One road, two states and a thousand years of trade
The same king, Bhima I, appears twice on this journey. His minister raised the first Dilwara temple on Abu, and two days later you stand in the stepwell his queen, Udayamati, built at Patan in his memory. In his reign the Sun Temple at Modhera was raised. That is the thread we follow.
A frontier hill: Mount Abu has always been one. The Paramaras held it, then the Chauhans of Sirohi, and Rana Kumbha of Mewar rebuilt the fort at Achalgarh in the fifteenth century.
Southern money: the wealth that made Abu famous came from Gujarat. The Dilwara temples were built by ministers and merchants of its kingdoms.
- First Dilwara temple
- Around 1031, by Vimal Shah
- Luna Vasahi
- 1230, by Vastupala and Tejapala
- Achalgarh
- Rebuilt by Rana Kumbha, 15th century
- Ahmedabad founded
- 1411, by Sultan Ahmed Shah
- Kutch
- Ruled by its own Jadeja house
- Vimal Shah: a minister of the Chaulukya king Bhima I, he raised the first temple around 1031.
- Vastupala and Tejapala: brothers and ministers of the Vaghela rulers, they built the Luna Vasahi in 1230.
- Udaipur: gives you the Sisodias of Mewar at their most graceful.
- Abu: shows you where Rajasthan's Jain merchants spent their fortunes.
- North Gujarat: holds the stone masterpieces of the Solanki kings.
- Ahmedabad: founded by Sultan Ahmed Shah in 1411, it shows what happened when the builders of those temples went to work on mosques.
- Kutch, at the end of the road: a land of salt, grass and embroidery that feels like a separate country, which for most of its history it was, under its own Jadeja rulers.
- Who it is for: curious travellers who have seen the classic Rajasthan circuit, or who want to add something unexpected to it.
- A different luxury: a heritage mansion in Ahmedabad, a simple eco-camp in the Little Rann, the best tents on the White Rann.
- What you gain: a part of India that very few overseas travellers see, and some of the finest craft villages anywhere.
Day by day, from the lakes to the salt
- Nights
- Eleven nights, twelve days
- Pace
- Two nights in most places, one long day
- Best months
- November to February
- Good for
- Return visitors, temples, textiles
- Starts
- Udaipur airport at Dabok
- Ends
- Bhuj, or Ahmedabad by road
Days 1 and 2: Udaipur
Arrival: fly into Udaipur, where we meet you at the airport at Dabok, about 22 kilometres east of the city.
First evening: a private boat on Lake Pichola at sunset, with the City Palace turning gold above the water.
- Day two: see the City Palace in its first hour, before the groups, then walk down through the lanes to the Jagdish temple.
- Afternoon and evening: rest, then end the day at the Monsoon Palace for the last light over the lakes.
- An extra night: our Udaipur itinerary has ideas.
Day 3: Up the mountain to Mount Abu
The drive: leave after breakfast, three and a half to four hours in all, the last stretch up the ghat road from Abu Road.
The hill station: Mount Abu, at about 1,220 metres, is the only hill station in Rajasthan. The air cools as you climb and the forest closes in.
- A new name: in 2026 the Rajasthan government announced that Mount Abu would be renamed Abu Raj. Signs are still catching up, and most people still simply say Abu.
- Arrive for lunch: and rest.
- Late afternoon: walk around Nakki Lake, which the boatmen say the gods scooped out with their fingernails, and climb to Toad Rock if your legs allow.
- Sunset: a drink on a terrace above the lake is one of the small perfect pleasures of this journey.
Day 4: Guru Shikhar, Dilwara and Achalgarh
Leave early for Guru Shikhar: at 1,722 metres the highest point of the Aravalli range. Reach the summit shrine of Dattatreya before the haze.
Dilwara at opening: come down to the Dilwara temples at the hour they open to visitors.
- Five temples, one compound: plain outside and carved within into ceilings and pillars of white marble so fine that the stone looks like lace.
- No photography inside: leave your phone, your leather belt and your bag in the car, and give it time with a guide.
- After lunch and a rest: drive to Achalgarh for the ruined fort and the Jain temples on its slopes.
- Achaleshwar Mahadev: devotees here worship a mark said to be the toe of Shiva.
- The sanctuary: end with a naturalist's walk or drive in the Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary, declared in 1960, where sloth bears and leopards live. Keep to the roads after dark.
Day 5: Patan and Modhera, on the way to Ahmedabad
The great day: of the journey, and a full one on the road. Leave Abu early and descend onto the north Gujarat plain.
Patan: the old capital of the Chaulukya, or Solanki, kings.
