Ahmedabad to Bhopal Heritage Route

Arrive in Ahmedabad, where we meet you at the airport and transfer you to your hotel – standard check-in is from 12:00, with early check-in subject to availability.

Later, we set out on a city tour taking in Bhadra Fort, known for its intricate carvings and frescoes, and the Jama Masjid, where the nearby tomb of Sultan Ahmed Shah houses the graves of Ahmed Shah, his son Mohammed Shah and his grandson Qutub-ud-Din Ahmed Shah. We continue to the Shaking Minarets at Sidi Bashir’s Mosque near Sarangpur Gate, then visit Sabarmati Ashram – established by Mahatma Gandhi in 1917 on the banks of the Sabarmati River – and the 1850 Hatheesing Jain Temple, dedicated to the 15th Tirthankar, Dharamnath.

We also explore Ahmedabad’s design heritage, with buildings by renowned architects such as Le Corbusier, Louis Kahn, B. V. Doshi and Charles Correa, and visit the Kite Museum and the Vishala Vichar Museum. Overnight in Ahmedabad.

After breakfast at the hotel, we set out on a full-day excursion from Ahmedabad to explore Gujarat’s celebrated stepwells and temples. We begin at Adalaj Stepwell – about 18 km north in Gandhinagar district – whose multi-level corridors once offered travellers cool relief, with water levels rising and falling with the seasons. We then continue to Patan to visit Rani ki Vav on the banks of the Saraswati River – attributed to Queen Udayamati, restored by the Archaeological Survey of India and inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014. Our final stop is the Modhera Sun Temple on the Pushpavati River – built in the early 11th century during the reign of Bhima I and now a protected monument. The complex comprises the Gudhamandapa shrine hall, the Sabhamandapa assembly hall and the stepped Kunda reservoir, all noted for intricate carvings. After sightseeing we drive back to Ahmedabad. Overnight at the hotel.

After breakfast we leave Ahmedabad for Kevadia – about 200 km and roughly a 4 hour drive – with a stop in Vadodara to explore Lakshmi Vilas Palace. Reputed to be one of the largest private residences, around four times the size of Buckingham Palace, it features period interiors with early modern amenities such as lifts and remains the home of the royal family. The palace compound spans about 500 acres and includes Moti Bagh Palace and the Maharaja Fateh Singh Museum.

We continue to Champaner–Pavagadh Archaeological Park – a UNESCO World Heritage Site centred on the historic city built by Sultan Mahmud Begada. Much of it remains unexcavated, yet you can see an exceptional spread of monuments including mosques, temples, tombs, gateways, fortifications, palaces and pavilions, as well as helical wells and a custom house, reflecting a transition from earlier Hindu forms to Islamic styles.

We then drive on to Sardar Sarovar Dam, Kevadia, and check in at Tent City or a hotel near the Statue of Unity. In the evening we watch the laser light and sound show projected onto the statue – held daily except Monday – which narrates the life and legacy of Sardar Patel. Dinner is included in the dining area with live music, followed by an overnight stay.

After breakfast we visit the Statue of Unity – at 182 metres, the world’s tallest statue. We explore the 4,647 square metre exhibition hall in the podium, which outlines Sardar Patel’s life, his role in the freedom movement and the integration of princely states. High speed lifts take us up through the core to a viewing gallery about 400 feet high for panoramic views of the surroundings. We then visit the Sardar Sarovar Dam, the Selfie Point and the Valley of Flowers.

Later, we drive to Maheshwar – approximately 265 km, taking around 6 hours – for an overnight stay at the hotel.

After breakfast at the hotel, we set out on a half-day excursion to Mandu – around 40 km from Maheshwar and about 1 hour each way. This ancient fortified city is encircled by stone walls with numerous darwazas and is noted for Afghan-era architecture and distinctive baobab trees, native to Africa. We explore key monuments including Hoshang Shah’s Tomb – a marble mausoleum – the expansive Jami Masjid with its colonnaded courtyards, and the Jahaz Mahal, dramatically positioned between twin lakes.

