[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by ampere

Try that pre-booking for a long weekend. Usually its sold out right from day one, months in advance. Hence you may want to cover that. For each session 50% is sold online and the rest is current. There are I think a total of 12 jeeps per slot (like the 6-9 one) of which 6 jeeps are available for online booking. Each jeep if I remember correctly can carry about 5-6 people.

OK, so my travel dates have been shifted to end-December now.
I managed to secure online permit booking for a 9 am - 12 pm slot for 27th Dec.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

I managed to secure online permit booking for a 9 am - 12 pm slot for 27th Dec.

Thats good. Last year I was there during school vacation times and the way I saw people queuing up; I was sure they will put the new iPhone queues wait times to shame!

Now coming back to plan:

- The whole thing is a circle.
- You drive from Ahemdabad all the way till Rajkot along with E-W corridor 4-lane. (~200/220km)
- After Rajkot comes your circle. Question is which way you want to traverse
- Rajkot-Jamnagar-Dwarka-Porbandar-Somnath (Veeraval)-Gir-Junagarh-Rajkot
- Here is the circle that I am referring about: (Rajkot-Dwarka-Somnath-Rajkot)
- To reach this circle, you actually dont need to drive till Ahmedabad. I think most buses from Baroda towards Gir/Dwarka/Somnath go via Anand-Bagodara section. Confirm with others. But yes Ahemdabad makes a good break option.
- Dwarka-Porbandar-Somnath is about 180-200km along the coast. Very dry and few places to break on the highway.
- Coming back to circle: I would say D1 evening if you arrive in Dwarka, you can do evening visit to the Arti at Dwarkadheesh, followed by early morning visit to Bhet Dwarka (Its about 40-50km drive from Dwarka) and followed by boat to the island.
- Do note: Once you miss a boat the next one will make you wait for an hour or more till it get filled.
- Account for 3-4 hours to visit the temples in the island and come back.
- On the way back you should also visit the Rukmani Talav and Nageshwar Jyotirling.
- All in all you should be done by evening 3 or so.
- I would recommend take that day off, spend the evening along the Dwarka coast. Its a nice place.
- Drive early morning the next day towards Somnath via Porbandar. You can visit Porbandar on the way and the head to Somnath. You should be in Somnath by evening. Have evening visits to the main temple and also some other near-by temples and if you want another darshan early morning the next day.
- Gir is hardly 1 hour from Somnath. You can be there by 9-10, check into the hotel and come back ready for your safari.
- Last day you drive back from Gir via Junagarh to Rajkot.


- For food, as Parag mentioned, plenty of hotels on the way. HFM (Highway Food Mall) will not let you forget the food joints like Dominoes, Coffee day etc. And of course there is the "Honest" chain of highway hotels.
- There are many local hotels as well. Take your pick.
- Of course all my information is more like what I experienced as a one time visitor and not like a local resident!

Hope this helps.

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by ampere

Thats good. Last year I was there during school vacation times and the way I saw people queuing up; I was sure they will put the new iPhone queues wait times to shame!
Now coming back to plan:
- The whole thing is a circle.
- You drive from Ahemdabad all the way till Rajkot along with E-W corridor 4-lane. (~200/220km)
- After Rajkot comes your circle. Question is which way you want to traverse
- Rajkot-Jamnagar-Dwarka-Porbandar-Somnath (Veeraval)-Gir-Junagarh-Rajkot
- Here is the circle that I am referring about:

Thanks ampere.
Actually, my plan is bit different in the sense that I intend to start from Ahmedabad on Day 3 (after Day 2 of city sight-seeing) and reach Somnath by around lunch time. After this, we intend to proceed to the temple in the evening and then return back to hotel in the night.
The reason for choosing to stay at Somnath overnight rather than Gir is due to exorbitantly hotel rates in Gir area.

Day 4 - leave from Somnath hotel to Gir jungle safari in the morning. After the safari trek is over, plan to have lunch and then leave from Gir to go directly to Porbandar in the afternoon and onwards to Dwarka in the evening.
(Stopping at Porbandar is optional for us, we will decide based on what time we actually leave Gir area after having lunch)

Day 5 - plan for Bet Dwarka boat ride in the morning. Come back and then leave for Jamnagar to reach by afternoon, where we plan to stay at my relatives' place overnight.

Day 6 - Leave Jamnagar in the morning and then proceed to Vadodara to reach in the evening.

Day 7 - Leave from Vadodara in the morning to reach Pune in the evening.

