30+ hours in Ahmedabad?

apoivre

My wife and I are going to our friends' wedding in Delhi in October and the best flight routing I can see takes us into Ahmedabad a couple of days before. So we're looking into flying in late on a Tuesday, at 10 pm, spending the night, seeing the Calico Museum in the morning... and then what?

We have to be in Delhi on Thursday afternoon so we can take one of the Thu morning flights from AMD - and that leaves us with about 24 hours to spend somewhere. (And one more important thing - this is going to be our first time in India).

What would you do? Spend the day and another night in the city, seeing the sites? Go somewhere nice in the vicinity and then go back to the airport and fly to Delhi? Go somewhere nice and fly to Delhi from there? I thought about going to Champaner and flying to Delhi from Baroda airport but there's only one direct flt to Delhi at 9:45 am on IndiGo and we'd hate to get stuck should it get cancelled...

We're mostly interested in tribal culture (probably not an option given the timeframe), history and architecture.

Thanks in advance

a

ETA: If it matters - say, there's an interesting festival nearby - the dates are October 27-29

WeaKnee

If you are into history, you may like these:

1. Two hours from Ahmedabad is Lothal - a port city of Indus Valley Civilisation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lothal

2. Adalaj Step Well, 30 mins from the centre of town is an ignored but beautiful site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adalaj

3.Sabarmati Ashram, in the city, is one of the most famous residences of Gandhi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabarmati_Ashram

Wildhorse

Ahmedabad is an interesting city, especially the old town, but AWFULLY polluted. The Gandhi ashram is on the outskirts, on the river, and a nice, relaxing place. Not polluted. If you want to spend a nice evening having a nice dinner, I can recommend the rooftop restaurant of the House of MG hotel. There is also a snack bar on the ground floor, which is a bit noisy as it's near a main road but otherwise pleasant. The House of MG people also organize evening tours in the old town. They should have a homepage.... if you google House of MG, you might find some more information.

As for the Calico Museum: They let in only a certain number of people per day. You normally have to call them beforehand to sort of make an appointment. If you just go there, you might just find out that the number of people for that day has been reached. If you just go, be sure to go very early, i.e. 30 minutes or even one hour before they open.

The mandatory guided tour is extremely rushed. Unless things have radically changed since I was there in January, you will have no time at all to have a close look at anything. You will be pushed, pushed, pushed by the guide. I won't recommend that tour, and if I had known beforehand what it's like, I wouldn't have bothered.

delhiwala

Sun Temple at Modhera is very nice....

Lothal is also a day trip. For India history buffs this is an exciting place... a port city of Indus Valley Civilisation. You can very well see the Bead Maker's house and Granary etc......

__________________
Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone. - The Dhammapada

WeaKnee

I second this recommendation. House of MG is commonly known as Agashiye in Ahmedabad. Thali (a meal) costs Rs.275, if I remember correctly. Great fare.

You can actually leave for Lothal around 7 in the morning, spend a good 2-3 hours at site and get back to Ahmedabad for lunch. We did it last year.

And Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary would have been a good place to go to but the season starts in November. You can check if the season has started once you land in Ahmedabad. It is about 2 hrs drive from Ahmedabad and you HAVE to reach the sanctuary by 6am.

So, there you are, lot of options to choose from

britindel09

If you are in Amedhabad do not eat anything anywhere all day and than go and have dinner at the House of mangaldas. The best vegetarian restaurent in India. This is now a heritage hotel, full of history and a absolutely fantastic restaurent experience.
All food is organic and home grown with so many dishes.AHHH I wish I was there now the food>>>>>>>>>.

Google it, in all seriousness you must go there and than send me a note to thank me.

apoivre

Thanks for the suggestions ... and keep them coming

Eating at The House of MG is one of the very few things I'm sure we want to do in Ahmedabad.

Now, Lothal or Modgera - which of the two do you old Gujarat hands hands reckon would be easier to do as a day trip? (I read history back at the uni so I should be familiar with the Indus Valley civilization). Can I squeeze in Adalaj as well? Do we get a car with the driver to do it in one day? The mind boggles...

rushijoshi

Hi,

Adalaj Wav is on the way to Modhera, and I bat you will really love both places.

If you will find that session for birds in Nal-Sarovar has started then it is on the way of Lothal. If you are interested in Indus Civilization then it will take long to visit Lothal. So preferable to goto Modhera on the way you can visit Adalaj Wav and Charodi Gurukul (You may not allowed to enter in this a big school premises but you will love to see how Gurukul (A traditional indian schools works in India.)

Let me know your dates, I will help you to find out something interesting along with traveling options.

You may start your journey like mentioned below...
Visit Charodi Gurukul (Let me ask some one to check visitors are allowed or not.)
Adalaj Wav (A Step Well)
Sun Temple and Modhera (only two sun temples available in India)

Regards
Rushi

techindia2010

there is one rural resort in Gujarat name is Rann rider resort. The resort build like tribal village.
there are some tourist review for that resort.
http://www.tripadvisor.in/Hotel_Revi...a_Gujarat.html