Haridwar |
| Mandarin 中文 | ₹1,800 | ₹3,000 | Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia | Mandarin in Haridwar |
What you will see
Haridwar's monuments, and what they cost at the gate
Every figure is taken from this site's own published guide to that monument, linked from each card and row. None of them closes for a weekly rest day.
Haridwar monuments · 1 of 4
Har Ki Pauri and the Ganga aarti
- Entry — Indian
- Free
- Entry — foreign
- Free
- Hours
- Open all day; aarti at sunset – Aarti runs about an hour
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours including the aarti
Turn a card for the guide’s part
Har Ki Pauri and the Ganga aarti
The ghat where the Ganges is formally received onto the plain. The evening aarti is the larger of the two on this stretch of river and the one most pilgrims come for.
Mansa Devi Temple
- Entry
- Free; cable car charged separately
- Hours
- 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Needs
- 1.5 hours with the cable car queue
Turn for the guide’s part →
Mansa Devi Temple
On Bilwa Parvat above the town, reached by the Udan Khatola cable car or a steep walk of about 1.5 km
Chandi Devi Temple
- Entry
- Free; cable car charged separately
- Hours
- 6:00 AM – 8:00 PM
- Needs
- 2 hours
Turn for the guide’s part →
Chandi Devi Temple
On Neel Parvat across the river, also reached by cable car. The walk up is about 3 km and takes an hour.
Daksha Mahadev Temple
- Entry
- Free
- Hours
- 6:00 AM – 7:30 PM
- Needs
- 45 minutes
Turn for the guide’s part →
Daksha Mahadev Temple
At Kankhal, four kilometres south. Quieter than the ghat, and the Shiva temple with the oldest claim in the town.
| Monument | Entry — Indian | Entry — foreign | Hours | Closed | Time needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Har Ki Pauri and the Ganga aarti | Free | Free | Open all day; aarti at sunset – Aarti runs about an hour | Open all days | 1.5–2 hours including the aarti |
| Mansa Devi Temple | Free; cable car charged separately | Free; cable car charged separately | 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM | Open all days | 1.5 hours with the cable car queue |
| Chandi Devi Temple | Free; cable car charged separately | Free; cable car charged separately | 6:00 AM – 8:00 PM | Open all days | 2 hours |
| Daksha Mahadev Temple | Free | Free | 6:00 AM – 7:30 PM | Open all days | 45 minutes |
4 of 4 carry a published entry fee. Where one is not shown it is because this site holds no verified figure for it, and a gap is better than an unchecked number.
The shape of the day
A half day and a full day in Haridwar
Both plans are written against this city's own monument opening hours, which is why the start times are what they are.
Half day · ₹900 guide
The ghat and the aarti
Haridwar belongs at the end of the afternoon. The aarti is at sunset and everything else here is a short walk or a cable car.
- 15:30
Hotel pickup
The car gets you to the edge of the old town; the last stretch to the ghat is on foot and the guide walks it with you.
- 16:00
Mansa Devi by cable car
Up Bilwa Parvat for the view over the town and the canal. The queue is the slow part, and the guide will tell you whether it is worth it on the day.
- 17:15
The old-town bazaar on foot
Brass, rudraksha, ayurvedic shops and the sweet stalls, between the cable car and the ghat.
- 18:00
Ganga aarti at Har Ki Pauri
On the steps, an hour. Your guide finds you a place to sit, explains the sequence, and tells you what the leaf-boat of flowers is for before someone sells you one.
- 19:15
Drop
The 4 hr / 40 km package covers the afternoon.
Full day · ₹1,500 guide
Haridwar and Rishikesh — the river from both ends
The better full day here takes both towns: Rishikesh is where the Ganges leaves the mountains and Haridwar is where it reaches the plain, twenty-five kilometres apart and completely different places.
- 08:30
Hotel pickup
Start in Haridwar while the ghat is quiet and the morning bathers are still there.
- 09:00
Har Ki Pauri in the morning
A different place from the evening — working, unceremonial, and far easier to understand before the crowd arrives.
- 10:00
Daksha Mahadev at Kankhal
Four kilometres south, quiet, and the temple with the oldest claim in the town.
- 11:15
Chandi Devi by cable car
Across the river and up Neel Parvat. Two hours including the queue.
- 13:30
Lunch
Vegetarian, and no alcohol anywhere in town — both are rules here rather than preferences. Paid separately.
- 14:30
Drive to Rishikesh
Twenty-five kilometres, about forty-five minutes.
- 15:30
Lakshman Jhula and Ram Jhula
The two footbridges and the ashram bank between them — ashram, temple, ghat and akhara are four different things and this walk passes all four.
- 18:00
Back for the Haridwar aarti, or stay for Rishikesh
Both are at sunset, so you are choosing. Har Ki Pauri is the larger; Parmarth Niketan in Rishikesh is easier to follow.
- 19:30
Drop at hotel
The 8 hr / 80 km package covers both towns within the included distance.
The fare, stated plainly
What is in the price and what is not
What the fare covers
- A Ministry-of-Tourism licensed Regional Level Guide for the Northern Region
- The guide’s licence card photographed and sent on WhatsApp at confirmation, before anything is paid
- An AC vehicle with a driver on the published rental package, if you take the bundled rate
- Driver waiting at every stop for the full package duration — no re-booking between sights
- Fuel, tolls within the package distance, parking at the monuments, and the driver’s allowance
- Ticket-counter help: which tier to buy, which gate to use, and which queue is the short one
What it does not
- Monument entry tickets, paid at the gate — the Haridwar figures are in the table on this page
- Meals, shopping and any optional activity during the day
- Distance beyond the package’s included kilometres, at the published per-km rate
- Guide and driver gratuity, customary but never compulsory
- Monument camera or video charges where the monument levies them
Ministry of Tourism, Government of India
Regional Level Guide (RLG)
- Language examined in
- Ten languages
- Licensing region
- Northern Region
- Full day · 8 hours
- ₹1,500
- Half day · 4 hours
- ₹900
Every licence card carries a photograph, a licence number, the issuing region and the languages the holder is examined in. We send a photograph of the card on WhatsApp when a booking is confirmed, before you pay anything, so you can check the number, the region and the language against the guide who meets you.
The credential
What a government guide licence is, and how to check one
A Regional Level Guide licence is issued by the Ministry of Tourism after a written examination, an interview and a training course run through the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management. It is issued for a tourism region, not for the whole country, and it names the foreign languages the holder is examined in.
Archaeological Survey of India monuments admit licensed guides and turn away unlicensed ones at the ticket gate. An unlicensed "guide" who approaches you outside the Taj Mahal or Amber Fort cannot accompany you inside, which is why the pitch is always made in the car park.
In Haridwar: Northern Region — Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh
Questions people ask
Guides in Haridwar
FAQs
Almost nothing. Har Ki Pauri, the aarti, the temples and the ghats are all free. The two cable cars to Mansa Devi and Chandi Devi are charged separately by their operator, and that is the only ticket most visitors buy. Like Rishikesh, this is a city where the guide fee is most of what a guided day costs, because there are no entry tickets to add to it.
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Book a licensed guide in Haridwar
Send your dates, the language you want and whether you need half a day or a full one. We come back with a licensed guide, a photograph of their licence card, and the total in writing before anything is paid — from ₹900 for a half day in English.
We send the guide’s licence card before you pay anything. Nothing is charged to confirm.