- Rani ki Vav: the queen's stepwell descends in seven levels lined with hundreds of carved gods, goddesses and celestial women.
- Why the carving is so sharp: the stepwell was buried in silt for centuries. UNESCO listed it in 2014.
- Patola weavers: visit a family whose double-ikat silk is dyed thread by thread before weaving, so that the pattern appears on both sides.
- Modhera after lunch: the Sun Temple, built in the early eleventh century under Bhima I, with its great stepped tank, the Surya Kund, lined with small shrines. Late afternoon light suits it.
- On to Ahmedabad: drive on to Ahmedabad for dinner.
- Read ahead: our guide to stepwells explains how these extraordinary wells were built, and why.
Day 6: Old Ahmedabad and its pols
Sidi Saiyyed Mosque at first light: the early sun comes through its famous stone lattice, the tree of life carved in 1572 and 1573.
The pols: gated neighbourhoods of carved wooden houses that won Ahmedabad its place as India's first UNESCO World Heritage City in 2017. We walk them with a guide who lives in one.
- Look up: at the carving on the upper floors and the painted bird feeders called chabutros.
- Keep your voice down: these are homes.
- Jama Masjid: finished in 1424, with its forest of carved pillars.
- After lunch and a rest: the Calico Museum of Textiles on a pre-booked tour, or the Sabarmati Ashram.
- Sabarmati: Gandhi lived here from 1917 to 1930 and set out from it on the Dandi March on 12 March 1930.
- Manek Chowk at night: when the jewellers close, the square fills with food stalls. Go with your guide and eat what the locals are queuing for.
Day 7: Adalaj, then the Little Rann
Adalaj in the morning light: half an hour north, a stepwell begun in the late fifteenth century under the Vaghelas and finished under Sultan Mahmud Begada.
West to the Rann: about two to three hours to the edge of the Little Rann of Kutch, a vast flat of salt and mud.
- The khur: the Indian wild ass survives here. The Wild Ass Sanctuary, declared in 1973, covers nearly five thousand square kilometres and is the only home in the world of this animal.
- Late afternoon: after a rest, go out in an open jeep with a naturalist, when the wild asses graze in herds on the grassy islands called bets and the light turns the salt to copper.
- Winter birds: the wetlands at the edge of the Rann draw cranes, flamingos and other waterbirds.
- Other animals: you may see blackbuck, nilgai and desert foxes.
Day 8: Dawn on the salt, then on to Bhuj
A second drive at dawn: when the Rann is silent and cold.
- The salt pans: the agariya families harvest salt from brine through the winter, a hard life our guide will explain with respect.
- Into Kutch proper: after breakfast, drive west across the narrow neck of land.
- Most of a day: we break it for a long lunch, and you arrive in Bhuj in the evening.
Day 9: Bhuj and the weavers and printers
The capital: Bhuj was the seat of the Jadeja Raos from the sixteenth century, beneath the fortified hill of Bhujiyo.
Morning: the Aina Mahal, the eighteenth-century hall of mirrors built for Rao Lakhpatji, and the Prag Mahal beside it, then a walk around Hamirsar Lake.
- Bhujodi: in the afternoon, drive east to where Vankar weavers work pit looms in their homes.
- Ajrakhpur: Khatri families print ajrakh cloth here with natural dyes.
- Dusk: end at the royal chhatris.
- Go deeper: our textile and craft trail spends longer in these villages.
Days 10 and 11: The craft villages and the White Rann
Nirona: one of the last families of rogan painters draws threads of boiled castor oil paste onto cloth.
Hodka: in the Banni grassland, lunch and a walk with an embroidery family.
- Sunset at Dhordo: on the White Rann of Kutch, the salt crust cracked into hexagons that runs to the horizon. You sleep beside it.
- Permits: they are needed because the Rann lies close to the border, and we arrange them in advance.
- Day eleven: a slow morning, then the potters of Khavda.
- Kala Dungar: the black hill and the highest point in Kutch. Climb it in the late afternoon for the view over the whole Great Rann.
- After dark: return to the salt. If the moon is full, walk out for an hour of silence.
- Day twelve: we drive you back to Bhuj, about two hours, for your flight via Mumbai, or on to Ahmedabad by road.
Where you'll stay
Udaipur
The grand choices: Taj Lake Palace on its island and The Oberoi Udaivilas on the western shore. Udaivilas has some rooms with semi-private pools along the water.
- The quiet one: Raffles Udaipur, on its own island in Udai Sagar east of the city, set in English-style gardens.
- Inside the palace: Shiv Niwas Palace puts you within the City Palace complex.
Mount Abu
Princely summer houses: Abu's best stays are the summer homes of the old princely states.
