[advaitlele]

Thanks for pointing me to this thread, somehow, I am away from T-bhp for past few days.

I would agree broadly what Fauji has recommended. Except for one - if you can squeeze a day for Ahmedabad, its worth every moment. There is a lot to explore there, as a tourist, as a photographer, as a shopaholic, as a foodie...the list goes on. And when you are out, food and shopping I guess would be top priority. Dont miss this.

You need to make early start from Pune. Try to touch express way around 4.30. I usually leave home around 4 and I am at first tollbooth around 4.45. This way, you would miss the Panvel/Thane and then Ghodbunder traffic. Try to have a breakfast at Silvermiles or Kamat. You should be at Manor by 8 or 8.30 given the early start. You can relax a bit and have a leisurely breakfast, your baby can have milk / change clothes etc. and then start again. We usually pickup the kid in the homeclothes and he would sleep in the car and wake up at Silvermiles. Thereon, its a straight an no nonsense road throughout.

Even if you maintain 80/90 speed, you can reach A'bad around 5 with good breaks in between. This is from my last exp - I started from A'bad at 4 (from near Iskon temple) and reached home in Aundh, Pune around 4.30.

All the best for your travel. BTW, what is the date? I am driving to Vadodara for Diwali 22nd morning.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by adalvi

I am also planning a trip to Rajasthan during Diwali vacation. "Chewbacca", sorry I am using this thread to get answers to my queries as well. Thought it's good to include in this instead of creating a new thread. Hope you won't mind

I am planning the trip from 25th Oct - 1st Nov and here goes my plan. I would like to know your suggestions & whether it is feasible along with my 1.5yr old daughter (considering the stop overs etc)

25th Oct Pune - Mumbai (staying at relatives place)
26th Oct Mumbai - Udaipur
27th Oct Udaipur (sieghtseeing)
28th Oct Udaipur - Ranakpur - Jodhpur
29th Oct Jodhpur - Mount-Abu
30th Oct Mount-Abu
31st Oct Mount-Abu - Mumbai
1st Nov Mumbai - Pune

We did a longer trip with a 2yr old so dont worry about that.Details on the tlogue:http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...than-m800.html

Having said that,you hardly have any time in most places.Mumbai to Udaipur is a good 15hr drive for the best people,so you would arrive tired at udp,and then you leave udp after a day;s break which is going to be too taxing considering that udaipur is a beautiful place and has lots to see and enjoy and soak in.at jodhpurif you do intend to see the mehrangarh fort,it would take up an entire day from morning.I would suggest that you do BOM-Udaipur-mt abu-Mumbai and keep jodhpur for later when you do decide to visit jaisalmer else its going to be too tiring and taxing with hardly any time for anything and plus the diwali rush isnt going to make anything any easier.

[Sudipto-S-Team]

I am planning a similar trip from Calcutta, starting Sunday, 2nd October. I will be entering Rajasthan from Jhansi/Kota side. Keeping the desert sector out of this trip due to paucity of time but want to concentrate on Udaipur, Kumbhalgarh and Ranakpur and then exit through Jaipur.

[hvkumar]

A few tips:

- Traffic from Ghodbunder towards Manor (NH8 north of Bombay) is very heavy in the early morning hours thanks to road widening and flyover construction work.

- The NH8 bypass between Ankleshwar & Bharuch sees huge traffic jams very often and the recent attempts to create a special left lane for cars has not been successful yet. Therefore, it may be a better idea to turn off NH8 into Ankleshwar town (see signages) and go straight through to cross the River Narmada on the "Golden" Bridge, go past Bharuch town for next 2 kms and take a right that will lead you back to NH8. This you may have to do when you are going north. When coming back south, stick to the left hand lane and after the toll gate before the bridge take the left most lane to cross the river over the old bridge which is closed for repairs and restricted for heavier vehicles.

- On the Baroda-Ahmedabad expressway, to go to either Udaipur or Mehsana (if going to Abu Road), take teh Sardar Patel Ring Road and do not go to the end of the eway which takes you into the city. Watch out for the signages for Rajkot/Sarkhej (if you want to go to Mt Abu) or the Himmatnagar/Udaipur (for Udaipur). Both these exits are next to each other and are the second last exit before the end of the eway.

- In Udaipur bypass, please note to take NH76 towards Chittorgarh if going to Jaipur (and not NH8). Go on NH8 to Nathdwara only if going to Kumbhalgarh/Ranakpur.

- You will face heavy truck traffic on the narrow NH14 that leads to Jodhpur. Therefore, you may face difficulties in night driving.

- If you want to go to Karni Mata "Rat" temple at Deshnoke, please note that it is around 25 kms before Bikaner on the Jodhpur-Bikaner highway. Visit it on the way to Bikaner from Jodhpur.

- NH8 between Kishangarh & Ajmer are a mess thanks to road widening. It is better to come to Ajmer from Kishanafgrh via NH79 (Bhilwara Road) and turn right at Nasirabad instead of coming direct on NH8.

