Top Things to do in Gir Somnath District
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Top 5 Nature & Parks in Gir Somnath District, Gujarat
Discover the best top things to do in Gir Somnath District, India including Devalia Safari Park, Jamjir Waterfall, Sasan Gir National Park, Somnath Beach, Veraval Beach.
Restaurants in Gir Somnath District
1. Devalia Safari Park
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 409 reviews
Reviewed By NEERAJKUMR - Ahmedabad, India
Its a good place to go with kids. I suggest don't waste safari jeep to see this place. take a bus and it would be a wonderful experience as well. We need three hours jeep safari in GIR and was lucky to see tigress. Just to give our child an experience we once again went to Devaliya. Ticket you can book online. Bus ticket is Rs.150/- and you can book at counter also. Its an half an tour. They will show you one lion and lioness for sure. Also you can see cheetah and Neil guy. The trip is worth the bus ticket. You can also sit in the entry gate where they have maintained it very well. Souvenir shop is there as well. Food restaurant is also there. Do stop over at local restaurants when you come out of the park and enjoy tea etc. They keep rabbits etc. for kids to play with.
2. Jamjir Waterfall
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 15 reviews
Reviewed By mapatwa
Its situated Approx 70 kms from Sasan Gir, But its a lovely place to go, water fall is also superb and flows from stones situated below, u can also have a view of leopard den there and if u r lucky u can also have a sight out there, over and all Nice place to go out.
3. Sasan Gir National Park
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 975 reviews
The Gir National Park is open from Mid - October onwards till mid June & The Devaliya Safari park (Gir Interpretation Zone) is open throughout the year. The Devalia Safari Park closed on every wednesday.
Reviewed By aadeeshd - Mumbai, India
About National Park: Gir is the last remaining abode of the Asiatic Lion and one of the most successful wildlife conservation projects of India. The forest is spread across Junagadh and Amreli districts. It covers approximately 1,883 square kilometers of area. National park is part of 1,412 square kilometers protected area and covers 259 square kilometers. The forest is dry deciduous teak forest and is dry for most of the year except monsoons. Flora & Fauna: The forest has more than 400 species of plant, 38 species of mammals, 300 species of birds and 37 species of reptiles. Main carnivores of Gir are Asiatic lion, Leopard, Jungle cat, Hyena, Jackal and Mongoose. The main herbivores are Chital, Nilgai, Sambar, Four-horned antelope and Chinkara. Chital, Sambar, Peacocks and Monkeys are easily spotted during the safari. How to reach National Park: Train: Junagadh and Veraval are nearest railway stations. You can book a cab from the station to Sasan Gir. Air: Rajkot is the nearest airport. You can book a cab from Rajkot to Sasan Gir. National Park Timing: Gir Jungle Trail is closed from 16th June to 15th Oct every year. For rest of the year there are two morning safaris from 6 AM to 9 AM, from 8:30 AM to 11:30 AM and one evening safari from 3 PM to 6 PM. You can enter the forest in an open gypsy that can be booked at the reception center. It is highly advisable to book entry permit online well in advance as only 50 permits are allocated for each safari. Each permit allows 6 adults and one child. You need to carry print out of the e-permit and original ID proof that is used during booking of the e-permit. Once you report at the reception center at the reporting time you have to stand in a queue to get the print out and ID authenticated. One gypsy, route and guide is allocated at the center per permit. There are 13 routes, each route is almost 35 kms. Gypsy, guide and camera fees has to be paid in cash. The safari can be booked at girlion(d0t)gujarat(d0t)gov(d0t)in. Please select Gir Jungle Trail option. My experience: We visited Sasan Gir National Park on 23nd Feb 2019. This was my second trip, I had last visited in April 2012. I always prefer and recommend to opt an overnight train from Mumbai to travel to Sasan Gir. We boarded Saurashtra mail from Borivali at 10 pm on 21st Feb, 2019. It is a fifteen hours journey from Mumbai to Junagadh. We reached Junagadh at 1 pm. You can have lunch near Junagadh railway station at any of the famous Gujrathi thali places – The Lotus restaurant, The Janta Lodge, Petals Restaurant or Geeta Lodge. As Ola/Uber services are not available in Junagadh, I will recommend to book a cab in advance. One way AC cab till Sasan Gir can be booked at Rs. 2,000. To book, call Manoj - +916352012621. It is a one and half hours smooth drive from Junagadh to Sassan Gir. At Sasan Gir always prefer to stay near Sinh Sadan as there is no local transportation available. You can request the hotel reception to arrange a pick up and drop. We stayed at Amidhara Resort in Sasan Gir. The gypsy driver charged additional Rs. 400 for pickup and drop. Our first morning safari was on 23rd Feb 2019. We reached the national park reception center at 5:45 am. There are souvenir shops, breakfast joints and toilets at the reception center. After all formalities we entered the forest at 6:20 am. We were allocated route no 13. While I was completing the formalities, my wife could hear a lion roar near the reception center. It is very common for the lions to come out of the forest. Till sunrise it was pitch dark in the forest and we couldn’t even see deer and sambars. If you are lucky, you can spot hyenas when it is dark. In almost half an hour we reached Kamaleshwar Dam watch tower. We can get down at this point and climb the watch tower. If you are lucky, you can spot crocodiles in the dam. We watched sunrise and left the spot. After almost an hour a jackal came running towards our gypsy. In just a few minutes, we saw a huge lioness sitting just along the road. The lioness wasn’t bothered by our presence. In fact, in sometime she came very close to our gypsy and sat next to it. We clicked few good pictures and left the spot. A few meters away we saw a lion sun bathing. He was sitting few meters away from the road. We waited for a couple of minutes and thanks to our luck he walked towards us and crossed the road. There was one more lioness sitting nearby. He started roaring after seeing the lioness. We left the spot at 8:30 am and came out of the forest at 9 am. The afternoon safari started at 3:20 PM. It was very hot and it is advisable to carry a cap and scarf for afternoon safari. Forest department has built lot of water holes in the forest for animals. There is a high chance of spotting lions around these water holes, especially in afternoon safaris. Lions prefer to sleep in afternoon, hence leopards venture out to hunt. We spotted two young crocodiles, female nilgai, two lionesses and cubs. We were surprised to see a group of forest rangers peacefully having their lunch just hundred meters away from a sleeping lioness and a cub. The safari ended at 6 PM and we were back to our resort by 6:15 PM.
4. Somnath Beach
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 11 reviews
Along with world-famous Somnath Temple, Somnath Beach also forms an important part of the itinerary of a tourist visiting Gujarat. It is famous for its beautifully sparkling waves and long stretches of gray sands. Travelers can unwind here after a long day of sightseeing, although, swimming is not recommended. Sunsets are particularly beautiful and add a romantic touch to the end of a great day.
Reviewed By gangolli - Mysuru (Mysore), India
This beach is adjoining the Somnath Temple. As you walk from the Lilavati Guest House, you cross the statue of Vir Hamirji Gohil riding a horse and continue down the road which reaches the beach. There are lots of shops selling Tender Coconuts, snacks etc. In the evening, there were horse and camel rides. The camels and the 'howda' had been festooned with colourful ribbons. There was para-sailing (while being pulled by a Jeep) too. We walked along the beach which seemed clean near the temple, However as we moved significantly away, we noticed that the sea water had greenish hued foam (some contamination / industrial pollution?). So we stayed away from the water. It is a good place to see the sun set over the Somnath Temple.
