[Gannu_1]

Guys, need some inputs.

Parents are coming to Surat next weekend and we have planned a trip to Dwarka on the successive weekend.

This is the route we have chalked out: Surat - Vadodara - Ahmedabad (SP ring road) - Rajkot - Jamnagar (bypass road) - Dwarka



We plan to leave Surat early morn around 5 AM and have breakfast from one of the hotels on the SP ring road, Ahmedabad, lunch from Jamnagar and reach Dwarka before sunset. Is this doable? Especially considering monsoons would have set in. Is it a 4-lane road throughout?

We also plan to visit Bet Dwaraka so we’ll have to drive towards Okha on the second day and return to Dwarka by afternoon/evening. We will be returning to Surat on the third day, departing from Dwarka around 5-6 AM tracing the same route back. Stay isn't a concern - SBI holiday home.

Please give me some inputs/tips. Many thanks in advance!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Parents are coming to Surat next weekend and we have planned a trip to Dwarka on the successive weekend.

This is the route we have chalked out: Surat - Vadodara - Ahmedabad (SP ring road) - Rajkot - Jamnagar (bypass road) - Dwarka

Yes this is the correct route. Very good surface all the way. Check with Mohit he had driven back the exact route.

We plan to leave Surat early morn around 5 AM and have breakfast from one of the hotels on the SP ring road, Ahmedabad, lunch from Jamnagar and reach Dwarka before sunset. Is this doable? Especially considering monsoons would have set in. Is it a 4-lane road throughout?

My take: If you start by 4AM, you should be there at Dwarka by 2/2:30.

Please give me some inputs/tips. Many thanks in advance!

Dont want to add Somnath/Porbandar into the plan?

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Is it a 4-lane road throughout?
!

On the route that you plan to take, right upto Jamnagar you have four laned highway.

After Jamnagar(towards Khambaliya/Dwarka), there is a four laned highway for some distance, it then smoothly transitions to a two laned highway. Traffic is less on that highway and you should be able to cover the distance upto Dwarka fairly quickly.

The road from Dwarka to Okha(Bet Dwarka) might not be in good condition (specially around Mithapur).

[drmohitg]

I just did that trip a couple of months back. You can easily reach Dwarka by lunch time if you start early from Surat. It took me around 7 hours to reach from Vadodara. The roads are great all the way and since rains haven't yet arrived with full force in Gujarat, hence I don't anticipate any bad patches yet.

Regarding your stoppage for food and snacks, I would strongly urge you to stop at highway food mall. It is located on the Ahmedabad to Rajkot highway just after crossing Limbdi. Highly recommended place, both for the choice of food and the clean restrooms.

For your stay in Dwarka, I would again recommend the reliance guest house called Kokilaben bhavan or something. But everyone there knows it as the reliance guest house. Extremely reasonable rates and has its own secured parking. Do book in advance as they are quite full most of the time.

Lastly as suggested above, if you are going so far then do add Somnath also to the trip. The temple Is really nice specially with the sea right at its side. The roads around Somnath are under construction and hence expect a little difficulty on that front both while going to Somnath from Dwarka and while returning to Rakjot from there.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

The roads around Somnath are under construction and hence expect a little difficulty on that front both while going to Somnath from Dwarka and while returning to Rakjot from there.

From Dwarka upto Gadu, the roads houdl not be problem, It is the road from m Gadu to Veraval(Somnath) {around 20 kms} that is a cause for worry.

While returning(to Rajkot), there's a way to avoid that stretch of under construction highway from Veraval to Junagadh. One can take the route via Sasan Gir (Veraval-Talala-Mendarda-Junagadh-Rajkot) instead of Veraval-Keshod-Junagadh highway(which is under repairs).

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

This is the route we have chalked out: Surat - Vadodara - Ahmedabad (SP ring road) - Rajkot - Jamnagar (bypass road) - Dwarka

This is the preferred route unless you want to visit Porbandar too. The road leading to Porbandar from Rajkot is also in good shape except that the road from Porbandar to Dwarka is a 2 lane single carriageway route but overall in good condition.

