Ayodhya, Varanasi, Prayagraj from Lucknow — 6-Day Route & Cost (2026)

Six days is the right length for this loop from Lucknow: one night in Ayodhya, two or three in Varanasi, one in Prayagraj, and about 680–720 km of driving. Every leg is under five hours, so you reach each city before its evening aarti. Below: the day-by-day route, verified timings, boat and ticket prices, and 2026 car costs.

🗺️ Why this order of cities works

Lucknow is the natural start because it has the best flight and train connections of the four. From there the circuit runs clockwise: Ayodhya is the shortest hop, Varanasi the longest, and Prayagraj sits almost on the way back. No single leg exceeds about 230 km.

Running it anticlockwise (Prayagraj first) also works, but you would then arrive in Varanasi late on a long day and miss the aarti. If you are coming from Delhi instead of Lucknow, our Delhi to Varanasi darshan guide covers the trains and the VIP pass in detail.

📅 The six days, day by day

This plan assumes a morning start from Lucknow and a car for the whole circuit. Swap days 3 and 4 if your Sugam darshan slot falls on a different morning.

1. Day 1 — Lucknow to Ayodhya (about 135 km). Leave by 9 AM, reach Ayodhya for lunch, visit Hanuman Garhi after it reopens at 4 PM, then Saryu aarti at Ram ki Paidi in the evening.

2. Day 2 — Ram Mandir, then drive to Varanasi. Darshan in the 7–11:30 AM window, Kanak Bhawan on the way out, then the 4.5–5 hour drive to Varanasi. Check in near Godowlia and sleep early.

3. Day 3 — Kashi Vishwanath and the ghats. Early darshan, Kaal Bhairav and Annapurna temples by late morning, a sunrise or sunset boat along the ghats, and Ganga aarti at Dashashwamedh.

4. Day 4 — Sarnath and the old city. Sarnath (about 10 km) is open sunrise to sunset; return for Sankat Mochan and Durga Kund.

5. Day 5 — Varanasi to Prayagraj (about 125 km). Sangam snan and boat ride before noon, Bade Hanuman darshan, Akshayavat inside the fort if it is open, Anand Bhawan if time allows.

6. Day 6 — Prayagraj to Lucknow (about 200 km). Leave after breakfast and reach Lucknow by early afternoon for an evening flight or train.

With elderly parents, give Varanasi three nights and drop Sarnath. The old city involves walking on uneven lanes and the ghats mean steps.

🙏 Ayodhya: Ram Mandir and Hanuman Garhi

Ram Lalla darshan is free. The published windows are roughly 7:00–11:30 AM and 2:00–7:00 PM, with the temple shut in between for bhog and rest. A free Sugam darshan or aarti e-pass can be booked on the trust portal online.srjbtkshetra.org; slots open about 15 days ahead and go within minutes.

Hanuman Garhi is the custom first stop in Ayodhya. It is open 5:00–11:30 AM and 4:00–10:00 PM, with the 76 steps up being the only real effort. Kanak Bhawan, a short walk away, opens 8:00–11:30 AM and 4:30–9:30 PM.

Saryu aarti at Ram ki Paidi happens every evening around dusk, usually between 6 and 7 PM depending on the season. If you are travelling in late October, read our Ayodhya Deepotsav guide first, because the town fills completely that week.

🔱 Varanasi: Kashi Vishwanath darshan and Ganga aarti

The temple complex is open from roughly 2:30 AM to 11 PM. General darshan runs from about 4:00 AM to 11:00 AM, pauses for the Bhog aarti, resumes around 12:20 PM until 7:00 PM, and opens again briefly between 8:30 and 9:00 PM.

Sugam darshan is the paid fast-track. It is booked only on the trust site shrikashivishwanath.org and costs about ₹250–300 per person in 2026; it includes a separate queue, a locker and prasad. Mangala aarti tickets (3:00–4:00 AM) cost around ₹500 and sell out days ahead.

• Sugam darshan entry is through Gate 4 near Godowlia; the general queue uses Gates 1 and 2.

• Phones, cameras, belts and bags are banned; paid lockers near the gates charge roughly ₹20–50 per item.

• Carry a printed or saved ticket and the same ID you booked with.

Ganga aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat starts around 5:45 PM between October and March and around 6:45 PM between April and September, lasting about 45 minutes. The ghat fills an hour early; a hired boat moored in front gives a better view than the steps.

🌊 Prayagraj: Sangam snan and Bade Hanuman

The Triveni Sangam is where the Ganga, Yamuna and the unseen Saraswati meet, and the snan is done from a boat at the confluence itself.

Shared boats cost about ₹100–150 per person; a private rowing boat for a family runs roughly ₹500–1,000, and motor boats more. Rates are posted on boards at the ghat but still get negotiated, and they rise sharply during Magh Mela.

Bade Hanuman, the reclining Hanuman ji beside the Sangam, is open 5:00 AM–2:00 PM and 5:00–8:00 PM, later on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Akshayavat and Patalpuri temple sit inside the army-controlled fort, and public hours there change without notice.

Magh Mela 2027 runs from mid-January to early March, with Mauni Amavasya on 6 February 2027 the biggest bathing day. Avoid those dates unless the crowd is the point. Families combining this circuit with pind daan should read our Kashi, Gaya and Prayagraj pind daan guide.

💰 What the circuit costs in 2026

Car hire is the biggest line. Operators in Varanasi, Ayodhya and Lucknow quoted ₹11–13 per km for a sedan and about ₹18–22 per km for an Innova Crysta in 2026, usually with a minimum daily distance on multi-day hires, plus driver allowance and tolls.

Hotels in Varanasi near Godowlia and Assi Ghat run ₹1,000–3,000 for a clean budget room and ₹3,500–6,000 for mid-range in the October–March peak. Ayodhya rooms start around ₹1,000.

🧭 Best months and the mistakes to avoid

October to March is the season: daytime 20–25°C, cold mornings on the ghats, and Dev Deepavali on 24 November 2026. April to June is brutal, with Varanasi touching 45°C, and July to September floods the lower ghats and submerges Bade Hanuman for weeks.

• With elderly parents: book Sugam darshan in Varanasi, stay within walking distance of Godowlia, and skip the midnight Mangala aarti.

• On a budget: take general darshan on a weekday morning, use shared boats, and stay a little away from the ghats.

• On a tight schedule: cut Sarnath and Anand Bhawan; five days works if you drive Prayagraj to Lucknow the same evening.

• With children: the boat ride at sunrise and the Sangam are the highlights; keep temple queues short with passes.

Mistakes we see every season: arriving in Varanasi after 5 PM and missing the aarti, carrying phones to the temple gate and losing an hour at lockers, and planning Prayagraj on a Magh Mela snan day without knowing it.

🏨 Where to stay on the circuit

In Varanasi, stay between Godowlia and Assi Ghat so both the temple and Dashashwamedh are walkable; cars cannot enter the inner lanes, so a hotel on the Godowlia road saves a long walk with bags.

In Ayodhya, anything along Ram Path or near the Saryu is fine for one night. In Prayagraj, Civil Lines is central and quiet, about 15 minutes from the Sangam.

Fix your Sugam slot and the aarti evening first, and let the rest of the circuit fall around them. Har Har Mahadev, Jai Shri Ram.