Palace Hotel, Bikaner House: built as the summer residence of the Maharajas of Bikaner, with lawns and the feel of a country house.
- Jaipur House: the former summer palace of the Jaipur royal family, with one of the best views over Nakki Lake.
- Connaught House: a smaller colonial bungalow with a garden full of flowers.
- Honestly: none has the scale of a city palace, and rooms vary within each, so we choose carefully.
- Compare them: our guide to palace stays in Mount Abu.
Ahmedabad
The House of MG: a mansion built in 1924 for the textile merchant Sheth Mangaldas Girdhardas and restored by his family.
- Where it is: opposite the Sidi Saiyyed Mosque on the edge of the old city, with a courtyard pool and the rooftop thali restaurant Agashiye.
- Why we choose it: it is the best base for walking the pols, and we ask for a room overlooking the inner courtyard.
- Larger and modern: ITC Narmada and the international chains on the west side are polished and closer to the airport.
The Little Rann
No palaces here: there are none at the edge of the Rann.
- Eco-resorts: the best stays are a few long-established ones near the villages of the sanctuary's southern fringe, with cottages built in the local style and good home cooking.
- The naturalists: some have watched the wild ass for years. We choose the resort whose naturalists we trust.
- Comfort: simple and real.
Kutch
Tents at Dhordo: in season, the better categories at the Rann Utsav tent city are heated, have private bathrooms and put the salt a short ride away.
A bhunga at Hodka: the community-run resort lets you sleep in a bhunga, a round mud house with a conical roof, among embroiderers and herders.
- Bhuj: there are comfortable modern hotels.
- Plainly: Kutch has no palace hotels of the Rajasthan kind.
- Compare the options: our guide to luxury stays in Kutch and our list of luxury hotels in Kutch.
What you'll eat and what you'll carry home
Mewar: its crafts are miniature painting and silver.
Abu: a pilgrim town with little to buy, which is restful.
Patan: a single patola sari can take months on the loom.
- Mewar crafts
- Miniature painting and silver
- Patan
- Double-ikat patola silk
- Ahmedabad
- Bandhani, block prints, embroidery
- Kutch
- A stitch for every community
- Alcohol
- Gujarat is dry, permits possible
- Ahmedabad's markets: the old markets around Teen Darwaza sell bandhani tie-dye, block prints and embroidery from all over the state.
- The Calico Museum: shows you what the best of it looked like at the Mughal court.
- Kutch embroidery: each community has its own stitch. The Rabari favour bold chain stitch and mirrors, and the Ahir, Meghwal, Jat and Mutwa each have their own styles, some so fine a piece takes months.
- Buy from the makers: wherever you can, and don't haggle hard. The price is often weeks of work.
- Udaipur: ask for a Mewari thali with dal baati churma.
- Abu: the vegetarian thali restaurants serve Gujarati and Rajasthani dishes side by side, and roasted corn with lime and chilli is sold around the lake in the evening.
- Ahmedabad: the Gujarati thali balances sweet, sour, salty and spicy in every mouthful, with dhokla, khandvi and, in winter, undhiyu, a slow-cooked dish of winter vegetables.
- Kutch: the staple is rotla, a thick bajra bread from a clay griddle, with white butter, jaggery and chhaas, spiced buttermilk.
- A dry state: restaurants in Gujarat generally do not serve alcohol. Visitors can apply for a permit and buy from licensed shops, usually in larger hotels.
- We arrange it: the permit before you arrive, if you would like a drink with dinner. Our guide to alcohol and dry days explains the rules across the region.
When to go
- Best
- November to February
- Shoulders
- October and March
- Avoid
- April to September
- Uttarayan
- 14 January, Ahmedabad
- Rann Utsav
- Roughly November to February
November to February, the season
The White Rann: dry and white from about November until the heat of spring.
Rann Utsav: it runs roughly from November to February.
- Winter birds: cranes and flamingos come to the Little Rann.
- Pack proper layers: days are warm and nights cold, especially on Abu and on the salt.
- Check the moon before you book: a full moon on the White Rann is the single most memorable night in western India, and the tents fill fast.
Festivals on the road
Uttarayan: Gujarat's kite festival falls on 14 January, and spending it on a pol rooftop in Ahmedabad is unforgettable.
- Mount Abu Winter Festival: the Mount Abu Winter Festival fills the town at the end of December, cheerful and very busy.
- Rann Utsav: the Rann Utsav gives the White Rann music, dance and craft stalls.
- Navratri: nine nights of garba dancing across Gujarat, in September or October, just before the Rann is ready.
October and March, the shoulders
October and November on Abu: our favourite months on the hill itself, green and calm after the monsoon.
