[ACM]

Mumbai-Vadodara-Diu-Junagarh-Gir-Porbandar-Somnath-Dwarka-Jamnagar-Little Rann?-Vadodara (via Ahmedabad)-Mumbai

HAVE READ THE VARIOUS THREADS AND TRAVELLOGUES THAT COVER BITS OF THIS JOURNEY IN A SIMILAR OR DIFFERENT ORDER.

Am planning a Trip to Gujarat post Diwali

Vehicle: EcoSport AT - 4 Adults and 1 kid.

Day 1: Mumbai to Vadodra (My In-Laws stay there):
So it makes for a good start point in Gujarat to reset and start the trip though I could would normally have driven further. Also the plan is to pick up FIL from there.

Day 2: Vadodara to Diu:
(Plan is to reach as early as possible in the day to enjoy the beach) - Suggestion for route and hotel invited. Am anticipating the Diu hotels to be expensive and unavailable at that point of time.

Day 3: Diu to Junagarh:
(We may see Gir / Devalia Park on this route. We wish to leave from Diu around 11am so early morning Gir will not be possible and we are likely to require to stand in line to get entry for the 3 hrs safari.). Have yet to figure out this day better. No point staying in Diu for another day.

Day 4: Junagarh to Porbandar via Gir:
(if Gir is not seen the pervious day.)We would leave early in the day may seen Somnath on this day is Gir is already covered to stick to this full day for a Gir best case effort.

Day 5: Porbander to Jamnagar via Somnath and Dwarka:
Somath may be covered on the previous day or Dwarka may be covered as a days outing from Jamnagar.

Day 6: Jamnagar:
Wife spent 3 years of her life out there so would like to relive it a bit of it and will take me around. We would make tips around Jamnagar on the day.

Day 7: Jamnagar to Mumbai via Ahmedabad (Is there a faster route.):
Can I do this in one day.

End of tour.

ALTERNATE END
Day 7: Alternate route - Jamnagar to Dasada, Rann Riders or some other place so that we can check out the Little Rann etc.- If this is a bad time of the year and I should not make the trip now due to Slush (as reported by some sources) then I will skip it. The man Rann of Kutch will have to be a part of a Rajasthan trip for some other time of the year.

Day 9) Little Rann / Dasada to Mumbai:

Any advice on the changes that I should do in the above route would be welcome. Would start the trip around Nov 5th want to be back latest by the 13th/14th Nov.

Need to decide on route and do some hotel bookings in a day or two. Would appreciate some quick feedback on the route feasibility and specific queries posted.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ACM

Am planning a Trip to Gujarat post Diwali

ACM not fully aware of the region as I have not driven much through Gujarat.

But few questions based on the points you have chosen:

- Diu is on the way much before Baroda. So would like to visit Diu first and then go to Baroda?
- From Baroda, it think it makes sense to hit the E-W corridor and then take the road to Junagad via Rajkot.
- You may not need to go all the way to Junagad. Exit at Jetpur to hit SH to reach Gir. This comment I make, as per what I see in Google maps.
- Its about 450km via E-W corridor. You should be able to reach Gir by evening.
- You also need to swap the sequence between Porbandar and Somnath. Rajkot-Junagad-Gir-Somnath-Porbandar-Dwarka-Jamnnagar-Rajkot.
- Any particular reasons to go Ahmedabad ? Or just for the expressway ? Because if not you can also directly come back to Baroda.

Here is a route sequence that I came up with. See if it make sense to you:

Mumbai-Gujarat Route plan


PS : Folks at home once did some thing similar. They landed at Ahmedabad by train. Hired a cab and went in the exact same route.
AMD-Rajkot-Junagad-Somnath(Veraval)-Porbandar-Dwarka-Jamnagar-Rajkot-Baroda.

[hvkumar]

Routing would be as follows:

Bombay-Baroda-Diu-Somnath-Gir-Porbandar-Dwaraka-Jamnagar-Zainabad (for LRoK)-Ahmedabad-Baroda

Why Junagadh? It is not on the way anywhere on your route.

Baroda-Vasad-Borsad-Vataman road is good but expect heavy traffic.

You could do as follows:

D1: Bombay-Baroda
D2: Baroda-Diu
D3: Diu-Gir
D4: Gir-Somnath-Porbandar-Dwaraka
D5: Dwaraka-Jamnagar-Zainabad
D6: Zainabad-Ahmedabad-Baroda
D7: Baroda-Bombay


I am afraid you have chosen the worst time to travel in Gujarat - the Diwali week is a total holiday & that is the time when entire GJ goes on holiday, so expect miserable crowds everywhere, serpentine Qs for temple darshans & heavy traffic on the highways. Surely a time to keep within the walls of your home!