So its not like a circle as you mentioned but a different linear route from Pune - Ahmedabad - Somnath - Gir - Porbandar - Dwarka - Jamnagar - Vadodara - Pune

What are your views on this?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

So its not like a circle as you mentioned but a different linear route from Pune - Ahmedabad - Somnath - Gir - Porbandar - Dwarka - Jamnagar - Vadodara - Pune

Since you have a reason to visit Ahmedabad, the circuit looks perfect and this becomes a circle only when you touch Rajkot again but then its the ideal route based on the places you plan to visit.

The only advise is to finish Gir first and then Somnath so that from Somnath you can proceed to Porbandar and then Dwarka. Somnath first and Gir later means you will be traversing back and forth.

For instance, you can skip halting at Dwarka and stay at Jamnagar (2.5 Hours max) if you managed to finish your Darshan faster and next day from Jamnagar you can drive beyond Vadodara, Say Surat based on your progress.

Jamnagar on the way back makes sense as the roads are faster to Rajkot and you can not take Ahmedabad option and proceed to Vadodara via Dholka - Kheda.

However, the other route via NE1 is also equally fast - Tried and tested. The advantage with NE1 via Ahmedabad will be that if you wish not to traverse and cross Vadodara and halt on the highway enroute, this will help. On the other hand, crossin Ahmedabad from Bavla (Industrial area of Ahmedabad starts from here on Rajkot highway) till you enter NE1 can have thick traffic based on time.

[JoshMachine]

The only advise is to finish Gir first and then Somnath so that from Somnath you can proceed to Porbandar and then Dwarka. Somnath first and Gir later means you will be traversing back and forth.

Yes,I understand this could have been the ideal plan. The only challenge which I am currently encountering is that all hotels in/around Gir are either very costly or mostly sold out, considering the intended travel period of Christmas holiday season. Hence I am being forced to look for overnight hotel options in Somnath.
Further, for the Gir jungle safari, I could manage to book the online permit only on a particular day / slot, hence this leaves me with no choice but to go to Somnath first (when coming from Ahmedabad), reach there around lunch time, proceed for darshan in afternoon and stay overnight in Somnath itself.
Next day morning, we go to Gir as per the online booking done for the jungle safari.
On the route to be followed from Gir post jungle safari, instead of going back to Somnath, I intend to follow the Sasan Gir - Ambala - Vanthali - Saradiya - Porbandar - Dwarka route. Theoretically, as per Google Maps, this seems ok/faster option as compared to Sasan Gir - Somnath - Mangrol - Porbandar. Please let know if otherwise?

Jamnagar on the way back makes sense as the roads are faster to Rajkot and you can not take Ahmedabad option and proceed to Vadodara via Dholka - Kheda.

ok, noted.

However, the other route via NE1 is also equally fast - Tried and tested. The advantage with NE1 via Ahmedabad will be that if you wish not to traverse and cross Vadodara and halt on the highway enroute, this will help. On the other hand, crossin Ahmedabad from Bavla (Industrial area of Ahmedabad starts from here on Rajkot highway) till you enter NE1 can have thick traffic based on time.

Sorry, didn't quite get your suggestion here.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

Sorry, didn't quite get your suggestion here.

Option 1 - Jamnagar Rajkot Bagodara Ahmedabad NE1 Vadodara

Option 2 - Jamnagar Rajkot Bagodara Dholka Kheda Nadiad Vadodara

You can notice that one of the route passes Ahmedabad and NE1 while the other bypasses that to touch Vadodara.

As of early 2016, the parallel highway that runs along with NE1 between Ahmedabad and Vadodara is fully done and 6 laned and now makes a good alternate.

So, unless you have specific reasons during return to touch Ahmedabad, you can stick to Option 2.

Option 1 will make you take the SP Ring Road of Ahmedabad and then touch NE1 and what I meant in my above response is that you will not really enter Vadodara for this and plan your halt on the highway itself.

With Option 2, you are closer to the city and can decide to halt in the city itself.

In terms of timings, both routes are more or less same and you hardly save anything major.

Bypassing Ahmedabad via Dholka Kheda Nadiad

Via Ahmedabad


That is the reason why whenever I have driven down from Rajkot to Bangalore, I always see GJ3 (Rajkot) cars taking the Ahmedabad route.

But with the completion of expansion of the parallel NH between Ahmedabad and Baroda, I am more likely to try it next month.

[silverado]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

The reason for choosing to stay at Somnath overnight rather than Gir is due to exorbitantly hotel rates in Gir area.

What are your views on this?

Yes even Somnath is expensive, you can try Porbandar if you are coming from Dwarka, accommodation is cheap here.

Do check my thread, might help you with some information

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ples-more.html

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by silverado

Trucks cannot enter Ghodbunder road now, since one of the bridges is closed for Heavy truck traffic for another 3 months. From below post I assume they take turn earlier to head for....

I did read that few months back that Vasai creek bridge is shut (one side) for repairs again.

