[rajshenoy]

Hi friends

I noticed few threads on road trips covering Gujarat as a whole, however I have more specific request for planning my Ahmedabad trip towards the last week of December. This will be a family trip (2 adults and 2 kids) so I prefer to go easy on the distance part and cover areas around Ahmedabad. Did not find the information collated in once place, so decided to create a thread for this. I am sure this thread might be useful for others as well.

What I plan to cover(not in any order)

In Ahmedabad:
Sabarmati Ashram, Riverfront, Kankariya lake, Vintage car musuem(being a T-Bhpian ) Akshardham, Swaminarayan mandir (and other recommended landmarks of the city)

Outside Ahmedabad:
Statue of unity(with stay in Vadodara, can see the palace there), Little Rann of Kutch(stay there and do some local safari), Lothal, Patan(rani ki vav) , Dinosaur fossil park.

I will be flying from Bangalore and looks like I can land in the morning and depart in the morning(last day not counted)

Please help me with the itinerary here so that i can plan the
1. number of days
2. travel arrangements(self drive/hiring a taxi vs point to point taxi)
3. Hotel recommendations for ahm and vadodara(3-4K range max per night)

[ampere]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

In Ahmedabad:
Sabarmati Ashram, Riverfront, Kankariya lake, Vintage car musuem(being a T-Bhpian ) Akshardham, Swaminarayan mandir (and other recommended landmarks of the city)

Max 3 nights.
- Half day for Aksharsham + Step Well. (Adalaj). Go in the evening to enjoy the lights.
- One day max for Riverfront + Ashram + Lake + Museum.
- There are some nice architectures which you can visit too.
- And not to forget the awesome thali meals!

Others can definitely add more!

Outside Ahmedabad:
Statue of unity(with stay in Vadodara, can see the palace there), Little Rann of Kutch(stay there and do some local safari), Lothal, Patan(rani ki vav) , Dinosaur fossil park.

Either you can go north GJ which is Kutch / Lothal, Modhera or West which is Dwarka/Porbandar/Somnath/Gir. Here you already chose Kutch side of GJ. You can also visit Mehsana.

Statue of unity is opposite in direction to Kutch. I guess once you are done and return back to Ahmedabad drive down south and probably spend a day or two in Vadodara. (I dont know much on that)

[msd7]

I can give you some info on Vadodara.

1:- I recommend that you hire self drive to go to Statue of Unity and then visit Zarwani waterfalls that is about 20 kms from Statue of Unity, the drive is just awesome all the way and you would enjoy it.
2:- Vadodara itself does not have a lot of attractions so one or two night stay will be enough. You can visit Laxmi Vilas palace and the Kamatibaugh zoo and museum.
3:- There are two gingers and also 2 hotels by fern group which will fall in your budget and maintain good standards. You can also stay in Suba Elite ar Royal Orchid.
4:- Why not include Gir in your plans. The best time to visit is from December to March and you will definitely enjoy that too.

My plan for you would be
Ahmedabad- 2 Nights
Gir - 2 Nights
Rann of Kutch-2 Nights
Vadodara-1 Night

Also there are 2 direct flights to Bangalore from Vadodara, which you could take for your return.

[NPX]

One day is enough for Ahmedabad

Lothal & Dinosaur fossil park can be avoided. Instead Gir forest & Diu can be visited and require 2 full days.

There is nothing of interest in Vadodara, so take hotel near national highway. That Palace is a disappointment.

[jkrishnakj]

I'll suggest that you do the booking for Gir online. It gets full fast.

Similarly, if you plan to stay overnight at Rann, please book the Rann Tents also online. It's fun at the Rann Utsav.

I had flown to Ahmedabad from Bangalore and did a zoom car drive to Rann , Dwarka , Somnath , Gir , Blackbuck Resort , Ahmedabad round trip. I still have find memories of the trip.

[rajshenoy]

Thanks alot guys. Some interesting comments. I wanted to do a separate trip covering Somnath, Dwarka etc since i felt combining them with ahmadabad will mean lot of driving(with kids!!). Let me review the same and get back on this. I am at least clear that i may not require more than 3-4 days for sightseeing in and around Ahmedabad at least.

[Biraj]

I will recommend Rani Ni Vav (Patan) and Modhera Sun Temple. These are close to each other and can be covered easily in half a day from Ahmedabad.

Lothal is good place if one has an interest in history. I found it quite fascinating, especially imagining how resourceful people in that era were. If you can manage, then you should go to Dholavira (Greater Rann of Kutch). It's five-six hours relaxed drive from Ahmedabad. The salt plains on the Dholavira side are not as polluted or crowded as the Bhuj side. Plus the ancient ruins of Dholavira. There are very limited options to stay in Dholavira so, it will require advance booking.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

Thanks alot guys. Some interesting comments. I wanted to do a separate trip covering Somnath, Dwarka etc since i felt combining them with ahmadabad will mean lot of driving(with kids!!). Let me review the same and get back on this. I am at least clear that i may not require more than 3-4 days for sightseeing in and around Ahmedabad at least.

