Cornelius Amann
October 06, 2026
5/5
Gujarat: Ahmedabad, the Rann of Kutch and the Gir Lions
10 days from Ahmedabad to Rajkot: the old city and Adalaj stepwell, Modhera and Rani ki Vav, three nights in Bhuj for the White Rann and Kutch craft villages, then Gondal and two lion safaris in Gir.
10 days · Ahmedabad to Rajkot · up to 12 guests
An Asiatic lioness in Sasan Gir Photo: Arian Zwegers from Brussels, Belgium, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sasan_Gir,_Asiatic_lioness_(9721061956).jpg)
The facts
At a glance
- Length
- 10 days, 9 nights
- Start and end
- Ahmedabad to Rajkot
- Group size
- 7 to 12 guests
- Longest drive
- 5.5 h on day 4
- Activity level
Moderate
City and village walking of 2 to 3 hours at a time on uneven old-city lanes, steps down into Adalaj and Rani ki Vav (about seven storeys below ground at Rani ki Vav), shoes off at temples and mosques, and two lion safaris of about three hours seated in an open gypsy on rough tracks. Two road days of 5 to 5.5 hours (days 4 and 7) and a late return to Bhuj after moonrise on day 6. You can sit out any walk or safari.
- Meals included
- 9 breakfasts, 8 lunches, 4 dinners
- Room of your own
- + CAD 405 (estimated price)
- Season
- November to February for group departures (the Rann Utsav season); October and March privately; Gir's safari route closes from 16 June to 15 October
Highlights
Why this trip
- Sunset and moonrise on the White Rann at Dhordo, with departures set around the full moon
- The old city heritage walk in Ahmedabad at 8 am, through the pols to the Jama Masjid
- Rani ki Vav, the stepwell at Patan carved with hundreds of figures, in late afternoon light
- The sun temple at Modhera and its stepped tank, and the Adalaj stepwell before the crowds
- Ajrakh block printers at Ajrakhpur and weavers at Bhujodi, at work, with no shop stop
- Mud-walled bhunga homes and Banni embroidery in Hodka
- Two safaris in Gir, home of the only wild Asiatic lions
- Three nights in Bhuj and two in Sasan Gir, so bags stay unpacked
What makes this trip different
Short drives, all published
Every drive is listed day by day. The longest is 5.5 h, on day 4.
Free time is part of the plan
Free time and choices are marked on the days they fall.
Solo without the penalty
A room of your own is + CAD 405 (estimated price).
Day by day
Itinerary
The longest drive is 5.5 h, on day 4.
Tap any stop on the map to open that dayClick any stop on the map to open that day
Arrive in Ahmedabad
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport to a hotel in Ahmedabad
- Welcome dinner
- Stay in Ahmedabad
- Drive about 30 min
Fly into Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (AMD) at any time today; a driver meets you in the arrivals hall and takes you to the hotel, about 10 km and half an hour away. Ahmedabad was India's first city to be named a UNESCO World Heritage City, in 2017, for the walled old town the Sultans of Gujarat founded on the Sabarmati river in 1411.
Afternoon
If you land early, the riverfront promenade is a good place to walk off the flight in the late afternoon.
Evening
In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the days ahead: the walk tomorrow, the road days, the Rann and the safaris, what to wear at temples and mosques, and how Gujarat's dry-state rules work. Then we sit down together for a welcome dinner of a Gujarati thali, a round tray of small dishes that waiters keep refilling: dal, kadhi, shaak, rotli, rice and something sweet.
Included
- Pick-up at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (AMD)
- Welcome briefing with your guide
- Welcome Gujarati thali dinner
Free time: Free until the evening briefing
Activity: Plan to land by about 4 pm to join the briefing; the exact time is confirmed with your final itinerary.
Ahmedabad: the old city and Gandhi's ashram
Old city heritage walk, Sidi Saiyyed mosque, Sabarmati Ashram
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Ahmedabad
- Drive about 30 min
We start early, at about 8 am, on the old city heritage walk that leaves from the Swaminarayan temple at Kalupur, while the lanes are cool and the city is waking up. For two and a half hours we walk through the pols, gated neighbourhoods of carved wooden houses built around shared courtyards, with bird feeders on poles, family shrines and hidden Jain temples, and finish at the Jama Masjid of 1424.