[Chewbacca]

vivek_vt, fauji, parsh and ranjitp1 have managed to lead me astray
Jaisalmer via Barmer is now in the plan for a whopping 3 nights!!!

Click on the link below to see the final route, only the night halts are marked.
http://g.co/maps/jsm4p

Also, advaitlele's description of A'bad has convinced me halt there for 2 nights.

Jaipur is dropped; I will do it next time along with Agra/Fatehpur Sikri.

Mount Abu and Chittorgarh are optional; depends on our energy levels.

This is almost final and now I am booking RTDC hotels, I believe thay are all good. Let me know if any particular RTDC hotel is not good.

Ahmedabad 2 nights
28th Fri: Pune to A'bad
29th Sat: A'bad tour / shopping

Jaisalmer 3 nights
30th Sun: A'bad - Modhera Temple (optional) - Jaisalmer
31st Mon: Jaisalmer tour / Dunes
1st Tue: Jaisalmer tour / Tanot (optional)

Bikaner 2 nights
2nd Wed: Jaisalmer to Bikaner
3rd Thu: Bikaner tour

Jodhpur 2 nights
4th Fri: Bikaner-Karni Mata Temple-Jodhpur.
5th Sat: Jodhpur tour / shopping

Kumbhalgarh 1 night
6th Sun: Jodhpur-Ranakpur-Kumbhalgarh

Udaipur 3 nights
7th Mon: Kumbhalgarh - M'Abu (optional) - Udaipur
8th Tue: Udaipur tour
9th Wed: Udaipur-Chittor-Udaypur (optional)

Vadodara 1 night
10th Thu: Udaipur to Vadodara (Hotel Plazio as suggested by HVKumar)

Pune
11th Friday back home

[ramkya1]

Hai,

Got your PM, thanks.

HVK and others have given practical suggestions on most things, however, my thoughts.

No point in stopping at Anand / Baroda, whatever time it is, get to Ahmedabad.

Pune to Ahmedabd is one day's run, I've done it a couple of times, best to target Hotal Anjaly on the ouskirts if you are skipping A'bad, will guide you near the date of your coming, call me at 0937720300 and arrange rooms if you want, A/C would be 700 and non ac would be 500/- and on the highway. I would not be available between 21st Oct and 12th Nov.

If you come inside Ahmedabad, will suggest Hotel Platinum Inn / Hotel Nest / Other ones, will PM you numbers, we have many corporate hotels and you'd get discounts.

If you do come it it would be 25-40 KM extra one way in off the highway, come in if you want to spend the extra day. The shopping is half a day's job around the old city in the whole sale market, lots of walking, and Law Garden area for some authentic Gujrati dresses.

A'bad Modhera - Rani Ka Vav + shopping is tough in 1 day; only way to do both is you start 8 am, go to Modhera, Rani Ka Vav, come back to A'bad around 3, you go to sleep, your family go for shopping and you'd be fresh to drive out next day morning.

Your latest plan looks good, good to drop out Jaipur, you can take that circuit later. It is good to drop Mt. Abu specially, for someone around Pune, there are better hill stations nearby for you. Udaiputr one day, Ranakpur + Kumbalgarh one day ( need to start early) , one day buffer in Udaipur, you can even drop Chittor.

If you get time call me, we can discuss more...

Best,

--Ramky
====

Originally Posted by Chewbacca

I am planning a 13 days tour of Rajasthan from Pune in my Lancer.
Me, wife and son and I am the one driving. We start from Pune at the end of Diwali and wish to make this a sedate and leisurely trip.



The journey starts / ends at Pune but I have only shown the night halts; this I have planned after reading various threads on T-BHP. Many thanks to HVKumar, Ramky1, GD1418, Kingshukt, advaitlele, libranof1987, athanedar, Ranjitp1, mmxylorider - who needs GPS?

I have only 12 nights to spare but lots of questions ...

1. If I get tired and don't make it to A'bad on the first day, what are my overnight stay options at Vadodara or Anand, preferrably outside the city?

2. Two nights halt at M'Abu, Bikaner, Jaipur and Udaipur. Rest are single night halts. I am entirely flexible to changes and may halt for 3 nights if there is any good hotel outside city limits with scenic beauty, where I can just relax for the whole day, no excursions.

3. Is it better to visit Ranakpur and Kumbhalgarh from M'Abu side or Udaipur side? How long does it take?

4. Enroute Jodhpur to Bikaner, Google suggested it via Phalodi but I changed it to go via Nagaur since I am visiting a friend there. Is the road via Nagaur good?

5. Wife is going to splurge on shopping, mostly jewellery, shoes, garments, blankets .... which place is better and cheap?

[vivek_vt]

Originally Posted by Chewbacca

vivek_vt, fauji, parsh and ranjitp1 have managed to lead me astray
Jaisalmer via Barmer is now in the plan for a whopping 3 nights!!!

