RutzIndia.com's tour packages from Ahmedabad are four chauffeur-driven circuits: two lengths of the Gujarat heritage trail, a Rajasthan palace-city loop and a Mumbai-Pune break. Both Gujarat trips leave from your door or SVPI airport, and the car's price comes from the distance covered, never less than 250 km for each day, at that car's per-km rate.
Two kinds of trip on this page
The first kind begins at home. Both Gujarat circuits start and end in Ahmedabad, so the chauffeur can collect you from Satellite, Bodakdev, Navrangpura or a hotel on SG Highway on the first morning and drop you back on the last evening. Visitors flying in are met at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International airport, about 10 km from the old city, with a name board and flight tracking, and 30 minutes of free waiting after a domestic landing or 60 after an international one.
The second kind begins somewhere else. The Rajasthan loop is written from Jaipur and the Maharashtra trip from Mumbai, and each can be joined by air, by train or by road. The sections below explain how an Ahmedabad traveller reaches each start and whether it is worth sending a car from the city. Local errands on either side of a tour are cheaper as separate bookings: an Ahmedabad city cab for one run, or a full day of chauffeur-driven car hire in Ahmedabad on the 8 hours and 80 km package.
Gujarat heritage, five days or seven
The 5-day Gujarat package is the one to show visitors who think of Ahmedabad only as a business city. It begins with the Sabarmati Ashram, the Jama Masjid and the carved window of the Sidi Saiyyed mosque, and a night-time plate at Manek Chowk. Day two is the dawn heritage walk through the pols, the old gated neighbourhoods that helped Ahmedabad become India's first UNESCO World Heritage City, followed by the Adalaj stepwell on the northern edge. Day three runs north-west to the sun temple at Modhera, about 100 km away, and on to Rani ki Vav at Patan, the most elaborate stepwell in the state and home to the Patola weavers. The last two days go south-east through Vadodara to the Statue of Unity at Ekta Nagar, with Champaner-Pavagadh on the return if the day allows.
The 7-day version adds the long western swing. It leaves Ahmedabad early for the roughly 400 km run through Rajkot and Junagadh to Somnath, the shore temple on the Arabian Sea, then turns inland to Sasan for the Gir forest, home of the last wild Asiatic lions. You need a full day there for a dawn safari in a forest-department vehicle and the Devalia interpretation zone. The return to Ahmedabad is about 340 km, and the statue day closes the trip. Read our Somnath and Gir road guides for the details.
Two rules shape both itineraries. Safari permits for Gir are booked online through the Gujarat forest department, in limited numbers, and the park's safaris run from mid-October to mid-June; book them as soon as your dates are fixed. And the Statue of Unity is closed on Mondays, so the chauffeur will arrange the week so that you reach the Narmada on another day.
Rajasthan: Udaipur is closer than it looks
Many Ahmedabad families forget how near Rajasthan is. Udaipur is roughly 260 km up NH48 through Himmatnagar and Shamlaji, a comfortable morning's drive. The 6-day Rajasthan package is written as Jaipur to Udaipur, but from Ahmedabad it makes sense to run it the other way: drive to Udaipur for the City Palace and the lake, cross the Aravallis past the Ranakpur Jain temple to Jodhpur and Mehrangarh, then east through Ajmer and Pushkar to Jaipur for Amber and the Pink City. From Jaipur you can fly home, or keep the car for the long drive back.
If you keep the car throughout, the travel desk quotes the Ahmedabad legs on the same per-km basis as the rest, so you can compare that against a flight back. Our Udaipur taxi service and tempo traveller in Udaipur pages cover the local side, and the Rajasthan tour by car page describes the broader state. Families who only want a weekend often do Udaipur alone, or head to Mount Abu, about 225 km from Ahmedabad.
Mumbai by train or plane, then the car
The 4-day Maharashtra package starts in Mumbai: the old fort district and Marine Drive, the ferry to the Elephanta caves, the rock-cut halls at Karla and Bhaja near Lonavala, and Pune. Mumbai is about 530 km from Ahmedabad by road, so most people take the Vande Bharat or Shatabdi train into Mumbai Central, or a short flight, and meet the chauffeur on arrival. The last day ends in Mumbai for the train or flight home.