- But in October: the White Rann may still be wet.
- March: pleasant and warming, and the salt stays white for a while, though the Rann Utsav has usually ended.
- Both work: if you are flexible.
April to September, not for this route
April to June: Abu's busy summer season, but the plains below are fierce, often well above 40°C in Ahmedabad and Kutch.
- The monsoon: the Rann floods and the White Rann cannot be visited.
- For the rains: stay in Rajasthan with Monsoon in Mewar.
Make it yours
Shorter: seven nights
The shape: Udaipur, Mount Abu and Ahmedabad, two nights each, with Patan and Modhera on the way down, plus one night at a stepwell or a lake.
- Fly home from Ahmedabad: it has direct international connections.
- What changes: you lose the salt, but keep the stone.
Longer: Dholavira and the coast
Dholavira: add a night near the Harappan city on an island in the Great Rann, listed by UNESCO in 2021.
- Mandvi: a night in the shipbuilders' town on the coast, where wooden ocean-going hulls still take shape on the riverbank.
- How long: Kutch rewards five or six nights.
Begin in southern Rajasthan
Forts and marble: add Kumbhalgarh and Ranakpur before Abu.
- Leopards: or two nights in Jawai, about two and a half hours from Abu, at SUJAN JAWAI.
- A perfect first half: our Mewar Lakes and Temples journey.
Reverse it, or join the desert
- In reverse: you can run the whole route from Kutch to Udaipur.
- A grand western loop: come down from Jaisalmer and Barmer through the desert into Kutch, as in our Rajasthan and Kutch journey.
For families and couples
Children: love the boats on Nakki Lake, the jeeps in the Little Rann and the open salt.
- Couples: time the White Rann for the full moon.
- Older relatives: we can replace the long Little Rann to Bhuj drive with a flight from Ahmedabad to Bhuj via Mumbai.
How we look after you
One chauffeur, the whole way: we meet you at Udaipur airport, and one private chauffeur takes you all the way to Bhuj.
The car: comfortable, with water and cool towels, driven by someone who knows both the Aravalli ghats and the empty roads of Kutch.
- Udaipur to Mount Abu
- 3.5 to 4 hours
- Abu Road to the top
- About 45 minutes of ghat road
- Mount Abu to Jawai
- About 2.5 hours
- Ahmedabad to Little Rann
- About 2 to 3 hours
- Little Rann to Bhuj
- Most of a day
- White Rann to Bhuj
- About 2 hours
- Local guides in each place: a guide steeped in the Jain faith for Dilwara, a guide who lives in the pols of Ahmedabad, a naturalist in the Little Rann and a Kutchi guide who knows the craft families by name.
- The paperwork: we handle the White Rann permits, the Calico Museum booking, the Gujarat liquor permit if you want one, and the tent at Dhordo for the right moon.
- Your planner on WhatsApp: throughout, and able to change a plan at an hour's notice.
- No commission shops: never, and every village visit is arranged with families who welcome guests.
- No published prices: no two of these journeys are the same. After one conversation about your dates and interests, we send you a route and a quote.
- Read more: our guide to getting around Rajasthan explains how we plan the drives, and our page on road distances and drive times covers each leg.
Who will love it, and who should choose another journey
You will love it: if you care about sculpture and architecture, textiles and crafts, birds and open landscapes.
A new chapter: for those who have seen Jaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer.
- Photographers: love the Rann at dusk and the light in the stepwells.
- Textile collectors: may never want to leave Kutch.
- Good company: it suits couples, curious families and friends travelling together.
- Less suited: to travellers who want a palace hotel every night or a first look at India's most famous sights.
- The honest drawbacks: the Little Rann and Kutch stays are comfortable rather than grand, the distances in Kutch are long, and Gujarat is a dry state.
- Start elsewhere instead: if that sounds like a drawback, begin with The Royal Rajputana or Rajasthan with the Taj Mahal, and come back for this one.
What we tell our own cousins before this journey
Carry your passport throughout: Kutch is a border district, and permits and checks are routine.
At Dilwara and the Jain temples of Gujarat: leave leather, phones and bags in the car, and cover shoulders and knees. Our temple etiquette guide explains why.
- Shoes with grip: for Guru Shikhar, the stepwells and the ghats of Abu. Old stone is worn smooth.
- For the Rann: bring sunglasses, a hat and lip balm. The salt reflects the sun fiercely, even in winter.
- Ask first: before photographing people, especially women, and never chase the wild asses for a picture.
- On Abu after dark: never feed the monkeys or walk the forest paths. Sloth bears are shy but dangerous if surprised.