Afternoon
After a break for chai we stop at the Sidi Saiyyed mosque to see its carved stone window, the tree-of-life jali, then sit down for lunch. In the afternoon we cross the river to Sabarmati Ashram, where Gandhi lived from 1917 to 1930 and from where he set out on the Salt March in 1930. His small house and the museum are quiet and simple, and we give them time.
Evening
The late afternoon and evening are free; your guide can point you to Manek Chowk, which turns into a street-food market after dark.
Included
- Old city heritage walk, about 2.5 hours, ending at the Jama Masjid
- Sidi Saiyyed mosque and its tree-of-life window
- Sabarmati Ashram and museum with your guide
- Lunch in the city
Optional experiences
- Calico Museum of Textiles guided tour (limited places, booked in advance where available)
Easier option: Join the walk for the first hour and meet the group at the Jama Masjid by van.
More active option: An evening walk with your guide to Manek Chowk's night food market.
Free time: Late afternoon and evening free
Activity: Shoes come off at temples and mosques; cover shoulders and knees.
Adalaj, Modhera and Rani ki Vav
Ahmedabad to Adalaj, Modhera, then Patan
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Patan
- Drive about 3 h
We leave Ahmedabad at about 8 am and are at the Adalaj stepwell, 20 km north, before the heat and the coach groups. Built in 1499, it drops five storeys into the ground through carved galleries where travellers once rested in the cool by the water. From there it is about 85 km and two hours through farm country to Modhera, where the sun temple built in 1026 under the Solanki king Bhima I faces east over a stepped tank lined with small shrines. Inside, the carved dome of the hall rings in sandstone.
Afternoon
We have a sit-down lunch nearby, then drive 35 km north to Patan. Rani ki Vav, the queen's stepwell, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site: an eleventh-century well seven levels deep, its walls carved with hundreds of gods, goddesses and dancers.
Evening
We go in the late afternoon, when the light reaches down the steps, then check in for one night in Patan, a quiet town best known for its double-ikat patola silk.
Included
- Adalaj stepwell
- Modhera sun temple and its stepped tank
- Rani ki Vav, Patan (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
- Lunch near Modhera
- Dinner in Patan
Optional experiences
- Visit to a patola weaving workshop in Patan, where a family is weaving that day (no purchase expected)
Easier option: Stay at the top of Rani ki Vav, where the view down the steps shows most of the carving.
Free time: Early evening free in Patan
Activity: Steep stone steps at both stepwells; there are rails on the main flights.
Across the Little Rann to Bhuj
Patan to Bhuj via Radhanpur and Bhachau
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Bhuj
- Drive about 5.5 h
This is the first of two long road days, and we say so up front: Patan to Bhuj is about 290 km and 5 to 5.5 hours of driving. There is no rail or air link that helps, and no town with a suitable hotel along the way, so the alternative would be a longer day from Ahmedabad.
Morning
We leave after breakfast at about 8 am. The road runs west through Radhanpur and along the northern edge of the Little Rann of Kutch, a flat, pale salt plain where you may spot wild asses or flocks of cranes from the road, then crosses into Kutch at Bhachau.
Afternoon
We stop mid-morning for tea and a stretch, and for a sit-down lunch on the way, so no stint at the wheel runs much over two hours. We reach Bhuj by mid-afternoon and check in for three nights. The rest of the day is free: rest, or walk to Hamirsar lake in the town centre as the light goes.
Included
- Drive from Patan to Bhuj with your guide
- Tea stop and sit-down lunch on the way
Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Bhuj
Activity: One of two long road days, about 5 to 5.5 hours of driving with two stops.