We plan to leave Surat early morn around 5 AM and have breakfast from one of the hotels on the SP ring road, Ahmedabad, lunch from Jamnagar and reach Dwarka before sunset. Is this doable? Especially considering monsoons would have set in. Is it a 4-lane road throughout?

Makes sense to leave early. This also ensures that you reach Ahmedabad before peak morning hours and don't take much time to cross the the Industrial area after Ahmedabad till Bavla on NH 8 A negotiating miscellaneous traffic.

Also ensure to drive slower after Chotila, especially nearing Kuwadava (which is around 15 kms before Rajkot) you drive carefully as there are a lot of surprises due to heavy presence of village traffic in here. It was same when I drove in 2011, and remains the same when I drove in 2012 and 2014 too!!

Third section is the Rajkot Bypass itself all the way till you cross Shapar Industrial Estate on Gondal Road (Same highway) as there are a lot of Industries all around and the road witnesses loads of misc traffic all through the day.

Originally Posted by ampere

Dont want to add Somnath/Porbandar into the plan?

I am of the same opinion too . Its a simple circuit except that reaching Somnath may not have the best roads as of today.

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Regarding your stoppage for food and snacks, I would strongly urge you to stop at highway food mall. It is located on the Ahmedabad to Rajkot highway just after crossing Limbdi. Highly recommended place, both for the choice of food and the clean restrooms.

Apart from the Food Mall, the Honest chain of Highway restaurants have always been good between Ahmedabad and Rajkot.

For your stay in Dwarka, I would again recommend the reliance guest house called Kokilaben bhavan or something.

That's Kokila Dhiraj Dham and yes, its run by RIL. We stayed there during our visit in 2011 with prior booking. The rooms are excellent (By Dwarka Standards) and they only serve beverages( Tea & Milk) but no food. Not sure if things have changed now.

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by ampere

My take: If you start by 4AM, you should be there at Dwarka by 2/2:30.

Alrighty then. We shall start early. I prefer early morn drives.

Originally Posted by ampere

Dont want to add Somnath/Porbandar into the plan?

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Lastly as suggested above, if you are going so far then do add Somnath also to the trip.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

I am of the same opinion too . Its a simple circuit except that reaching Somnath may not have the best roads as of today.

I would really want to but unfortunately I am running short of CLs; I just have 3.5 days left for the entire year. With this one, I'll have 2 more left. And I have my wedding coming up this September so the entire month would practically be off!

I will be taking this up once again next year so we will visit Somnath on our way back.

Originally Posted by skanchan95

The road from Dwarka to Okha(Bet Dwarka) might not be in good condition (specially around Mithapur).

But my roomie who has been through this route:



says, this road was in very good condition. He had been here last year around the same time.

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Regarding your stoppage for food and snacks, I would strongly urge you to stop at highway food mall. It is located on the Ahmedabad to Rajkot highway just after crossing Limbdi. Highly recommended place, both for the choice of food and the clean restrooms.

Originally Posted by drmohitg

For your stay in Dwarka, I would again recommend the reliance guest house called Kokilaben bhavan or something.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

That's Kokila Dhiraj Dham and yes, its run by RIL.

Stay isn't a concern guys. We have SBI guest house/holiday home in Dwaraka. The rates would be dead cheap for SBI employees - Rs. 100-150 for AC rooms.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Also ensure to drive slower after Chotila, especially nearing Kuwadava (which is around 15 kms before Rajkot) you drive carefully as there are a lot of surprises due to heavy presence of village traffic in here. It was same when I drove in 2011, and remains the same when I drove in 2012 and 2014 too!!

Third section is the Rajkot Bypass itself all the way till you cross Shapar Industrial Estate on Gondal Road (Same highway) as there are a lot of Industries all around and the road witnesses loads of misc traffic all through the day.

Noted!

