[KishoreC]

Hi Guys,
I have 9 days off at the end of the year and am planning for a Rajasthan trip in my Skoda Fabia. Only me and my wife will be traveling, with me being the only driver.

The trip is in planning phase, I have a rough plan in mind but lots of info on places to stay is missing. Requesting you guys to suggest some places (not too costly, and a bit safe and secure) to stay.

The rough plan is :

Day 1 : Bangalore - Pune
Start at 3 AM and reach pune by evening. Stay somewhere near or after Pune. Preferably close to NH4.

Day 2 : Pune - Ahmedabad
Start as early as possible. The first hurdle will be to cross Bombay. Not really sure the best route to do that. I've seen some posts about the detailed route to cross Bombay without entering it, but never seen the details.

Keeping the total distance to travel less, anticipating 3-4 hours loss in crossing Bombay. Stay near Ahmedabad, preferably close to NH4.


Day - 3 : Ahmedabad - Udaipur with Sight Seeing
This should be easy enough. We want to cover as much in Udaipur that same day and then check into a Hotel. Please provide suggestions for Hotels.

Day - 4 : Udaipur Sight Seeing - travel to Mt. Abu
I heard about lot of good hotels in Mount Abu. Should not be a big deal getting into one.

Day 5 - Mt. Abu - Jodhpur and Jodhpur Sight Seeing
Quite straight forward.

Day 6 - Jodhpur - Jaisalmer and Sigh Seeing
This should be easy as well.

Day 7 : Start Back, JaisalMer - Ahmedabad
Day 8 and 9 : Straight Drive from Ahmedabad to Bangalore
I want to do this 1500 KM stretch in one go to have a feel of it. Anyway will have an extra day in hand. So I can rest on the way if needed.

Any help, planning thins trip is highly appreciated.

Kishore

[ampere]

Overall plan is very hectic. You dont want to drive all the way from Bangalore to stay is Udaipur for just one day. That does not make sense. Ditto for other places too.

[Fauji]

I Agree with Ampere. You need two days in Udaipur to do justice. Also there are good day trips from Udaipur you can think of - Ranakpur (which you should not miss for amazing jain temple) and Kumbhalgarh for the fort. Also make a trip to Devigarh for lunch atleast to enjoy the beautiful setting - staying is expensive.

Why should you leave at 3 AM from bangalore? even if you leave at 6 AM, you will comfortably reach Pune by evening. Dont have to strain yourself.

The good route will be Ahmedabad - Mt Abu - Udaipur - Kumbalgarh - Jodhpur - Jaisalmer. That way you will save the trouble of going to Mt Abu from Udaipur.

[unni.ak]

Replies in bold, please let me know if you need some more info.

Originally Posted by KishoreC

The rough plan is :

Day 1 : Bangalore - Pune
Start at 3 AM and reach pune by evening. Stay somewhere near or after Pune. Preferably close to NH4.

Bangalore - Pune is ~856kms. If you start at 3am, you should easily reach by 3pm-4pm sorts. And this is keeping speeds of about 100-110kmph. I did this route last Sunday, and took 13hrs.

Day 2 : Pune - Ahmedabad
Start as early as possible. The first hurdle will be to cross Bombay. Not really sure the best route to do that. I've seen some posts about the detailed route to cross Bombay without entering it, but never seen the details.

Keeping the total distance to travel less, anticipating 3-4 hours loss in crossing Bombay. Stay near Ahmedabad, preferably close to NH4.

I'd suggest an early morning start to beat Bombay traffic. Timing is the key. PM HVK for details on how to get through Bombay with least pain. He has the details with him. Also, if I may suggest, please do Pune - Udaipur on Day 2. Its ~950kms. An early start will help you with this. The distance is doable since the roads are good. Also, you will get an extra day at Udaipur.

Day - 3 : Ahmedabad - Udaipur with Sight Seeing
This should be easy enough. We want to cover as much in Udaipur that same day and then check into a Hotel. Please provide suggestions for Hotels.

~280kms. Superb roads, just watch out for the ghat sections near Udaipur. Dont hurtle down them at speed, some curves are deceptive!!

Day 8 and 9 : Straight Drive from Ahmedabad to Bangalore
I want to do this 1500 KM stretch in one go to have a feel of it. Anyway will have an extra day in hand. So I can rest on the way if needed.

I did the stretch upto Udaipur in one shot, with breaks along the way, last week. Started at 0000hrs on 28th Nov and reached Udaipur by 1000hrs on 29th Nov.

Kishore

[MX6]

Your plan looks good. Stay in Ginger in Pune which is on NH4. And if you push a bit more, you can reach Navi mumbai as well by 6 pm on day one.