Bhuj: block printers, weavers and the palaces
Ajrakhpur and Bhujodi, then Bhuj's Prag Mahal and Aina Mahal
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Bhuj
- Drive about 1.5 h
Morning
Kutch is known across India for its crafts, and this morning we meet the people who make them. We drive 15 km east to Ajrakhpur, a village built by block-printing families after the 2001 earthquake, where ajrakh cloth is printed by hand with carved wooden blocks and natural dyes in a long sequence of printing, resist and washing. We watch the work and try a block ourselves. At the nearby crafts museum of the Living and Learning Design Centre, the embroidery and textile collection explains the region's many styles. Next comes Bhujodi, where weaving families work on pit looms with wool and cotton. These are workshops, not shops: there is no commission, and you buy only if you want to.
Afternoon
After lunch in Bhuj we visit Prag Mahal, an Italian Gothic palace of the 1870s with a clock tower view over the town, and the eighteenth-century Aina Mahal, the hall of mirrors next door. The late afternoon is free.
Included
- Ajrakh block-print workshop visit at Ajrakhpur, with a try at printing
- Living and Learning Design Centre crafts museum, Ajrakhpur
- Weavers' workshops at Bhujodi
- Prag Mahal and Aina Mahal, Bhuj
- Lunch in Bhuj
Easier option: Skip the palaces and take the afternoon at the hotel.
More active option: Climb the Prag Mahal clock tower, where it is open, for the view over Bhuj.
Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Bhuj
Activity: Aina Mahal and Prag Mahal keep separate closing days; we order the day around them.
Hodka and the White Rann at moonrise
Bhuj to Hodka, then the White Rann at Dhordo, and back to Bhuj
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Bhuj
- Drive about 4 h
Evening
The morning is free and slow, because tonight runs late. We leave Bhuj at about 11 am and drive about 65 km north into the Banni grasslands, where herding communities live in round mud-walled houses called bhungas. In Hodka we have lunch in the village and meet women who do Banni embroidery, dense mirrorwork in bright thread, and see how a bhunga keeps cool. In the mid-afternoon we drive on about 20 km to Dhordo and show our permits at the checkpoint for the White Rann, the Great Rann of Kutch: a salt flat that runs to the horizon, dry and white from about November. We walk out onto the crust for sunset, and our group dates are set close to the full moon, so the moon rises over the salt as the light goes. Dinner is at Dhordo during the Rann Utsav season, then the drive back to Bhuj, about 85 km and 1.5 to 2 hours, arriving around 10 pm.
Included
- Hodka village visit with Banni embroidery and bhunga homes
- Lunch in Hodka
- White Rann permit and sunset and moonrise on the salt at Dhordo
- Dinner at Dhordo
Optional experiences
- A night in a Rann Utsav tent at Dhordo instead of the return to Bhuj (priced at booking; the group drives back)
Easier option: Watch the sunset from the viewing area by the road rather than walking out onto the salt.
More active option: A morning walk to Bhuj's Hamirsar lake and Chhatardi before we leave.
Free time: Morning free in Bhuj
Activity: A late night: the return reaches Bhuj around 10 pm. Bring a warm layer; the Rann is cold after dark.
Bhuj to Gondal
Bhuj to Gondal via Bhachau, Morbi and Rajkot
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Gondal
- Drive about 5.5 h
The second long road day: Bhuj to Gondal is about 270 km and 5 to 5.5 hours of driving.
Afternoon
Kutch connects to the Saurashtra peninsula by one main road, and splitting the drive at Gondal is what keeps tomorrow short and leaves the afternoon free for the first lion safari. We leave after breakfast at about 8:30 am, go back east to Bhachau, cross the Surajbari bridge over the creek and run south through Morbi and around Rajkot. We stop for tea mid-morning and a sit-down lunch on the way, so no stint runs much over two hours. Gondal was the capital of a princely state, and it still has the air of one. We arrive by mid-afternoon and visit the Naulakha Palace, with its carved stone arches and a museum of the rulers' belongings, then end the day at the Swaminarayan temple as the late light turns it gold.
Evening
The evening is free.
Included
- Drive from Bhuj to Gondal with your guide
- Tea stop and sit-down lunch on the way
- Naulakha Palace and museum, Gondal
- Swaminarayan temple, Gondal
Easier option: Skip the palace visit and rest at the hotel.
Free time: Evening free in Gondal
Activity: One of two long road days, about 5 to 5.5 hours of driving with two stops.
