The cheapest taxi option for Ayodhya to Varanasi is a Sedan (Maruti Dzire or Toyota Etios) at ₹3,300 for a one-way booking. SUV (Innova/Ertiga) costs ₹4,500 and a 12-seater Tempo Traveller costs ₹6,900. All fares include fuel, driver and AC; tolls and state tax are additional at actual.
Road Trip Guide
Drive
Ayodhya to Varanasi
by Car
AyodhyaVaranasi
200 km · 4-5 hours drive · cab from ₹3,300
Distance
200km
Drive Time
4hrs
Highway
Cab From
₹3,300
4.9 · 10,000+ trips
What are the road stages from Ayodhya to Varanasi?
| Road stage | Distance (km) | Drive time | Road quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ayodhya to Faizabad | 10 | 20 min | Good |
| Faizabad to Sultanpur | 50 | 1 hr | Good |
| Sultanpur to Jaunpur | 80 | 1.5 hrs | Good |
| Jaunpur to Varanasi | 65 | 1.5 hrs | Good |
How far is Varanasi from Ayodhya by car?
Varanasi is approximately 200 km from Ayodhya by road, a drive of about 4-5 hours depending on traffic and stops. The recommended vehicle is a Sedan (Swift Dzire), and a one-way AC cab starts at ₹3,300 (sedan), ₹4,500 (SUV), or ₹6,900 (tempo). Toll and state tax are extra. Start by 5-6 AM for the smoothest run.
Booking a cab from Ayodhya to Varanasi? The 200 km journey takes about 4-5 hours. Choose a Sedan (Swift Dzire) to match your group size and budget. Pay one transparent fare covering tolls and driver allowance — confirmed upfront.
Your Route
Ayodhya
Ayodhya to Faizabad · 10km · Good
Faizabad to Sultanpur · 50km · Good
Sultanpur to Jaunpur · 80km · Good
Jaunpur to Varanasi · 65km · Good
Varanasi
Excellent
Good
Moderate
Poor
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Segment by Segment
The Road Ahead
4 segments · 200 km total
Ram Mandir domes visible, new pilgrim infrastructure
Approaching Ayodhya twin city, historical Faizabad
UP heartland, flat agricultural landscape
Jaunpur Shahi Bridge, Atala Mosque, Sharqi architecture
Book This Route
Ayodhya to Varanasi Cab
All-inclusive · No hidden charges
Sedan
Swift Dzire / Etios · 4 Seater
Most Popular
SUV
Innova Crysta / Ertiga · 6-7 Seater
Tempo Traveller
12-Seater AC · 12 Seater
When to Go
Seasonal Road Conditions
Winter Driving Conditions
Dec — Feb
Best for pilgrimage (Oct-Feb). Both cities have major festivals in winter — Diwali in Ayodhya is spectacular.
Driving Tips
1
This is the Ayodhya to Varanasi direction — the same road as Varanasi to Ayodhya, driven the other way, so the stops below are measured from Ayodhya
2
Leave Ayodhya by 6 AM to clear the city before the morning build-up — on a 200 km run the hour saved at the start is the hour you are not driving in the dark at the end
3
Plan a stop every two to three hours; the food stops below are listed by distance from Ayodhya
4
Combine Varanasi and Ayodhya for the ultimate spiritual road trip in UP
5
New highway connectivity has made this drive much smoother than before
6
Visit Ram Mandir early morning to avoid long queues — afternoon waits can exceed 2-3 hours
Food Stops
1Faizabad (5 km)
2Sultanpur (55 km)
3Jaunpur (135 km)
Best Car for This Trip
We recommend Sedan (Swift Dzire) for the Ayodhya to Varanasi drive. Well-maintained highway makes a sedan the perfect, cost-effective choice.
Fuel Planning
3 fuel stations along the route. Limited pumps on parts of this route — fill up at every opportunity.
The Ayodhya to Varanasi road trip by the numbers
Distance, driving time, fuel stop counts and indicative fares verified weekly against our drivers' actual route runs.
0 km
Total distance
one-way
0.0 hr
Driving time
plus stops
₹0
Sedan from
all-inclusive
0
Fuel stops
recommended en-route
The single biggest mistake first-time road-trippers make on Delhi–Manali is not stopping at Mandi for lunch. Plan your fuel and food stops in advance — it cuts your real travel time by an hour because you're not hunting for somewhere on the way.
Pankaj Singh Gaur
Founder & CEO, Triveni Cabs™
Road Trip Q&A
More about driving from Ayodhya to Varanasi
Verified against these sources
Verified against official tourism, transport and weather data. We refresh these sources quarterly.
- GOVNational Highways Authority of India (NHAI)— official toll plaza, FASTag and national-highway data(nhai.gov.in)
- GOVParivahan Seva (Ministry of Road Transport)— official commercial vehicle permit and tax portal(parivahan.gov.in)
- WIKIVaranasi (Wikipedia)— sacred city on the Ganges(en.wikipedia.org)
- GOVUttar Pradesh Tourism— official Uttar Pradesh tourism board (Agra, Varanasi, Ayodhya, Mathura, Lucknow)(uptourism.gov.in)
- WIKIRam Mandir, Ayodhya (Wikipedia)— temple in Ayodhya, UP(en.wikipedia.org)
Quick Answer
Is the drive from Ayodhya to Varanasi easier than Varanasi to Ayodhya?
The road and the distance are identical at 200 km, so the drive time is much the same at 4-5 hours. What changes is where the congestion falls: leaving Ayodhya you clear its outskirts first, and you arrive into Varanasi at whatever that city's traffic is doing when you get there.
FAQ
Ayodhya to Varanasi Road Trip FAQs
The road and the distance are identical at 200 km, so the drive time is much the same at 4-5 hours. What changes is where the congestion falls: leaving Ayodhya you clear its outskirts first, and you arrive into Varanasi at whatever that city's traffic is doing when you get there.
Faizabad (5 km) and Sultanpur (55 km) are the practical stops, and the distances given are measured from Ayodhya rather than from the other end — a point worth making, because every listing of this route online measures them the other way. Plan a break every two to three hours.
Yes, and on this direction it is worth asking specifically. A one-way drop is cheaper than a round trip when you are not coming back, and because we run the Varanasi to Ayodhya direction regularly there is a reasonable chance of pairing your trip with a return run — which is the cheapest a one-way ever gets. Call 7668570551 and ask what is going your way.
Around 6 AM, which clears Ayodhya before the morning build-up. On a 200 km day the hour you save at the start is the hour you are not driving in the dark at the far end.
Broadly yes — the plazas are the same barriers and most charge per crossing — but a return-journey rate applies at some plazas within the same day, and a plaza can occasionally be one-directional. Our toll-cost page for this corridor lists the plazas with the car and SUV figures. On a fare booked with us the toll is charged at actuals with the receipts available, so you pay what the road charged rather than an estimate.
Same road, same 200 km, and the same 4 stages in the opposite order — the detailed guide for the other direction is at /travel-by-car/varanasi-to-ayodhya. The one real difference is that Jaunpur to Varanasi is your last stage here and your first stage there, which changes what the hardest hour of the day is.
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