TRAVEL GUIDE ON VADODARA, GUJARAT

Following are the details regarding the mode of transportation, place of stay, number of days, total budget and attractions to see in the city of Vadodara, Gujarat.

IF YOU HAVE ONLY ONE DAY TO VISIT

Visit STATUE OF UNITY (SOU).

Cautionary note-

1. do not visit Vadodara on Monday’s as most of the tourist attractions will be closed on Monday.

2. large luggage are not allowed in SOU (trekking bags are allowed). Hence utilise the locker facility at the railway station at just Rs 15 for 24 hours.

Use Vadodara railway station for freshening up, as the station is very clean and tidy.

IF YOU HAVE ONLY 2 DAYS TO VISIT

Mode of transport:

Sufficient number of direct trains are available from Trivandrum and Chennai to Vadodara, 36hrs journey. (if you are starting by Sunday morning, you will reach there by Monday evening.)

From Trivandrum Central to Vadodara- Rs 745 (Excluding taxes, both fares are for sleeper class)

From Chennai to Vadodara- Rs 695

You can book the tickets in IRCTC mobile app.

Cautionary note- ensure to book trains at least one month prior to your journey to get confirmed tickets.

Food:

If you are on a budgeted travel, minimize what you spend on food items from railway, as the prices are now higher than usual.

To reduce the expenditure, I ate Bread and Jam and took a water bottle to refill at those stations where the waiting time was more than 5 minutes.

Restaurants not to be missed:

Couldn’t explore much on this, but don’t you dare expect for non-veg at Vadodara. Thali (varieties of veg gravy with rice and chapatti) is a very common dish. For southerners, Masala Dosa would be a blessing.

Additional requirements:

Power bank, charger, spoon, any book if at all you are interested.

Budget place of stay:

You have two options.

1. Choose retiring rooms from IRCTC website using your PNR number that you get while booking your departure ticket. (Expensive for Vadodara Station).

OR

2. Stay at HOTEL GARDEN, which is just RS 200 per night per person, closer to Vadodara railway and bus station around 7 minutes of walk, and is very near to almost all the tourist attractions. (booked from goibibo).

Places of attractions:

The major and nearest railway station and place to all the below mentioned attractions is Vadodara.

1. Near Vadodara railway station-

(Based on their distance from the station)

Sayaji Baug (zoo closes at 1700 and garden closes at 2245) and Baroda Museum (closes at 1700)

Lakshmi villas palace (closes at 1700, closed on Mondays)

Kirti Stambh

Old clock tower (very near to the railway station)

2. 2hrs south of Vadodara-

SOU, river rafting, butterfly garden and much more.

Please visit the website for more details https://statueofunity.in/

3. 2hrs east of Vadodara-

Pavagadh hills which has cable cars and is a good spot for trekking. Rs 90 per person per trip for cable car.

(not much information is added to prevent lengthy guide. Kindly google for its attractions.)

Local mode of transportation:

For faster transport, you should choose express buses.

To move from Vadodara to any other destination mentioned in Number 2 and 3, you need local buses as they are very far away.

Tickets can be booked online via GSRTC website https://gsrtc.in/site/ OR Redbus.

Cautionary note- tickets for buses when booked online will never show the bus number or driver’s contact number etc… So be careful when you board the bus.

· From Vadodara to SOU-

Pick up point- Vadodara central bus station (very near to railway station and your place of stay)

Dropping point- NAVAGAM. (this place is very near to SOU than Kevadia)

Cost- normal bus around Rs 70 and A/C bus Up to Rs 140

· From Vadodara to Pavagadh-

Pick up point- Vadodara central bus station (very near to railway station and your place of stay)

Dropping point- Pavagadh Bus Depot

Cost- normal bus around Rs 47 to 55

Note- the bus stops at distance of 6km around 1hr walk and 19 min driving distance from pavagadh hills. Hence you will need to spend some money to come to pavagadh hills.

· From Vadodara to nearby attractions-

Walkable distance only, but autorickshaws are also available. Not for showing the whole area. Around Rs 100.

Best time to visit:

Visit Vadodara during Diwali and Dussehra time. I have heard that city will be filled with lights.

TOTAL BUDGET

If you are travelling for more than one day:

Train ticket from CHENNAI TO VADODARA and vice versa- 695+695

Food while travelling (if carrying bread and jam)- 100

One-night stay at HOTEL GARDEN- 200

Bus from Vadodara to SOU (up and down)- 70+70 (for local) or 140+140 (for ac)

SOU VIEWING GALLERY + RIVER RAFTING+ BUS SERVICE- 350+1000+30

Bus from Vadodara to Pavagadh (up and down)- 47+52

Cable car at pavagadh- 90/person

Food while you are vadodara- 500

GRAND TOTAL= 3899 0r Rs 4000

ADDITIONAL DETAILS FOR YOUR INTEREST

(DO READ IF YOU HAVE TIME 😊)

1. AT STATUE OF UNITY

If you have booked online, then you can board the bus to SOU which is near to the ticketing counter.

Make sure that you book for VIEWING GALLERY elevators while booking for SOU as it is the main attraction at 125 metres. And be available near the elevators during your provided time slots. There is one and only one viewing gallery.

If you have booked tickets for valley for flowers or sardar sarovar dam then come near the entrance for boarding your buses.

Spend just Rs 30 while booking to avail bus services that will take you to all the attraction points.

If you haven’t booked any use the EXIT to come back to navagam or shreta bharat bhavan. If you have booked for river rafting then you should come back to shreta bharat bhavan or the ticket counter where you will see a small counter with river rafting flex boards nearby. Do approach them for signing documents and then they will take for rafting in their jeep. No extra money to be paid other than what you have booked online with. You can approach them to do rafting without booking online as well.

Kindly avoid eating pizza from sou ekta food court. Because it is almost like wheat rock rotti with cheese.

Cycling counter is also next to rafting counter. Both are hard to miss your sight.

2. Bus services-

I personally would suggest using local bus while going to SOU and to use AC BUS while coming back to vadodara. As local buses may not be available after evening and even if it so it will be very crowded.

It is better to move from NAVAGAM to KEVADIA bus stop as AC buses do come there also. And other modes of transport like share taxi will also be available.

For any queries, do contact me at golat3fingers@gmail.com

Don’t forget to leave behind your valuable feedbacks as well.