Junagadh and the first lion safari
Gondal to Junagadh, then Sasan Gir
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Sasan Gir
- Drive about 3 h
A short road day. We leave Gondal at about 8:30 am and drive about 65 km south to Junagadh, at the foot of Girnar hill, where we stop for an hour at the Mahabat Maqbara, a nineteenth-century mausoleum with spiral stairs wrapped around its minarets.
Afternoon
Then it is about 55 km more to Sasan Gir, where we check in for two nights and have lunch. Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary is the only place on earth where Asiatic lions live in the wild; the population had fallen to a few dozen by around 1900 and has been rebuilt here since. At about 3 pm we go out on the first safari in open gypsies, with a driver and a forest department guide in each, on a route set by the forest department. Expect three hours on dry teak and scrub tracks, with spotted deer, sambar, nilgai, langurs and peafowl, and with luck lions or a leopard. No sighting is ever promised.
Evening
Dinner at the hotel.
Included
- Mahabat Maqbara, Junagadh
- Afternoon lion safari in Gir National Park, with permit, gypsy and forest department guide
- Lunch and dinner in Sasan Gir
Easier option: See Mahabat Maqbara from the van and go straight to Sasan Gir.
Activity: The safari is about three hours seated on rough tracks; bring a hat, sunscreen and a scarf for dust.
Gir at dawn and Somnath by the sea
Gir National Park, then Somnath and back to Sasan Gir
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Sasan Gir
- Drive about 2.5 h
Evening
We are at the gate for the first safari slot, around sunrise, when the forest is cool and the lions are most likely to be on the move after the night. The route is a new one, set again by the forest department, and your guide pools what each gypsy saw. We are back for a late breakfast by about 10 am. At 11 we drive about 45 km, a little over an hour, to the coast at Somnath. Its temple, rebuilt in 1951 on a site sacked and rebuilt many times, is one of the twelve jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva and stands over the Arabian Sea; phones and cameras stay in lockers at the gate. We walk on to Prabhas Patan's old sun temple and the Triveni Sangam, where three rivers meet the sea, then have lunch and drive back to Sasan Gir by about 3:30 pm. The rest of the afternoon is free before our farewell dinner together.
Included
- Morning lion safari in Gir National Park, with permit, gypsy and forest department guide
- Somnath temple
- Old sun temple at Prabhas Patan and the Triveni Sangam
- Lunch near Somnath
- Farewell dinner
Optional experiences
- A third safari in the afternoon slot instead of the free afternoon (priced at booking)
- Devalia, the fenced Gir interpretation zone, in the late afternoon (priced at booking)
Easier option: Skip Somnath and spend the late morning and afternoon at the hotel.
Free time: Late afternoon free in Sasan Gir
Activity: An early start for the safari; dawn in an open gypsy is cold from December to February.
Sasan Gir to Rajkot airport
Sasan Gir to Rajkot International Airport at Hirasar
- Breakfast
- Drive about 4 h
Morning
A slow breakfast in Sasan Gir, then the road north at about 9 am: about 190 km and 4 hours via Junagadh and Rajkot to Rajkot International Airport at Hirasar (RAJ), the city's new airport, which has direct flights to Delhi, Mumbai and other Indian cities for your connection home. We stop for tea on the way, and your guide sees you to the terminal and checks your flight before saying goodbye. Book a flight leaving after about 3 pm. If you would rather finish on the coast, Diu's airport is about 100 km and 2.5 hours from Sasan Gir, with fewer flights; we can arrange that drop-off instead, on request when you book. If you are staying on in India, we can quote extra nights, a beach stay in Diu, or a flight to Delhi to join the Golden Triangle, or to Udaipur or Jaipur for Rajasthan.
Included
- Drive from Sasan Gir to Rajkot airport with your guide
- Drop-off at Rajkot International Airport, Hirasar (RAJ)
Optional experiences
- Drop-off at Diu airport instead of Rajkot, on request
Activity: Book your flight out of Rajkot for after about 3 pm.
