There are many interesting places for outing from Shillong.
Cherrapunji
or Sohra as called locally is around 60 km south of Shillong. It holds the world record for the highest rainfall ever in a calendar year. It is famous for its various waterfalls most famous of all Noh Kalikai Falls and limestone caves. The Monsoon is the best time to enjoy thundering waterfalls. Limestone caves are full of stalactites and stalagmites and you will find many adventurous souls venturing deep into them.Umiam
is a water sports complex, developed upon the reservoir of the Umiam Hydro Electric Project, around 20 km north of Shillong. The campus consists of a lake resort and a park. It also offers many water sports activities.Sacred Forest
or Mawphlang as called locally are groves around 25 km away from Shillong. These are considered sacred by Khasis and people were forbidden to enter them earlier. This ensured protection of a dense growth of several kinds of trees including the Khasi pine. The heavily covered grounds around the forests facilitating growth of ferns and orchids most of them endemic.Mawsynram
is 56 km from Shillong and is known for the Giant Stalagmite formation shaped into a "Shivalinga" and found inside a cave known locally as Mawjymbuin. It also gets the heaviest rainfalls in world in recent years.Jakrem
64 km from Shillong, is a hot-spring of sulphur water, believed to have curative medicinal properties.Jaintia Hills
This is not a hot tourist spot but one can find a beautiful lake, a 700 hundred years old Durga temple and a rock garden.