I have been a victim of this roadworks first time in January 2014 mainly during return journey where we got stuck for 40 mind in crawling traffic nearing this bridge despite of the absence of trucks which were diverted to Bhiwandi through various signage's after Khanivade toll.

But I didn't know this time they are carrying out the repairs for that long. So the absence of trucks nearing Ghodbunder will immensely help even after 10pm now till things are back to usual days.

[silverado]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

I did read that few months back that Vasai creek bridge is shut (one side) for repairs again.

But I didn't know this time they are carrying out the repairs for that long. So the absence of trucks nearing Ghodbunder will immensely help even after 10pm now till things are back to usual days.

Hey Parag, I might be wrong here.
As per below TOI article it seems only North bound bridge is shut ( the one going towards Gujarat ).

That's why I deleted my post, but you were so quick to respond

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/54105108.cms

[ampere]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

Thanks ampere.
Actually, my plan is bit different in the sense that I intend to start from Ahmedabad on Day 3 (after Day 2 of city sight-seeing) and reach Somnath by around lunch time. After this, we intend to proceed to the temple in the evening and then return back to hotel in the night.
The reason for choosing to stay at Somnath overnight rather than Gir is due to exorbitantly hotel rates in Gir area.

Makes sense to me. All the best. There are many hotels along the Veeraval bypass which you can chose from (Very close to railway station).

Only issue: 1 day is not enough for Ahmedabad. If you plan to visit Akshardham you have to account for the whole evening. (The water show is very nice).

So its not like a circle as you mentioned but a different linear route from Pune - Ahmedabad - Somnath - Gir - Porbandar - Dwarka - Jamnagar - Vadodara - Pune
What are your views on this?

Overall looks good to me.

The other thing I noticed: 3G works very well! I was really surprised to find mobile data at every corner of the state!

[nvldvr]

Hi,

I have to be in Jamnagar (Gujarat) for some work related issues. Planning to drive down. New Delhi - jaipur - chittorgarh -Udaipur - Ahmedabad - Rajkot - Jamnagar route appears to be the best option to me.

Any other suggestions?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by nvldvr

Any other suggestions?

I know this is a part thread for your query. I am sure most of your doubts will get answered here. Delhi-AMD-Rajokot-Jamnagar is the best option as per me too. But you may want to check how to bypass AMD in case you are not staying for the night.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by ampere

But you may want to check how to bypass AMD in case you are not staying for the night.

The Sardar Patel Ring Road (SPR) comes to rescue there as it is circular and will help one bypass Ahmedabad. Now mostly all the flyovers at major intersections are also ready.

But then, unless otherwise needed, Ahmedabad will be an unnecessary detour to reach Jamnagar from New Delhi or Jaipur side.

• Option 1: Via Udaipur - Palanpur - Samkhiyali - Jodiya - Jamnagar
  
• Option 3: Via Udaipur - Himmatnagar - Ahmedabad Ring Road - Rajkot - Jamnagar
  
• Option 3: Via Udaipur - Abu Road - Palanpur - Mehasana - Ahmedabad Ring Road - Rajkot - Jamnagar

The first option would be the preferred one here and needless to say roads are good too. In fact Samakhiyali holds as a good junction for those from North and South intending to visit Kutch as well.

There will be heavy to very heavy truck traffic between Samakhiyali till you turn off for Jodiya as it is a "Port Highway" mainly witnessing traffic from Port of Kandla but that will be a short distance.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

But then, unless otherwise needed, Ahmedabad will be an unnecessary detour to reach Jamnagar from New Delhi or Jaipur side.

- How much is the detour? I dont see much in Google.
- But if its the time due to traffic, then I dont know.
- Can the non 4-lane sections be done in on the same day?
- In case OP needs a break, which is the best possible location?
- Or break at Udaipur if needed?

[Turbanator]

I have to be in Jamnagar (Gujarat) for some work related issues. Planning to drive down. New Delhi - jaipur - chittorgarh -Udaipur - Ahmedabad - Rajkot - Jamnagar

I will also suggest Option1 as suggested by Parag, just that you don't need to go to Udaipur. Continue straight from Kishangarh to Bewar - Pali - Sirohi- Palanpur-Samakhiyali-Jamnagar.

Depending on your driving style and car, Delhi - Samakhiyali can be 10-15 hours of travel and the roads will be 4 / 6 laned throughout. Once you leave - Samakiyali - Rajkot highway before morbi ( there is a signage and you need to take right under a bridge ) roads in past were 2 laned. If you are new in this area better to do this stretch in Daytime, not that roads are unsafe but for directions, though my information is 2-3-year-old for this particular 2 lane stretch.

https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/Delhi...3!1i0!2i1!3i13