- Ahmedabad2 nights
- Patan1 night
- Bhuj3 nights
- Gondal1 night
- Sasan Gir2 nights
- Rajkotend
- Overnight stop
- Day trip
- By boat or train
Wildlife and weather: November to February is the season: dry, sunny days of about 25 to 30 C and cool nights, colder on the open Rann after dark. The White Rann is dry and white from about November once the monsoon water has gone, and the Rann Utsav festival runs through these months, which makes Bhuj busier. Gir's lions are easier to find in the dry season, when the forest thins out. From March the heat builds fast, and Gir's safari route closes from 16 June to 15 October for the monsoon.
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Before you book
Right for you?
Good for you if you want
- Travellers who have seen the Golden Triangle or Rajasthan and want a quieter side of India
- Textile and craft lovers who want to meet the makers, not visit showrooms
- Architecture fans: stepwells, a sun temple, mosques and princely palaces
- Wildlife lovers who want a real chance at Asiatic lions in the wild
- Solo travellers who want a small group, a guide throughout and a fair single price
Not for you if you want
- Anyone who needs a guaranteed lion sighting
- Travellers who want short drives every day: two days run 5 to 5.5 hours
- Anyone who wants nightlife and bars: Gujarat is a dry state
- A trip from April to September: the heat in Kutch and the monsoon closures of the Rann and Gir
Book flights after we confirm your seat.
9 nights
Where you'll stay
Your hotels are named in your trip confirmation.
- Ahmedabad2 nights
- Patan1 night
- Bhuj3 nights
- Gondal1 night
- Sasan Gir2 nights
One price
What's in the price
Included
Accommodation
- 9 nights: 2 in Ahmedabad, 1 in Patan, 3 in Bhuj, 1 in Gondal and 2 in Sasan Gir
- Central hotels of at least a good 3-star-plus standard, and a heritage hotel in Gondal where one is available, named when we confirm your dates
- Rooms shared, or your own for a supplement
Transport
- Pick-up at Ahmedabad airport (AMD) on day 1
- A private air-conditioned vehicle and driver from Ahmedabad to Rajkot airport
- Open gypsies with a driver for both Gir safaris
- Drop-off at Rajkot International Airport, Hirasar (RAJ) on day 10, or Diu airport on request
Your guide
- A See Sight Tours guide with the group from arrival in Ahmedabad to departure from Rajkot
- The heritage walk guide in Ahmedabad's old city
- A forest department guide in every gypsy on both safaris
Activities
- Ahmedabad: old city heritage walk, Sidi Saiyyed mosque, Sabarmati Ashram
- Adalaj stepwell
- Modhera sun temple
- Patan: Rani ki Vav
- Ajrakhpur: block-print workshop and the Living and Learning Design Centre crafts museum
- Bhujodi weavers' workshops
- Bhuj: Prag Mahal and Aina Mahal
- Hodka village and Banni embroidery
- White Rann permit and the sunset and moonrise evening at Dhordo
- Gondal: Naulakha Palace and the Swaminarayan temple
- Junagadh: Mahabat Maqbara
- Gir National Park: two lion safaris with permits
- Somnath temple and Prabhas Patan
Meals
- 9 breakfasts
- 8 lunches, every day from day 2 to day 9, including both long road days
- 5 dinners: a welcome thali in Ahmedabad, Patan, Dhordo, Sasan Gir and a farewell dinner in Sasan Gir
Not included
- International flights to Ahmedabad and home from Rajkot
- Indian visa
- Travel insurance
- Meals not listed
- Drinks, and a Gujarat visitor's liquor permit if you want one
- Tips for your guide, driver and forest department guides
- Camera fees where monuments or the park charge them
- Optional activities: a third Gir safari, Devalia, a Rann Utsav tent night, the Calico Museum
- Craft purchases and other personal expenses such as laundry
Extras
- Room of your own
- CAD 405 (estimated price)
When you can go
Dates and prices
Pick your start date when you request to book. We check that date and confirm it in your quote.
Prefer to travel without a group or guide? Ask us about arranging hotels, transport and city tours for you to travel independently.
Before you book
Booking terms
Nothing is charged now. Full terms and the cancellation schedule come with your quote, before you accept.
