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Gir lion safari 
Gir National Park
Gir lion safari
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Gir National Park Travel Guide: Lion Safaris, Rules and Planning Travel guide · Destinations
Gir National Park Travel Guide: Lion Safaris, Rules and Planning
Gir National Park, in Gujarat's Saurashtra region, lies at the heart of the Gir forest, home of the Asiatic lion. Safaris need an e-permit booked in each visitor's name on the Forest Department's website, and an eco-guide is allotted by the authority. The jungle safari closes from 16 June to 15 October, but Devalia Safari Park stays open. The nearest airport is Keshod.
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From the journal: Gir National Park
Top 10 Activities to Do in Gir Lion Safari: A Complete Adventure Guide Travel guide
Top 10 Activities to Do in Gir Lion Safari: A Complete Adventure Guide
Get ready for a heart-pounding adventure into the realm of real-life kings and queens! Our Gir Lion Safari takes you to a magical place where majestic Asiatic Lions still rule their kingdom, just as they have for centuries. This isn’t your ordinary wildlife tour – it’s a chance to be part of something truly extraordinary!
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best things to do in Gir?
Two or three sanctuary safaris come first, since each permit is given its own route on the day; then a Devalia minibus tour, the orientation centre and an early hour at the birding point.
How do I book a Gir jungle safari permit?
Online only, through the Forest Department's own booking system. One e-permit covers one time slot and lists every visitor's name and ID number; booking closes two hours before the slot, and the eco-guide and gypsy are paid for at Sasan.
Will you see a lion on a Gir safari?
Not on every drive. The Forest Department asks visitors not to be disappointed if they miss a big cat, and our safari page is clear that no sighting is guaranteed, though Gir's open scrub makes resting prides easier to spot than tigers in denser reserves.
Is anything open at Gir during the monsoon?
Yes. The sanctuary's own safaris stop from 16 June to 15 October, but Devalia Safari Park keeps running, closing only on Wednesdays, and the Forest Department rates it in every season.
About Gir National Park Tours & Experiences
The best things to do in Gir are a gypsy safari in the sanctuary for the Asiatic lion, a bus or gypsy tour of Devalia Safari Park, the orientation centre at Sinh Sadan and an early walk at the arboretum's birding point. Somnath suits an evening. Our private Gir lion safari goes out twice a day with a naturalist.
Reviewed by Experience My India Editorial Team · Updated 21 Oct 2026
Things to do in Gir
Go on a gypsy safari in the sanctuary
Open gypsies, each seating six adults plus a child aged between 3 and 12, follow set tracks with a Forest Department eco-guide. You book the e-permit online, and the route is allotted when you report at the reception centre in Sasan, where gypsies and guides are hired. Our private Gir lion safari takes you out at first light and again late in the afternoon with a naturalist, switching to Devalia if permits run out.
Tour Devalia Safari Park
Devalia, the Gir Interpretation Zone about 12 km from Sasan, fences 412 hectares of forest with lions, leopards in an open moat, deer, nilgai, blackbuck and vultures. Minibuses run three routes, or take a gypsy from Sinh Sadan. It closes on Wednesdays.
See Ambardi Safari Park near Dhari
Ambardi, on the Shetrunji river near Dhari, shows lions, leopards, chinkara and nilgai from Forest Department buses; it closes on Tuesdays.
Start at the orientation centre
The orientation centre at Sinh Sadan, with life-size models of Gir's animals and birds and a birdcall board, is a good hour before a first drive.
Walk the arboretum's birding point
The Gir Arboretum's quiet paths among labelled medicinal plants draw flycatchers, babblers, drongos and birds of prey; Gir has recorded more than 300 bird species.
Spend an evening at Somnath
Somnath's shore temple, by Hindu belief the first of the twelve jyotirlingas, holds a sound-and-light show at nightfall; for the coast, read our Dwarka and Somnath travel guide.
Choosing between our tours and experiences
Our one listing in Gir is the private lion safari: a naturalist, a car and driver, and drives at dawn and dusk. It is for travellers who want the Asiatic lion, which roams free only in Gujarat, and pairs with Somnath and the Rann of Kutch. A tour package that sleeps in Gir would be listed separately on this page; Rann Utsav is on our Gujarat tours and experiences page.
When to go for these
The sanctuary is open to safaris from 16 October until 15 June, and Gujarat Tourism rates November to March best. Until February the drives leave at 6.30 am and 3 pm; from March, at 6 am and 4 pm, with a 9 am slot all season.
Planning tips
Book only on the Gir Online Permit Booking System, the Forest Department's sole official site, which allows no urgent bookings; bring the original ID named on the permit, or your passport if foreign, and report half an hour early. Stay in the vehicle, wear forest colours and leave plastic behind. More is in the Gir National Park travel guide and under wildlife safaris in Gir.
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