Gujarat Itinerary help

Hi I am planning a mid-March Gujarat tour for around 10 days. My tentative itinerary is as follows--

Day 1, 2, 3->.Howrah to Ahmedabad (2.5 days)- train
Day 3. Ahmedabad to Patan
Day 4 Patan to Zainabad
Day 5 Zainabad
Day 6 Zainabad to Junagadh
Day 7 Junagadh
Day 8 Junagadh to Gir
Day 9 Gir Stay
Day 10 Gir to Somenath
Day 11 Somenath to Ahemdabad to Howrah


My questions--

1. Is Junagadh worth a 1 complete day stay?
2. Am I missing any nearby locations I can adjust them into
3. Any chance I can get a bike rental to do the route(I know it has been asked before )
4. Where do I stay at Patan, Zainabad, Junagadh and Gir

it is.

- Girnar - worth it for the views alone.

I wish i could help!!

Zainabad - desert coursers gets good reviews. Devjibhai dhamecha is the other option. Junagadh has many hotels, just use tripadvisor. Gir - sinh sadan seems to be the best pick.

No personal experience- just my research that i will execute some day!!

hope this helps.

Thanks Vaibhav...

I have some questions about transportation..

On 12th March ,I am planning to go from Ahemdabad-Patan and then around afternoon from Patan-Zainabad.
What is the transportation mode from Ahm to Patan (I read intercity buses are there) and how frequent they are?
How to reach Zainabad from Patan?
With this I will be spending around 4-5 hours in Patan, is that enough for that place?

Members who have done this route or live there, kindly help

Dear MausamM,

In Junagadh please do visit the Fort, Zoo , museum, temples and the kund. There are lots of other points on the way to Girnar Talhati.
You have to hire auto/taxi to hire these points
As you are planning Gir for a day, so you can only explore the deolia national park ( Spread in 4 sqm) for visitors i.e. at Talala , approx 70 km from Junagadh and forest department organise regular trip inside that park and that take maximum 2 hours and Somnath is also 1.5 hrs jouney from Talala ( You can see lots of Kesar mango on trees) , so you can start from Girnar , visit Deolia park and by evening can reach the Somnath. This day saving will help you in visting Girnar ( Rememeber it is 10000 staircases and it is quite hot in march).
If you really want to explore Gir Sanctuary then you must plan to visit Kankai temple and the Vanaj ( Points where all big cats and other animal came to quench ther thirst in the night).
As of now you can only make the day visit to kankai temple as stay there is now restricted by forest department, you can only stay at Sattadhar, Tulsishyam etc. However this required the time.

All the points in Somnath and nearby including Bhalka teerth will only require 2 hours.For Bhalka teerth you have to hire a auto as it is approx 2 km from Somnath.
For rest of the point near Somnath you can enjoy the one hour Tonga ride it will cover the Sangam, nearby temples.

Please do not forget to visit the old Somnath temple it is adjacent to bus stand and facing new Somnath temple

Please note that in Gujarat, Government bus service is much time punctual as compare to private bus service in that region i.e. in Saurashtra

Thanks spg..

Actually I am spending full 1.5 days at Gir(Day 8 I will reach Gir around 10 Am from Junagadh, and Day 9 full), so will that help me in including some more tours?

One more ques..how do I reach Somnath from Gir?

Regular bus service available from Talala ( Gir) to Veraval.
Somnath is 5 km from Veraval and autos, shared autos ( in local language called chakda) are easily available.
Rail transport is also available from Talala and a meter gauge train is reaching Talala around 4 PM and reach Veraval by 5.30 PM (Exact timimg you have to check)

As you have 1.5 day at Talala, so 0.5 day you can utilise in visiting Deolia park and Crocodile breeding area.

Next day you can hire Maruti gypsy to go inside deep in the forest

As you have only one day in Junagadh, and if at Girnar you trek up to temple of Ambe maa ( 3rd Tonk), i.e. only 6500 staircase. There are total five tonks and 3rd and 5th tonk are almost at same level and trekking time depends upon your fitness, All type of facilities are also available for aged people and children like Palki and Pitthoo.
Any way if you start early i.e. by 5.00 a.m. then only you can come down by 12.00 / 1.00 P.M. But beleive me in that case you will be tired and it will be difficult for you to visit other places.
So if you had only a day better avoid trekking of Girnar rather then visit other places in Junagadh so that you will not tired.

Do Girnar trekking, if you have 1.5 days with you in Junagadh

The only suggestion is that you can visit "Sidhpur" which has some historic monuments and the place is with in 30 minutes driving distance of Patan.

Dear MM,
I am wondering how Mr.SPGupta1975 has been able to give perfect advise.It appears he is having thorough knowledge of the area.I am sure his information will definately help you.

Dear Mr. Ujjawal,

The reason is very simple, I spent 8 years of my life in Somnath region (stay at a distance of 8 km from Somnath and 14 km from Veraval) and got the chance twice to see the lion on the road also(once during the draught period of 2000-01 and other in 2004).

Regards
Spgupta

How to reach Zainabad from Patan?
anybody?

You may take a bus to Ahmedabad and another train to mehsana and then a bus to patan. Or a combination of GSRTC buses via ahmedabad ... its rough travel though from what i have found out so far. Car+Driver would be best (but you'd have to hire from a major town like rajkot or ahmedabad)

Actually my route is Ahmedabad to Patan (spend some hours) then go to Zainabad, so coming back to Ahmedabad would really be very tiresome and time consuming. What I saw in the maps is that Zainabad is not very far from Patan, so I was hopeful I can find something from Patan

Dear MausamM

For your Journey from Ahmedabad to Patan you have two option either take train to Unjha (Famous for Jeera production) and Patan is very near to Unjha may be 30-40 km only ,or some of the train also stop at Siddhpur ( station after Unjha), however not sure about regular transport available from there to Patan. another is go up to Mehsana by train and then take take bus to Patan, there are regular trains avaialble and journey time is 2 to 2.5 hr up to Unjha.
Another option is to reach Gita Mandir bus stand to catch the bus to Patan.
Patan to Zainabad only option available is by road and at Patan bus stand please check the timimg

From Zainabad you can come to Viramgam or Surendra Nagar to catch the train up to Junagadh.

Based upon these travelling please plan your itinary, because after reaching Ahmedabad you are moving towards Abu and then again come back to Saurashtra which require lots of travelling

Please note at Zainabad you may have very limited option, so kindly check the same at Patan bus stand itself. Anyway in Gujarat the connectivity is good and risk is not much, once you visited Saurashtra region you will realise the same.
In case time constrain is there please hire a cab and do Ahmedabad-Sidhpur-Patan-Zainabad- Surendranagar/ Rajkot.
From Surendranagar or Rajkot you can get lot of option to reach Junagadh

ok, I have booked my travel tickets now. Now all I gotta do is book the hotel rooms can I get any help here on some Ahmedabad budget hotesl(within 1.5K for double)?