Business addresses
See Sight Tours Trips (USA): 3172 N Rainbow Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89108, United StatesSee Sight Tours Trips (Canada): 5305 50 Avenue, #1091, Red Deer, AB T4N 4B6, Canada+1-888-961-6584Guest reviews
What guests say
Reviews from guests on our day tours.
Jane
October 06, 2026
5/5
Susan
October 06, 2026
5/5
Tom L
October 05, 2026
5/5
MandL83
October 05, 2026
5/5
Darren O
October 05, 2026
5/5
Good to know
Questions
What does the price include?
Nine nights in central hotels, 9 breakfasts, 8 lunches and 5 dinners, a private vehicle and driver for the whole route, two Gir lion safaris with permits and forest guides, the White Rann permit and evening, all listed monument entries and craft visits, airport transfers at both ends, and your See Sight Tours guide throughout. International flights, visa, insurance, drinks and tips are extra.
Will we see lions in Gir?
Very possibly, but we cannot promise it. Gir is the only place where Asiatic lions live wild, and two safaris in the dry season give you real chances, but the forest department sets each gypsy's route and the lions move as they please. You will see deer, nilgai, langurs and birds either way, and with luck a leopard.
When is the best time to see the White Rann?
November to February, when the salt flat is dry and white and the Rann Utsav festival is on. We set group departures so the Rann evening falls close to a full moon, when the moon rises over the salt. From the monsoon until about October the Rann is wet or under water.
How long are the drives?
Most days are under 4 hours. Two are longer: Patan to Bhuj and Bhuj to Gondal, each about 5 to 5.5 hours. Gujarat has no air or rail shortcut on these legs, so we leave after breakfast and break each drive with a tea stop and a sit-down lunch.
Are there shopping stops?
No commission stops. We visit working block printers, weavers and embroiderers in their own villages so you can see how the work is done. If you want to buy, you buy directly from the maker; nobody expects you to, and your guide never takes a cut.
How big is the group?
The small-group trip runs with 7 to 12 guests. In Gir that means two gypsies, each with a driver and a forest department guide, and in the old city of Ahmedabad a group small enough to fit down the lanes of the pols.
Who leads the trip?
A See Sight Tours guide travels with the group from the Ahmedabad briefing to the Rajkot airport drop-off and handles permits, meals and timings. Local guides join where sites require them: the heritage walk in Ahmedabad and a forest department guide in each gypsy in Gir.
How fit do I need to be?
Moderately. Expect walks of 2 to 3 hours on uneven lanes, steep stone steps at the stepwells, shoes off at temples, two three-hour safaris on rough tracks, two long road days and one late night after the Rann. Any walk, palace visit or safari can be skipped.
I am travelling solo. What does a single room cost?
A room of your own is from CAD 405 more, about 17 percent of the price, shown before you book. If you would rather share, ask and we will try to pair you with another solo guest of the same gender. Solo travellers get the same seats and the same welcome as everyone else.
Can I drink alcohol in Gujarat?
Only with a permit. Gujarat is a dry state, but visitors from outside the state can get a short visitor's liquor permit and buy from licensed shops in some hotels. Restaurants do not serve alcohol. We explain the steps when you book.
How does booking work?
Pick a start date and send a request to book. We check availability and provide the final quote, itinerary and booking terms before you accept. No payment is taken when you send the request. Once you confirm, we ask for your passport details so we can book the Gir safari permits and the White Rann permit as early as they open.
Can we travel privately or on our own dates?
Yes. Besides the small group, the trip comes as a private trip for your party only, on a date you choose, from CAD 4,300 per person. If you would rather travel independently on your own dates, ask us from the dates section and we will quote the same hotels, drives and permits.
Do I need a visa for India?
Most visitors do, Canadians and Americans included. The Indian e-Visa is applied for online before you travel, and your passport needs at least six months of validity. We send the steps when you book; the Gir and White Rann permits also need your passport details.
See Sight Tours has been providing travel services across North America since 2006. Operating in 20 cities across Canada and the USA, the company specializes in small group tours that offer personalized, high-quality experiences for travelers.
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