[jesrani]

Hello everyone. This is my first proper thread and hope I am not posting in wrong forum.
I am planning road trip to Saurashtra with wife, 2 kids and in-laws in December. We would be traveling in taxi from Umargam (Gujarat) and first going to Gondal.
I have some questions and hope you all can help:
1) From Umargam I can get Tavera and Xylo taxi, which would be more comfortable?
2) I plan to cover Junagadh, Somnath, Gir and Diu. Tentative plan as under :
Day1 : Umargam - Gondal
Day 2 and 3 : Gondal stay with relatives
Day 4 : Cover Junagadh and reach Gir by evening
Day 5 : Stay at Gir, take safaris
Day 6 : See somnath and go to Diu
Day 7 : Stay at Diu
Day 8 : Reach Gondal by evening
Day 9 or 10 : Back
Is this itinerary okay or would be too tiring?
3) Should I stay in Junagadh?
4) Where to stay in Gir?
5) Good hotel in Diu and places to see?

Hope to get some good advice.

[v&v]

Originally Posted by jesrani

Hello everyone. This is my first proper thread and hope I am not posting in wrong forum.
I am planning road trip to Saurashtra with wife, 2 kids and in-laws in December. We would be traveling in taxi from Umargam (Gujarat) and first going to Gondal.
I have some questions and hope you all can help:
1) From Umargam I can get Tavera and Xylo taxi, which would be more comfortable?
2) I plan to cover Junagadh, Somnath, Gir and Diu. Tentative plan as under :
Day1 : Umargam - Gondal
Day 2 and 3 : Gondal stay with relatives
Day 4 : Cover Junagadh and reach Gir by evening
Day 5 : Stay at Gir, take safaris
Day 6 : See somnath and go to Diu
Day 7 : Stay at Diu
Day 8 : Reach Gondal by evening
Day 9 or 10 : Back
Is this itinerary okay or would be too tiring?
3) Should I stay in Junagadh?
4) Where to stay in Gir?
5) Good hotel in Diu and places to see?

Hope to get some good advice.

I did this sector in first week October. Here is the link
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...1-3500kms.html

The itinerary is ok. Gondal - Gir is easily doable in a day. Junagadh - Gir is about 60km. In Junagadh - Uparkot, Ashoka Edicts are the main attraction.

[jesrani]

Originally Posted by v&v

I did this sector in first week October. Here is the link
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...1-3500kms.html

The itinerary is ok. Gondal - Gir is easily doable in a day. Junagadh - Gir is about 60km. In Junagadh - Uparkot, Ashoka Edicts are the main attraction.

Thanks for the suggestions. So its not required to stay in junagadh, right? Is 2 nights at gir a bit too much? Where did you stay in gir?
Do you have any idea about diu? Or would you suggest we skip it and see Porbandar/dwarka instead?

[v&v]

Even we skipped Diu, as it only beaches & Portuguese fort. IMO dwarka/porbandar will be better. Return via jamnagar - Gondal.

Gir 2 nights , it depends, Safari is always fun and if family enjoys it, then nothing like it. Lot to explore and trek. We stayed at Clubmahindra Safari resort. Fantastic accommodation. You can check with them for availability.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by jesrani

Hello everyone. This is my first proper thread and hope I am not posting in wrong forum.
I am planning road trip to Saurashtra with wife, 2 kids and in-laws in December. We would be traveling in taxi from Umargam (Gujarat) and first going to Gondal.
I have some questions and hope you all can help:
1) From Umargam I can get Tavera and Xylo taxi, which would be more comfortable?

Xylo, any day.

Originally Posted by jesrani

2) I plan to cover Junagadh, Somnath, Gir and Diu. Tentative plan as under :
Day1 : Umargam - Gondal
Day 2 and 3 : Gondal stay with relatives
Day 4 : Cover Junagadh and reach Gir by evening
Day 5 : Stay at Gir, take safaris
Day 6 : See somnath and go to Diu
Day 7 : Stay at Diu
Day 8 : Reach Gondal by evening
Day 9 or 10 : Back
Is this itinerary okay or would be too tiring?
3) Should I stay in Junagadh?
4) Where to stay in Gir?
5) Good hotel in Diu and places to see?