Congrats! Happy i could influence you
Jaipur-agra different time is a good option. I think you have to travel on the jodhpur-bikaner route as you have to meet your relative. You had to leave one of Jaipur/Jaisalmer, for that to be incorporated.

You could check out my travelogue where I have written and posted pics about Chittorgarh and Udaipur. Also you have to go to jagmandir palace for a nice dinner inside the lake in Udaipur. Cover charges of 1300 per person. But totally worth it in the night. Check out the video on the opening post. Has visuals of Jagmandir palace in the night.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...road-trip.html

[adalvi]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

We did a longer trip with a 2yr old so dont worry about that.Details on the tlogue:http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...than-m800.html

Having said that,you hardly have any time in most places.Mumbai to Udaipur is a good 15hr drive for the best people,so you would arrive tired at udp,and then you leave udp after a day;s break which is going to be too taxing considering that udaipur is a beautiful place and has lots to see and enjoy and soak in.at jodhpurif you do intend to see the mehrangarh fort,it would take up an entire day from morning.I would suggest that you do BOM-Udaipur-mt abu-Mumbai and keep jodhpur for later when you do decide to visit jaisalmer else its going to be too tiring and taxing with hardly any time for anything and plus the diwali rush isnt going to make anything any easier.

Thanks for the suggestion Ranjit and what you said makes sense to me. Will modify my plan accordingly. Will drop Jodhpur for some future excursion and will continue with Udaipur and Mount Abu. Appreciate your help.

Cheers,
Ashish

[mmxylorider]

This is becoming a good source of Rajasthan related information. I am planning on a Gujarat trip as well. I can start 28 Oct evening and need to be back on 04 Nov.

My trip goes Pune-Panvel-Ahmedabad-....and I want the last destination to be Mount Abu before returning back to Pune. Everything else is flexible in between.

I will appreciate suggestions of good memorable places to see in Gujarat. I've already covered Jaipur/Jodhpur/Jaisalmer (but NOT Udaipur) couple of years ago.
Vehicle is Xylo and I will be accompanied with wifey and my 7 yr old twins.

[parsh]

Good you planned for Jaisalmer. This one you would have sorely missed later as this is the farthest end.

Mt Abu/Delwara can be anytime clubbed with other things like your Tour De Gir. Jaipur and Sawai Madhopur also can be done in later tour as you say with Sikri etc.

However, I feel that maybe you can go upto Chittorgarh, it shouldnt be too far and hectic drive from Udaipur. This may get missed out. However there may not be much than the Fort there.

Great going mate. Wish you all the luck. And I think RTDC hotels are decent.

[kalpeshc]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

A few tips:

- Traffic from Ghodbunder towards Manor (NH8 north of Bombay) is very heavy in the early morning hours thanks to road widening and flyover construction work.

When you say early morning - is it around 7 am or earlier? What time in the morning would be best to avoid this traffic? I was planning to leave early to avoid this traffic (around 7 am at Ghodbunder) so that I can get NH8 relatively traffic free. Let me know if that is not the case. I'd be leaving on Diwali morning.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by kalpeshc

When you say early morning - is it around 7 am or earlier? What time in the morning would be best to avoid this traffic? I was planning to leave early to avoid this traffic (around 7 am at Ghodbunder) so that I can get NH8 relatively traffic free. Let me know if that is not the case. I'd be leaving on Diwali morning.

Difficult Q - once upon a time, 3 am was my early morning on this road, but nowadays truck traffic is very high. If you leave too early from Bombay, get butchered in truck traffic, but if you cross south Gujarat in the morning time around 9-11 (i.e. if you leave Bombay by 7 am), you run into heavy miscellaneous traffic. Maybe, try leaving by 5 am from Bombay so that you can cross Vapi before 8 am.

[kalpeshc]

Last time around I tried leaving around noon and it was amazing - just a bit of traffic at Ghodbunder but the drive after that was a pleasure.

[advaitlele]

The plan looks good.
Follow ramky's post for things to visit in A'bad.
For shopping - authentic old city (bargaining) exp for authentic designs and cotton dresses, visit Dhalgarvad in old city area. Also you may try your hands at Law College Road and Handloom House.
For eating - don't miss WadaPav at Vijay Char Rasta and Hajmahajam and 8 flavors Panipuri at Vastrapur lake. I was in A'bad last month and that taste is still fresh on my tongue. That guy has maintained same taste which I used to relish in my college days a decade ago.

I heard after renovation and new additions, Kankaria has transformed? some one from A'bad please confirm. If so, I would also like to visit that when I am at Vadodara during Diwali.

I have pinged you my number. Do sms / call me in case of any help.
Of course ramkya1 is there for you to guide.

[carboy]

I am also planning a vacation in Rajasthan towards 3rd week of february (not driving) - want to visit Jaipur and Udaipur. Want to spend around 2 days at each place - if someone can recommend hotels (I am looking for something which is as good or as bad as Ginger hotels - clean place with decent amenities). Also what will the weather be like?
And which airport should I fly to from Bombay?