Dwarka, Porbandar, Somnath and Gir can be combined with Ahmedabad. Because thats your entry/exit point. 2 nights in Dwarka, 1 in Somnath, 1 (or 2) in Gir and 2(3) in AMD will cover every thing.



What is more difficult is mixing this circuit with Kutch and North GJ based places. So you chose one of the two.

[SJM1214]

A 6 or 7 days trip can be planned with keeping Vadodara and Ahemdabad as your base.

You can visit SOU, Laxmi Vilas Palace( Vadodara), Champaner ( world heritage site) and Pavagadh by staying 2 nights and three days in Vadodara.

After doing enough justice to Vadodara you can move to Ahmedabad and cover all the sights in Gandhinagar which includes Vintage Car Museum, Akshardham, Adalaj Step Well, Indroda Park, etc. On the second day, you can visit sights in Ahmedabad city like Kamkariya lake, Zoo, etc. On the third day, you can visit LRK, Lothal, etc.

There are plenty of taxis and self-driven car (like Zoom and Myles) are available in both Vadodra and Ahmedabad. IMO places like Diu, Dwarka, Somnath can not be covered in 7 days as all of them are 300+km from Ahmedabad.

[Who_are_you]

You can follow below Itinerary.

Day 1 : Land in Ahmedabad (Local sight seeing)
Day 2 : Ahmedabad - Zainabad/Patdi (Little runn of Kutch) -- 103 KM.
Day 3 : Zainabad - Dholavira (Fossil park) -- 274 Kms.
Day 4 : Dholavira - Patan(Rani ki vav) - Modhera(Sun Temple) - Ahmedabad - 400 Kms.
Day 5 : Ahmedabad - Baroda - SoU- Baroda - 291 kms
Day 6 : Baroda - Ahmedabad


December End would be peak tourist season and hotel traffic would be high. I would suggest to make all bookings in Advance.

• LROK: I had stayed in Bhavna Resort & farm, Traffic was INR 4,000 PP including dinner, breakfast , Wild Safari and Lunch.
• Dholavira: Only resort is Dholavira Tourism resort.
• Baroda : Plenty of stay option in based on your budget.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by SJM1214

A 6 or 7 days trip can be planned with keeping Vadodara and Ahemdabad as your base.

IMO places like Diu, Dwarka, Somnath can not be covered in 7 days as all of them are 300+km from Ahmedabad.

Yeah, that is why i plan to cover Western part separately.

I came up with following itinerary after going through the comments and google.

I feel i can get a glimpse of white desert by staying in Little rann (purely to save time driving) Google shows 7 hours to greater rann of kutch.

Day 1: 23rd (Mon)
Reach Ahmedabad - Drive to LRK
Stay LRK

Day 2: 24th
Local sight seeing
Stay in LRK

Day 3: 25th
Rani ki vav
Sun temple
Back to Ahm by evening
Evening in Ahmedabad -TBD (Riverfront?)
Stay AHM

Day 4: 26th
Ahm local sight seeing
TBD - Ashram, temples etc. Evening kankariya lake
Stay AHM

Day 5: 27th
Statue of unity followed by
Vadodara

Day 6: 28th (sat)
Champaner in morning
Flight from Vadodara in evening

Stay:
Little rann of kutch - 2 night
Ahmedabad - 2 night
Vadodara - 1 night

[callvvijay]

Guys, am planning for a 5-day trip to Ahmedabad and would need some help with the itinerary. This will in the last week of December.

Thanks to the OP (@rajeshenoy) - my plan is kinda similar to his.

Day-1: Swami Narayan temple, Vintage car museum and if time permits, Adalaj Stepwell. Stay in Ahmedabad.
Day-2: Drive to Zainabad/Patdi area for LRK. Safari in the evening. Stay there in LRK.
Day-3: Safari in the morning (if needed) and then drive to Rani ki Vaav and Modhera Sun Temple and then proceed to Ahmedabad. Stay at Ahmedabad.
Day-4: After some roaming around in Ahmedabad, proceed to Statue of Unity. Night stay in Vadodara or somewhere closer to SoU.
Day-5: Return to Ahmedabad and shopping time.

Does this plan look okay?

Note: Am traveling with my m-i-l (70+years old) and hence want to avoid long travels - this is the primary reason for avoiding Gir, Somnath, Greater Rann etc..

Also, has anyone tried Rent-A-Self Drive (RAS) which is available in Ahmedabad airport?
https://g.co/kgs/YJRAh7

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by callvvijay

Day-4: After some roaming around in Ahmedabad, proceed to Statue of Unity. Night stay in Vadodara or somewhere closer to SoU

Ahmedabad-SoU will take 3.5 hours. You'll be able to SoU alone and return to Baroda in the evening.