CityThemes:HeritageCultureFoodPhotography
Gujarat
Ahmedabad
India's first World Heritage City, of pols, mosques and mills
- Ideal stay
- 3 days
- Best time
- November to February; mid-January brings the Uttarayan kite festival
State · West India
Gujarat
राज्यपश्चिमी भारत
White salt desert, Asiatic lions and stepwells of stone lace
The place
Travelling in Gujarat
परिचय
Gujarat runs from the salt flats of Kutch to the Gir forest, the only place on earth with wild Asiatic lions. It holds Rani ki Vav's carved stepwell, Dholavira's Harappan city, the Somnath and Dwarka pilgrimages, Ahmedabad's pol houses, and nine nights of garba that turn every neighbourhood into a dance floor.
Gujarat has India's longest coastline, about 1,600 kilometres, and a landscape that swings from mangrove creek to salt pan to teak forest. In winter the Great Rann of Kutch dries into a white crust you can walk on, and Rann Utsav sets up tents at Dhordo for full-moon nights; the surrounding villages weave Ajrakh block prints, bandhani and rabari mirror embroidery. Gir National Park protects the world's last wild Asiatic lions, around seven hundred of them. The state's stone is exceptional: Rani ki Vav at Patan descends seven storeys past hundreds of sculptures, the Sun Temple at Modhera was completed in 1026 with a stepped tank of miniature shrines, and Dholavira's Harappan reservoirs sit on a Kutch island. Ahmedabad became India's first UNESCO World Heritage City in 2017 for its pols, wooden havelis and the Sidi Saiyyed jali; Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram is a short walk away. Pilgrims go to Somnath, Dwarka and the 863 Jain temples of Palitana. Signature journeys link Ahmedabad, Kutch and Gir in about ten days.
What it is famous for
Gujarat, in three lists
पहचान
Famous for
- Rann of Kutch
- Gir Asiatic lions
- Rani ki Vav at Patan
- Modhera Sun Temple
- Statue of Unity
- Somnath and Dwarka
- Palitana Jain temples
Through the year
- Navratri garba
- Uttarayan kite festival
- Rann Utsav
- Janmashtami at Dwarka
- Tarnetar Fair
9 places we travel to
Places to visit in Gujarat
गंतव्य
Every Gujarat destination we plan journeys around, with the best months and the ideal stay for each.
City
HeritageThemes:CultureHeritageOffbeatPhotography
Gujarat
Bhuj
Mirror palaces, earthquake memory and the crafts of Kutch
- Ideal stay
- 3 days
- Best time
- November to February
HeritageThemes:HeritageSpiritualPhotography
Gujarat
Champaner-Pavagadh
A lost sultanate city under a Shakti Peetha hill
- Ideal stay
- 2 days
- Best time
- November to February; the hill is greenest right after the monsoon in September and October
TempleThemes:SpiritualHeritageCulture
Gujarat
Dwarka
Krishna's sea-facing city and one of the four Char Dham
- Ideal stay
- 2 days
- Best time
- November to February; Janmashtami in August or September is the biggest festival
WildlifeThemes:WildlifeNaturePhotography
Gujarat
Gir National Park
The last wild Asiatic lions, in dry teak forest
- Ideal stay
- 2 days
- Best time
- December to March for comfortable safaris; April and May are hot but give the best sightings
DesertThemes:NaturePhotographyCultureOffbeat
Gujarat
Rann of Kutch
White salt desert that glows under the Kutchi full moon
- Ideal stay
- 3 days
- Best time
- November to February
Hill stationThemes:NatureFamilyOffbeat
Gujarat
Saputara
Gujarat's only hill station, greenest in the Dang monsoon
- Ideal stay
- 2 days
- Best time
- July to September for the monsoon green
TempleThemes:SpiritualHeritageCulture
Gujarat
Somnath
First Jyotirlinga, rebuilt six times on the Arabian Sea
- Ideal stay
- 1 day
- Best time
- October to February; Mahashivratri in February or March is the temple's biggest night
HeritageThemes:HeritageFamilyPhotographyNature
Gujarat
Statue of Unity
The world's tallest statue, facing the Narmada and its dam
- Ideal stay
- 2 days
- Best time
- November to February; avoid Mondays
Gujarat tour packages
Journeys through Gujarat
यात्राएँ
1 of our routes pass through Gujarat. Each one is a starting point — tell us your days and we reshape it.
9 days · 8 nightsThemes:CultureWildlifeHeritage
Easy · Best Nov–Mar
Rann of Kutch and the Gir Lions
Nine days from Ahmedabad's pols to the white desert, the lions and the sea
Route: Ahmedabad → Bhuj → Rann of Kutch → Gir National Park +2 more
- Group
- 2–12 (private)
- From
- ₹82,000 pp
Time it right
Gujarat festivals
त्योहार
OctSeptember or October, the nine nights of the bright fortnight of Ashwin ending at Dussehra. Dancing starts after the evening aarti and often runs past two in the morning.
Navratri and Garba
Nine nights when Gujarat does not sleep. Circles of dancers turn anticlockwise around a lamp-lit earthen garbo until the small hours, moving from the slow taali garba into dandiya raas with sticks. UNESCO inscribed the garba of Gujarat as intangible cultural heritage in 2023.
Gujarat
DecMid-November to late February, with the tent city near Dhordo open all season. Full-moon nights on the salt flats are the ones worth planning around and book out first.
Rann Utsav
A season-long festival on the salt flats of the Great Rann, based at a tent city near Dhordo, about 80 km from Bhuj. The draw is the white crust of the desert under a full moon, and the craft villages of Kutch within an easy day's drive.
Gujarat
Eat here
What to eat in Gujarat
खानपान
VegetarianGujarat
Khaman Dhokla
Gram-flour batter steamed into a soft yellow cake, cut into squares and finished with a tempering of mustard seed, sesame, curry leaf and slit green chilli, with grated coconut and coriander on top. It is a Gujarati breakfast and a teatime habit. Buy it warm at Ahmedabad farsan shops and eat it with green chutney.
From the journal
Reading for Gujarat
पत्रिका
· Food · 6 min
India Street Food Trail: 10 Cities and What to Eat First
A working eater's route through ten Indian cities, from Chandni Chowk at dawn to Indore's Sarafa Bazaar at midnight. One anchor dish per city, the lanes and stalls that make it, what it costs, and how to eat street food without losing a day.
· Guide · 6 min
Best Time to Visit India: A Month-by-Month Guide
India is not one climate but six, from a Himalayan cold desert at 3,500 metres to hills that take eleven metres of rain a year. Here is the whole calendar, month by month, with the regions, roads and parks that open and close with it.
3 more in West India
Next door in West India
पड़ोसी राज्य
StateWest India
Goa
Konkan sand, Portuguese churches and fish curry rice afternoons
- Capital
- Panaji
- Destinations
- 3
StateWest India
Maharashtra
Rock-cut caves, Sahyadri forts and a city that never sits down
- Capital
- Mumbai
- Destinations
- 10
Union territoryWest India
Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu
Portuguese forts, Warli villages and quiet Arabian Sea sand
- Capital
- Daman
- Destinations
- 1