By Air
Ahmedabad is connected to Mumbai, Delhi and major cities of India by air. The city is also linked to Muscat, London and New York. The airport lies 10km to the northeast of the city; auto rickshaws, taxis and tourist buses will take you to your hotel or the city centre. You could have a rented car meet you on arrival.
By Train
Ahmedabad is well connected to most destinations in the country as well as to the different towns in Gujarat. The metro cities of Mumbai (545 km), Delhi (915 km), Calcutta, Chennai and other major cities are linked by a number of superfast, express and mail trains. Ahmedabad Railway Station is located east of the old city; auto rickshaws, taxis and city buses available outside the station facilitate access to the city.
By Road
Gujarat has the best network of roads in India. Inter-state bus services linking Ahmedabad to other cities in the state and beyond are regular and efficient. The roads are smooth four-lane highways in some parts of the state and two-lane elsewhere, but all roads are well maintained and have motels, restaurants and gas stations at regular intervals.
No yellow topped taxis run in Ahmedabad, only private tourist taxis or the auto rickshaws whose fare has to be negotiated before boarding. The city bus service is efficient but very crowded. Car rental companies will rent vehicles with drivers. If you plan to drive yourself, then make sure you have a valid driving license and ensure the car insurance is covered.
The best time to visit Ahmedabad is between October and March. The perfect time to go there, however, is mid-January when the International Kite Festival takes place, and enthusiasts come from all over the world to test their skills.
Where do I Stay?
There is a wide variety of hotel accommodation available, and covers a wide range of budgets. Ahmedabad has a goodly number of 4-5 star hotels with conference and convention facilities, health clubs, sports clubs and swimming pool, foreign exchange bureaus, in-house multicuisine restaurants et al to hotels where the frills may be sadly lacking but relative costs should more than compensate. In the middle lie reasonably priced hotels, clean albeit simple rooms with or without air conditioning but thankfully with attached bathrooms. Guesthouses and lodges provide standardised accommodation at low costs for the great Indian middle class traveller who has to watch his wallet but will not compromise on cleanliness and hygiene.
What to bring
Travellers anywhere must always carry essential items like a basic first aid kit with medicines like for general ailments like fevers, colds and coughs, cuts and scrapes as well as specific medication for allergies, insect and mosquito repellents etc. All these are available in the city, so if you are caught without them don’t worry too much – 24 hour chemists will help you out. Though the city has well equipped shops, branded cosmetics and toiletries may not be easily available but items like camera films etc are easily and widely available. If you are coming here in winter carry woollens as the night temperatures tend to drop dramatically but in summers, cool comfortable cotton garments, sunshades and hats will do just fine.
Ahmedabad offers a culinary experience par excellence to first time visitors at the open-air village restaurant outside the city. The ambience reflects a typical Gujarat village - the food is traditional, the crockery consists of leaf plates and earthenware cups, the seating is rustic and the entertainment is ethnic! But within the city, food choices range from multi cuisine restaurants serving a variety of Asian cuisines, American style fast food snack bars and cafés, no frill reasonably priced restaurants serving typical Gujarati, south and north Indian cuisines.
Prohibition is strictly enforced in Gujarat. The state has no shops or bars selling liquor. Foreigners, however are served alcoholic drinks at some hotels upon showing their passports.
Ahmedabad is famous for cotton textiles and traditional jewellery. The main shopping areas are CG Road, Law Garden and Relief Road and Ashram Road where you could visit any of the branches of the Khadi Gramodyog Emporium, Gurjari Emporium (Ashram Road), Hastkala (Relief Road), Kapasi Handicraft Emporium (CG Road), Saurashtra Emporium (Ashram Roaad), and Bandhej (Mithakhali Road). These are state government run enterprises that stock the best of the crafts and textiles of Gujarat with an assurance of quality and accurate price. The SEWA or the self-employed women's association offers hand printed fabrics and other textiles made by women’s cooperatives. Ahmedabad is also a good place to look for traditional jewellery, cotton textiles, handicrafts and a host of other things.
On ‘Makar Sankranti’ (13/14/15 January) every year, the city is at its colourful best when thousands and thousands of kites of every shape, size and colour soar into the sky as it celebrates the International Kite Festival. And the night sky is lit up with the twinkling of a myriad tiny paper lamps sent up on special kites!
You can use Ahmedabad as a base for excursions to the spectacular step-well Adalaj Vav (19 km), Modhera (105 km north-west) an 11th century Sun temple, Patan (130 km north-west) the former capital of Gujarat, and the Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary (58 km south-west) marshes and a lake with flamingos, pelicans, ducks, geese, cranes, storks, ibises, spoonbills, kingfishers, swallows, fishing eagles, osprey, harriers and falcons. The sanctuary has facilities for renting country boats for bird watching or picnics on one of the islands.
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