Hope to get some good advice.

Gondal to Junagadh shouldn't take more than one & a half hours. The roads upto Junagadh are excellent. But to cover Junagadh( and if you plan to climb Girnar), you'll have to start quite early from Gondal. You can quite easily reach Gir by evening. There are two-three resorts inside Gir, but I never stayed there, so I cannot comment on the hotel standards.

If you want to come to Somnath (Veraval), from Gir ,you'll have to take the Talala-Veraval route, which I am told is quite bad. You can cover all the temples in Veraval in a day and reach Diu by evening. I am not sure how the roads from Veraval to Diu are. I am going to Diu tomorrow to pick up some relatives who are coming down from Mumbai. I will post how the roads are in that stretch day after tomorrow.

In Diu, you can see many places, the old Portuguese fort is a must visit( you need 2-3 hours if you really want to enjoy the place & walk around). Quite near to the fort are the churches. There's Nagoa beach if you want to have a quick dip in the sea. There's a war memorial dedicated to the INS Khukri(F149), the Indian Navy Frigate which was sunk by Pak Navy submarine in the1971 war off Diu. Be advised though, many of the locals don't know about this place, which is quite shameful really. When I went looking for his place for the first time, I ended up going on a wild goose chase around Diu, till I eventually gave up. I came to know later that I must ask for "Jallandar Beach" to go to INS Khukri Memorial.It has a full scale mock up of the frigate and is a tribute to the the brave crew & captain of the ship.

Indian Navy | INS Khukri Memorial [www.bharat-rakshak.com]

There are quite a few hotels in Diu to stay. There's Hotel Radhika in Nagoa beach, which his quite costly. In the main city, there are a couple of hotels which are cheapish.

[jesrani]

Thank you all for the replies.
Now in a confusion whether to go to Diu or to Dwarka.
Also not sure about spending 2 nights in Gir.

@skanchan95, await your report about road to Diu. Do you think Diu is worth going? I checked out Radhika resort, tariff seems about Rs.300o per night, is okay. Daman in Gujarat is very dirty, I think Diu is much better.

@v&v, any other suggestions for Gir stay, I have a problem with Club Mahindra (that's another story). How is Dwarka, worth going?

Am really confused now. Should I book the hotels in advance?

[v&v]

Originally Posted by jesrani

Thank you all for the replies.


@v&v, any other suggestions for Gir stay, I have a problem with Club Mahindra (that's another story). How is Dwarka, worth going?

Am really confused now. Should I book the hotels in advance?

There is 2-3 hotels we saw while going to our resort.
Check any travel portal, will give you idea about tarrif.


If you want to have fun go to diu. If pilgrimage in mind then dwarka.

You will require 2 night as you will reach gir sundown after visiting junagadh. Next day will be required for safari.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by jesrani

@skanchan95, await your report about road to Diu. Do you think Diu is worth going? I checked out Radhika resort, tariff seems about Rs.300o per night, is okay. Daman in Gujarat is very dirty, I think Diu is much better.

You know, the only reason why locals like to go to Diu is because of the booze. Diu,being a UT, the restaurants/liquor shops can serve liquor.

If you are history buff, I think a visit to the Diu fort & the INS Khukri memorial is well worth it. Until a few years back, the Diu airport still had the bombed out aerodrome building, which was struck by Indian Air Force Ouragan fighters in the 1961 campaign to liberate Diu & Goa from Portuguese rule. Even the Diu fort had tell tale signs of destruction from aircraft fired rockets & bombs, buts its been mostly repaired & restored back to its original condition.

Diu is far cleaner & well laid out. Coming in from Gujarat, Diu feels like heaven. Green palm tress all around, well laid roads , everything seems well organised.

Will report on the condition of roads soon.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by jesrani

@skanchan95, await your report about road to Diu. Do you think Diu is worth going? I checked out Radhika resort, tariff seems about Rs.300o per night, is okay. Daman in Gujarat is very dirty, I think Diu is much better.