The LRoK has limited resorts & I am sure they must be fully booked already. This year has seen unusual & unseasonal rains in that region & it is generally expected that the Rann marshes will not dry up even by Jan-Feb. Even Zainabad area is quite wet (as per reports last week).

[ampere]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

D1: Bombay-Baroda
D2: Baroda-Diu
D3: Diu-Gir
D4: Gir-Somnath-Porbandar-Dwaraka
D5: Dwaraka-Jamnagar-Zainabad
D6: Zainabad-Ahmedabad-Baroda
D7: Baroda-Bombay

HVK, Is'nt Diu coming back from Baroda? What if he does Diu on the way to Baroda?

EDIT My mistake. I took Diu some where inside Daman.

Then yes what you mentioned is perfect. Bombay-Baroda-Diu-Gir-Somnath-Porbandar-Dwarka-Jamnagar-AMD-Baroda-Bombay.

Also what is a better route form Jamngagar to AMD? Zainabad or Rajkot?
And in case he does not want to go to AMD how does he come to Baroda directly? Because AMD is only a routing point for him.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by ampere

HVK, Is'nt Diu coming back from Baroda? What if he does Diu on the way to Baroda?

EDIT My mistake. I took Diu some where inside Daman.

Diu is on the coast between Bhavnagar & Somnath, so it is best covered on way to Somnath/ Gir - he will do the trip clockwise - since on return he will come from Dwaraka in the north & go direct to LRoK.

[ACM]

Thanks HVK and Ampere.

I think I will skip LRoK this time and club with RoK and Raj tour some other time. The schools are opening early this time. Yep it is a bad time to travel, but kid has hols then.

I was staying at Junagar as I did not want to stay more than a day at Diu and am not optimistic of getting a hotel in Gir either on the date. Also wanted to leave from Diu around noon rather than early morning as required for Girl.

Need to plan a bit more.

[ACM]

Basis the feedback from HVK and other factors have changed the route as below:

Changed Start date to 25th October to partially beat the Diwali holiday rush.

Day 1: Start on 25th Afternoon Mumbai to Vadodra (My In-Laws stay there):
So it makes for a good start point in Gujarat to reset and start the trip though I could would normally have driven further. Also the plan is to pick up FIL from there.

Day 2: Rest at Vadodara
Thali at Yuvraj

Day 3: Vadodara to Diu:
Leave at 5am and reach by 11am or atleast before Lunch.
Booked Radhika Resort at/Nr. Nagoa Beach.
Specific route suggestions for this section are welcome.

Day 4: Diu to Gir:
Leave at 9.30am and reach before Lunch.
Booked Saavaj Resort Close to Sasan Gir.
Booked 3pm-6pm Safari Tour.

Day 5: Gir to Porbander via Somnath:
Leave at 10am See Devalia Park at around 10-10.30 slot. Visit Somnath and then check into Porbander late in the evening.
Booked Lords Inn near Chaupati at Porbander

Day 6: Porbander to Jamnagar via Dwarka:
Leave by 8am and visit Dwarka in the afternoon and finally reach Jamnagar by night.

Day7: Jamnagar:
Wife spent 3 years of her life out there so would like to relive it a bit of it and will take me around. We would make tips around Jamnagar on the day.

Day 8: Jamnagar to Vadodara (pick up someone) to Mumbai via Ahmedabad
No Halt at Ahmedabad just to use to expressway if required.
Short 1 hr. halt at Vadodara
Is there a faster route?
Can I do this in one day?

[Ageing Stud]

Hi, have read alI the travelogues for Somnath, Dwarka and appreciate the inputs and hardworking and help of fellow bhpians.

I plan to leave for surat tomoro and stay overnight and next day early morning leave for my excursion to botad (sarangpur hanumanji), somnath and Dwarka. The reason for starting this new topic are

1. Till now all posters have advised to go to Ahmedabad and then to nimbdi for botad and rajkot for Somnath. When I checked Google maps it shows a shorter route through state highways (screen shot attached). Any inputs if the shorter route is good.
2. I will be travelling in cng wagon r, so whichever route is faster and has cng supply will be preferable.

From somnath to Dwarka and then back the route is pretty standard but cng availability is what I would like to have some inputs. In a full tank at good pressure, the car should run about 200 kms, can I hope to be on complete cng for the full trip and if yes how but without sacrificing much time.

[Sandy28]

Originally Posted by Ageing Stud

Hi, have read alI the travelogues for Somnath, Dwarka and appreciate the inputs and hardworking and help of fellow bhpians.

