Mumbai to Ujjain by Train: 2-Day Itinerary by Arrival

For a Mumbai to Ujjain by train itinerary, choose the train by its arrival time. ixigo lists four trains reaching Ujjain Junction between about 06:25 and 16:45 (aggregator snapshot, 5 October 2026), and the 07:30 Avantika Express gives you a full two days. Confirm times and running days on IRCTC or the National Train Enquiry System (NTES) before you book.

This guide starts with the timetable and then builds the visit around your arrival slot, the temple day and the return train. If you would rather have the stops arranged, we also plan trips for groups from other cities, and our Ujjain tour package page shows an example written for travellers from Pune.

Mumbai to Ujjain by train: which arrival slot suits you

ixigo lists four trains from the Mumbai region to Ujjain Junction. Other aggregators may list more or fewer, and a special train can be added or withdrawn between seasons, so treat the table as a snapshot and not a timetable. Only two of the four run every day.

A few notes on reading this. The Daund-Indore Express is listed by ixigo as leaving from Kalyan Junction, which is outside Mumbai city, and another aggregator snippet gave a different Mumbai boarding point, so confirm where you board. The 09079 is a special, so check that it runs on your date. The 22196 runs only two days a week, so it works only if your trip fits those days.

The Avantika Express is the best known of the four. Wikipedia describes 12961/12962 as a daily Western Railway train between Mumbai Central and Indore Junction, with stops that include Surat, Vadodara, Ratlam and Ujjain Junction, and a list of classes from AC First Class to General. It also gives a journey time of 12 hours 10 minutes, which looks like a conflict with ixigo's 10 hours 35 minutes. The gap is simply the end point: Wikipedia times the whole run to Indore, while ixigo times it to Ujjain, where the schedule shows an arrival of 07:30 and a departure of 07:35. You can read the full schedule on the Avantika Superfast Express page.

Which train for which traveller

This is our reading of the table, not an official recommendation. If your dates are fixed to a weekend, the two daily trains, 22943 and 12961, are the safest base because they do not depend on a weekday pattern. If you are travelling with older parents or young children, the Avantika Express arrival at 07:30 is easier than a 06:25 arrival, but its five-minute halt at Ujjain means someone should handle the luggage while others step off. If you want the longest possible Day 1, the 06:25 arrival gives the most hours, at the cost of a very early arrival and a boarding point outside Mumbai city. The two weekly trains suit flexible travellers who can change dates to fit them.

Plan by arrival slot

The time you step off at Ujjain Junction decides what you can do on Day 1, because Ujjain is a temple city and most of what you want to see is in one part of town. Our sister guide at ujjaintourandtravel.com puts Ujjain Junction about 2 km from Mahakaleshwar. The sights below are the stops covered in our Ujjain 2-day itinerary, so read that page for the full order and detail.

Morning arrival (06:25-07:30)

This is the slot that fits two days best. With the Daund-Indore Express at 06:25 or the Avantika Express at 07:30, you reach Ujjain before most hotels hand over rooms. Ask the hotel in advance about early check-in or luggage storage, so you can freshen up and start the temple day without waiting for a room. Darshan rules, timings and any advance passes are published on the official Mahakaleshwar temple site, and you should read them before you travel; we do not quote timings here because we could not read them reliably.

Late-morning arrival (10:50)

The 09079 special gets in at 10:50, which is a gentle option if you do not want a pre-dawn start. You lose the morning, so treat Day 1 as a settling day: rest, eat, and visit Mahakaleshwar later in the day if the temple rules allow. Because this is a special that runs on listed days only, have a fallback plan if the train is cancelled.

Afternoon arrival (16:45)

The 22196 arrives in the late afternoon, so Day 1 is mostly an evening. Use it to check in, eat and walk the Mahakal Lok Corridor if you still have energy, and keep the main temple visit for the next morning. This slot gives you one full day and two evenings, which is fine for a short trip but tight if you want the whole circuit.

A 2-day Ujjain plan after an overnight train

After a night in a coach, avoid packing Day 1 too tightly. Put the one fixed commitment, the main temple visit, first and let the rest follow your energy.

Day 1

Arrive, freshen up and go to Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga first. Our 2-day itinerary then moves to Ram Ghat, Kal Bhairav Temple and Harsiddhi Temple in the afternoon and a walk through the Mahakal Lok Corridor in the evening. If you are on the late arrival, replace the morning with rest.

Day 2 and the return train

Day 2 in the same plan covers Chintaman Ganesh, Gadkalika and Sandipani Ashram in the morning, Vedh Shala Observatory and Kaliadeh Palace in the afternoon, and shopping at Freeganj in the evening. The return train decides how much of this you can keep, which is why the next section matters.

One practical warning about the Avantika Express. It does not end at Ujjain; it continues to Indore Junction, and Wikipedia's schedule gives only a five-minute halt at Ujjain Junction, from 07:30 to 07:35. Have bags and bottles packed before the stop, because missing it means a long way back. Our sister guide says Indore Junction is about 55 km from Ujjain by taxi, roughly 1.5 hours, and Ratlam is about 100 km away, so those are fallback points and not shortcuts.

Choosing the return train and keeping a buffer

For the way back, the Avantika Express number reverses to 12962. Wikipedia's schedule shows it arriving at Ujjain Junction at 18:50 and leaving at 18:55, on a run that takes 13 hours 5 minutes end to end. That is an evening departure, which suits a trip where you spend the whole of Day 2 in Ujjain, but timings on Wikipedia can lag, so verify the current time on IRCTC or NTES.

The reasoning for a buffer is simple, and it is ours, not a railway rule. Queues, traffic near the temple and a late auto can each cost time, and a missed train wastes the whole trip. Plan to leave the temple area well before you need to reach the station, and check your train's running status on NTES on the day. If your return is the Avantika Express, keep your last stop on Day 2 close to the station.

Train or road from Mumbai?

If you are weighing a car, our own road-trip guide puts the drive at about 640 km, 10 to 12 hours of driving plus stops, with Indore about 580 km from Mumbai. Compare that with the train times above and decide by how you want to arrive.

Our Mumbai to Ujjain road trip guide covers the drive in detail. If you are comparing cities, the same logic applies to our Ujjain trip from Delhi by train guide.

Pre-booking checklist

Before you pay for tickets or a hotel, run through these points.

• Verify the train: confirm the departure station, time and running days on IRCTC or NTES. The times above are an aggregator snapshot from 5 October 2026.
• Book early for peak dates: our sister guide says trains sell out around Shravan Mondays and Mahashivratri, so reserve as soon as your dates are fixed.
• Check the boarding point: the Daund-Indore Express is listed from Kalyan Junction, not Mumbai Central.
• Plan the first morning: ask your hotel about early check-in or luggage storage.
• Read the temple rules: darshan timings and any advance pass are on the official Mahakaleshwar site.
• Pick the return train first: your last day depends on it.

Want this trip planned for you? Contact us and tell us your dates and group size.

Written and reviewed by the Ujjain Tours & Travels editorial team. Facts checked against primary sources; see the reference above.

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