We must say our 4 days trip in Gujarat left us speechless. Even though we knew there were some interesting places to go in Gujarat state, we didn´t expect to find so many. In one side, you will see many natural Parks with impressive landscapes and all kind of wildlife. In the other side, you will find many historical places, as it is the state where Gandhi and Sardar Patel were from. These two were some of the most important people in the history of India and of course, that´s one of the most famous things in Gujarat.
Although during a 3-4 days trip in Gujarat you won´t see everything, it should be enough for you to get an idea and see some of the Gujarat main points of interest. Below, you will find everything we did during our road trip in Gujarat and the most important places to visit in Gujarat for 4 days.
Gujarat Travel Video
Places to visit in South Gujarat:
Surat to Dandi Beach
Our trip started in Surat, one of the biggest cities in Gujarat, and in India. Unfortunately, we arrived very late at night, so we couldn´t see much other than how green is the city. From Surat, we headed to our first stop, Dandi Beach. This beach is probably one of the most important beaches in India. It is the place where Gandhi broke the salt tax law of the British and where the Salt Satyagraha march ended. For those who don´t know, this was one of the most important movements for the independence of India. At the beach, you will find a very famous monument, the statue of Gandhi holding the saline mud.
Other than that, for those of you who like photography, this beach is a great spot when there is low tide, as you will find beautiful reflections.
Kevadiya Gujarat and the Statue of Unity
Our next stop on the trip was Kavadiya, a small town in Narmada district, Gujarat. Since the Statue of Unity opened its gates in 2018, Kavadiya is becoming more and more into a Gujarat tourist spot. Although the Statue of Unity is impressive and it´s one of the must visit places in Gujarat, it´s not the only thing you can do in Kevadiya area. We also recommend you visiting the Sardar Sarovar dam and the Valley of the flowers.
Most visited place in Gujarat:
We aren´t 100% sure if it´s the most visited place in Gujarat, but it is on the top. The Statue of Unity, which is the tallest statue in the world, receives more than 8500 tourists every day. Just so you can have an idea of how much is that, the famous Statue of Liberty in the United States, gets around 10000 visitors per day. This monument to Sardar Patel, isn´t just impressive because of its huge size, but also because of the view you get from the top of it. That said, for those who want to really enjoy the place, we recommend you getting there early in the morning. We arrived around 10AM and there were already huge crowds. Still, it was nothing compared with the amount of people there were at 12AM.
If you are visiting this place, we recommend you having a look at our other article with specific information about Statue of Unity in Gujarat
Sardar Sarovar the biggest dam in Gujarat
Sardar Sarovar isn´t only the biggest dams in India, but it is also one of the most important places in Gujarat. 6 different India states receive water from Kevadiya Dam. The fall itself is impressive of seeing, but our favorite part was how green the whole area is and the views to the other side of the dam. Nature in this area is amazing and you will also see many different birds flying around the dam.
Best cities to visit in Gujarat: Ahmedabad
We had to do another road trip of more than 3 hours before making to Ahmedabad, but they were totally worth it.
Although our favorite part of our 4 days trip to Gujarat, was seeing the small towns, we must admit, that Ahmedabad is one of the best places to visit in Gujarat.
Ahmedabad is the biggest city in Gujarat. It has a population of more than 5 million, so as you can imagine the chaos is present all over the city. The temples, the mosques and the streets were the things we enjoyed the most of our time in Ahmedabad, but we also got to continue our Gandhi circuit. Below you will find all the places you need to visit in Ahmedabad in one day.
Jama Masjid in Ahmedabad
As we didn´t have much time in the city and we wanted to see as much as possible, we woke up very early. It was the best decision we could have made. We were able to have the mosque empty all for ourselves. Jama Masjid is the most important mosque in Ahmedabad, therefore during the day it gets crowded of either people who go pray or just tourists from different places. Although it might be interesting to see the people praying, the mosque was beautiful and the perfect spot to take photos. We love photography, so we are glad we made it earlier. Also, in our opinion, the experience is way better without the huge crowds.
The 12 or 21 Gates of Ahmedabad
These gates are there for a reason. From 1411 to 1487, the city of Ahmedabad grew a lot and was one of the most powerful cities in Gujarat. Therefore, the Sultan Mahmud Begda, decided to fortify it. He built a wall around the city to protect it from an invasion. Latter most of the walls were removed and now the gates and a small portion of the wall are the only things standing. The gates are must see places in Ahmedabad. You don´t have to go one by one but seeing them is a way to explore the streets of Ahmedabad and get to know their culture. Most people believe there are 12 gates, some others would say 16 and others would even say 21. We didn´t count them, so we can´t really tell you, you will have to find out!
Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad Gujarat
The Sabarmati Ashram also known as the Gandhi Ashram was Gandhi´s home for almost 12 years. He lived there with his wife and some of his followers whenever he was not traveling or in jail. What is more important about this place, is that here is where he started the famous Dandi march we told you about before.
Now a days, the Sabarmati Ashram is a museum where you will be able to see his room, some of the instruments he used to use to make clothes… And you will also find a library shop, with books that talk about the history of Gandhi. It is for sure one of the top places to visit in Gujarat if you want to know more about Gandhi.
Swaminarayan Temple Ahmedabad
We ended our day at Swaminarayan Temple, which was one of our favorites. It was the first Hindu temple we visited in India; therefore, we were absolutely impressed by the details and architecture. We made it there for sunset time, so of course the colors of the sky reflected in the building, made us like it even more. We got to visit the inside, and we must say, it was impressive too, the beauty of the details left us speechless. If you are planning to go there, you must know that taking photos of the inside isn´t allow. Swaminarayan Temple Ahmedabad timings are from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm.
From Ahmedabad to Porbandar
To finish, we did our last road trip, we went from Ahmedabad to Porbandar, another tourist destination in Gujarat. The trip was about 7 hours in total, but we must say it was worth it. Porbandar is one of the important places to visit in Gujarat for 4 days and there are two main reasons for it:
Birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi
The main reason why this city is so important, is because it was the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and where he was raised. For those, that want to do the Gandhi tour like we did, this is one of the places you must travel to in Gujarat. Not only because he was born here, but also because you will learn a lot of him with a perspective that you wouldn´t get otherwise. A must place you should visit when in Porbandar is Kirti Mandir, also known as Mahatma Gandhi´s birth house. It now serves as a museum and here you will get to see the room of each of the members of Gandhi´s family, and the exact spot where he was born.
Porbandar, a holiday place in Gujarat
If you aren´t so interested in Gandhi´s history, you may also want to visit this city as it is one of the best holiday places in Gujarat. Being a costal town, makes it be the perfect place to relax and enjoy some days at the beach. Make sure to bring your swimsuit!
Hidden places to visit in Gujarat: Shree Khodaldham Temple
After spending one day in Porbandar, it was time to say goodbye to Gujarat. Our flight was from Rajkot, so we still had to do another 3 hours and half drive. Thanks to this last trip we were able to discover one of the best hidden places in Gujarat, the Shree Khodaldham temple. Although this stop almost costed us to miss the flight, it was totally worth it. This was for sure the most beautiful temple we saw in Gujarat and if you have time to visit it, we totally recommend it. Don´t only see it from the outside which as you can see in the photos it is beautiful, but also from the inside, you will love it!
Hope you enjoy all these places in Gujarat!!
Hope you have liked this short travel guide with the most important places to visit in Gujarat for 4 days, if you have any question or any suggestion of places we should add to this itinerary, let us know in the comments! Enjoy your time in Gujarat!