[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by pramodsdixit

Further day wise plan as under:-

1. Nasik- Vadodra.
2. Vadodra-Bhuj
3. Bhuj- Koteshwar temple- Lakhpat- Great Rann of Kutch (Dhordo - Kalo Dungar-India Gate)- Bhuj.
4. Bhuj - Mt Abu.

Any specific reason to include Nashik? I believe there must be one. If yes, then let me answer you on the route conditions as I took Nashik route to reach Ahmedabad from Aurangabad and Bangalore only 3 weeks back.

Nashik to Vadodara will be via Niphad Saputara Vandsa Chikhli Surat Bharuch. The road conditions are excellent all the way including Saputara Ghats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEwT6VjTClU&t=1s

Vadodara to Bhuj will take you an easy 8+ hours if done during the day. This is to be done via Sanand Dharanghadara Samakhiali. Roads are 4 lane all the way.

2. If it is possible to do Koteshwar temple - Lakhpat-Great Rann-Bhuj in one day. I'm more inclined towards the drive and just short visits to places of importance / skipping them altogether is okay too if not too important.

With Bhuj as the base, even driving to these places and returning back to Bhuj will be a little more than full day affair. It will really depend on what you want to prioritize and knock off one or more of them from the list.

[pramodsdixit]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Any specific reason to include Nashik? I believe there must be one. If yes, then let me answer you on the route conditions as I took Nashik route to reach Ahmedabad from Aurangabad only 3 weeks back.

Nashik to Vadodara will be via Niphad Saputara Vandsa Chikhli Surat Bharuch. The road conditions are excellent all the way including Saputara Ghats.

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=eEwT6VjTClU&t=1s

Vadodara to Bhuj will take you an easy 8+ hours if done during the day. This is to be done via Sanand Dharanghadara Samakhiali. Roads are 4 lane all the way.

With Bhuj as the base, even driving to these places and returning back to Bhuj will be a little more than full day affair. It will really depend on what you want to prioritize and knock of one or more of them from the list.

Thanks very much for the quick reply.

Yes..I'm also contemplating skipping Nasik (where I have a commitment ) which is likely to take an additional day and instead halt at Pune / Satara and then make good to Baroda from there thereby saving a day. This should give me an extra day to go on both these axes.

Any suggestions for a pet friendly stay around Pune close to the highway?

Also any suggestions for stay ahead of Bhuj closer towards Koteshwar Temple?

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by pramodsdixit

2. If it is possible to do Koteshwar temple - Lakhpat-Great Rann-Bhuj in one day.

Bhuj-Lakhpat-Koteshwar-Mandvi-Bhuj will take a full day. So will Bhuj-Dhordo-Kalo Dungar-India Bridge-White desert. Each is a 250-300 km day trip and in different directions

[pramodsdixit]

A recommended by Paragsachania, I decided to cut my Nasik halt and have been able to squeeze in an additional day for Kutch trip.

Need recommendations for a decent and economical stay (including home stays) between Bhuj and Dhordo for a night. Preferably pet friendly.

Also, suggested itinerary and route for
1. Day 1- Great Rann of Kutch drive from Bhuj (evening at Dhrodo tent city and fetch back to Bhuj for night stay).
2. Day 2- Bhuj-Narayan Sarovar - Lakhpat - Bhuj.

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by pramodsdixit

Also, suggested itinerary and route for
1. Day 1- Great Rann of Kutch drive from Bhuj (evening at Dhrodo tent city and fetch back to Bhuj for night stay).
2. Day 2- Bhuj-Narayan Sarovar - Lakhpat - Bhuj.

You need to stay 2N at Dhordo area to enjoy the place.

Day 1: Bhuj- Dhordo/Hodka. Evening enjoy the white desert, shopping and sunset.
Day 2: Dhordo - India Bridge- Kala dungar.

You can go upto India bridge without BSF permit. For Vighakot border outpost, you need a permit from BSF, Bhuj. You have to submit papers in the morning and in the afternoon you get the permit. Do this while in Bhuj. This permission is in addition to the White Raan permission which is online. Do take it online or else you will waste time at Bhirandariya checkpost.

Day 3: Dhordo - Lakhpat - Koteshwar - Mata no Math - Bhuj. If you want to take another route, you can go to Mandvi and not to Bhuj. Long drive start early.

The tent city is super expensive and not worth the money. Better stay at Dhordo/Khavda area which has plenty of stays, Bhungas etc. Raan Khandi, Shaam e Sarad are good resorts.

[pramodsdixit]

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

You need to stay 2N at Dhordo area to enjoy the place.

Day 1: Bhuj- Dhordo/Hodka. Evening enjoy the white desert, shopping and sunset.
Day 2: Dhordo - India Bridge- Kala dungar.

You can go upto India bridge without BSF permit. For Vighakot border outpost, you need a permit from BSF, Bhuj. You have to submit papers in the morning and in the afternoon you get the permit. Do this while in Bhuj. This permission is in addition to the White Raan permission which is online. Do take it online or else you will waste time at Bhirandariya checkpost.