I plan to leave for surat tomoro and stay overnight and next day early morning leave for my excursion to botad (sarangpur hanumanji), somnath and Dwarka. The reason for starting this new topic are

1. Till now all posters have advised to go to Ahmedabad and then to nimbdi for botad and rajkot for Somnath. When I checked Google maps it shows a shorter route through state highways (screen shot attached). Any inputs if the shorter route is good.
2. I will be travelling in cng wagon r, so whichever route is faster and has cng supply will be preferable.

From somnath to Dwarka and then back the route is pretty standard but cng availability is what I would like to have some inputs. In a full tank at good pressure, the car should run about 200 kms, can I hope to be on complete cng for the full trip and if yes how but without sacrificing much time.

I went to Somnath during Holi via Ahmedabad-Bagodara-Dhanduka-Vallabhipur-Amreli-Dhari-Visavdar-Talala-Somnath. Except the approx 15 km that you travel thru the jungle, rest of the road is very good though it is mostly 2-lane. If you like rural countryside road, then you will enjoy this route unlike the Limdi-Rajkot route which is just like any other highway. Only issue is that there are very limited hotel / restaurant options on this route. In the jungle, there is absolutely no road and you will take atleast 1.5 hrs to cross it (surprisingly we saw many cars doing this route).

AFAIK, there is a CNG station near Botad but none after that till Somnath. Also on the Somanth - Dwarka route, i dont think there is any CNG stations. There are many CNG stations around Rajkot, but none after that. So doing the entire trip on CNG may not be possible.

[Ageing Stud]

Hi Sandy28
Thanks for your inputs.
I do like the idea of passing through the jungle and it being Gujarat should be completely safe also. I remember once travelling from bangalore to ooti and having to spend the night in madikeri forest check-out

Doing the full trip on cng was me being greedy and utilising the cng potential to the fullest

Still have another question left unanswered which is if I take longer route via Ahmedabad or go as per google maps. Thanks

[Sandy28]

Originally Posted by Ageing Stud

Hi Sandy28
Thanks for your inputs.
I do like the idea of passing through the jungle and it being Gujarat should be completely safe also. I remember once travelling from bangalore to ooti and having to spend the night in madikeri forest check-out

Doing the full trip on cng was me being greedy and utilising the cng potential to the fullest

Still have another question left unanswered which is if I take longer route via Ahmedabad or go as per google maps. Thanks

The jungle is absolutely safe. If you are ok with driving thru the jungle on absolute zero road, then you can take the google map route. It is an experience in itself. Excpet for the jungle, rest of the route is good. Only thing to note is that there are limited food options on this route so plan for it or carry stuff with you. However it also depends on the timing becasue the jungle road is closed in the evening.

The Ahmedabad route is good till Jetpur after which it is bad all the way to Somnath (around 125 km).

[Ageing Stud]

Thanks for the info.
Have to delay the trip by a few days and now will leave mid next week.

Thanks for all your help.

[rammishra]

Hi aging stud...

I just did Surat to Sasan Gir & Somnath and back to surat on 28th March 2014. In my view it is advisable to go via Surat - Baroda - Rajkot - Jetpur. 4 laning work is in progress between Jetpur and Junagarh but roads are not bad though may be bumpy at some places. You will get enough CNG stations also on this route.

The route shown by google is also generated by mapmyindia maps when you look for route through GPS.

Originally Posted by Sandy28

The jungle is absolutely safe. If you are ok with driving thru the jungle on absolute zero road, then you can take the google map route. It is an experience in itself. Excpet for the jungle, rest of the route is good. Only thing to note is that there are limited food options on this route so plan for it or carry stuff with you. However it also depends on the timing becasue the jungle road is closed in the evening.

The Ahmedabad route is good till Jetpur after which it is bad all the way to Somnath (around 125 km).

[abs182]

I need some urgent feedback about the road conditions and best rout from Baroda to Gir and than from Gir to Diu and finally from Diu back to Baroda. I need specific rout suggestions and importantly the conditions of the road to these destinations. And Ideally what would be better? Going 1st to Gir or Diu from Baroda.

[Fastrack21]

Hi everyone,

I am planning a trip mumbai - vadodra - ahmedabad - rajkot next week. Will be really grateful if someone can update me on the present road condition. How much time should I expect travel to take for mumbai - vadodra stretch with short breaks. Are the construction work still going on the route. How's the stretch between Ankleshwar and bharuch, heard there's lot of jam over the narmada river.

I wish to complete the stretch till rajkot in one day. My initial extimates are mumbai to Baroda (450 kms in 8 hrs) and vadodra to rajkot (300 kms in 5hrs). So if I start by 3am in the morning from mumbai I expect to reach Rajkot by late evening.

I will be travelling with my wife. This will be my first such long drive so suggestions regarding how to best take care of the car (4 months old Grandi10 asta), things to keep in mind before the journey and sightseeing places we may cover or take breaks at are most welcome

Thanks