Early morning start from New Mumbai should see you in Udaipur by night of Day 2 though it is tougher than the first day drive. The notorious ghodbunder road stretch with truck traffics in and beyond and the bottle necks of bridges across Narmada can act as dampeners. Get the proper route to bypass Ahd (HVK will come with Sarkej route) and drive all the way to Udaipur.
You can stay at Rupi in Udaipur. Khoj stated it was good.
Don't try the 1500 kms in one stretch. Use your spare day for travel as well. Unni had 2 spare drivers (one of them was called HVK incidentally), he could fall back on.
I wouldn't attempt it at a stretch if I'm travelling with a lady on board.

Have a great trip.

[unni.ak]

Originally Posted by MX6

Don't try the 1500 kms in one stretch. Use your spare day for travel as well. Unni had 2 spare drivers (one of them was called HVK incidentally), he could fall back on.
I wouldn't attempt it at a stretch if I'm travelling with a lady on board.

Have a great trip.

I agree. 1500km in one stretch would be a bit of a stretch! The placement of my comment could've been better, and I was not referring to the drive back. It was the drive onwards to Udaipur. Like MX6 mentions, Ghodbunder road stretch and bottle necks of bridges across Narmada can be a problem. It was not too much of a problem for us since we drove at night, still lost an hour at the Narmada crossing. Keep in mind that some parts of the Ahmedabad - Udaipur stretch are desolate, or so I felt when driving through at night.

Maybe getting across Bombay on the first day is something you should try. This would make it easier to do Udaipur on Day 2, provided you dont get too caught up in traffic jams.

[StarVegabond]

Originally Posted by unni.ak

Maybe getting across Bombay on the first day is something you should try. This would make it easier to do Udaipur on Day 2, provided you dont get too caught up in traffic jams.

+1 to this.

Actually Bangalore-NaviMumbai stretch can be done in 14 hours, if you add another 2 hours max you can reach Borivili and stay there.

If you leave 2AM from bangalore then you can reach the hotel by 6-7PM
take a long shower, good dinner and hit the bed by 9 PM.

Start again at 5 AM (7 hours sleep + 1 hour to get ready-checkout), then you can try and reach Udaipur by evening.

I would be watching your thread, some time 2011 we would plan this trip.

[KishoreC]

Thanks guys for your replies. Things make lot of sense after I took your points into consideration.

I am planning to take out Jaisalmer and concentrate on Udaypur and Jodhpur, otherwise it is becoming really hectic. Anyway I will need another Rajasthan trip to cover other destinations including Jaipur. Will do Jaisalmer then.

After some change the plan looks like this :

Day 1 : Bangalore - Navi Mumbai
Stay in Navi Mumbai

Day 2 - Navi Mumbai - Udaipur
Start as early as possible to beat Mumbai traffic
I downloaded HVK's document yesterday and mapped it in google. Hopefully I will be able to make it through Thane without getting lost. There seems to be lots of flyovers to avoid.

Day 3 and 4 - Udaipur and arround
Want to enjoy Udaipur as much as possible as this is the main attraction of this trip.

Day 5 - Udaipur to Jodhpur
Drive should be easy. Main attraction is the Fort at Jodhpur.

Day 6 - Jodhpur and if possible Ajmer on the same day
Want to see Ajmer Sharif.
Stay in Jodhpur

Day 7 - Jodhpur - Ajmer and Start Back
Jodhpur - Ahmedabad

Day 8 - Ahmedabad - Belagavi (May not be possible keeping the Mumbai traffic in mind, in that case Stop at Navi Mumbai).

Day 9 - Back to Bangalore (either from Navi Mumbai or wherever)

That looks more like it. Less driving, more enjoying.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by KishoreC

Thanks guys for your replies. Things make lot of sense after I took your points into consideration.

I am planning to take out Jaisalmer and concentrate on Udaypur and Jodhpur, otherwise it is becoming really hectic. Anyway I will need another Rajasthan trip to cover other destinations including Jaipur. Will do Jaisalmer then.

I would suggest that you drop Jodhpur instead and head off to Jaisalmer from Udaipur and back to Ahmedabad straight from Jaisalmer.

Reason:Jodhpur can be visited enroute to some of the other places in RJ during your next RJ trip.

Originally Posted by KishoreC

Day 1 : Bangalore - Navi Mumbai
Stay in Navi Mumbai

If you do end up driving till Navi Mumbai,then I would suggest that you stay at Ghodbunder at Hotel Fountain instead of staying in Navi Mumbai.It does not help your purpose by staying at Navi Mumbai,as you would still lose time negotiating your way till Ghodbunder the next day.Else stay the night in Pune on the Mumbai Bypass,that way you would atleast be fresh for the next day's drive to udaipur as you would get more rest.

Originally Posted by KishoreC

Day 3 and 4 - Udaipur and arround
Want to enjoy Udaipur as much as possible as this is the main attraction of this trip.

Lake Pichola,boating,drive to Monsoon Palace,take the ropeway,Ranakpur,Kumbhalgarh,Nathdwara,Eklingji(en route to Nathdwara)

Originally Posted by KishoreC

Day 5 - Udaipur to Jodhpur
Drive should be easy. Main attraction is the Fort at Jodhpur.