The roads the chauffeur will use
Gujarat has some of the best highways in the country, and the itineraries lean on them. The Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway, the first of its kind in India, makes the first half of the statue day quick, after which state roads run east through the Narmada country to Ekta Nagar. The Rajkot highway west towards Saurashtra is wide and fast as far as Rajkot, then narrower through Junagadh and down to the coast, with tractors, cattle and village crossings that slow the last stretch. North to Modhera and Patan the roads are two-lane and flat, past cotton and cumin fields, with little shade and few good places to eat, so the chauffeur plans lunch around Mehsana or back in the city.
The practical habits that matter: the chauffeur avoids driving the Saurashtra roads after dark when possible, because of animals and unlit trucks; he fuels up before leaving the highway, since CNG and diesel stations thin out near the coast and the forest; and he watches the clock at Sasan, where safari slots start at fixed times and the gate does not wait for late arrivals. Ahmedabad's own traffic is heaviest on SG Highway and around the old-city bridges in the evening peak, which is why the pol walk is set for dawn.
Where to stay along the Gujarat trail
In Ahmedabad, a few restored havelis inside the old walled city let you wake up in the pols themselves, while the business hotels along SG Highway and near the riverfront suit people who want modern rooms and easy parking. Near the Statue of Unity there are tent cities and hotels around Ekta Nagar, which saves a late drive back. Somnath has hotels near the temple and along the coast road, and Sasan Gir has forest lodges and resorts a short drive from the safari gate. The travel desk will match the hotel category to your budget and put it on one written quote; nothing is booked until you agree.
Weather, festivals and the Gujarat calendar
October to March is the season for everything on this page. Summer from April to June is fierce across north Gujarat and Rajasthan, with afternoons well above 40 degrees; if you must travel then, start at dawn and rest through the heat. The monsoon, July to September, is short but heavy in the south, turns the Saurashtra fields green and closes Gir's safaris.
Festivals change the plan. Navratri brings nine nights of garba across Ahmedabad and Vadodara; hotels fill and the roads are busy late into the night. Uttarayan on 14 January fills every rooftop with kites and makes the old city a wonderful place to be. Diwali and the Gujarati New Year that follows it are the peak family travel weeks, so Somnath, Gir and Udaipur all book out; plan a month ahead. The Rann Utsav in Kutch runs through winter, and our Rann of Kutch road guide explains how to add it.
Choosing the car
- Compact sedan, Rs 72 a km. Two travellers on the Gujarat highways, which are wide and well surfaced; the Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway makes the statue leg quick.
- Innova Crysta, Rs 114 a km. The usual choice for four to six, especially on the 7-day trip with its long Saurashtra drives, and for the Aravalli roads in Rajasthan.
- Fortuner, Rs 170 a km. A quieter premium ride for couples on the long days.
- A 12 to 17 seat Tempo Traveller at Rs 156 per km, or the smoother Force Urbania at Rs 204 per km, for housing societies, temple parties heading to Somnath and office outings; the tempo traveller in Ahmedabad page shows the seat layouts.
Take the 5-day Gujarat trip as an example of how the bill is built. Its real driving, city days included, stays well below five days at the 250 km floor, so 1,250 billable kilometres is the figure that counts, multiplied by the rate of the car you pick. The 7-day trip, with its Saurashtra legs, runs closer to the floor, and the package page does the sum either way. The driver's allowance for each night away, Rs 3,000, is added; so are expressway tolls, parking at the monuments and the entry tax Rajasthan levies on outside vehicles if you cross the border, all at the amount paid; GST at 5% comes last. All our cars are four model years old or newer, and the fleet page lists every class.
Practical points for Ahmedabad travellers
Gujarat is a dry state; visitors who want a permit should ask their hotel, and the car cannot be used to carry alcohol across the border. Temples such as Somnath have their own rules on phones, cameras and dress, and the chauffeur will park and wait while you go in. Carry an ID for every traveller: hotels, the Gir permit and the statue's viewing gallery all ask for it. For weddings and family functions on either side of a tour, our wedding car rental in Ahmedabad page covers decorated cars.
Booking, payment and cancellation
The online booker takes your home address or flight, lets you compare car classes and accepts card or UPI, and the transport fare it shows is the fare you pay. Hotels, Gir safaris and monument entries can be bundled by the travel desk, which replies with a written, itemised price. Firms sending staff receive a GST invoice. Plans change, so the rules are simple: cancel three days or more before pickup and nothing is charged; with less than 72 hours left we retain a tenth of the fare, with less than 48 hours half of it, and with less than a day, or if the car waits in vain, all of it. The cancellation policy sets this out in full.