Day 3: Dhordo - Lakhpat - Koteshwar - Mata no Math - Bhuj. If you want to take another route, you can go to Mandvi and not to Bhuj. Long drive start early.

The tent city is super expensive and not worth the money. Better stay at Dhordo/Khavda area which has plenty of stays, Bhungas etc. Raan Khandi, Shaam e Sarad are good resorts.

Thanks very much. Will plan keeping these aspects in mind

[pramodsdixit]

Just reached Bhuj today after a halt a Vadodara yesterday. Good roads except for last few kms of slightly patchy roads.

Have two days for Lakhpat-Koteshwar and Rann.

For my next leg from BHUJ to MT ABU, what would be the suggested route?

[Dieseltuned]

Hi guys,

We came back from a 4 days tour of Gujarat today and posting a quick update for the benefit of the community.

We did Mumbai - Diu - Somnath - Gir - Junagadh - Rajkot - Mumbai.

Mumbai - Diu and Rajkot - Mumbai were Air India flights and had hired a car for the intermediate places pick up at Diu and drop off at Rajkot airport.

Update on places visited and stays:
Diu - 1 night - Krishna beach resort- Nagoa beach.
Absolute fantastic resort with clean big rooms, courteous staff and good food right across the beach.
Places visited -
Diu fort - a one time visit place, mostly in ruins and having no reference to its rich Portugal history apart from a desolate ASI sign board. The views of the Arabian sea are gorgeous though.
2. Diu Church - Again has seen better days and needs maintenance and cleaning. Was in a much better condition when we had seen it about 7-8 years back.
3. INS Khukri memorial - A very nicely developed memorial paying tributes who laid down their lives and went down with he ship. Definitely worth visiting. Also, it seems that there are plans to open a naval warship meuseum at Diu as we could see the present INS Khukri berthed near the Diu fort.
4. Gangeshwar Mahadev temple - A nice place to worship the lord and see the Marvel of high tidal waves engulfing the shivling.

Diu - Somnath : Absolutely pathetic road conditions and it took us more than 2 hours to cover this journey of mere 70-80 kms. We took the road via kodinar and this is a huge mess. Must be avoided at all costs if any alternative in is available.

Somnath - visited the main temple. Super clean premises inside the temple but the less said of area outside the temple the better. Also please note u will have to deposit all your belongings including mobiles, cash, wallets everything at the counters outside the temple. I personally find this ridiculous as the gaurds were not even allowing smart watches.
Surprisingly the temple was nearly empty with hardly 15-20 people in the premises and we had an amazing darshan of the lord.

Somnath - Gir - 1 night - Gir birding lodge
An absolute gem of a property nested inside a mango orchard with a birding opportunity and absolute amazing food. We loved our stay here.

Gir safari - we were lucky to spot a fully grown male and 2 sub adult male lions in our safari. This forest is amazing to drive through in an open air gypsy and has a rustic charm.

Gir - Junagadh - okish road with a few patch works here and there

Junagadh - Sarovar portico hotel - another good place to stay and dine while visiting Junagadh. Nice property with good food.

Girnar safari - This is a smaller version of Gir safari started by the forest department however has only 1 route and is definitely less crowded than Gir. Since it is one route the sightings are almost guaranteed.

Girnar ropeway - this is one engineering Marvel must visit eliminating the climb of 9000+ steps and reaching the temples at the top in 8-9 minutes. We had a very nice and peaceful darshan at girnar as well.

Junagadh - Rajkot - 4 lane divided highway NH 27 with a few patches around jetpur. Otherwise a smooth ride.

Finally a note to Air India - Both our flights were on time arrival and departure with very nice crew and clean aircrafts. Here's wishing Air India a new beginning.

Overall our first vacation after almost 2.5 years was well spent.


Thank you
Diesel

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by pramodsdixit

For my next leg from BHUJ to MT ABU, what would be the suggested route?

The route from Bhuj to Mt. Abu is via Radhanpur. Enroute you can extend one day and visit Nadabet border outpost. I'm sure you will enjoy it.

Link: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ke-photos.html (Narabet: Visit to Zero Line & Border outpost in Gujarat from where you can freely take photos)

[abhi_tjet]

Did a Gujarat road trip last week.
Total kms - 2750 kms.
Route -
Pune - Mumbai - Vadodara(night halt)
Vadodara - Rajkot- Jamnagar- Dwarka(stay )
Dwarka - Porbandar- Gir/Somnath.(stay at Gir)
Gir - Diu- Vadodara(night halt)
Vadodara- Pune.

All the interior GJ roads were pretty average/bad.
Only Dwarka - Porbandar section of NH51 is nice. Apart from it a SH from Vadodara till Baghdara is nice towards Rajkot.
Most of the roads are under construction and it might be good in coming years.
Gir - Somnath section is pretty average with random potholes.
Gir - Diu is nice with dual carriageway throughout minus the NH51 section.