Thanks a lot amp, Mohit, Kanchan, Paragbhai! Extremely helpful inputs.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

But my roomie who has been through this route:


says, this road was in very good condition. He had been here last year around the same time.

Its the internal route and roads are narrow compared to the route via Varvala. But the plus point on the route that your posted is the Nageshwar temple, where there is a huge statue of Lord Shiva. Not sure if that road opens up before or after Mithapur. There is a Tata Chemicals factory in Mithapur, hence the bad roads due to heavy truck movement. From Mithapur, Okha/Bet Dwarka is hardly 7-8 kms.

[Dieseltuned]

Hi Gannu_1,

Just a bit to add, since you are planning to do Bet Dwarka with your parents, kindly plan properly. The boats that ply to the island are very infrequent and always wait for atleast 30 people to join before they begin the journey. We wasted atleast 1 hour just waiting for people.

Other point would be if any of the people travelling are elderly, then this boat journey is highly inadvisable as the boats and the Jetty are in very bad shape. My Grandfather had to sit out at the Jetty and the rest of the family went ahead to the island.

Lastly, please carry your own food for the island trip. This island and temple premises on the island are the worst and the most unhygenic I have ever come across. Fly infested and Dung strewn if i may say.

There is an internal road from Nageshwar temple to Okha which somewhat goes behind the Mithapur factory. This road was in a very bad shape in 2012 (not sure of now) but the biggest plus point of this road is, there are many water bodies around this road and you can view many migratory birds here which flock to this region.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

But my roomie who has been through this route:
says, this road was in very good condition. He had been here last year around the same time.

This is the same route I took stopping by at the Nageshwar Jyotirling and as Kanchan mentions, its a narrow road that probably witnesses only tourist traffic either returning from Naheshwar alone or heading back from Bet Dwarka and Nageshwar.

The last 4 kms will take you behind the Tata Chemicals Factory and the progress will be slow both due to road conditions as well as truck movement. That said, it is a very small stretch that you will have to bother about.

I would suggest taking this route to vist Nageshwar and then hit Mithapur-Bet Dwarka and take the traditional route to come down to Dwarka and then head back to Jamnagar via Khambhaliya.

[Gannu_1]

Errrm guys, the Dwarka trip which was planned before never happened. Planned it for a second time, cancelled again.

Now we have one coming up next weekend and I intend to take it up seriously. Possibly the last opportunity to enjoy the excellent roads here before I leave Gujarat in a month's time. *fingers crossed*

Here's the brief itinerary:

March 3rd - Navsari to Anand.

March 4th - Anand to Dwarka with a departure around 10:30 AM.

March 5th - Dwarka to Somnath and back.

March 6th - Dwarka to Kutch with an early departure at 5:30 AM.

March 7th - Visit Kalo Dungar and Narayan Sarovar. Return back to our accommodation at Kutch.

March 8th - Kutch to Navsari.

Map:



Places aren't of much importance; this is just a quick getaway so the drive is. Good roads are a must but I hope in this route, this shouldn't be a problem? Is Narayan Sarovar worth a drive from Kutch? It looks like the western most drivable point. We're yet to book the accommodation. Any inputs will be helpful!

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

March 3rd - Navsari to Anand.

March 4th - Anand to Dwarka with a departure around 10:30 AM.

March 5th - Dwarka to Somnath and back.

March 6th - Dwarka to Kutch with an early departure at 5:30 AM.

March 7th - Visit Kalo Dungar and Narayan Sarovar. Return back to our accommodation at Kutch.

March 8th - Kutch to Navsari.

Map:


Places aren't of much importance; this is just a quick getaway so the drive is. Good roads are a must but I hope in this route, this shouldn't be a problem? Is Narayan Sarovar worth a drive from Kutch? It looks like the western most drivable point. We're yet to book the accommodation. Any inputs will be helpful!

I would suggest this:

• March 3rd - Navsari to Anand.
  
• March 4th - Anand to Somnath
  
• March 5th - Somnath to Dwarka.
  
