This blog post is in continuation from the previous one where I spoke about our Day 2 Saputara itinerary. In case you have not read it, I suggest you go back to our Complete Saputara Tour Guide blog post and start from there. That will help you plan your Saputara itinerary better.
Day 3 was our final day in Saputara and we were to head back to Ahmedabad at the end of the day. Hence the places that were on the list today were the ones that are on the way to Ahmedabad. Day 2 was a tiring day as we had covered so many places that most of us crashed immediately as we returned. Apart from the travel, the most exciting part of Day 2 was getting to know everyone.
Day 3 Saputara Itinerary
Our last day started with a wonderful Gujarati/Marathi breakfast at our hotel – Toran. We all were well aware that it was our last breakfast at Toran. Everyone from our friends from Mumbai and people working as well knew that this might be the last time we meet. Soon after breakfast, we had a group photo session. It was followed by a round of selfies and finally, we were on our way.
Places To Visit on Day 3
- Gira Waterfalls
- Waghai Botanical Garden
- Sunset Point
Gira Waterfalls
One of the things about hill stations is that you will definitely have a few waterfalls. Either on a river or due to rain. Waterfalls in the misty monsoon weather make us fall in love with the place. Having visited Girmal Waterfalls during Day 2 of Saputara Trip, we knew that Saputara has some great waterfalls. While Girmal is located inside Purna Wildlife sanctuary, Gira is located quite close to the Waghai Waterfalls. It’s about a 2-hour drive from Saputara.
The entry ticket here is Rs 10 per person, and you need to walk a good distance to reach the falls. On the way, there are local artisans selling handcrafted bamboo products and local delicacies that you can purchase. I bought a pack of Nagali Papad and Bamboo Pickle. At the end of a 10 minutes walk, you get the first glimpse of the might Gira waterfalls.
Unlike Girmal waterfalls, you can get very close to the Gira Waterfalls and experience it. The falls are a mini replica of Niagara falls. The terrain close to the waterfall is rocky making it a great place to sit and lose yourself in nature. We were here in the afternoon and would recommend you visit early in the morning or late in the evening as the sun plays a spoilsport. Overall a great spot to spend time in Saputara and our Saputara tour guide won’t be complete without this
Waghai Botanical Garden
Post our visit to Gira, we had a quick lunch. We had packed Aloo Paratha and I ordered a couple of plates of Sev Tameta. There aren’t many restaurants near Gira, so I’d suggest either pack your food or rely on Maggi and Soda. As mentioned earlier, Gira is located close to Waghai Botanical garden and it took barely 10 mins to reach Waghai.
The landscape soon dotes lush green forests and tall trees as you reach the Waghai Botanical Garden. Established almost 4 decades ago, Waghai botanical garden is the largest garden in Gujarat with over 2 lakh people visiting it every year. Spread across an area of 24 hectares, this botanical garden is huge. Even larger than the botanical garden in Coonoor.
The garden has a huge variety of plants and trees. Since there are so many, one might not know about all of them. Hence they have developed an Android App – Floral Safari – which you can download. Every tree in the Waghai Botanical garden is marked with a number. You just need to enter this number on the app to get all the details about it. While I strongly suggest a guide as you can easily get lost over here.
If you are a plant lover, you will love this place and would not want to leave. Even a few hours is not enough and you might need a complete day to explore the entire garden. There’s also a souvenir shop at the exit where you can buy local handicrafts and food items. I purchased a few boxes of Nagali cookies.
Other places to vist in Saputara
While we concluded our Saputara trip at Waghai and went onwards to Ahmedabad, you can very well come back to Saputara and explore other places during the remaining time you have. Most of these places are again within the city and hence you can quickly cover them. The other places that you can visit in Saputara are:
- Artist Village
- Sunset Point
- Saputara Museum
- Honey Bee Center
- Saputara Tribal Museum
- Step Garden
- Echo Point
Before I conclude…
It’s been more than a few weeks that I’m back home from this awesome Saputara Trip. I would like to thank Gujarat Tourism along with the Ministry of Tourism for inviting me to experience Gujarat ki Aankhon ka Taara. The trip was a wonderful one and we explored a lot of places. I strongly suggest you explore the place on your own as well, you’ll surely find some offbeat photography spots.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve written extensively on Saputara and my trip. I’ve shared stories and posts about the same. My entire trip had started from Ahmedabad and ended in Ahmedabad. I’ve written about this entire experience in various blog posts listed below:
- Stay at House of MG
- Ahmedabad Heritage Walk
- Ahmedabad to Saputara Road Trip
- Complete Saputara Tour Guide – Day 1
- Complete Saputara Tour Guide – Day 2
- Complete Saputara Tour Guide – Day 3 (This post)
On my return to Ahmedabad, we stayed at Fortune Landmark Hotel and explored Adalaj ni Vaav. I’ll talk about these two experiences in future posts. For now, this marks the end of my Saputara Trip. If you have any questions, suggestions, places I should have explored, please let me know in the comments below, Tweet to me at @Atulmaharaj, DM me on Instagram or Get In Touch.
Saputara looks beautiful. I’d love to visit someday and recreate your itineraries. Thanks for sharing. Linda
Thanks, Linda for dropping by, it’s one of the serene hill stations in this part of the country.