The fort should take you half a day,opt for the audio guide inside the fort

Originally Posted by KishoreC

Day 6 - Jodhpur and if possible Ajmer on the same day
Want to see Ajmer Sharif.
Stay in Jodhpur

this is going to be hectic,I am assuming this is your first time to the Dargah,if it isnt then you know better,if it is,then the road to the dargah is congested and crowded and would take you quite some time to get in and get out and negotiate out of Ajmer,plus NH8 is being widened in between Beawar and Ajmer which could add to your problems.

You could do this later from Jaipur whenever you intend to go there.

Originally Posted by KishoreC

Day 8 - Ahmedabad - Belagavi (May not be possible keeping the Mumbai traffic in mind, in that case Stop at Navi Mumbai).

This is definitely not reccomended.Do Ahmedabad-Pune and then Pune-Blore.

If you do intend to do Jaisalmer,then you could do Ahmedabad-Jaisalmer-Udaipur-Ahmedabad.Its a perfect circle and you would not have to retrace your route any place.

[KishoreC]

Plan almost ready.
Can anyone please suggest any place to stay in Jaisalmer?

I have dropped Jodhpur and made 2 days in Jaisalmer. We'll see Mt Abu on the way from Udaipur to Jaisalmer.

[Chevy_lover]

Hi Kishore, I would advice you to try to cover as much ground as possible on day 1. If you can reach Navi Mumbai, by evening, take the rest of the day off, to rest and prepare for the drive to Udaipur on day 2.

You do not need to enter Mumbai. Bypassing Mumbai and driving through Thane is a breeze, if you follow HVK sir's logs. Don't worry about that. One tip- there will be hundreds of trucks keeping you company towards NH8 and Surat. Follow them.

I did Pune-Udaipur in 15 hours of driving. I was maintaining 130-145 kmph whenever possible. If you drive slower, it could take you about 17 hours. You can go through my travelogue on Udaipur for some more details.

Once you reach Ahd expressway, be alert about the exit towards Udaipur. One word of caution- fill up your car's tank before entering the expressway.

The roads in Rajasthan are brilliant. But the ghat section before reaching Udaipur is tricky. There are lots of sudden turns and sharp curves. If you are maintaining a high speed, it can be dangerous. Downshift before the curves.

Try to stay in a hotel in Gulab Bagh area in Udaipur. You will find it very easy to reach Pichola lake and the city from here. More details can be seen in my travelogue.

Mount Abu is the coldest place we have been to, in a while. Carry gloves and lots of warm clothes and heavy duty jackets.

[issigonis]

Originally Posted by Chevy_lover

Hi Kishore,

Mount Abu is the coldest place we have been to, in a while. Carry gloves and lots of warm clothes and heavy duty jackets.

>>>
Normally Mt. Abu is not cold, even in winter. It is not exactly a hill station, especially if you compare it with the ones in Uttarakhand/Himachal/Sikkim.
However, this year the winter will likely be colder.

Expect temperatures in Abu to fall to the 0-5 degree level, for the minimum. So if you have not experienced those kind of temperature levels, it does make sense to be well prepared.

Regards, drive safe, enjoy the winter

[madhukar_n]

Kishore, I have done the excat route in august. we were supposed to go to Leh but because of the cloud burst, took a detour and visited the same places.

My suggestion is take 2-3 places and then see completely and then head back.
i suggestion is you could cover udaipur-jodhpur-mt abu and leave jaiselmer, bikaner, pushkar, jaipur for the next time.

please pm me your number, i can tell u the places where we stayed. your plan looks quite hectic. we did the jaiselmer-bangalore non stop and it was very tiring, though fun for the first time.

[gd1418]

RTDC properties all the way in rajasthan. Good location and reasonable. www.rtdc.in

I always stay in RTDC hotels in RJ. Motto is - spend less on lodging and see more places..

Hotel Moomal in Jaisalmer. For dunes go to Khuri instead of Sam. Suggest read these threads for places to see in Jodhpur, Jaisalmer etc.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...n-jodhpur.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...r-gurgaon.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...r-gurgaon.html

Originally Posted by KishoreC

Plan almost ready.
Can anyone please suggest any place to stay in Jaisalmer?

I have dropped Jodhpur and made 2 days in Jaisalmer. We'll see Mt Abu on the way from Udaipur to Jaisalmer.

[viper_711]

As someone who has lived in Ahmedabad and toured Rajasthan extensively, I think your trip is still way to hectic!!
In and around Udaipur - there are so many places to see (please do a detailed google search)
Throw in the Mt. Abu detour to see a different terrain (Beware, Abu and surrounding ghats will have heavy fog in mornings and late evenings)
The joy of driving through rajasthan is to stop and enjoy the many old structures that may be a short diversion off the main routes. Another joy is to enjoy the food on roadside dhabas - Rajasthan is famous for this.

Jodhpur, jaisalmer and bikaner (& ajmer, as its on the way) demand a dedicated trip!
It will take you 1.5 days at a minimum to enjoy Jaisalmer. Same with Jodhpur!