[pcpranav]

Originally Posted by abhi_tjet

Did a Gujarat road trip last week.

Just the last week did a family trip in our Fortuner:

D1 - Mumbai to Vadodara (home) :
Due to some personal engagement, we started in late afternoon, reached by night.
The traffic was routine, roads are good - infact it gets better after entering Gujarat. Nothing unusual, been doing this circuit numerous times.

D2 - Vadodara to Dwarka :
Route : - Borsad - Tarapur - Bagodara - Limbdi - Chotila - Rajkot - Dhrol - Jamnagar - Khambhalia -
Overall roads are good; major part between Jamnagar - Khambhalia was bad roads / diversions due to road constructions; roads nearing Dwarka are smaller.
Just few KM before Rajkot city, one can see a town called "Kuvadva", which is quite famous for Rajwadi Peda sweets, available in many shops on highway itself. I knew this beforehand, so packed some delicious stuff.
Hotel stay : Fortune Palace - quite a good place.

D3 - Dwarka - local :
Visited the nearby Shivrajpur beach, amazing place, blue waters, lovely beach to enjoy.
Late afternoon visited other places and Mithapur town - roads are decent with some rough patches
Hotel stay : Fortune Palace - second night.

D4 - Dwarka to Ahmedabad (home) :
Route : - Porbandar (bypass) - Ranavav - Upleta - Dhoraji - Jetpur - Virpur - Gondal - Vinchhiya - Dhandhuka - Bagodara - Bavla -
Actually, I didnt want to repeat the same return patch, so took another circuit.
However, this route was quite slow, narrow roads and few rough patches.
From Gondal, I could have instead connected to Rajkot and repeated the patch, but I didnt - and hence got late.

D5 - Ahmedabad to Vadodara (home) :
Took the Express Highway, which was quite good.

D6 - Vadodara to Mumbai
just the routine.


Overall, it was nice trip, visited some religious places, some outings and small vacation. We covered about 2000 KM.


Side notes:

1) we did the same circuit in car during 2013, roads are slightly better since then, and could see some infra developments at places.

2) Just in early Feb-2020 (before Covid mayhem in March'20), I did a solo bike trip in this region; that time even covering Somnath and Diu. I remember, section between Somnath - Diu was very bad.

3) If anyone is interested in the Point of Interests (sight-seeing places) or itinerary on this circuit, feel free to contact me.

regards,
Pranav

[dvl666]

For Jamnagar / Dwarka / Porbandar this new 6 lane route is excellent.
Had used it twice earlier when flyovers at villages were being built.
Now that they have been built, there is almost no stopping unless u want to.

Route is rajkot - chotila - doliya - sayla - limbdi - bagodra - vataman - tarapur - dharmaj - borsad - vasad - GSFC - vadodra

Basically the diversion is from doliya towards baroda

My friend was planning a trip last week from Mumbai and he said currently the road is closed at Valsad for traffic due to Navsari

[zalaps]

Originally Posted by dvl666

For Jamnagar / Dwarka / Porbandar this new 6 lane route is excellent.
Had used it twice earlier when flyovers at villages were being built.
Now that they have been built, there is almost no stopping unless u want to.

Route is rajkot - chotila - doliya - sayla - limbdi - bagodra - vataman - tarapur - dharmaj - borsad - vasad - GSFC - vadodra

Basically the diversion is from doliya towards baroda

My friend was planning a trip last week from Mumbai and he said currently the road is closed at Valsad for traffic due to Navsari

Diversion would be from Bagodara towards Baroda.
NH8 in Valsad dsitrict should be slow moving but open by now.

[KarthikK]

What is the condition of Bhavnagar to Diu road now? I was looking up online but couldn’t find any recent updates anywhere, barring a few articles that said they are 4-laning the stretch upto Mahuva.

Is it better to take the shorter distance Bhavnagar - Mahuva - Rajula- Diu road or is it worth taking the detour via Bhavnagar - Amreli - Tulsishyam - Diu? I understand the latter is 50km longer and has some slow sections through Gir, but in terms of road surface and overall ease of driving / riding what route is more advisable?

[thirugata]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

What is the condition of Bhavnagar to Diu road now? I was looking up online but couldn’t find any recent updates anywhere, barring a few articles that said they are 4-laning the stretch upto Mahuva.

Is it better to take the shorter distance Bhavnagar - Mahuva - Rajula- Diu road or is it worth taking the detour via Bhavnagar - Amreli - Tulsishyam - Diu? I understand the latter is 50km longer and has some slow sections through Gir, but in terms of road surface and overall ease of driving / riding what route is more advisable?

I had done this stretch back in Apr.

Route taken : Bhavnagar - Trapaj - Talaja - Bhaguda - Mahuva - Pipavar - Timbli - Una - Diu

This is a 4 lane coastal highway under construction. So most of the places road was broken to non existent. It took us almost 6 hours to cover a distance of 200 KMs because of the poor / under construction road condition.