We return to the hotel by afternoon. Later, we visit Maheshwar Fort, an important example of historical defence planning that secured an area of about 2 sq km. Its origins date to the 4th–5th century, while most of the standing structure is from the 17th–18th century. The fort has five main entrances, rooms once used by watchmen and vantage points where warriors were positioned with guns, cannons and arrows. A patrol path runs along the ramparts and, within the complex, we see the Rajbada palace, Ahilyabai’s place of worship with a golden jhula, and the Rajrajeshwar Temple. Overnight at the hotel.

Maheshwar – Omkareshwar – Indore (145 km – around 3 hours). After breakfast, we drive to Omkareshwar, set on an island in the Narmada and home to one of the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines of Lord Shiva. We visit the Omkareshwar Temple, whose sabha mandap stands on 60 stone pillars and whose five storeys house different deities. Three daily prayer ceremonies are held – the morning by the temple trust, with the others conducted by priests from the Holkar and Scindia traditions. The ancient shivling is safeguarded within a glass enclosure. The nearby Mamleshwar temple stands close by. If you wish, you can take a ritual dip in the Narmada before entering, as it is considered auspicious.

After our visit, we continue to Indore and check in to the hotel for the night.

After breakfast in Indore, we drive to Ujjain to visit the Mahakaleshwar Temple – one of the 12 jyotirlingas – where the lingam sits in a subterranean chamber and is considered swayambhu. The present five-storey temple dates to the mid‑18th century and blends Bhumija, Chalukya and Maratha styles; its marble walkways were restored in the late 19th century by the Scindias. Three levels house the lingams of Mahakalesvara, Omkaresvara and Nagachandresvara – the latter accessible to devotees only on Naga Panchami. The complex includes Koti Tirtha, a tank built in the sarvatobhadra style, and displays images reflecting the temple’s earlier Paramara‑period form. Set near Rudra Sagar, the temple holds the Bhasma Aarti at dawn, with devotees gathering as early as 4 am. After our visit, we continue to Bhopal – around 255 km in total today, taking approximately five hours – and check in at the hotel for the night.

Bhopal – Bhimbetka and Bhojpur (45 km – about 1 hour each way). After breakfast we drive to Bhimbetka, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of rock shelters dating to the Palaeolithic. The site preserves some of the earliest traces of human life on the subcontinent, with evidence of Homo erectus habitation more than 100,000 years ago, and rock paintings around 30,000 years old that offer a glimpse into South Asian life during the Stone Age. We continue to Bhojpur to see the Shiva temple, which houses one of the largest lingas in India, crafted from a single rock. Returning to Bhopal, we take a city tour of Jama Masjid, Moti Masjid, Taj ul Masajid and the arts centre at Bharat Bhavan. We also visit the Bhoj Wetland, comprising the man–made Bhojtal (Upper Lake) and the Lower Lake – a Ramsar site since 2002 that supplies around 40% of the city’s drinking water and attracts more than 20,000 birds annually, including white storks, black–necked storks, bar–headed geese, spoonbills and gatherings of 100–120 sarus cranes. Return to the hotel in Bhopal.

After breakfast, we set out from Bhopal for an excursion to Sanchi and Udayagiri – approximately 50 km from the city, about an hour’s drive each way. In Sanchi, we explore the hilltop complex of stupas, monasteries, temples and pillars dating from the 3rd century BC to the 12th century AD – a UNESCO World Heritage Site where the Buddha is represented through symbols rather than figures. We then continue to the Udayagiri Caves, an early Hindu ritual site extensively carved and reworked under Chandragupta II in the late 4th and 5th centuries AD, with rock shelters, petroglyphs, inscriptions, water systems, fortifications and habitation mounds that remain only partially excavated. After sightseeing, we return to Bhopal and transfer you to the airport for your onward journey.