Regret to inform you that at some stretches on the Veraval-Diu highway, the roads are quite bad. Veraval to Diu is approximately 85 kms, It took around 1 hour & 45 mins while going from Veraval to Diu and around 2 hours and 15 mins while coming back, as it almost dark half way through the return journey.

You be judge looking at these photos.




Diu :



Always a good idea to tank up in Diu, petrol is a good Rs 3.50 cheaper.

Parking at Hotel Radhika just off Nagoa beach.


Jet Konnect ATR 72-500 VT-JCG arriving over Diu airfield



Parking at DIu airport

[Volt]

@skanchan95: I will be doing this stretch on Monday and your update on the road condition is very timely and helpful indeed. If you don't mind I have a question for you, about the availability of private taxis in the area. I would be doing the following sections
1) Somnath (Veraval) - Diu
2) Diu - Gir
3) Gir - Rajkot
Sorry for the trouble and thanks in advance

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by Volt

@skanchan95: I will be doing this stretch on Monday and your update on the road condition is very timely and helpful indeed. If you don't mind I have a question for you, about the availability of private taxis in the area. I would be doing the following sections
1) Somnath (Veraval) - Diu
2) Diu - Gir
3) Gir - Rajkot
Sorry for the trouble and thanks in advance

Taxis are available in Veraval. If you plan to stay in Veraval, the hotels can arrange a private taxi(Indica/Logan/Xylo/Tavera) for you to go to Diu. You will need an entire day in Diu(that is if you do not wish to stay back in Diu for a day).



To go to Gir, you anways will have to come back to Veraval(from Diu). There are internal roads which will take you to Gir ( while coming back from Diu), but you will need a good taxi driver who knows those internal routes, because if you take a wrong turn somewhere in those roads, you will end up hopelessly lost( as we did a long time back on a bike trip, where we ended up with zero fuel and had to push our bikes on a wet evening inside Gir forests with the sun rapidly going down. Luckily we came across a village and the villagers had stocked petrol , bought petrol at 1.5 times the actual rate, asked for directions and off we went.) So, it'd be better to stick to the main route to go to Gir( the taxi drivers know it).

Gir- Rajkot, you can go, but I don't know whether the resorts in Gir would arrange taxis. They should though.

Do let me know if you need any help.

[Volt]

@skanchan95: Thanks a million. We would be staying at Somnath for a day, then two days at Diu and another two at Gir. We wanted a relaxed itinerary, so the extra days.
I had presumed one can do Diu - Gir, but we may have to budget for some extra time now.
I would be posting the details of hotels etc when we are back. Thanks once again!

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by Volt

@skanchan95: Thanks a million. We would be staying at Somnath for a day, then two days at Diu and another two at Gir. We wanted a relaxed itinerary, so the extra days.

When staying in Veraval(Somnath), avoid hotels in the city. Try staying at Hotel Sukh Sagar, Hotel Lord's Inn or any other hotel on the Veraval byepass road. You could try Hotel Lilavati , which is walking distance from Somnath Temple, but most of the times it is full.

In Diu, the best one is Hotel Radhika on Nagoa beach. There's one more hotel near Radhika, but don't really know the standards. There's Hotel Kohinoor, which is quite good too.

[Volt]

Indeed we are staying at Lord's Inn at Somnath, Magico do Mar at Diu (this is in Gujarat actually, not in Diu proper) and Lion Safari Park at Gir. Would put up reviews for the benefit of other members (since a lot of them are doing some part of this circuit) once we return. Thanks once again.

[jesrani]

@skanchan95, appreciate the advices. Thanks for posting.
@volt, I am myself thinking of Magico do Mar at Diu. Instead of Gir, I was thinking of staying at one Leo Resorts in Junagadh and cover Gir and Somnath from there. The resort is recommended by a friend and rates are reasonable. Let me know your experience in Diu and Gir.

Anyone have an idea about Leo resorts. Is it a good idea to stay in Junagadh and cover Gir and Somnath?