• March 6th - Dwarka to Kutch with an early departure at 5:30 AM.
  
• March 7th - Visit Kalo Dungar and Narayan Sarovar. Return back to our accommodation at Kutch.
  
• March 8th - Kutch to Navsari.

Here's why -

Anand - Chotila - Rajkot - Gondal - Jetpur - Junagarh - Keshod - Somnath is a fully done dual carriagway road all the way to your destination (Except crossing Junagarh that might take a max 15 minutes).

This will help you because the roads now are all "Fantastic" till Somnath via Rajkot which wasn' the case earlier (in fact even the other road to Somnath via Gir Forest area is Superb). This is based on my last drive only a month before where I had to visit Somnath.

Secondly, this will also help you such that you don't need to do Dwarka-Somnath-Dwarka. Instead you can directly hit Dwarka from Somnath and not take the same route again.

From Dwarka you directly to Kutch and continue with your planned itinerary.

Regarding stay - Plenty at Somnath and Dwarka. There is Lords & Fern at Somnath which is quite popular and next to each other bang on the highway just before you hit the road leading to Temple.

At Dwarka, I have only stayed at "Kokila Dhiraj Dham" and liked the cleanliness and the Value for money factor. Since your dates are closer to the Exams and summer has just begun, you should easily get this booking.

Stay at Kutch, well I have only stayed at homes of my close family folks so cannot help much.

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

I would suggest this:

• March 3rd - Navsari to Anand.
  
• March 4th - Anand to Somnath
  
• March 5th - Somnath to Dwarka.
  
• March 6th - Dwarka to Kutch with an early departure at 5:30 AM.
  
• March 7th - Visit Kalo Dungar and Narayan Sarovar. Return back to our accommodation at Kutch.
  
• March 8th - Kutch to Navsari.

That saved me approx. 265 km. Thanks for that Paragbhai!

Since you are from Rajkot, I knew you would be familiar with this route. I referred to a few route query threads here and some of the members had mentioned that a few roads were a WIP - looks like they have been completed now. Will stick to this route now.

I am not sure if I will go to Bet Dwarka and the Rukmini Devi Temple. Will keep a tab on the timings and take a call suitably.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Since you are from Rajkot,

No No, I am not from Rajkot but I ensured to tie knot with someone who is the reason I drive there almost at least once a year .

some of the members had mentioned that a few roads were a WIP - looks like they have been completed now.

Yes, It is all done except the Junagarh Bypass which is not 4 lane. As soon as you cross this, again the usual 4 lane starts with all tolls functional. In fact, even the left hand turn-off towards Junagarh from Porbandar Highway (and Ramp for opposite traffic to merge) is all done.

I was apprehensive when we drove during the mid of January but was pleasantly surprised. The road quality too is top notch with very minimal traffic.

Even the return route via Gir for a change surprised me too as the roads are back to normal through the jungles via Talala - Gir - Medarda.

In terms of better facilities, you better stick to the usual Junagarh - Keshod 4 lane route as they have couple of HONEST food courts now with few that might have opened now (as I noticed them almost ready then).

I am not sure if I will go to Bet Dwarka and the Rukmini Devi Temple. Will keep a tab on the timings and take a call suitably.

With proper time management, I am sure you can accommodate these. I also hope you have Nageshwar as part of your trip too? If not, then please do.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

I am not sure if I will go to Bet Dwarka and the Rukmini Devi Temple. Will keep a tab on the timings and take a call suitably.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

No No, I am not from Rajkot but I ensured to tie knot with someone who is the reason I drive there almost at least once a year .

Gannu, Dont miss Bet Dwarka. Its a nice place to visit. If nothing at least for the boat ride! But it would be good in Dwarka to hire a cab to go to Bet Dwarka, since you have to park the car for 3-4 hours.

Again as Parag said it make sense to visit Somnath first and then go to Dwarka. That way you dont come back. Once you are gone past Kheda bypass - Dholka bypass to Bagodara, you are onto 4-lane there on.